The Song of Forms is an integral part of the War of the Burning Sky story. It ties into the legends of the world, apparently originating from the Worldshaking Worldshaping Worm, spreading to the Seela who used it to -- among other things -- call forth a dryad from the First Tree of Innenotdar. It plays a key role in the plot of multiple adventures, particularly part 2, the Indomitable Fire Forest of Innenotdar, and to a slightly lesser degree in part 8, O Wintry Song of Agony.
When adapting it to Pathfinder, though, I did not like the version presented in the draft of the Pathfinder Campaign Guide. There are mechanics about it that do not fit to me, and there are flavor and style issues for me as well.
The mechanics are worth taking note of for any Pathfinder game, even if the style issues for Pathfinder that bother me do not matter for a particular gamemaster's game. First, the use of a Fortitude save with undead. There are several references throughout the description of the Effects of the Song of Forms that reference the use of the song with undead, such as applying the turn resistance bonus to the fortitude save, or the interactions with a ghost using the malevolence ability. However, undead are immune to "any effect that requires a Fortitude save (unless the effect also work on objects or is harmless)." Without some change, no undead should be affected by the Song of Form. In addition, any "corporeal spells and effects that do not cause damage only have a 50% chance of affecting an incorporeal creature." So, even without the issue for undead, the Song of Form would normally only have a 50% chance of forcing the saving throw to start.
Any game master is free to hand wave these issues away, of course. The quick remediation is to append that the Song of Forms can affect objects, thus resolving the issue with affecting undead, and to add the Force descriptor, which will allow it always affect incorporeal creatures normally. I am not sure exactly how one envisions the Force descriptor applying in these circumstances, but these two changes are the smallest changes which will allow the mechanics for the Song of Forms to function as originally described.
I think that having the Song of Forms apply to objects as well is a minor change, and thematically appropriate. From its legendary origins, I can see the Song of Forms being sung to bring an idealized object into existence just as easily as calling forth a spirit into flesh, such as calling moonlight to form into a metal and creating mithral, or the concept of metal that grows and heals bring forth living steel.
Applying the force descriptor is a bit more of a reach. As alternate approach, one could solve the main concern for the campaign by giving a special weakness to the Trillith, where spells and effects that target their incorporeal nature bypass the normal 50% failure rate. This would also neatly resolve the issue for the spell Enforced Flesh as well.
Outside of the trillith, the main incorporeal encounters in the adventure are undead: ghosts, a certain dread wraith archmage, etc. So, regardless of which answer one comes up with for the game master should know what the answer is before having to deal with it in game.
Stylistically, I have no problem with the Song of Forms in the game, but do have one with the idea that just by hearing it performed once the characters acquire the ability to use if they have bardic performance. I feel like some effort or sacrifice is needed on the part of the characters (and the players) to acquire and use this valuable ability. On the other hand, I appreciate that it needs to be readily accessible enough for it to be of use during the campaign. The ability is aimed at the specifics of the War of the Burning Sky, and isn't intended to be a balanced for use in all game scenarios.
The answer for this to me appears to be the bardic Masterpiece introduced for Pathfinder in Ultimate Magic. Making the Song of Forms a Masterpiece fits very well for me conceptually: it is an amazing piece of music that when performed correctly has magical effects. It has special prerequisites that must be met before it can be learned, and using it imposes special costs, both of which match the source material. In addition, it requires the character to use a feat or spell known to learn and master as well, matching my desire for it to require some effort on the part of the player character to master. In addition, it is a solution within the current rules and options of the game, making it fit more seamlessly into the game. Finally, the 3.5 D&D version of bardic music lasted for as long as the singer wanted to perform, but the normal use of bardic performance in Pathfinder may be only be used a set number of rounds per day. A masterpiece may have a duration different from that of the rounds of bardic performance used, allowing an adaptation that more closely matches that of the original game.
In my take on the Song of Forms as a bardic Masterpiece for Pathfinder, I have left the power of the song the same, but given it ridiculously low requirements. This, I believe, makes it readily accessible as intended for the campaign. Normally, Masterpiece that have a saving throw use Will but using Fortitude for the Song of Form seems appropriate (though admittedly, changing this to a Will save is another way to avoid the undead and incorporeal issues with Fortitude saves). The sonic descriptor seems an entirely reasonable addition to the Song of Forms, and one implied in the source material but never called out. I reduced the duration by which non-fey could use to reflect the additional strain that the song placed on other mortals, but with still generous enough usage that no typical encounter will run beyond that length available to the party. I decided that Lingering Performance could apply to this masterpiece.
