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SPECIAL ABILITIES
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Bardic Knowledge +1 (Ex) Add + 1 to all knowledge skill checks.
Dróttkvæt Magic: Dróttkvæts (‘Lordly Verses’) replace bardic
performance.
Dróttkvæts of Wisdom (Su):
At 1st level, the skald may recite dróttkvæts of wisdom to his comrades to strengthen the resolve and willpower of his allies. While reciting the Dróttkvæts of Wisdom, both the skald and all allies within 30 ft. get a +2 morale bonus to will-saves. Furthermore, if they have been influenced by a spell with the illusion (pattern) or illusion (figment) descriptors, they can opt to reroll the save with the +2 bonus. Each character may only reroll one such save per 24 hours, and the second roll must be kept, even if worse than the first.
Dróttkvæts of Courage (Su):
At 1st level, the skald may grant his allies a + 2 competence bonus to saves against fear effects. At 5th level, this bonus increases to +3. At 11th level, when under effect of these dróttkvæts, the skald’s allies instead get immunity to fear effects. This is a language-dependant, mind-influencing effect
Dróttkvæts of Endurance (Su):
At 1st level, the skald can help allies overcome the exhaustion of heavy labor. Both he and allies within 30 feet gain the benefits of the Endurance feat for one prolonged task per use of this Dróttkvæt (targets with the Endurance feat receive an additional +2 bonus). From 8th level, the skald may instead use this Dróttkvæt to grant one of his allies the ability to sleep in medium or heavy armor without penalty for the next 8 hours.
Dróttkvæts of Demoralization (Su):
At 1st level, the skald may use witty dróttkvæts to demoralize foes. A creature to be demoralized must be within 90ft, and able to hear and understand the skald. Targets in range must succeed at a Will save against the DC of the skald’s performance or suffer from a -1 morale penalty to attack and damage rolls. At 5th level and every 6 levels thereafter, this penalty increases by –1, to a maximum of –4 at 17th level. For every three levels the skald has attained beyond 1st, he can target one additional creature with this ability. This is a language-dependant, mind-affecting ability.
Traits Shield Bearer (Ulfen) (1/day) Your shield bash does 1 extra point of damage. 1/day you can shield an adjacent ally as a free action. This grants them a +2 trait bonus to AC for 1 round as long as you remain adjacent. You retain your shield bonus to AC while using this ability.
Warrior Poet You gain a +1 trait bonus on Knowledge checks related to Ulfen (Ulfen history, Ulfen construction, and so on) and a +1 trait bonus on Fortitude saves in any round in which you use a bardic performance ability.
Feats Arcane Strike As a swift action, add +1 damage, +1 per 5 caster levels and your weapons are treated as magic for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
Spellsong Combine spellcasting and bardic performance. You can combine your bardic performance and your spellcasting in two ways.
First, you can conceal the activity of casting a bard spell by masking it in a performance. As a swift action, you may combine your casting time of a spell with a Perform check. Observers must make a Perception or Sense Motive check opposed by your Perform check to realize you are also casting a spell. This uses 1 round of your bardic performance ability, regardless of the spell's casting time.
Second, as a move action, you can use 1 round of bardic performance to maintain a bard spell with a duration of concentration. You can cast another spell in the same round you are using bardic magic to maintain concentration; if you do this, your concentration on the maintained spell ends when you end the bardic performance the spell is part of.
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Background:
Hearken men, I am Roluo Krage, son of Athislus, son of Halfdan, son of Helgi. I tell you now the tale of my wooden hand, and how it was given to me by my father.
The man before you is lean and hungry looking, his read hair in braids and his beard barely more than fuzz over his chin. Although he promises a tale of a lost hand, you can see both of his are attached and working. He has the bearing of a skald but he is clearly not an experienced story teller, having only recently become a man.
Some of you may remember Helgi, one of the greatest Linnorm Kings this land has seen in many generations. Strong, fair, a powerful raiding and worthy of his thanes respect. Halfdan was sired of this mighty lineage and fathered Athislus before he went to face his own linnorm. Sadly he failed, dying beneath the mighty talons of the linnorm Nahuatl. Long has this great beast haunted my line, and many lives has he claimed.
My father paid the weregild to those men lost when the beast came for revenge, and it nearly bankrupt him. Many men left after this, and my house was made poor by this creature's predations. Long did my father plan his revenge on Nahuatl, and he went raiding with many of your fathers to gain the power and cunning to face the beast. Along the way he lost his left hand to a Chelaxian slave ship, but even that did not stop him from claiming the lives of the foreign dogs!
So it came that Athislus ventured forth to kill Nahuatl, strong and confident in his ability. He has yet to return after six months, and I fear he has failed. It falls to me, Roluo Krage, son of Athislus, to avenge him and reclaim my family fortune. I am left with only this wooden hand, given to me by my father to replace his lost left appendage. He claimed he would not need it to defeat Nahuatl, but now I wonder if perhaps he should've taken it after all. That is my tale.
