Skald Beefcake with Fast Healing question.

[Tels]

I'm asking this here and a few other places to see if there is anything wrong with it.


A raging song counts as the bard’s bardic performance special ability for any effect that affects bardic performances.

Totemic Skald with the Bull Animal Focus.


Song of the Beast (Su): The totemic skald grants the animal focus abilities of his totem animal (as the hunter’s animal focus ability) to all allies affected by his raging song. He treats his skald level as his hunter level for determining the abilities of the animal focus (such as the improvements gained at 8th and 15th level).

Feats:

Master Performer

Grand Master Performer

Skald's Vigor

Greater Skald's Vigor

So, I'm just trying to see if I understand these abilities correctly. In the build above, whenever an ally accepts the Skald's raging song, it gains a strength bonus (via Song of the Beast). This means that the Skald's Vigor feats will always be in affect whenever the Skald uses raging song. Since raging song is affected by feats or effects that affect Bardic Performance, this means Master Performer and Grand Master Performer also affect raging song bonuses. In this case, this would means that the Skald always provides at least a +6 enhancement bonus to strength whenever he uses raging song.

Furthermore, whenever the Skald uses inspired rage, affected allies gain an additional bonus to strength, but it's a morale bonus, and, that means it stacks with the enhancement bonus from Song of the Beast! Just to sweeten the deal, Skald's Vigor grants fast healing equal to the provided strength bonus from raging song. An inspired rage, in this case, would therefore provide fast healing 6 or fast healing 12 (when taken at the minimum level required to pull this all off). Just to sweeten the pot, it also grants a +6 morale bonus to constitution.

This means the Skald turns any affected allies Wolverine-esque beefcakes. They gain incredible strength, incredible constitution, and regenerate hit points at a ridiculous rate.

To further make it even crazier, a Tuned Bowstring (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/wondrous-items/wondrous-items/r-z/tuned-bowstring/) should let the Skald do this without using his rounds of performance.

Am I understanding this all correctly? Is this all rules legal? It feels like one of those, "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is," situations.

[Geddy2112]

RAW this totally works. Skalds vigor is probably intended to refer to the bonus from raging song only, but it does not explicitly state that.

[Tels]

RAW this totally works. Skalds vigor is probably intended to refer to the bonus from raging song only, but it does not explicitly state that.

Oh, for certain this is not the intention. Hell, combining Inspiring Rage and Song of the Beast probably isn't intended either, as even just granting all allies a +8 strength bonus is extremely powerful, but...

I made a 10th level NPC using the Pathbuilder app with this design in mind. Turns out pretty beastly. Using the spell path of glory combined with the Celestial Totem means she can heal 23 each round. With a longsword and buckler, she's got a decent enough AC and damage output, with 2-handing a possibility should she ever need to make something dead A.S.A.P.

[Edit] Additionally, Skald's Vigor is easy to abuse with Song of Marching due to Song of the Beast. Spend 1 round of performance to make everyone march faster for an hour, and since they are affected by raging song for 1 hour, benefit from Skald's Vigor so gain fast healing for 1 hour. Best out of combat healing in the game.

[Serafina]

Wow, that's a nice combo!
It all depends on whether the GM allows the strength bonus from the animal focus to count towards the fast healing, but RAW that currently works.
Also, Master Performer should increase both the enhancement-bonus and the morale-bonus to strength, because it increases any numerical bonus provided.

You can start by giving yourself Fast Healing 4 at 3rd level, which is already pretty noticeable.
At 5th level (or 3rd if you're human), that's Fast Healing 6 thanks to Master Performer.
At 8th level, that goes up to Fast Healing 10 thanks to increases to the enhancement- and morale-bonus.
At 9th level, that goes up to Fast Healing 12 thanks to Grand Master Performer.
At 11th level, you can finally provide that to your whole party.
At 15th level, it goes up to Fast Healing 14 thanks to the enhancement bonus increasing.
And at 16th level, it caps out at Fast Healing 16 thanks to the morale-bonus increasing.


