Spellsong
You can blend the power of your performance and spellcasting.Prerequisites: Cha 13, bardic performance class ability, able to cast 1st-level spells.
Benefit: 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.
I'm trying to figure out why the italicized text exists. For which spells is this even a benefit?
silent image
detect thoughts
maybe enthrall although its duration is sadly not concentration even though the text describes it behaving that way.
What else? I mean, clearly the first part of the feat is worth it, but I'm at a loss to explain the existence of the second part...
Veil, Pied Piping, Persistent Image, Mislead, Mirage Arcana, Wall of Sound, Rainbow Pattern, Seek Thoughts, Rain of Frogs, Major Image, Rage, Summon Swarm...
There are more, but the above spells all have a duration of Concentration with maybe a +1-3 rounds additional limit after concentration ends.
I am loathe to petition the designers for a response directly, and I'll still happily accept anyone's input on this clause... but perhaps the person who penned the rule can tell me what they had in mind when they wrote this?
I feel like I am missing a combo or something that should be obvious.
EDIT: aaaaand Thazar responded.
So... are any of those spells particularly good when used in this manner? Or was the inclusion of this clause merely meant to be a generic boost?
So... are any of those spells particularly good when used in this manner? Or was the inclusion of this clause merely meant to be a generic boost?
A generic boost, I imagine. Being able to fight and maintain concentration on a spell (e.g. Rage, Summon Swarm, Rainbow Pattern, Silent Image) seems moderately handy.
|
Thread necro!
Let us assume a 7th level bard who can initiate a bardic performance as a move action and has lingering performance feat.
Round 1
-Silent image: swift action to mask the spell as part of a performance via Spellsong; standard action to cast it [cost: 1 bardic perf. rnd]
-Fascinate: move action to start [cost: 1 bardic perf. rnd]
--> Total: Swift-Standard-Move + 2 bardic perf. rnds
Round 2
-Free action: maintain Fascinate [cost: 1 bardic perf. rnd]
-Standard action: activate Suggestion bardic ability (as written in the bard class, takes a standard action to activate, but being a 7th level bard, one could use a move action too I suppose) [cost: 1 bardic perf. rnd]
-Silent image: concentration is move action to maintain via Spellsong; counts as a bardic performance so Fascinate ends and does *not* linger [cost: 1 bardic perf. rnd]
--> Total: Free-Move-Move + 3 bardic perf. rnds
Round 3
-Silent image: concentration is move action to maintain via Spellsong [cost: 1 bardic perf. rnd]
-Ghost sound: swift action to mask the spell via Spellsong; standard action to cast it [cost: 1 bardic perf. rnd]
--> Total: Swift-Standard-Move + 2 bardic perf. rnds
--> Grand total: 7 rounds of bardic performance
(Ghost sound is 1 round/level so no concentration later rounds)
Therefore, based on the above, you could have an invisible bard singing a beautiful unearthly song and create the image of a walking individual (let's say the king's wizard advisor) coming in the distance towards a creature. Assuming the creature is fascinated by the music and successfully receives the bard's suggestion, the approaching 'wizard advisor' now begins to emit rising 'footsteps' noise. The invisible bard can then have the image signal the 'suggested' creature over and appear to whisper in his ear something. The creature hears nothing, but departs soon after, on the heels of the bard's suggestion which was "Do X after the approaching man pretends to whisper something to you".
Is the above a possible scenario by RAW, assuming the suggestion worked, or have I misunderstood Spellsong? it seems to cost a lot, but the applications are endless...
To an outside witness/onlooker, the only 'weird' thing here would be the music playing at the start, but since they're seeing the king's wizard advisor approach, a well-known caster, anything is kinda plausible... other audible performances can be used (drumroll, have the 'wizard' tap his staff on the ground rythmically, have the 'wizard' do a speech that 'fills the alley' i.e. to hide weirdness of the bard doing the oratory from a different spot, etc.)
Edit: Shield speech spell (assuming the creature fails its save) adds another level of awesome as you could be invisible next to the guy (spell is harmless) and keep issuing instructions if your suggestion was 'follow my every instructions for the next 7 hours'