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So I am working on a bigger project that I will post here later and I found myself in want of a skill feat that combined Intimidation and Performance. Here is what I came up with:
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Theatrical Dread Feat 1
Common, General, Skill
Prerequisites: trained in Intimidation, trained in Performance
There is a stark difference between simply threatening someone and instilling in them a feeling of true dread by properly setting the scene. In a situation in which you have had the time and opportunity to truly prepare an atmosphere of horror you gain a +1 circumstance bonus to your Intimidation check to Coerce or Demoralize. Because this method relies on using choice words to paint a picture of just how doomed the victim is, you cannot use this feat in conjunction with a method of intimidation that removes the need for sharing a language. If you are a Master in Performance, this bonus increases to +2.
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Okay, so mechanically it works just like Intimidating Prowess, but is only level 1 instead of 2. I think this fills a niche for characters who want to be intimidating without high Str. As for the lower level, I have three reasons. One, purely mechanical, I want it to be a feat granted by something at level 1. Two and three are the justifications: it requires investment in two different skills instead of just one (and one of those skills is rarely taken unless Bard), and the requirement is meant to be much more difficult/time-consuming than just 'physically menacing'. Sure, both are essentially GM fiat, "would this creature feel physically menaced by you" vs "would this creature be impressed by your theatricality", but I know when running a game I would probably say yes to the former more often than to the latter. Oh yeah, a reason number four, the fact that it explicitly does not work with something like Intimidating Glare. Honestly this is meant to be used like 80% of the time for Coerce rather than Demoralize.
Think the charismatic cult leader who goes all out on all the pillars of fire, fountains of blood, and in-depth descriptions of the excruciating damnation that awaits you, as opposed to the burly orc who just cracks a walnut with his eyelid while staring at you.
Anyway, what do you think? Too good, not good enough, needs more cowbell?
I really like the idea behind this; I think this nails the theatricality of villain monologues. My two recommendations at this point would be the following:
As an example:
Traits: general, skill
Prerequisites: Trained in Performance
You can deliver a chilling monologue to instill a sense of dread in those you attempt to intimidate. You can Coerce or Demoralize using Performance instead of Intimidation. If you Demoralize a creature in this way, the action gains the linguistic trait. If you succeed on your check to Demoralize a creature in this way, its frightened condition doesn't decrease at the end of its next turn, even if the creature might be immune to the normal effects of your Demoralize action.
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Effectively, you wouldn't be able to raise the success rate of your Demoralize checks, but you'd instead basically be able to continue monologuing to keep one or more creatures frightened throughout a fight.
I really like the idea behind this; I think this nails the theatricality of villain monologues. My two recommendations at this point would be the following:
I think the feat could be rephrased slightly to add the linguistic trait to the Demoralize action when you use it in this way.
I would probably reformulate the feat so that it lets you use Performance to Coerce or Demoralize, much like how Impressive Performance lets you substitute Performance for Diplomacy when you Make an Impression, and find a different benefit -- for instance, preventing the target's frightened condition from going down so long as you continue to Demoralize them in this way. As an example:
Traits: general, skill
Prerequisites: Trained in PerformanceYou can deliver a chilling monologue to instill a sense of dread in those you attempt to intimidate. You can Coerce or Demoralize using Performance instead of Intimidation. If you Demoralize a creature in this way, the action gains the linguistic trait. If you succeed on your check to Demoralize a creature in this way, its frightened condition doesn't decrease at the end of its next turn, even if the creature might be immune to the normal effects of your Demoralize action.
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Effectively, you wouldn't be able to raise the success rate of your Demoralize checks, but you'd instead basically be able to continue monologuing to keep one or more creatures frightened throughout a fight.
As this give you a better Demoralize, I think it would reasonable to have it also require Trained in Intimidation. You also don't specify when the frightened condition does drop.
That said I think you need to say the demoralize drops its level at then end of the round after their next. Then add a line saying that if a subsequent round you make aa action making performance check, and it includes or you add the linguistic trait, it delays the reduction in their frightened condition until the end of the turn after next.
So as an example, one could demoralize foe 1, and then, on turn 2 you demoralize foe 2, that action would keep Foe 1 demoralized for another turn. They could potentially stack multiple demoralizes this way with their actions. This I think justifies requiring them to start with both performance and intimidation. Not only would this require acting, but it would require being able to scare as well.
The feat switches what skill is used for advancement, allowing a really good performance individual to scare really well for purposes of this. It elongates the effect of the demoralize, granting a means of 'sustaining' the effect, which effectively would grant them the ability spread the dread to others, and might also allow other performance based checks to continue effect.
Honestly the simple ability to sustain the effect it might honestly be too powerful, but I find the concept of the ability compelling.
As this give you a better Demoralize, I think it would reasonable to have it also require Trained in Intimidation. You also don't specify when the frightened condition does drop.
Impressive Performance buffs Make an Impression without requiring training in Diplomacy. Giving Demoralize the linguistic trait is a nerf, and the frightened condition specifies already how it decrements, so all that is needed here is specifying that this doesn't happen at the end of the target's next turn.
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Hmm. That is an interesting idea, but my first thought when I read the part about being able to 'sustain' the demoralize was "Wow, I would want to find a way to fit that in all my intimidation builds" and that makes me think it is too powerful. I do like the idea of adding the linguistic trait. Frankly I would have already done so, but forgot it existed.
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I would borrow further from it's closest analogue, Intimidating Prowess, and set the requirements to "Expert in Performance" (in addition to "Trained in Intimidation") and raise it to a "Feat 2".
My 2cps.