I kept the performance check as the basis for the DC as that fits my campaign well. A more standard Masterpiece take would use the standard Masterpiece DC of 10 + 1/2 the bard's level + the bard's Charisma bonus. Alternatively, one could use 10 + Perform (Sing) modifier.
I removed the concentration requirement to maintain the ongoing effect of the Song of Forms, as this seemed to best match the general use of Bardic Performances in Pathfinder. I considered not having it provoke an attack of opportunity for the same reason or requiring concentration, but settled on letting it do so. First, it adds a strong dramatic tension if the trillith or ghost can escape by disrupting the singing, not just killing them. Second, if this made the ability to weak, it is easier to have the ability improve at higher levels such that it does not provoke attacks of opportunity or require concentration, but taking that away form players provokes more resistance. I would welcome additional feedback from everyone who's players have made extensive use of the Song of Forms in their game, rather in the original D&D 3.5, 4E version, or your own Pathfinder adaptations.
Song of Forms (Sing)
Prerequisites: Perform (sing) 1 rank; Must have heard the song performed by a Seela of the Fire Forest; Speak Sylvan.
Cost: Feat or 1st-level bard spell known
Effect: You begin the Song of Forms with the story you are telling, reflecting the current circumstances under which you sing. The song must be sung in Sylvan. You make a Perform (sing) check, and each incorporeal creature and object within 200 feet must make a Fortitude save (DC equal to the result of your Perform check) at the start of its turn (or on the singer's turn for targets without turns, like objects) or lose its incorporeality for as long as your performance lasts and it remains in range. Note that the Song of Forms does not affect ghosts that have not manifested, since they are on the Ethereal Plane and not the Material (on the Ethereal Plane ghosts are not incorporeal). A creature with turn resistance adds its turn resistance bonus to its Fortitude save against this effect.
The Song of Forms is a supernatural, sonic ability. The Song of Forms only has a magical effect when sung by a living creature. Like channel energy and force effects, the Song of Forms has no reduced chance of effect against incorporeal targets. However, incorporeal targets inside of solid objects received a +20 bonus to their saving throw for as long as they remain inside the solid object. The Song of Forms does not need line of effect, but any perception modifiers that might apply to listening to the song other than distance apply as bonus to the saving throw, e.g. +5 through a closed door).
A creature that makes its saving throw but remains with the area of effect must make a new saving throw on its actions at the start of its turn. The DC for this save is your Perform (sing) check for this round. A creature that has failed its saving throw may not make another saving throw to resist or end the effect unless the creature leaves the area of effect first.
Creatures that are only temporarily incorporeal simply return to their normal corporeal form. Creatures that are normally incorporeal but that are currently occupying a physical body, such as a ghost using its malevolence ability or a trillith using it’s embody ability, are unable to willingly leave their current bodies. Creatures without any normal corporeal form — such as allips, shadows, and wraiths, as well as ghosts that are not in a body — assume a semi-corporeal form. Trillith that are not currently occupying a body are affected as detailed by the trillith subtype.
Use: The magic of the song draws on your life to create bodies for those that have none, so singing the song deals 2 points of Constitution damage to you, plus another 2 points every minute minutes you continue to sing. In addition, this performance requires a round of bardic performance when started, and an additional round of bardic performance for every round that it is performed. Fey creatures using the Song of Form require no rounds of bardic performance to maintain the Song of Form, and only suffer 2 points of Constitution damage for every 10 minutes that they continue to sing. Fey bonded to a location, such as the seela of the Fire Forest, do not take Constitution damage from singing the Song of Forms as long as they are in that location. A singer who has no remaining uses of bardic performance may draw directly upon her own life, taking one point of Constitution damage for every round that the song is performed.
Action: The Song of Form takes a standard action to begin, but may be able to be activated more quickly as typical for bardic performance. Effects or feats that extend a bardic performance, such as Lingering Performance, can extend the duration of this Masterpiece, and resuming the Song of Forms that has lingered does not inflict additional Constitution damage, but neither does it delay when the next Constitution damage is inflected, i.e. typically 1 minute after starting the Song of Forms. Beginning the Song of Forms provokes an attack of opportunity like casting a spell, but may be done defensively. Likewise, maintaining the Song of Forms requires Concentration each round. For relevant concentration checks, treat the Song of Forms as a 1st-level spell.
