So far, all I've seen from the Bard is instruments, and not only does it not mention non-instrumental performances for a Bard, the Performance skill specifically separates singing and oratory, as well as dancing, from playing an instrument.
Can we really no longer make Bards that focus on song or dance or (my personal favorite) oration anymore?
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That's what I came here to ask about. More specifically, I was curious, if they still work, if the non-instrument performances could also qualify for the swapping of V/S/M components for instrument-playing.
Xenocrat wrote: Persona Mask. Sigh.
Is that a reference to something else, or are you citing a rule somewhere?
Voss wrote: Xenocrat wrote: Persona Mask. Sigh.
Is that a reference to something else, or are you citing a rule somewhere? It’s a magic item for these performances. You can use them when appropriate.
Xenocrat wrote: Voss wrote: Xenocrat wrote: Persona Mask. Sigh.
Is that a reference to something else, or are you citing a rule somewhere? It’s a magic item for these performances. You can use them when appropriate. It gives you a bonus to Performance checks, it doesn't let you use song, dance, or oratory as "instruments" for the purposes of Bard class features and feats.
Also, even if it did, a Bard shouldn't have to rely on a magic item to be able to be a Bardic singer, dancer, or orator.
The only think you can't do with noninstrument Performance choices is substitute material/verbal components with playing any instrument. But that's a terrible option, because it ties up a hand. Or two. And why do you want to do that anyway? It doesn't save you from a silence effect.
Inspire Heroics just requires a Performance check. So do all of the others. If you have to match the verbal/somatic component to your performance type (I'm not sure you do) then singing/comedy/acting works for Verbal, dancing for Somatic.
The only practical benefit to instruments, at steep cost of the use of your hands, is that its easy to get an item bonus from a mundane instrument, and the bonuses on magical instruments are one higher than the Persona Mask and Dancing Scarf. I would never choose to play an instrument bard for purely mechanical reasons, they seem strictly worse.
You can totally sing or dance. There's no instrument for it, but you can. In the brief blurb on Performance, it gave examples of types of performances, and examples of how attribute penalties (such as having a Dex penalty when attempting to dance).
As a bard, singing and dancing is an option, but since you aren't "using an instrument", you would still need a free hand for your Material Casting and Somatic Casting actions. Were you playing an instrument instead, you could use that for those actions, in addition to replacing the Verbal Casting action.
Heck, if you want you can specialize a bit in Performance. While the skill itself doesn't have specializations, there is the Virtuosic Performer Skill Feat, which gives you a +2.
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