That's my question in a nutshell -- there are two lines for "Perform" on the character sheet... so does that mean a bard starts with two perform skills?
Can they use additional perform skills untrained?
Pretty sure anyone can use a Perform skill of any kind, but as for being trained at Performing WELL, you still have to put Skill ranks into a specific Perform Skill (Oratory, Comedy, Percussion, etc.).
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You have as many different perform skills as you put ranks into. Each perform skill is a separate skill and must be purchased individually. Let's say you want Sing, String Instrument and Dance, you will need to put a rank in each. As you go up in levels if you want to improve your performance you need to put ranks into each of them or they stay the same. You can use perform untrained but do not get your class skill bonus of +3 just your CHA modifier. Once you spend at least one rank one a perform skill you get the class skill bonus of +3.
A lot of character sheets only list a limited number of skills to save space. Most characters other than bards don't bother with a lot of perform skills if any. This in no way limits you to what you can use your skill points on just had write in your skills that are not listed.
Perform skills are grouped by type and listed in the core rules book. You do not need to purchase each instrument but rather each category, like acting, oratory, stringed, wind, ... .
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Something to bear in mind re: bards and performance.
Perform skills are divided into two categories: audible and visual. Bardic Performance abilities use audible components, visual components, or both.
It therefore behooves a bard to put ranks in at least two perform skills; one audible and one visual, so that the bard retains access to all the Bardic Performance abilities.
The perform skills with audible components are:-
• keyboard, percussion, wind, string and sing
The perform skills with visual components are:/
• act, comedy, dance and oratory
While some of these don't seem to make sense (why is oratory-speaking-visual but not auditory?), these are the categories that the Bardic Performance abilities use.
The Bardic Performances which require audible components are:-
• countersong, inspire competence, suggestion, frightening tune and mass suggestion
The Bardic Performance which require visual components is:-
• distraction
The Bardic Performances which require both are:-
• fascinate, dirge of doom, inspire greatness, soothing performance, inspire heroics and deadly performance
Inspire courage can use audible or visual components; the bard must choose which when starting his performance.
If you use a bard archetype, check to see which type of component is used by which ability.
I hope this helps. : )
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Note that some of the bard's most common Bardic Performances are not tied to the Perform skill in any way. For instance, to use Inspire Courage, the bard need only announce whether he's using audible or visual components or both. You need not choose a type of Perform skill or make any checks or use any instruments in order to use Inspire Courage. Certain other Performance types specify the use of the Perform skill.
Perform skills are divided into two categories: audible and visual.
The perform skills with audible components are:-
• keyboard, percussion, wind, string and singThe perform skills with visual components are:/
• act, comedy, dance and oratoryThis reply may be years too late, but I have found no RAW to back up these statements. Do you have a specific book and page number where it outlines which performance skills consist of audible or visual components?
Where as I can understand where one can assume that one performance skill would have one specific component or the other, through experience, flavor, or personal preference; there is no specific rule that I could point out to players to direct them into one path or another.
Unfortunately, there is a statement that suggests that each perform skill has both audible and visual components, and the Bardic Performance determines how the performance is delivered and perceived.
From the Core rules:
Fascinate relies on audible and visual components in order to function.The 'and' in the statement above cannot refer to a single Perform Skill, if Perform Skills have an intrinsic component type. Since Bardic Performance is a Standard action to start, and free action to maintain, and Fascinate requires no die roll from the bard (only a saving throw from the target), unless the Bardic Performance calls out a Specific Perform Skill (i.e., Each round of the Distraction, he makes a Perform (act, comedy, dance, or oratory) skill check.), any Perform skill can be used for any Bardic Performance.
Thank you for your consideration.
I see no specific rules to support these and frankly some of the above are ridiculous designations to the point that I don't think the author understood the meaning of the words. I mean the word "oratory" comes from the Latin word "orator" meaning "speaker". If anything is purely audible, oratory is. It certainly isn't purely visual.
It's a GM's call thing, really.
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Countersong only list the types of performance that can be used for the Countersong bardic performance. Nothing there even remotely suggests that Performance (oratory) isn't an audible performance.
Likewise, Distraction only shows what skills you can use for that particular bardic performance because calling out to people and yelling at them - Performance (oratory) - can be distracting.