It pretty clearly does:
A 1st level bard can use his performance to inspire courage in his allies (including himself), bolstering them against fear and improving their combat abilities.
"Use his performance" is shorthand for, "Use his bardic performance ability."
Now:A bard is trained to use the Perform skill to create magical effects on those around him, including himself if desired. He can use this ability for a number of rounds per day equal to 4 + his Charisma modifier. At each level after 1st a bard can use bardic performance for 2 additional rounds per day. Each round, the bard can produce any one of the types of bardic performance that he has mastered, as indicated by his level.
Starting a bardic performance is a standard action, but it can be maintained each round as a free action. Changing a bardic performance from one effect to another requires the bard to stop the previous performance and start a new one as a standard action. A bardic performance cannot be disrupted, but it ends immediately if the bard is killed, paralyzed, stunned, knocked unconscious, or otherwise prevented from taking a free action to maintain it each round. A bard cannot have more than one bardic performance in effect at one time.
At 7th level, a bard can start a bardic performance as a move action instead of a standard action. At 13th level, a bard can start a bardic performance as a swift action.
Each bardic performance has audible components, visual components, or both.
If a bardic performance has audible components, the targets must be able to hear the bard for the performance to have any effect, and such performances are language dependent. A deaf bard has a 20% change to fail when attempting to use a bardic performance with an audible component. If he fails this check, the attempt still counts against his daily limit. Deaf creatures are immune to bardic performances with audible components.
If a bardic performance has a visual component, the targets must have line of sight to the bard for the performance to have any effect. A blind bard has a 50% chance to fail when attempting to use a bardic performance with a visual component. If he fails this check, the attempt still counts against his daily limit. Blind creatures are immune to bardic performances with visual components.
Sure, only a couple bardic performance options require specific types of Perform (Countersong and Distraction,) but you pretty clearly need at least one perform skill with ranks in it in order to do a Bardic Performance.
You can even copy/paste this argument for every Bardic ability that states you must "use your performance." ;)
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Ah, but the Perform skill can be used untrained, as per PRD.
Since there is no DC for the act of 'Inspiring Courage', technically, there is no need for any ranks in Perform.
Because that line is vestigial text from an earlier draft of the bard, and the abilities themselves only rarely mention Perform skills. Inspire Courage is not one of those.
You are welcome to fluff it how you want. But just because you have 10 ranks in perform(percussion) doesn't mean you have to whip out a drum to inspire courage.
The intention for the PF bard was to decouple their main class feature from the Perform skill, hence the main performances not requiring the skill. They still have reasons to put ranks in those skills, of course. Namely versatile performance.
And you know what? It barely matters, even if you do need it. It's an untrained skill.
This is, of course, assuming that one of the main
people involved with the design of the PF bard is right about the intentions.
Wasn't there an older post where James Jacobs commented on exactly that issue - I can't seem to find it in the archives though, but maybe somebody else has it bookmarked.
Otherwise +1 to the three posters above me.
Ruyan.
It's in my Wishlist somewhere, and I will post the links later. And yes, from what I can tell, he was quite involved with the design of the PF bard.
JJ's involvement with the bard, to frame the context.
Talk of the line the OP bolded being fluff and / or a holdover.
And my favorite post, partially quoted here.
Bardic performance does NOT require you to use a Perform skill that you have ranks in. It doesn't even need a Perform skill at all. Not only is Perform usable untrained, but the bardic performance ability does not require you to make Perform checks of any kind except for a few specific TYPES of bardic performance, such as countersong or distraction.
And that's why I say, and will continue to say, that the bard does not need Perform to use his abilities except for countersong and distraction (and whatever other ones the archetypes have introduced).
Because one of the original designers of the class says they do not need it.
Man, I'm getting sooo tired of running into situations of "Oops, that's a holdover from 3.X that we forgot to fix/remove/whatever. Our bad!" Makes understanding RAW/RAI so frustrating sometimes (This... Monks... ugh.)
Oh well, thanks for the insights everyone. Guess I was wrong.
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But the RAW in this case is accurate. It's not like they left something in accidentally that's wrong.
The bard does have to perform to use his bardic performance. He just doesn't have to roll any dice for most types of performances, and the perform skills are usable untrained, so it doesn't matter if you have any ranks in perform.
Unless you want to use countersong, distraction, and/or versatile performance, which do use perform skill ranks.
... He just doesn't have to roll any dice for most types of performances, and the perform skills are usable untrained, so it doesn't matter if you have any ranks in perform.