And since you're a Skald, you also gain and grant some damage reduction. You're probably better off not increasing that via Rage Powers, but if you went all-in you could eventuallyhave and grant DR 9/-.

[Malroth]

Hey this sounds like a pretty good thing for my Thrallherd to snag, any tips on how to build one?

[Tels]

Hey this sounds like a pretty good thing for my Thrallherd to snag, any tips on how to build one?

I built a 10th level NPC with the Elite array and NPC wealth for a high fantasy game and used retraining to pick up Greater Skald's Vigor.

If you play the character out organically, you're basically going to play a squishier barbarian for awhile. At 4th level is when you really start seeing the build up of power, and 5th level gives you fast healing.

If you don't play a Human, you will have to wait until level 11 to pull it all off, but you'll be okay as you level.

Feats:
1) Extra Performance, Human: Master Performer
3) Power Attack
5) Skald's Vigor
7) Use retraining to pick up Grand Master Performer at 8th, or pick up Master Performer if not a human.
9) Retrain into Greater Skald's Vigor at 10th or get Grand Master Performer if not human.
11) Greater Skald's Vigor if not human

Make sure to take at least Lesser Celestial Totem so you can combine that with the path of glory spell, this gives more "passive" in combat healing. At 10th level, for example, the NPC I built is capable of dishing out 23 hp of "passive" healing each round. Passive, in that it costs her no action beyond casting the spell and starting the performance to achieve it; something she can do all in the same round.

Something I also realized is that, since inspired rage gives all allies the Skald's damage reduction, it should also be increased by Master Performer, so she would be granting DR 3/- at 10th level as well. In addition, since, "you count as your own ally," as per RAW, this would let the Skald grant herself the increased DR too.

I'll post up the NPC later when I get home, if anyone wants to snag her, feel free to do so.

[Edit] Astrid Halgrdottir (https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=%21AAVhtc9jjDglhno&cid=BE45A5E31B322825&id=BE45A5E31B322825%2155185&parId=BE45A5E31B322825%2117179&o=OneUp) is the NPC I made. I tried to make her a "shield maiden" in as much that she is a massive support to the armies of her people. Due to the nature of her abilities, I imagine Astrid would likely have a cult that develops to worship her. Whenever she leads troops into battle, any who accept her song suddenly sprout halos (Celestial Totem), gain the strength of the gods (+12 strength bonus) and find all of their wounds closing about as fast as they occur (Skald's Vigor). To the eyes of the average mortal, Astrid is a Valkyrie that grants her people a divine blessing.

[DrShakyHands]

Sorry to necro this thread but remember Song of the Beast is a rage power and can only activate during inspired rage. So no fast healing Song of the March.

[GERMiside]

Bump! Because I am playing this in a campaign I'm in, and I want to know how should I build the rest of the levels out if I want to shield and ax combo.

[InfantrymanEJB]

Feats:
1) Extra Performance, Human: Master Performer
3) Power Attack
5) Skald's Vigor
7) Use retraining to pick up Grand Master Performer at 8th, or pick up Master Performer if not a human.
9) Retrain into Greater Skald's Vigor at 10th or get Grand Master Performer if not human.
11) Greater Skald's Vigor if not human

Make sure to take at least Lesser Celestial Totem so you can combine that with the path of glory spell, this gives more "passive" in combat healing. At 10th level, for example, the NPC I built is capable of dishing out 23 hp of "passive" healing each round. Passive, in that it costs her no action beyond casting the spell and starting the performance to achieve it; something she can do all in the same round.

Hate to be the one to point this out but the lesser celestial totem specifically states does not work with fast healing.

[Roland St. Jude]

Sorry to necro this thread but remember Song of the Beast is a rage power and can only activate during inspired rage. So no fast healing Song of the March.


Bump! Because I am playing this in a campaign I'm in, and I want to know how should I build the rest of the levels out if I want to shield and ax combo.

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