Bardic Song Ability: An Aside

[Lysander]

Here's an ability for Genre savvy bards to employ. By spending a Bardic Music use truly gifted storytellers can break the fourth wall and talk to the universe itself.

Bardic Aside

A bard with 3 or more ranks in a Perform skill that involves talking, like poetry or oratory, can pause time to explain their viewpoint to an unknown omnipotent observer (the DM). This requires coming up with a witty comment or insightful observation worth relating. While time is stopped no other creatures can hear anything the bard says, and no effect can harm, aid, move or alter any object, and the bard cannot perform any action other than talking.

On a successful roll however the omnipotent observer will bend the laws of reality to slightly favor the bard in their current plight. A bard still remains mostly stationary, and cannot affect other creatures or objects not in their possession, but can achieve a minor task during the aside. These boons include things like:

*Taking a single move action while everything else remains frozen
*Being able to take 10 on a skill you otherwise wouldn't have time to take 10 on
*Doing a normally lengthy but stationary action, like opening a book mid-fight to read a chapter about an enemy, or combing your hair upon meeting an attractive stranger
*Performing a search or spot check with a +2 bonus
*Examining something that is normally harmful to look at (like a basilisk), because nothing harmful can happen to anything during an aside

The bard can select what effect to attempt when performing an aside, but a DM may substitute a more appropriate one. An aside's DC rises alongside the helpfulness of the action and how dangerous the situation is.

Only one aside can be used by a bard per minute.

[iain62a]

Oh god, so much potential for breaking the fourth wall there...

I love it.

It wouldn't work in a serious campaign though.

[Lysander]

It might be doable in a serious campaign, provided the bard handles themselves smoothly enough. For example, upon seeing a room full of powerful golems and having the rest of the party charge forward:

"My friends seem to have picked the wrong half of fight or flight. Oh look! A secret door!" *Aside ends* "Quick everyone! This way!"

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Set some example DCs for various tasks and I think this would make a solid feature.

I think it could work in a serious campaign if you spin it as an internal monologue (like in an action movie where you see the hero deep in thought as time seems to slow down--"I can't let them get away with this! We must survive to fight another day...." and voila, secret door) rather than a "Gee, wouldn't it be cool if we had an escape hatch!" scenario.

[Lysander]

Set some example DCs for various tasks and I think this would make a solid feature.

I think it could work in a serious campaign if you spin it as an internal monologue (like in an action movie where you see the hero deep in thought as time seems to slow down--"I can't let them get away with this! We must survive to fight another day...." and voila, secret door) rather than a "Gee, wouldn't it be cool if we had an escape hatch!" scenario.

{table=head]Difficulty|Task
0|Spot or Search Check with +2 bonus
5|Looking at something perilous like a basilisk
10|Performing a single move action (that doesn't manipulate anything not already in your possession)
15|Taking 10 on a skill, or performing an otherwise lengthy action
20|Performing two move actions while time is frozen. Usually you can only perform one in place of a standard action, and must use your normal move action before or after the aside.
[/table]

I think that's a general idea. Just looking around is the easiest thing to do. Looking at a basilisk is pretty easy, the challenge there is just making sure you look away before the aside ends.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

I think that's a general idea. Just looking around is the easiest thing to do. Looking at a basilisk is pretty easy, the challenge there is just making sure you look away before the aside ends.

Looks good to me.