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I love playing Bards. Their out of combat skills are amazing. Versatile Performance does need some clarification however.
3 things:
1) When a Bard selects his versatile performance type, are his current skill points in the two associated skills given back to him to spend on other skills? or are they simply lost in the overflow.
2)Are racial bonuses, feats, and any other bonus that affects one of the bards versatile performance associated skills lost as soon as the bard chooses to use that performance in its place?
3)Will a magic item that gives a bonus to perform in a bards chosen v.p. give that magic items bonus to the two v.p. associated skills? If a magic item affects one of the two associated skills, will that skill get the bonus from said magic item?
There are many house rulings on this, but an official ruling would be a wonderful addition to the other faq of the core rulebook.
I'd take a shot at it, but I'm no official.
1) Not as written, no. James Jacobs has said it is something he would like to change, and it seems to be a common house rule.
2) Not "lost," but they wouldn't apply if you are using Versatile Performance instead of your actual ranks in the skill.
3) Again, as written, you would only get bonuses from the skill being used for Versatile Performance. So a "Headband of Bluff +5" wouldn't help you Bluff if you were using Versatile Performance (Sing), but a "Necklace of Perform (Sing) +5" would. This is also rather silly, and James Jacobs would personally rule otherwise. However, I believe under a strict reading it would work in this way.
I'd take a shot at it, but I'm no official.
For now, a simple RAW vs RAI would be ok with me. At least that's a starting point.
1) Not as written, no. James Jacobs has said it is something he would like to change, and it seems to be a common house rule.
2) Not "lost," but they wouldn't apply if you are using Versatile Performance instead of your actual ranks in the skill.
3) Again, as written, you would only get bonuses from the skill being used for Versatile Performance. So a "Headband of Bluff +5" wouldn't help you Bluff if you were using Versatile Performance (Sing), but a "Necklace of Perform (Sing) +5" would. This is also rather silly, and James Jacobs would personally rule otherwise. However, I believe under a strict reading it would work in this way.
Thanks Mort, that's a good starting point. Maybe if enough people click on faq it will be added to the official core rulebook faq's. If that's even how it works...
I guess the new question I have then is this: What bonuses to your selected v.p. perform DON'T apply to its associated skills.
The only one I know of that doesn't is a m.w. musical instrument.
side note: If you're trying for ultimate cheese stacking to one skill, there are no races that give racial bonus's to perform; so you can never get your perform skill as high as a skill that does. Geisha archetype from UM gives you a half lvl bonus to perform, but it also gives that to diplomacy, so diplomacy will always be the higher skill if you took a race with that as a racial bonus: Suli or Aasimar. I imagine by lvl 20, a bard could get a diplomacy bonus easily over 100.