[3.5] Bards and the deaf...

[mjames]

So, I have a player who is very much into roleplay and wants to do a Deaf and Mute Rogue... (she's not being mean or hateful, she actually works with the handicapped for a living). She thinks it would be interesting to have the other players only communicate with her through signs, charades, and writing when able.

Can a Bard's music be used on a deaf person?

[BobVosh]

Audible ones can't, but you can use preform dance or juggling or some other visual one.

Nevermind most of the bard songs have this: To be affected, an ally must be able to hear the bard sing

Inspire Courage (Su)

A bard with 3 or more ranks in a Perform skill can use song or poetics to inspire courage in his allies (including himself), bolstering them against fear and improving their combat abilities. To be affected, an ally must be able to hear the bard sing. The effect lasts for as long as the ally hears the bard sing and for 5 rounds thereafter. An affected ally receives a +1 morale bonus on saving throws against charm and fear effects and a +1 morale bonus on attack and weapon damage rolls. At 8th level, and every six bard levels thereafter, this bonus increases by 1 (+2 at 8th, +3 at 14th, and +4 at 20th). Inspire courage is a mind-affecting ability.

[Prodan]

Perform: Mime.

[Peregrine]

As stated above, even non-vocal/instrumental Perform skill technically must have an audible component to be used for bardic music. (This has occasionally been an issue for the dancer bard in my campaign. She wears bells.) That's the Rules As Written.

However, for a deaf character, I as a DM would be willing to make concessions. For example, I might say that the rogue can spend a move action to watch the bard and gain the effect of the inspiration, which then lasts for its normal "lingering" duration of 5 rounds, unless and until the rogue takes another move action while the bard is still performing.

That feels about balanced to me, and not prone to abuse. In fact it might be needlessly strict. I would be happy to drop the move action requirement unless I actually thought the player might be trying to min-max their character in some way.

[Snake-Aes]

Perform: Mime.

It's the Bard's Music, not the Bard's Pantomime.

[Prodan]

Miming is the music of the soul.

[Ernir]

Can a Bard's music be used on a deaf person?

Are you the DM? Sounds like something appropriate to just handwave.

[mjames]

Are you the DM? Sounds like something appropriate to just handwave.

Yeah, but if she's going to make all the players work, i'm going to make her work. I like the idea of the move action look. Or from a real world perspective, certain instruments provide vibrations enough to rattle an eardrum or be felt by those little hairs on your arm if you are close enough....

I might make the bard play a drum... *chuckle*

[cupkeyk]

There is the subsonics feat that the Bard can take. Work in a Silence too.

[QuantumSteve]

Barring certain feats, such as Subsonics from CA, you must be able to hear the Bard. In Pathfinder, among other things, they changed Bardic Music to Bardic Performance which can have either a visual or audible component or both. This would seem like a perfect house rule to accommodate you Rogue.

[Morph Bark]

Nevermind most of the bard songs have this: To be affected, an ally must be able to hear the bard sing

But what if the bard isn't singing? In that case, if the Bard was using a different Perform skill (even an instrumental one), by RAW, nobody would benefit from their music.

Besides making for nice background battle music, maybe.

[Peregrine]

But what if the bard isn't singing? In that case, if the Bard was using a different Perform skill (even an instrumental one), by RAW, nobody would benefit from their music.

Quoth the SRD...

While these abilities fall under the category of bardic music and the descriptions discuss singing or playing instruments, they can all be activated by reciting poetry, chanting, singing lyrical songs, singing melodies, whistling, playing an instrument, or playing an instrument in combination with some spoken performance.

The common thread is that the performance must be audible, and for some bardic music (e.g. fascinate, inspire competence), visible.

[Thurbane]

Needs a new feat: Songs for the Deaf

Spoiler

Show

One of my all time favorite albums, BTW...

[Morph Bark]

Quoth the SRD...

The common thread is that the performance must be audible, and for some bardic music (e.g. fascinate, inspire competence), visible.

So basically, anything but Perform (dance) and Perform (weapon drill) is useable... well drat, those are exactly the performances that are the more useful ones!

EDIT: Aside from Bardic Music use, of course.

[Peregrine]

Even dance is possible (though I believe weapon drill is expressly barred from being used for bardic music). As I mentioned earlier, one of my players has a dancing bard. The rules say performances have to be audible, but that's not hard to work around; she jingles some bells when she dances.

[hamishspence]

Tap dance. Definitely has the trait of being audible.

[Itous]

actualy audial ones can, as deaf people can feel the vibrations in the air.

a lute or accusitic guitar will be a soft feeling while tap dancing would feel like a hard popping

if the DM doesn't like that do this.

use predigistation on your guitar and have it display crude diffrent coloured notes depending on what you play, the words "pop" could actully appear around your feet and float up with this spell in diffrent colours.

this then causes a visual version of the rythem to appear (i think i spelt rythem wrong :/ )

[hamishspence]

The more concussion-based sounds will be easier though. Drums, extra-loud tap dance, and so on.

[El Dorado]

As others have mentioned, you could have her use a move action to gain the benefit of bardic music. I would do this for a handful of fights, possibly a single session, and then allow the character to gain the benefit as a free action. Basically, she has a short learning curve, and then gains the benefit the same as everyone else.