And so Absalom opens it's first Karaoke bar. :-)
... He just doesn't have to roll any dice for most types of performances, and the perform skills are usable untrained, so it doesn't matter if you have any ranks in perform.And so Absalom opens it's first Karaoke bar. :-)
You know its funny, but this kind of happened in a game over the weekend. Though in this case there were dice involved. Our bard was trying to impress a nymph so he sang a song, and my charismatic summoner, and the cleric (also good charisma) sang backup in the form of aid another. But we actually sang the song at the table with the cleric and my summoner doing backup to the bard player. It was a contemporary song, and we were aweful (non of us are talented singers) but it was fun.
In other news, don't use flavour text to figure out how the rules work please.
In my defense, descriptive text is important for understanding how mechanics are supposed to work. When flavor text clashes with mechanical text, it's not good, and really should be cleared up.
The fact that the "goal" was to divorce Bardic Performance from the actual Perform skills makes it incredibly hard to believe that they just happened to miss this one particular line of text.
James did mention that they probably missed it because it was fluff.
I don't see a clash in the text.
The bard does need to perform to use a bardic performance. Specific types of bardic performances require die rolls, but not all of them do. Since the perform skill can be used untrained, that means that ranks in the skill aren't necessary.
Where's the problem?
Unless you agree with JJ in the above links, where he says that you don't even need to perform. /eyeroll
Bardic performance does NOT require you to use a Perform skill that you have ranks in. It doesn't even need a Perform skill at all.
Here's another post that makes a wonderful analogy between casting spells and spellcraft, and bardic performance and Perform.
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I don't see a clash in the text.
The bard does need to perform to use a bardic performance. Specific types of bardic performances require die rolls, but not all of them do. Since the perform skill can be used untrained, that means that ranks in the skill aren't necessary.
Where's the problem?
Unless you agree with JJ in the above links, where he says that you don't even need to perform. /eyeroll
Bardic performance does NOT require you to use a Perform skill that you have ranks in. It doesn't even need a Perform skill at all.
You still need to perform. You just don't need to Perform. A bound and gagged bard can't use bardic performance.
...Unless they're tied to a chair that isn't bolted down, in which case Perform (Slapstick) could become an option.
According to James Jacobs, that bound and tied bard's muffled, unintelligible cheers are all the inspiration his companions need.
Cheapy's most recent link states it outright:
"For things like fascinate, inspire courage, inspire competence, and most other bardic performance abilities, the Perform skill doesn't interact with the bardic performance at all."
RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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According to James Jacobs, that bound and tied bard's muffled, unintelligible cheers are all the inspiration his companions need.
Cheapy's most recent link states it outright:
"For things like fascinate, inspire courage, inspire competence, and most other bardic performance abilities, the Perform skill doesn't interact with the bardic performance at all."
You're not reading people's claims closely. The quote you cited says those performances don't interact with the Perform SKILL. That in no way contradicts what Fromper said. It also doesn't contradict the Bardic Performance text which states that creatures must be able to perceive the performance to be affected by it.
I like the change. I never would play Bards otherwise. It is too limiting. But for flavor, I do think that most Bards should drop something into perform, depending on the type of Bard you are. I have a storyteller, who spends his time in the pubs retelling his adventures, and how he saved the day for the other Pathfinders. Amazing that no matter how cowardly he was he is always the hero when he tells it. (he has oratory), I have a Detective, also PFS that has no perform skills, since he is a Detective, he gives advice, not inspiring performances. And I have a Homegame Magician Bard, that has Acting, and Magic as his skills.
I like to think that it is part of the Bard getting lots of skills that lets them spend points on Perform, especially in an archetype that does not get Versatile Perf.
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You're not reading people's claims closely. The quote you cited says those performances don't interact with the Perform SKILL. That in no way contradicts what Fromper said. It also doesn't contradict the Bardic Performance text which states that creatures must be able to perceive the performance to be affected by it.According to James Jacobs, that bound and tied bard's muffled, unintelligible cheers are all the inspiration his companions need.
Cheapy's most recent link states it outright:
"For things like fascinate, inspire courage, inspire competence, and most other bardic performance abilities, the Perform skill doesn't interact with the bardic performance at all."
Exactly. "Perform" with a capital "P" is the proper name of a skill in the Pathfinder Core Rulebook. "perform" with a lower case "p" is a verb in the dictionary. As I said in my last post, Bardic Performance requires the bard to perform, but not necessarily to Perform.
How is that not totally splitting hairs?
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How is that not totally splitting hairs?
Because it is the topic of this thread?
As we all keep saying, you don't need the perform SKILL to use most bardic performances. There is no roll, and it doesn't matter if your performance is any good. But the bard still needs to actually do something to perform. He must be giving an actual performance of some sort.