Let's say I'm making a Kobold Dragon Yapper with the Soulless Gaze feat.
My Versatile Performance class ability must be used for Singing at 2nd level, but at a higher level I can choose something else as well, so I take Comedy.
He then uses Perform (Comedy) instead of Intimidate to demoralize.
Soulless Gaze grants a +2 bonus to Intimidate, and Intimidate would give him a -4 penalty to demoralize due to him being small.
Would he get the bonus of Soulless Gaze and/or the penalty for his size? In this build, I'm assuming I don't take the Taunt feat (which I will if I have to).
What about when he uses his Yapping Song? Do penalties to saves against fear affects have any effect on determining the DC for demoralizing?
Versatile Performance (Ex): At 2nd level, a bard can choose one type of Perform skill. He can use his bonus in that skill in place of his bonus in associated skills. When substituting in this way, the bard uses his total Perform skill bonus, including class skill bonus, in place of its associated skill's bonus, whether or not he has ranks in that skill or if it is a class skill.
Note that it is not "use that skill in place of the associated skill." That is, you are still using Intimidate, you're just using a different number to determine how effective you are. So all modifiers to Intimidate attempts apply, since it is an Intimidate attempt.
Intimidate is a fear effect, but it does not involve a saving throw, so modifiers to saves vs fear do not apply. Remember that DCs are involved in all kinds of things that are not saving throws; it's deliberately a very general mechanic. The Climb skill gives you DCs for scaling surfaces, the Fly skill gives you DCs for staying aloft when damaged, and the Intimidate skill gives you a DC for demoralizing people.
(Personally I think it would be cooler if Intimidation was affected by modifiers to saves vs fear somehow. It doesn't seem like it would unbalance anything... oh, well.)
Versatile Performance (Ex): At 2nd level, a bard can choose one type of Perform skill. He can use his bonus in that skill in place of his bonus in associated skills. When substituting in this way, the bard uses his total Perform skill bonus, including class skill bonus, in place of its associated skill's bonus, whether or not he has ranks in that skill or if it is a class skill.Note that it is not "use that skill in place of the associated skill." That is, you are still using Intimidate, you're just using a different number to determine how effective you are. So all modifiers to Intimidate attempts apply, since it is an Intimidate attempt.
Intimidate is a fear effect, but it does not involve a saving throw, so modifiers to saves vs fear do not apply. Remember that DCs are involved in all kinds of things that are not saving throws; it's deliberately a very general mechanic. The Climb skill gives you DCs for scaling surfaces, the Fly skill gives you DCs for staying aloft when damaged, and the Intimidate skill gives you a DC for demoralizing people.
(Personally I think it would be cooler if Intimidation was affected by modifiers to saves vs fear somehow. It doesn't seem like it would unbalance anything... oh, well.)
It would also make sense that you could get your Bravery bonus because you are...what's the word... brave? Something like that?
:P
Okay, so with Soulless Gaze and the Demoralizing Presence trait I took, I get the +4 to Intimidation checks (even tho the character uses Perform: Comedy), and with Taunt he doesn't get the -4 penalty for being small. Oh, and the Memorable trait as well so the shaken affects last 1.5 times longer.
Neat :D
It is a shame, tho, that he can fill the area with Vision of Hell while doing his Yapping, creating a creepy atmosphere, and it doesn't make demoralizing any easier.