An idea for Bards

[Eladrinblade]

What are the implications of these changes?

1. Bard spells have no somatic components
2. Bards who play an instrument can cast spells at the same time (like how bards who sing can use their hands to fight)

Bards can never silence a spell, so it seems fair that they get some benefit for that, and as is, the only benefit to using an instrument is a minor boost to your performance check via a MW instrument.

[Name1]

There is a feat for that, and it's called Disguise Spell. The change would thus be that you essentially give Bards that Metamagic as a bonus feat and have spells enhanced with it take up no higher level slots.

[Thaneus]

Melodic Casting feat does the trick for spells and you can cast defensive while using perform check instead concentration. No Wand activation though.
So you can play the lute and throw ottos unresistable dance at the enemy.

[Extra Anchovies]

It further enforces the advantage singing has over any other type of Perform. Before this change, it already
1. Cannot be taken away from you
2. Does not require any hands to use
3. Is undetectable until used

After the change, though, physical instruments still occupy one or more hands, while singing can now use both hands for whatever they want, and still be able to cast. I recommend instead allowing Bards who play physical instruments to use the instrument's playing as the spell's somatic components, with singers needing to make the gestures as normal.

[Eladrinblade]

while singing can now use both hands for whatever they want, and still be able to cast.

Would this be because of the melodic casting mentioned above?

What if I were only talking Core?

[Extra Anchovies]

Would this be because of the melodic casting mentioned above?

It was with both. With only #1, singing bards can still either perform with both hands free or cast with both hands free, while non-singing bards would need to use at least one hand for either of the two.

As for #2, I don't see any reason for it. Bards aren't exactly underpowered or starved for feats.


What if I were only talking Core?

If anything, I'm pretty sure sticking to Core with the proposed changes would hurt non-singing bards even more, because there's a number of magical or otherwise special instruments scattered throughout various splats (I know Song and Silence had quite a few, and CAdv probably adds a couple more).

[Eladrinblade]

If it's core, there's no splats.

[AnachroNinja]

That was his point I think, it hampers instrument playing bards more because there are a large number of non core magic instruments they would no longer have access to.

[Eldansyr77]

Melodic Casting feat does the trick for spells and you can cast defensive while using perform check instead concentration. No Wand activation though.
So you can play the lute and throw ottos unresistable dance at the enemy.

If the wand has a verbal activation word or phrase then it can be activated can't it?