When adapting it to Pathfinder, though, I did not like the version presented in the draft of the Pathfinder Campaign Guide. There are mechanics about it that do not fit to me, and there are flavor and style issues for me as well.
The mechanics are worth taking note of for any Pathfinder game, even if the style issues for Pathfinder that bother me do not matter for a particular gamemaster's game. First, the use of a Fortitude save with undead. There are several references throughout the description of the Effects of the Song of Forms that reference the use of the song with undead, such as applying the turn resistance bonus to the fortitude save, or the interactions with a ghost using the malevolence ability. However, undead are immune to "any effect that requires a Fortitude save (unless the effect also work on objects or is harmless)." Without some change, no undead should be affected by the Song of Form. In addition, any "corporeal spells and effects that do not cause damage only have a 50% chance of affecting an incorporeal creature." So, even without the issue for undead, the Song of Form would normally only have a 50% chance of forcing the saving throw to start.
Any game master is free to hand wave these issues away, of course. The quick remediation is to append that the Song of Forms can affect objects, thus resolving the issue with affecting undead, and to add the Force descriptor, which will allow it always affect incorporeal creatures normally. I am not sure exactly how one envisions the Force descriptor applying in these circumstances, but these two changes are the smallest changes which will allow the mechanics for the Song of Forms to function as originally described.
I think that having the Song of Forms apply to objects as well is a minor change, and thematically appropriate. From its legendary origins, I can see the Song of Forms being sung to bring an idealized object into existence just as easily as calling forth a spirit into flesh, such as calling moonlight to form into a metal and creating mithral, or the concept of metal that grows and heals bring forth living steel.
Applying the force descriptor is a bit more of a reach. As alternate approach, one could solve the main concern for the campaign by giving a special weakness to the Trillith, where spells and effects that target their incorporeal nature bypass the normal 50% failure rate. This would also neatly resolve the issue for the spell Enforced Flesh as well.
Outside of the trillith, the main incorporeal encounters in the adventure are undead: ghosts, a certain dread wraith archmage, etc. So, regardless of which answer one comes up with for the game master should know what the answer is before having to deal with it in game.
Stylistically, I have no problem with the Song of Forms in the game, but do have one with the idea that just by hearing it performed once the characters acquire the ability to use if they have bardic performance. I feel like some effort or sacrifice is needed on the part of the characters (and the players) to acquire and use this valuable ability. On the other hand, I appreciate that it needs to be readily accessible enough for it to be of use during the campaign. The ability is aimed at the specifics of the War of the Burning Sky, and isn't intended to be a balanced for use in all game scenarios.
The answer for this to me appears to be the bardic Masterpiece introduced for Pathfinder in Ultimate Magic. Making the Song of Forms a Masterpiece fits very well for me conceptually: it is an amazing piece of music that when performed correctly has magical effects. It has special prerequisites that must be met before it can be learned, and using it imposes special costs, both of which match the source material. In addition, it requires the character to use a feat or spell known to learn and master as well, matching my desire for it to require some effort on the part of the player character to master. In addition, it is a solution within the current rules and options of the game, making it fit more seamlessly into the game. Finally, the 3.5 D&D version of bardic music lasted for as long as the singer wanted to perform, but the normal use of bardic performance in Pathfinder may be only be used a set number of rounds per day. A masterpiece may have a duration different from that of the rounds of bardic performance used, allowing an adaptation that more closely matches that of the original game.
In my take on the Song of Forms as a bardic Masterpiece for Pathfinder, I have left the power of the song the same, but given it ridiculously low requirements. This, I believe, makes it readily accessible as intended for the campaign. Normally, Masterpiece that have a saving throw use Will but using Fortitude for the Song of Form seems appropriate (though admittedly, changing this to a Will save is another way to avoid the undead and incorporeal issues with Fortitude saves). The sonic descriptor seems an entirely reasonable addition to the Song of Forms, and one implied in the source material but never called out. I reduced the duration by which non-fey could use to reflect the additional strain that the song placed on other mortals, but with still generous enough usage that no typical encounter will run beyond that length available to the party. I decided that Lingering Performance could apply to this masterpiece.
