Versatile Performance and Armor Check Penalty

[Pelthain]

Hi- rolling up a bard for the first time, and I was wandering- how does Perform: Dance work with Armor Check penalties? I can't find this question anywhere and find it hard to believe I'm the first to ask. Obviously dancing would be more difficult in armor, but the skill is CHA based, and bards can do things easier in light armor (like cast spells). Has anyone here ever encountered this dilemma?

[Bob Bob Bob]

There is no Armor Check Penalty for Perform: Dance. It's very explicitly only "Any armor heavier than leather, as well as any shield, hurts a character's ability to use Dex- and Str-based skills. An armor check penalty applies to all Dex- and Strength-based skill checks." Perform: Dance is not STR or DEX based.

It may limit the range of dances you can perform (if you feel like armor and graceful don't belong together) but it doesn't stop you from dancing. Any dance meant to emphasize strength and power is probably a lot more impressive wearing 50 lbs of polished steel.

[Pelthain]

Bob Bob Bob wrote:

There is no Armor Check Penalty for Perform: Dance. It's very explicitly only "Any armor heavier than leather, as well as any shield, hurts a character's ability to use Dex- and Str-based skills. An armor check penalty applies to all Dex- and Strength-based skill checks." Perform: Dance is not STR or DEX based.

It may limit the range of dances you can perform (if you feel like armor and graceful don't belong together) but it doesn't stop you from dancing. Any dance meant to emphasize strength and power is probably a lot more impressive wearing 50 lbs of polished steel.

The problem I have is not using it as part of Bardic Performance, but using it to replace Acrobatics and Fly (mostly acrobatics). Do I still take the check penalty to those skills when I'm using Versatile Performance?

[wraithstrike]

Pelthain wrote:

Bob Bob Bob wrote:

There is no Armor Check Penalty for Perform: Dance. It's very explicitly only "Any armor heavier than leather, as well as any shield, hurts a character's ability to use Dex- and Str-based skills. An armor check penalty applies to all Dex- and Strength-based skill checks." Perform: Dance is not STR or DEX based.

It may limit the range of dances you can perform (if you feel like armor and graceful don't belong together) but it doesn't stop you from dancing. Any dance meant to emphasize strength and power is probably a lot more impressive wearing 50 lbs of polished steel.

The problem I have is not using it as part of Bardic Performance, but using it to replace Acrobatics and Fly (mostly acrobatics). Do I still take the check penalty to those skills when I'm using Versatile Performance?

No you do not because you are not using that(dex or strength based) actual skill. You are using a performance skill. As an example if you take skill focus acrobatics it won't help you in this case, but if you take skill focus (perform ____) then that would help because you are actually using that perform skill.