Perform

When a character wishes to put on a show or make an artistic display of some sort, they make a Perform check. This can take many forms, including dancing, singing, drawing, speaking, acting, or any other activity that could be considered a performance. As a Special skill, the bonus to a player’s Perform roll will utilize different ability scores depending on the action being performed. Some examples, with their corresponding required ability score, include:

Performing a dance (Grace): DC 25

Doing a card trick (Finesse): an opposed check, vs the audience’s Sense result

Singing a ballad (Charm): DC 20

Showing off in a combat situation (Special): whichever ability score was used to attack

A Perform check can also be used to identify dramaturgic spells and effects. This sort of check requires Intellect to be the utilized ability score. Examples of this situation are as follows:

Identify a Dramaturgic spell being cast: DC = 20 + twice spell level. The DC is raised by 10 if the spell is not on the dramaturgic spell list, but is being cast as a dramaturgic spell. This check can be completed as no action.

Identify Dramaturgic annotation: DC = DC of the spell stored.

There are various kinds of performance skills, and this section will attempt to detail some of them, and list the various necessary components for each, along with the primary ability score each uses.

Descriptions and Notes:

Components refers to what is required to perform each artform. V stands for verbal, S for somatic (i.e. movement) and M for material. A silenced creature may not use sound based performances, while one unable to move may not use somatic components.

Chant: This is a form of rhythmic vocal performance which is not necessarily a song. It is often used in religious contexts.

Dance: There are as many forms of dance as there are creatures and cultures in the world, from the high-flying and fast turning dances of the wood-elves, to the joyous line dances of the halflings, to the steady and patterned movements of dwarves, or the riotous and savage joy of orcish dance. The particulars of each dance are left to the GM and players, that they might fit into the desired campaign setting.

Illusion: This refers not to proper magic, but to feats performed using the nimbleness of the fingers and the slowness of the eyes. Performing in this way requires both an object to manipulate, a coin for instance, and the ability to move.

Instrument: Playing an instrument requires: an instrument, the skill and ability to play it, and that the sound of the music be audible. Many instruments exist in the world, and many species have their own favored instruments and varieties of music. Gnomes take to bagpipes, giants to the great drums, halflings to fiddles, and elves to woodwinds.

Saga: This is the art of proclaiming a tale aloud, often but not always in a rhythmic fashion. Species where writing is not common rely primarily on the telling of sagas to keep their myths and legends alive, and to preserve the stories of their heroes.

Song: Singing a song simply requires a voice, and the ability of people to hear you. Here too the varieties of song are as numerous as the species and cultures in the world. Gnolls have mournful dirges, avians sing constantly and sweetly, humans have ballads and bawdy songs alike, and kobolds sing ditties of fire and glory.

Troubadour: This is the act of combining a song with an instrumental performance. This may be done by one or multiple people, and can include a dance as well. When multiple performers congregate, it is often this style of performance which emerges, often blending various styles, though each species holds their own particular traditions supreme.