I kept the performance check as the basis for the DC as that fits my campaign well. A more standard Masterpiece take would use the standard Masterpiece DC of 10 + 1/2 the bard's level + the bard's Charisma bonus. Alternatively, one could use 10 + Perform (Sing) modifier.
I removed the concentration requirement to maintain the ongoing effect of the Song of Forms, as this seemed to best match the general use of Bardic Performances in Pathfinder. I considered not having it provoke an attack of opportunity for the same reason or requiring concentration, but settled on letting it do so. First, it adds a strong dramatic tension if the trillith or ghost can escape by disrupting the singing, not just killing them. Second, if this made the ability to weak, it is easier to have the ability improve at higher levels such that it does not provoke attacks of opportunity or require concentration, but taking that away form players provokes more resistance. I would welcome additional feedback from everyone who's players have made extensive use of the Song of Forms in their game, rather in the original D&D 3.5, 4E version, or your own Pathfinder adaptations.
Song of Forms (Sing)
Prerequisites: Perform (sing) 1 rank; Must have heard the song performed by a Seela of the Fire Forest; Speak Sylvan.
Cost: Feat or 1st-level bard spell known
Effect: You begin the Song of Forms with the story you are telling, reflecting the current circumstances under which you sing. The song must be sung in Sylvan. You make a Perform (sing) check, and each incorporeal creature and object within 200 feet must make a Fortitude save (DC equal to the result of your Perform check) at the start of its turn (or on the singer's turn for targets without turns, like objects) or lose its incorporeality for as long as your performance lasts and it remains in range. Note that the Song of Forms does not affect ghosts that have not manifested, since they are on the Ethereal Plane and not the Material (on the Ethereal Plane ghosts are not incorporeal). A creature with turn resistance adds its turn resistance bonus to its Fortitude save against this effect.
The Song of Forms is a supernatural, sonic ability. The Song of Forms only has a magical effect when sung by a living creature. Like channel energy and force effects, the Song of Forms has no reduced chance of effect against incorporeal targets. However, incorporeal targets inside of solid objects received a +20 bonus to their saving throw for as long as they remain inside the solid object. The Song of Forms does not need line of effect, but any perception modifiers that might apply to listening to the song other than distance apply as bonus to the saving throw, e.g. +5 through a closed door).
A creature that makes its saving throw but remains with the area of effect must make a new saving throw on its actions at the start of its turn. The DC for this save is your Perform (sing) check for this round. A creature that has failed its saving throw may not make another saving throw to resist or end the effect unless the creature leaves the area of effect first.
Creatures that are only temporarily incorporeal simply return to their normal corporeal form. Creatures that are normally incorporeal but that are currently occupying a physical body, such as a ghost using its malevolence ability or a trillith using it’s embody ability, are unable to willingly leave their current bodies. Creatures without any normal corporeal form — such as allips, shadows, and wraiths, as well as ghosts that are not in a body — assume a semi-corporeal form. Trillith that are not currently occupying a body are affected as detailed by the trillith subtype.
Use: The magic of the song draws on your life to create bodies for those that have none, so singing the song deals 2 points of Constitution damage to you, plus another 2 points every minute minutes you continue to sing. In addition, this performance requires a round of bardic performance when started, and an additional round of bardic performance for every round that it is performed. Fey creatures using the Song of Form require no rounds of bardic performance to maintain the Song of Form, and only suffer 2 points of Constitution damage for every 10 minutes that they continue to sing. Fey bonded to a location, such as the seela of the Fire Forest, do not take Constitution damage from singing the Song of Forms as long as they are in that location. A singer who has no remaining uses of bardic performance may draw directly upon her own life, taking one point of Constitution damage for every round that the song is performed.
Action: The Song of Form takes a standard action to begin, but may be able to be activated more quickly as typical for bardic performance. Effects or feats that extend a bardic performance, such as Lingering Performance, can extend the duration of this Masterpiece, and resuming the Song of Forms that has lingered does not inflict additional Constitution damage, but neither does it delay when the next Constitution damage is inflected, i.e. typically 1 minute after starting the Song of Forms. Beginning the Song of Forms provokes an attack of opportunity like casting a spell, but may be done defensively. Likewise, maintaining the Song of Forms requires Concentration each round. For relevant concentration checks, treat the Song of Forms as a 1st-level spell.
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