Power Word Musical
Bard 1, Song 1, Maestro 1 (you can choose to replace your maestro or song domain spell)
Length: Concentration. Variable (See text)
Components: Variable
Powerful mages of song have learned how to truly make all the world into a stage. All creatures that can hear your song (The components of this spell depend on how you create this music. Singing requires vocal components, whilst playing an instrument requires somatic components) are compelled to join in with your song. Choose one creature of your choice to act as the "Central Character". This creature receives a will saving throw. Failure means that they reveal their deepest secrets and true nature through their song. Success holds a similar effect, except the affected creature can use the Bluff skill (with a DC equal to your will save DC) to obfuscate the truth and make their desires and nature sound like something different than what they really are.
Attacking any creature involved in the song instantly ends the effect, and often causes all involved to feel a great animosity towards the attacker.
Those who have the Bardic Performance class feature can spend any number of performance rounds between 1 and their Charisma Modifier in order to increase the central character's save DC by 2 per spent performance round.
I liked the idea of bards (and other musically inclined characters) just having an ability that lets them turn the campaign into Pathfinder the Musical. Hence why it's a level 1 spell.. but how would you make an actually balanced version of this spell?
but how would you make an actually balanced version of this spell?
First of all, the ability to spend rounds of bardic performance to raise the DC needs to go. If we compare it to similar DC-boosting effects like the psychic's Overpowering Mind phrenic amplification (which is largely regarded as a tax that every psychic should take because it's so good) then we're really looking at something in the range of 12-16 rounds of bardic performance for +1 DC. And that's comparing it to something taking up space on your character build. I think it's just best to quietly delete that part.
Second, the spell needs to offer a saving throw to negate for the bystanders caught up in the song. Having everyone nearby join in a song is broadly comparable to the Enthrall spell, which forces bystanders to stop and listen to the speaker. That's a 2nd level spell with a save to negate, so this spell should probably match that. If you want a multi-target spell with no save, then you'll need to make this a mythic spell.
Now let's move on to the main effect of the spell; again, we need a meaningful saving throw. While the bluff check as a way to get out is an interest and thematic wrinkle, it doesn't really do anything from a game-balance perspective for the simple reason that most characters don't have ranks in bluff. Changing the spell so it allows a save to negate would probably make that effect reasonable as a 2nd level spell.
Alternately, you could make it a 6th level spell (8th for maestro and song) with no save. Single-target spells with no saves that are non-lethal are reasonable at those levels, especially in light of the fact that outright immunity isn't uncommon.
Finally, you need to do some general clean-up. Add the [mind-affecting] tag, set a maximum duration on the spell, explicitly define a maximum range, and add in the other obligatory details (school, casting time, spell resistance, etc). You can probably just copy those straight from the Enthrall spell. You might just copy over its restrictions wholesale, as your spell is broadly similar to it in many ways.
Overall this is actually a pretty solid spell idea if we clean it up a bit and add saves to negate. I know it might not exactly hit your concept of an infectious song that affects everyone, but that sort of thing is basically "mythic only" under Pathfinder rules.
Admittedly I guess that a single target 6th level spell would be fitting enough for the Mechanics, since I somewhat assumed that the.. Well literally with the fact that it's called "Power Word Musical". It was designed to replicate how in Musicals often one person in a crowd would start singing, and literally everyone around would leap into the groove, but then once the song was over everyone went about their lives as though nothing happened..
I also kinda wanted to make it a first level spell because of the idea that Bards just have that ability. Where the Bard Goes, Madness and Musicals follow.
I also kinda wanted to make it a first level spell because of the idea that Bards just have that ability. Where the Bard Goes, Madness and Musicals follow.
That just isn't the kind of power embodied by 1st level spells. There certainly are campaigns where that's the baseline level of power that you'd want for your player characters, but in that case you should be starting play as 4th level characters. 1st level play very much epitomizes the "humble beginnings" trope; introducing effects more powerful than this isn't just bad for game balance, it undermines the tone and style of the kind of campaign that starts at 1st level.
It was designed to replicate how in Musicals often one person in a crowd would start singing, and literally everyone around would leap into the groove, but then once the song was over everyone went about their lives as though nothing happened..
And if you allow a saving throw to negate, you can get that effect. Others have a chance to resist your magic and reject it with a save; that's just the normal expectation in Pathfinder, and if you want to break that expectation you're looking more in the realms of the mythic rules.
Power Word: Musical (Enchantment)
Bard 4, Song 5, Maestro 5
Distance: Close-Medium
Duration: Concentration: Variable. (See Text)
Components: variable (see text)
Powerful mages of song have learned how to truly make all the world into a stage. All creatures that can hear your song (The components of this spell depend on how you create this music. Singing requires vocal components, whilst playing an instrument requires somatic components) must make a will save or be compelled to join in with your song. Select one affected creature to make a second will save. If they fail, they reveal their true nature and deepest desires through their singing. Success holds a similar effect, except the affected creature can use the Bluff skill (with a DC equal to your will save DC) to obfuscate the truth and make their desires and nature sound like something different than what they really are. (Or they can just sing about something unrelated, making no role, but that might easily key the caster to the fact that they passed their save).
Variable Duration: In order for the spell to be truly successful. The caster must continue to sing and play for the whole duration of the 'musical number'. Though GMs allowing this spell might want to note what information the caster can glean from an incomplete song. (generally 1-4 minutes is the approximate amount of time, though longer songs may reveal more about them than shorter ones.)
Variable Components: Singing requires verbal components, Playing an instrument requires somatic components and a focus in the form of the instrument.
Also related but unrelated I'd ask if this would be more fitting to be a Bard Masterpiece than a spell.
Also related but unrelated I'd ask if this would be more fitting to be a Bard Masterpiece than a spell.
Both are entirely reasonable depending on what you're going for. Going with a masterpiece means it won't be available to characters with the domain or bloodline, nor to characters who cast using the bard list but are not bards.
I was going to do a breakdown of individual formatting changes that could change the spell, but since it's really just a whole bunch of small tweaks (add this tag, move this parenthesis to its own separate sentence, don't forget to explicitly address this edge case, etc) I'm just going to write out the fully changed spell block here:
Power Word: Musical
School: enchantment (compulsion) [mind-affecting]; Level Bard 4, Domain Song 5, Bloodline Maestro 5
Casting Time: 1 round
Components: V (if singing) or S (if instrumental)
Duration: 10 minutes or less
Saving Throw: Will negates (see text); Spell Resistance yes
Powerful mages of song have learned how to truly make all the world into a stage. The caster must make a performance as part of the casting of this spell, either singing or with a musical instrument. All creatures within range that can hear the performance are compelled to join in the performance (will negates). The caster can select one affected creature and compel it to reveal its true nature and deepest desires though song. That creature receives a second will save to negate this secondary effect. If successful, the creature may choose to make a bluff check to deceive the caster and other onlookers as to their true nature, or sing about something unrelated instead. It takes 1d4 minutes for the creature to complete their song, and if the spell is interrupted or ended before then they reveal only incomplete or useless information at GM discretion.
Creatures compelled to join the performance cannot leave for so long as it continues, nor can they take hostile actions against the caster or any other performer. If any performer is attacked or subject to some overtly hostile act, the spell ends and all compelled performers become unfriendly. If the spell completes normally, compelled performers return to their regular lives as if nothing happened and don't consider the impromptu musical score unusual. The caster can end the performance at any time.