weird ways of inspiring courage

[gnomas]

what are some utterly weird ways you can think of for using bardic music abilities? here's one: perform (painting)

bard: hey guys, I drew a duck!

barb: for duuuuckkks!

warlock: for pony!

bard: uh, it's a duck...

warlock: for pony!!

let the ideas flow

[SamTheCleric]

Perform (Mime)

Works in a silence! Creeps out the party! Confuses them if you're ACTUALLY in a Force Cage!

[Xefas]

Perform (Demoralizing Speech)

The more demoralizing you are, the higher the morale bonus!

[The Faceless]

Perform (striptease)

Works well for fascinate and suggestion too, and maybe gives a circumstance check against individuals who find the bard desirable? (Note: If you use this method in a dragon centric campaign as a male bard, be prepared to be single handedly responsible for a sudden half dragon population explosion)

[FMArthur]

Perform (Demoralizing Speech)

The more demoralizing you are, the higher the morale bonus!

I don't think this can be topped. So...

Congraturation!

[Glawackus]

WH40K: Perform (Shoot Guy)

...hey, I figure the commissars have got to be inspiring courage somehow.

[Cuddly]

Perfom: Air Guitar.

[gnomas]

perform (insult comic)

perform (air guitar)

or bring a long guitar hero and invite others to play...when enemies aren't eating them

edit: wow. ninja'd on the air guitar

[MisterSaturnine]

Perform(ance art):

You take out a pineapple, slice it open and hollow it out, then violently smash cottage cheese into the opening whilst shouting, "SOCIETY! SOCIETY! SOCIETY!"

Regdar gets +1 to his attack roll.

[Tsotha-lanti]

My favorites have always been Perform (comedy) and Perform (whistling), the first of which is actually a 3.5 Perform type, in the SRD and all.

The only problem I see with Perform (comedy) is that, surely, any good slapstick requires a partner. I guess you'll have to get Leadership and another bard as a cohort.

The Fascinate ability, at least, makes perfect sense with Perform (comedy).

Discworld battle-clowning, anyone?

[Cuddly]

Perform: Metagame

"Alright, you all get +1 attack and +1 damage."

[Soup of Kings]

Tordek: "Gimble, we need a bard song!"
Gimble: "I broke a string on my lute!"
Tordek: "Don't you have ranks in Perform (Beatboxing)?"
Gimble: "...Boom, chick, boom boom chick..."

[Chronos]

A few months ago, I realized that a bard isn't actually incapacitated by [Otto's] Irresistible Dance, since he can just keep on inspiring the party while he's under the spell.

[Aquillion]

The only problem I see with Perform (comedy) is that, surely, any good slapstick requires a partner. I guess you'll have to get Leadership and another bard as a cohort.

Get a CW Samurai instead, to act as the straight guy. It makes perfect sense; Samurai are noble, traditionally uptight people who are incidentally also useless buffoons (though they'll never admit it.)

[Dervag]

Perform (obscene gestures):

This one actually has a noble history. Alexander the Great once inspired his men before launching an assault on a walled city by making obscene gestures with a pickle (I never found out what they were, though).

And the infamous middle finger gesture began as a sort of rallying cry for English archers in the Hundred Years' War. French knights had threatened the longbowmen that if they were captured, the French would cut off their middle fingers, making them unable to draw a bow. Flipping the bird at the French army was the English way of saying they were ready and able for battle.

[Xuincherguixe]

perform (organ puppet show)

You take organs from previously defeated enemies, and use them to do a puppet show.

[Rutee]

perform (insult comic)

I've seen this work. It's amusing, because you inspire them through constructive heckling.

[happyturtle]

Our bard is a dwarf in a kilt. He realized yesterday he needed a perform skill he could use during combat, so he threatened to buy skills in Perform(butt-trumpet).

[Soup of Kings]

Oh, gods, I just noticed something...

Tordek: "Gimble, we need a bard dong!"

Whose idea was it to put the S key right next to the D key?

Corrected, and I can't believe nobody called me on it...

[happyturtle]

Oh, gods, I just noticed something...

Originally Posted by Soup of Kings
Tordek: "Gimble, we need a bard dong!"

Whose idea was it to put the S key right next to the D key?

Corrected, and I can't believe nobody called me on it...

That brings a whole new dimension to the 'butt trumpet'

[Soup of Kings]

Ooh, ooh!

Perform (One-handed handstand with grape jam smeared on one's stomach and a roller skate tied to a branch tied to one's head while balancing a squirrel on one foot, hanging a lantern from the other and playing paddle ball with one's unoccupied hand)

It's an adventure!

[Kami2awa]

Perform (stand up comedy)
Perform (shibari) *
Perform (bagpipes)

Actually I think bagpipes can be fantastically inspiring, and their sound carries a long way (hence their widespread use as a battle instrument).

Perform (surgery)

*Don't google it.

[DUSUCK]

I made a bard who used no instruments just a set of four hand puppets there was angry, furious, Klepto and singey (He sang opera)

[MorkaisChosen]

A Tiny, blue-skinned Bard with Perform: Feegle Battle Poetry.

lthough that'd work better with a bard variant that gives penalties to the enemies...

[Soup of Kings]

How in the Nine Hells is friggin' shibari supposed to inspire courage?

And no, I didn't Google it, I had heard the term before. Don't ask...

[Player_Zero]

How in the Nine Hells is friggin' shibari supposed to inspire courage?

And no, I didn't Google it, I had heard the term before. Don't ask...

*Googles it* Bondage you say? Hmmm... Well then, I guess it'd work in the same way as Perform (comedy).

[Newtkeeper]

Perform: Monty Python Sketch.

[Arbitrarity]

Hm. Preform(weapon drill) is reasonable.

Ohh, preform(keyboard) with a piano!
*It's an instrument, so it only weighs a few pounds, right?*
Preform(Craft{Disturbing Mental Image})
Preform(Profession{Craft[Excessive brackets}])

[The Gilded Duke]

My first Eberron game included an npc Warforged Bard with Perform: Dada

[Keld Denar]

Perform(Keytar)
Perform(Air Keytar)
Perform(Macarana)
Perform(BlueManGroup)
Perform(Safety Dance)
Perform(Charades)
Preform(Gallager) (smash large fruit with comically oversized hammer)