Greetings, good folk of the board.
I come to you today with a simple question to most of you, but one that has caused me some headache, doubly so because it concerns my first character for the Society, and I would hate to mess it up.
As per the norm, one is allowed to pick two traits when starting out. I made myself a half-elf Bard, with a primary Perform-Skill for Sing. It sits at a nice +7 itself, which is fine by me, yet for added immersion I would like to get a chance to attain Perform (Dance) as well, as a class skill.
Sifting through the lists for Social Traits that are legal, I came across 'Talented', which seems to do exactly what I want (additional Perform-skill of my choice, +1 bonus, class skill)...or does it? I know this can be somewhat of a problem with different interpretations of rules, depending on the reader in question.
Did I however get it right this time around, with my character now having both Sing and Dance at a +7 and +4 respectively, or was I supposed to put that +1 in Sing, which I had already written down on my character sheet as part of my class' skills?
The Description of the trait in question reads as follows:
"You are a virtuoso musician, actor, or storyteller. You gain a +1 trait bonus on checks with a single Perform skill (your choice), and all Perform skills are always class skills for you."
My Problem comes with the first part of the bonus description, which to me leaves the interpretation that I would already need to have a Perform-skill to put the point into, not add another to my skill list.
As touched upon, it will be an supremely easy question to answer for most of you, maybe it's just me being a square right now.
In any case, I wish y'all a good day.
The Description of the trait in question reads as follows:
"You are a virtuoso musician, actor, or storyteller. You gain a +1 trait bonus on checks with a single Perform skill (your choice), and all Perform skills are always class skills for you."
My Problem comes with the first part of the bonus description, which to me leaves the interpretation that I would already need to have a Perform-skill to put the point into, not add another to my skill list.
The +1 trait bonus can be given to any Perform skill of your choice.
You can put ranks in skills even though you don't have them as class skills.
As a Bard you already have all Perform skills as class skills, not just one instance. Which makes this trait a bad choice for you.
If you have a charisma modifier of +3, then both your Perform (Sing) and Perform (Dance) should have a total bonus of +7 if you're level one and have placed one skill rank in each.
As Wonderstell has already pointed out, you already have all Perform skills as a Bard. (Unless there is an Archetype that trades this away, which I am unfamiliar with). If your character's patron is Shelyn, may I suggest the Intense Artist trait instead? You get +1 to two separate Performance checks, instead of just one.
I get them all?
Holy moly, and here I was, thinking I would get access to only one Perform-skill! This makes this a lot easier, actually, thank you kindly, Master Wonderstell.
Tho my character was originally agnostic, I suppose there really is no downside to worshipping Shelyn, is there? So a kind thank you to you as well, MonkeyFish, I will actually consider that trait instead.
You lot have been an enormous help, I cannot thank you enough.
@Vyhs - Yeah, basically if any class skills just list Craft, Perform, or Profession without specifying which ones, you gain them all. As a bard, you'll pretty much want as many Perform skills as you have Versatile Performance - and in my opinion, sing and orator are the best versatile performances to have followed by Dance on later levels. Basically, you're a Skill Monkey that reduces the number of skills he needs, neat right?! :D
Regarding agnostic, that is still a viable choice. Nearly 90% of all Bards and Skalds have Shelyn as their Patron, mostly due to fluff and mechanics because Shelyn is the deity of art, music, and beauty. I'd love to see your concept for an Agnostic bard - Especially if it is an Arcane Healer archetype. Nothing is funnier than an agnostic bard channeling positive energy to heal people without the help of a god! xD
Other traits you might like include:
* Voice of Velvet (Race: Human - Vudrani), +1 to Diplomacy and Perform (Orator)
* Tattooed Focus (Race: Human - Varisian), +2 to any one Perform skill
* Stage Magic (Equipment), +2 to any Perform by expending an Alchemical Item.
* Dilettante Artist (Race: Elf), +1 to any one Perform and Diplomacy.
* Caravan Nomad (Race: Kitsune), +1 to all Bluff and Perform checks.
Hmm, I actually haven't looked at it like that, I guess the positive energy has to come from somewhere, since it is the same class feature the clerics got at their disposal. Still, could've been fun to have an agnostic, healing-focused Bard, being granted these healing powers by forces unseen, that essentially want to further his cause, without being all in his face about it. Who knows, he could discover faith somewhere along the way.
I noticed that I had the wrong description of the Arcane Healer-archetype at my disposal, as the one from the Archives of Nethys is not only incomplete, but says it replaces Loremaster, instead of Versatile Performance. It ain't that bad however, as I don't mind that much. Versatile Performance is great, don't get me wrong, but I have points invested in the good stuff like Diplomacy anyway, so I wouldn't have to substitute it with a Perform-skill.
Concerning the other traits you have listed, MonkeyFish, they are all splendid choices, even ones I will probably use on other characters at one point, so thank you kindly once again for this dandy, little list, friend.