Bard: Difference between revisions
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
| Line 376: | Line 376: | ||
In order to use their Performance skill and enter a Performance Stance, a bard must wield an Instrument with both hands. This may be a traditional instrument such as a lute, violin, or flute, or it may be any other Instrument which the Bard uses to focus his Performance. It can be an item of clothing such as a signature hat which is manipulated about the body, as used by Fred Astaire, it can be an artifact such as Yorick's Skull to which he declaims dramatically, it can be a scarf which is held and manipulated to emphasize the performance, or anything else the player wishes. | In order to use their Performance skill and enter a Performance Stance, a bard must wield an Instrument with both hands. This may be a traditional instrument such as a lute, violin, or flute, or it may be any other Instrument which the Bard uses to focus his Performance. It can be an item of clothing such as a signature hat which is manipulated about the body, as used by Fred Astaire, it can be an artifact such as Yorick's Skull to which he declaims dramatically, it can be a scarf which is held and manipulated to emphasize the performance, or anything else the player wishes. | ||
Note that you can, if you wish, declare you are a martially-oriented Bard and use a Sword and Shield (for example) as your instrument, and this is perfectly legitimate! However, this has the major caveat that when you are using your sword and shield as your Bardic instrument to maintain a Stance, you CANNOT also use it as a weapon and shield, with the single exception of the "Song of Steel" Bardic Performance. | |||
In addition to allowing the use of their Performance skill to enter a Performance Stance, a Bard's Instrument can, optionally, be enchanted to act as a light shield. This has the advantage that they can gain a shield bonus without having to put their Instrument away, and vice versa. In such cases, the Instrument can only be used for one function at a time, much as a Double Weapon: IE, if you are using it with one hand defensively as a shield, you may not wield it with both hands as an Instrument to Perform. | In addition to allowing the use of their Performance skill to enter a Performance Stance, a Bard's Instrument can, optionally, be enchanted to act as a light shield. This has the advantage that they can gain a shield bonus without having to put their Instrument away, and vice versa. In such cases, the Instrument can only be used for one function at a time, much as a Double Weapon: IE, if you are using it with one hand defensively as a shield, you may not wield it with both hands as an Instrument to Perform. | ||