Explain Profession and Perform

[FyreHeart]

Hey guys!

Im going to soon be playing in a new campaign where my character is a bard, and two skills that are annoying me are Profession and Perform.

What the hell does Profession have to do with a bard (and explain what it is first though) and specific question for Perform: can I take two Performs at level 1 or do I have to wait til later to do so?

Note: We are playing Pathfinder rules for this game.

[ArcturusV]

I don't know about Pathfinder... but in third edition/3.5:

Perform skills are generally entertainment/act basing. It's about creating a response/enjoyment in an audience with a singular performance. Thus you have Perform: Singing, Perform: Dancing, Perform: Noh Theater, Perform: Oratory.

Profession skills are less about singular acts. They're about a 9-5 regular job which generally do not have direct mechanical benefits. Profession would be things like Profession: Lawyer, Profession: Dirt Farmer, Profession: Shipwright. Profession checks are usually the results of days/weeks of work on a task. Like you might make a single Profession: Lawyer check to try to get someone declared not guilty by the magistrate even though the trial takes hours/days. Or a single Profession: Dirt Farmer check to show months of growing turnips.

Profession is a skill I think... almost every class has. Before you were a Bard, you were probably something else. Raised as the son of a farmer so you have Profession: Farmer? Or during your apprenticeship at the bard's college you were giving Kitchen duties so you have Profession: Chef?

And yes, generally speaking you could take two different perform skills at level 1.

[Trunamer]

Profession is a waste of skill points; you can just write "My character was a blacksmith before going to bard college" or whatever, and spend the skill points on something useful.

Peform is a skill tax that bards need to do their shtick -- although PF has cut down on the number of bard-y things that require a Perform check. You can put points into Perform (electric guitar) and Perform (finger cymbals), or whatever, but I don't recommend it.

[PlusSixPelican]

With PF Bards, you get more out of those Performs than just Perform, starting at L2, you get Versatile Performance, which lets you make a Perform check instead of a couple other checks, depending on which Perform. I recommend Dance, as you get Acro/Fly with your Cha (best stat) mod, so you can start doing some Errol Flynn/Swashbuckly shenanigans.

[Krobar]

Profession is a waste of skill points; you can just write "My character was a blacksmith before going to bard college" or whatever, and spend the skill points on something useful.

Peform is a skill tax that bards need to do their shtick -- although PF has cut down on the number of bard-y things that require a Perform check. You can put points into Perform (electric guitar) and Perform (finger cymbals), or whatever, but I don't recommend it.

Until you want to captain a ship, at which time Profession: Sailor comes in very handy; and if you run into a storm or pirates (or the King's Navy if you're a pirate), you're going to want a decent bonus.

[Splendor]

You can also use the perform skill to make some extra cash during down time.
Its relatively easy to boost up (Artist, Nymph’s Kiss, Favored In Guild: New Olamn, MW instrument).
At 6th level you could have a +21 to his check, taking 10 gives you a 31 check. This would normally earn you 3d6 gold per day, but with Favored in Guild: New Olamn double that to 6d6 gold/day.


Favored In Guild: New Olamn
You can substitute a Perform check in place of a Diplomacy check or Gather Information check by offering your service for free. In addition, you gain twice the normal income when you use Perform checks to earn money. -- Waterdeep pg 29

[Chronos]

Profession is not a skill. It's a loose collection of a whole bunch of different skills. Profession (Farmer) is a skill. Profession (Herbalist) is a skill. Profession (Chimneysweep) is a skill. You can use Profession skills to earn money, but it's a lot slower than adventuring, so almost nobody bothers with it. Other than that, the rules mostly ignore Profession, aside from the very occasional prestige class requirement. A few players will put a few points in anyway, just for flavor purposes.

Similarly, Perform is also not a single skill, but a collection of skills. Unlike Profession, though, it's not completely open-ended: There are a few specific categories that are called out, and all the various types of performances are lumped into them. You don't actually take Perform (electric guitar) or Perform (finger cymbals), for instance; you take Perform (strings) or Perform (percussion) instead (and your Perform (Strings) would work equally well with a lute or a harp, if you happened to find one, as it would with an electric guitar).

[DeltaEmil]

Until you want to captain a ship, at which time Profession: Sailor comes in very handy; and if you run into a storm or pirates (or the King's Navy if you're a pirate), you're going to want a decent bonus.Meh, still a complete waste of valuable skill points. Handling a ship can be done by a commoner who invested all of his or her skill points in profession (sailor). The more important thing is do you have enough high-level spellcasters (or magic items) yes or no?

D&D 3.5 should have two categories of skill points.

Fluff skill points for stuff like perform, profession, and craft (mundane item), and perhaps a few of those knowledge skills, like knowledge (local), knowledge (geography), knowledge (nature), knowledge (history), so that a human can actually identify itself as a human in the first place.

And active adventuring skill points for stuff everybody should have, like tumble, ride, jump, climb, swim, spellcraft, perception, disable device, survival, use magic device, and others.

Just like Shadowrun has active skills (which are relevant for shadowrunning) that must be bought with valuable karma and building points, and knowledge skills (which is everything else, like your hobbies) that you gain as a free bonus.

[Lightlawbliss]

Until you want to captain a ship, at which time Profession: Sailor comes in very handy; and if you run into a storm or pirates (or the King's Navy if you're a pirate), you're going to want a decent bonus.

wait... your ship doesn't sail itself? why are you buying a ship that doesn't sail itself?

[Krobar]

wait... your ship doesn't sail itself? why are you buying a ship that doesn't sail itself?

Never buy a ship that sails itself. They're too easily hijacked by DMs and their silly plots.