Dear fellow pathfinders
I'm really digging the Arcane Duelist archetype for the bard and want to make up a character for some brain exercises.
However, I'm having a real hard time trying to justify what the heck he's doing in the middle of the battle using his Bardic Performance.
I mean, war chanting is fine and so is sword-dancing... but the type of character I want to play is a more hard-boiled, gruff and grumpy detective that weaves buffing spells in his blade.
So how do I justify to myself how a grumpy old man uses his bardic performance?
I've come up with just one thing- that is, he is a martial arts master and his bardic performance is him doing wuxia routines and quoting old tacticians (like the Arts of War) to inspire his allies. So he will be saying things like "in combat, you must be like a mountain until the moment you strike- at which you must be like the blazing flame!"
But... that just sounds too cheesy. Not even the martial arts masters in the flashiest chinese martial arts films do that :(
So help me out guys, what can a grumpy bard do?
Flavor it as him just yelling furiously at the enemy.
Flavor it as him just yelling furiously at the enemy.
Thanks for your input. I was thinking more on the subtler side of performance though. Something more... classy if you would.
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As far as RAW goes bardic performances such as Inspire Courage don't actually use the perform skill at all in Pathfinder. How does it work? It's magic...
There's nothing to stop you from RPing Inspire Courage by acting as a grumpy sergeant exhorting the troops to hold the line and to keep up their guard and to perform coordinated strikes, etc...
Perform: Oratory.
Grand, rousing speeches and tactical advice.
Though, you do realize, the majority of Bardic Performance is not tied to Perform AT ALL. Only Countersong and Distraction, probably the two least used of all of them.
So just do what you want, don't even worry about which Perform it should fall under.
Also, the whole "martial arts master" thing just makes me think of Sensei Monk.
It could simply be his presence that inspires them. You know the whole "lead by example" thing.
He's completely unfazed by the enemy, and that gives them courage. Stuff like that.
Remember: In PF you don't actually *need* a Perform skill for Bardic Performances (well some of them you still do, but not Inspire Courage).
If you really want a Perform tied to it, maybe Act, as he's putting on a show of confidence (maybe more confidence than he actually has himself?). Not a flashy show, but as I said above, a "I'm not scared, so you shouldn't either" show.
You should check out 'A Chinese Ghost Story'.
Swordsman Yin can bust out hella rhymes.
wow thank you so much guys. So even though the name is 'bardic performance' it doesn't need to be tied to any 'perform', huh. Well, I suppose that kinda solves my problem!
Thanks a bunch again >:3
Macrame
First person smartass? Comedy or oratory to make a witty and/or snarky comments about opponents.
She insult her ennemies and use sarcasm to bolster her friends.
I do this too. I don't get any bonuses though. :p
He used... sarcasm. Oh, he knew all the tricks: dramatic irony, metaphor, pathos, pun, parody, litotes and satire.
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You could have a weapon with holes in the blade that doubles as a wind instrument, creating a haunting melody when you swing it artfully through the air. So his skillful swordplay is accompanied by somber or haunting music.
There is a Shoanti weapon/musicial instrument like this which the barbarian-bards use.
Totem Spear I think it is called.
Percussion, use light mace with TWF and the opponent as the drum.
I think dance would work very well, too.
Ruyan.
I actually think that performing katas (martial art routines) and quoting the Sun Tzu sounds pretty awesome.
I wanna build a catfolk bard who shouts the chant from the lion king (from when the sun rises as simba is being held up)
Oratory, he calmly recites situationaly appropriate poetry as he moves across the field. Nothing more badass than a non-monk remaining calm in battle.
Flavor it as him just yelling furiously at the enemy.Thanks for your input. I was thinking more on the subtler side of performance though. Something more... classy if you would.
Become a Death Metal Lead singer.
I think that whistling might fall under perform (sing). This might seem underwhelming, but I could easily see someone doing some kind of creepy serial killer kind of thing with whistling.
There are various forms of dance which incorporate sword techniques. This is often either due to their use as some kind of ceremony or the dance was in fact a covert way of teaching sword techniques when martial arts were banned by those in power. As far as appearances go, you would just have a very flashy swordstyle.
Otherwise, it seems to come down to oratory or act while simply being dramatic. But actually coming up with dramatic lines on the fly can get tiring after a while. I prefer my dancing, whistling, death metal singer.
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My gnome bard calls out stirring ennobling phrases in gnomish.
...
Well, actually it is his great grandmother's recipe for stinging nettle soup. He had to memorize it as an exercise during bard training. But with a perform oratory of +12, he can make it *sound* like stirring martial exhortations. And any gnomes that happen to be along will probably get such a kick out of the novelty, they will probably get a morale boost anyway.
My gnome bard calls out stirring ennobling phrases in gnomish.
...
Well, actually it is his great grandmother's recipe for stinging nettle soup.
Would that be perform oratory or perform comedy?
I ultimately decided on this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E84OWq6z3IQ
I'd never go into battle without my harpsichord!
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Perform: Oratory.
Grand, rousing speeches and tactical advice.
Though, you do realize, the majority of Bardic Performance is not tied to Perform AT ALL. Only Countersong and Distraction, probably the two least used of all of them.
So just do what you want, don't even worry about which Perform it should fall under.
Also, the whole "martial arts master" thing just makes me think of Sensei Monk.
This is the method I used when I made my Sleepless Detective (think Sherlock Holmes). Very little combat ability whatsoever, so for the basics, but a lot of buff/debuff and aid another checks were thrown aroundl
So how do I justify to myself how a grumpy old man uses his bardic performance?Perform (oratory).
"When I was your age, we didn't have these newfangled swords. We had to make do with simple clubs and sticks. And magic? Ha! Don't even get me started on magic. Back in my day, we couldn't walk down to the market and, la-di-da, suddenly have magic. We couldn't afford some archmage! No! We had to WORK for our magic. And let me tell you ... "
"bah adventuring today! Let me tell you a little story about a keep on the borderlands."