Benefit: You can combine your bardic performance and your spellcasting in two ways. First, you can conceal the activity of casting a bard spell by masking it in a performance. As a swift action, you may combine your casting time of a spell with a Perform check. Observers must make a Perception or Sense Motive check opposed by your Perform check to realize you are also casting a spell. This uses 1 round of your bardic performance ability, regardless of the spell’s casting time.
Second, as a move action, you can use 1 round of bardic performance to maintain a bard spell with a duration of concentration. You can cast another spell in the same round you are using bardic magic to maintain concentration; if you do this, your concentration on the maintained spell ends when you end the bardic performance the spell is part of.
The first part of this ability seems to discount the magical glowing runes. As it would be difficult to hide those in a performance.
The traditional components of magic seem easy enough to hide with Spellsong. I'm not sure how playing a lute or dancing would hide "obvious magical manifestations" of casting that aren't really traditionally mentioned (S, V, M).
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Benefit: You can combine your bardic performance and your spellcasting in two ways. First, you can conceal the activity of casting a bard spell by masking it in a performance. As a swift action, you may combine your casting time of a spell with a Perform check. Observers must make a Perception or Sense Motive check opposed by your Perform check to realize you are also casting a spell. This uses 1 round of your bardic performance ability, regardless of the spell’s casting time.
Second, as a move action, you can use 1 round of bardic performance to maintain a bard spell with a duration of concentration. You can cast another spell in the same round you are using bardic magic to maintain concentration; if you do this, your concentration on the maintained spell ends when you end the bardic performance the spell is part of.
The first part of this ability seems to discount the magical glowing runes. As it would be difficult to hide those in a performance.
The traditional components of magic seem easy enough to hide with Spellsong. I'm not sure how playing a lute or dancing would hide "obvious magical manifestations" of casting that aren't really traditionally mentioned (S, V, M).
Maybe you try to pass that like stage effects.
But really it is the effect of making a FAQ that is essentially a rule addendum for balance. A rule addendum that should be part of the Core Rules as it impact all the game.
People writing the abilities in splat books can easily forget that or not take it in the necessary consideration.
I think that is a good addition, but currently it can mean anything from glowing runes to subtle energies that one perceive with a sixth sense and that cannot be pinpointed.