Bard feats

[ocato]

After the Bards Optimized thread, I've been researching outside my low-book shell on Bard feats/stuff and I've come up with some stuff that I can't quite sort out. I'd appreciate some opinions.

Subsonics feat: Prereq Perform 10 ranks, bardic music; Benefit: You can produce music or poetics so subtly that opponents do not notice it, yet your allies still fain all the usual benefits from your bardic music. Similarly, you can affect opponents within range with your music, but unless they can see you performing or have some other means of discovering it, they cannot determine the source of the effect.

Does that overcome the required Seeing and Hearing from Fascinate?


Versatile Performer [General]
(Complete Adventurer p112)
Prerequisite : Perform: 5 ranks
Effect : Pick a number of Perform categories equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum 1). When making checks, treat all categories as if they had as many ranks as your highest-ranked category.
You gain a +2 bonus to check when using more than one of these Performance categories together

So, if I had a Masterwork Lute (+2 Competance to Performances with it) and a Harmonizing sword (+2 competance bonus to perfom (sing)) would those both apply as well as the +2 bonus from the feat if I were singing and playing via the extra ranks in perform (sing)?

Harmonizing
Price: +1 bonus
Property: Melee Weapon
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint (DC 17) Illusion
Activation: --; see text

A harmonizing weapon accompanies you in song if drawn, granting a +2 competence bonus on Perform (sing) checks.
In addition, if you hold a harmonizing weapon when you begin a bardic music effect, the weapon can continue the effect for you, allowing you to focus on other efforts. One round after you begin a bardic music effect that allows or requires continued use or concentration (including inspire courage, countersong, fascinate, inspire competence, inspire greatness, song of freedom, and inspire heroics), the weapon picks up and continues the performance flawlessly for 10 rounds, until you start another bardic music effect, or until you command it to end as a swift (mental) action.
Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armor, ghost sound, bardic music.
Cost to Create: Varies.

So could you stick your Harmonizing Longsword into the ground and break out a bow or continue casting spells and what not without the penalties of wielding a weapon? (Singing Sword!)

Finally, there is no rule that says you can't Sing a new song (Inspire Greatness, for example) while another song (Inspire Courage) is still in reverb (the 5-10 rounds after you sung it where it still works) as I understand it, right?

Thanks for any opinions!

[Kultrum]

subsonic: yes
lute and sword don't stack but either one would stack with versatile performer

[Aximili]

Finally, there is no rule that says you can't Sing a new song (Inspire Greatness, for example) while another song (Inspire Courage) is still in reverb (the 5-10 rounds after you sung it where it still works) as I understand it, right?

Right, and that's the logic of any good buffing bard.

[ocato]

I was talking to my friend about all the new feats I was learning about (he's a diehard bards suck kinda guy) and he kept 'poking holes' in my combinations with weird concepts or 'If I were DM' rulings based on questionable logic. I just wanted to make sure I was thinking soundly.

[BardicDuelist]

My favorite thing to do to "bards suck" kinda guys is to play a Seeker of the Song NPC when I DM and have him playing a song when a bolt of lightning shoots out of his hands at the person who is heckeling him.

[Jayabalard]

so... how are you going to play the lute while holding the sword?

[ocato]

That was one of my questions, could you stick the harmonizing sword into the ground and start playing?

[Telonius]

I can see it working with a bow. Sword, not so much.

[Jayabalard]

I guess if you take some sword of exotic weapon proficiency in three sword style fighting, then you could play the lute while you hold the sword... that would probably require TWF as a pre-requisite...

Otherwise I don't see how you could get both sets of bonuses...

[Draz74]

Finally, there is no rule that says you can't Sing a new song (Inspire Greatness, for example) while another song (Inspire Courage) is still in reverb (the 5-10 rounds after you sung it where it still works) as I understand it, right?

Technically, there's nothing that says you even have to stop the Inspire Courage and put it on the 5-round countdown in order to start the Inspire Greatness. Or that you have to stop your performances in order to fight.

Starting a bardic music effect is a standard action. Some bardic music abilities require concentration, which means the bard must take a standard action each round to maintain the ability. Even while using bardic music that doesn’t require concentration, a bard cannot cast spells, activate magic items by spell completion (such as scrolls), spell trigger (such as wands), or command word.

Reading that paragraph literally, as far as I understand, a bard could do the following in a long battle (as long as he has enough Bardic Music uses, and the form of Perform he's using is song or oratory rather than something that requires his hands):

Round 1 - spend a Standard action to start Inspire Courage.
Round 2 - spend a Standard action to start Inspire Heroics.
Round 3 - spend a Standard action to start Inspire Greatness.
Rounds 4-10 - Fight with his whip, sword, bow, etc.
Round 11 - He really feels the need to cast a spell -- perhaps a Cure Serious Wounds spell on an ally who's in trouble or something. To do this, he must stop his three performances.
Rounds 12-15 - Continue fighting, still enjoying the bonuses of the bardic musics.
End of round 15 - the bardic musics finally wear off.

Yes, a 15-round combat is something of a hyperbole, but it makes my point.

[ocato]

But you can't sing three songs at once. I'm afraid that that doesn't make sense. Also, using your own quote

Starting a bardic music effect is a standard action. Some bardic music abilities require concentration, which means the bard must take a standard action each round to maintain the ability. Even while using bardic music that doesn’t require concentration, a bard cannot cast spells, activate magic items by spell completion (such as scrolls), spell trigger (such as wands), or command word.

Which applies to all of their buff songs, as I see it. That's why they have 5 extra rounds after (or ten if you're smart) so you can stack songs.

[Draz74]

But you can't sing three songs at once. I'm afraid that that doesn't make sense.

A lot of things in D&D don't make sense. But considering the "songs" don't even have to be songs at all (they can explicitly be poetry, etc., while still being called "songs"), I think you're taking the bard's actions too literally. Besides, even if they are songs, I don't see why someone with so many ranks in Perform couldn't mix and match songs into a medley or verse/chorus structure that allows him to maintain more than one inspiring message at once.

Also, using your own quote ...

Which applies to all of their buff songs, as I see it. That's why they have 5 extra rounds after (or ten if you're smart) so you can stack songs.

A common mistake ... but they wouldn't have the "no using spells, command words, or spell completion items" line if you couldn't fight, etc., while using some bard songs. And the ones that require concentration, or a standard action every round, are the ones that say they do: Fascinate, Inspire Competence, and Song of Freedom.

Any of the others? He's free to use his standard actions however he likes while maintaining performances, as long as he doesn't cast spells, use spell completion items, or speak a command word.