(3.5) Maintaining Bardic Music

[koeldflare]

Quick question:

Are there any feats / items that allows a bard to maintain their bardic music (any of the one's that normally require standard actions to maintain) as a swift action instead of a standard?

The reason I ask is that I'm interested in taking a feat (I believe it's melodic casting, the one where you can sing and still cast spells) but it sais in the description that music that requires a standard to maintain still require a standard with the feat. This seems problematic to me because I normally use my standard action to cast spells when I'm not singing.

Any suggestions?

[ocato]

Keep in mind that the songs that require a standard action to maintain make up a very small portion of the songs you have available.... I think Fascinate, Inspire Competence, and Song of Freedom is all.

[SilentNight]

Buying a crystal weapon. I can't remember the splatbook but it persists bardicmusic effects for 10 rounds after you stop playing.

[jcsw]

If you sing, a Harmonizing (+1 Enchantment) Weapon will carry on a performance for you for 10 rounds, including those that take concentration.

(Magic Item Compendium)

[ocato]

That's Harmonizing, from the Magic Item Compendium, a +1 enchantment.

Ninja'd.

[koeldflare]

Thanks Ocato, I didn't realize bardic music didn't require a specific action to continue, I thought it required a standard this whole time. I will certainly make use of this information from now on

Oh, and thanks for the item guys. My party isn't exactly the type to sneak very often so my bard generally will sing the same song for hours on end. Like my Dragonfire inspiration.

[Keld Denar]

Yea, Inspire Courage (and Dragonfire Inspiration) both don't require any action to keep up, so you can maintain them ALL day long, as long as you don't need to sneak or actually talk to someone or cast spells. If you have the feat Melodic Casting that you mentioned, take takes casting out of the equation. If you take the feat Subsonics (forgot the book....) then you can sing in low tones that most people can't hear, but are still inspired by, thus letting you sneak. You could also do this with a level in Mindbender, which gives you telepathy, and nothing says you can't you Perform: Sing, Perform: Oratory, or Perform: Human Beatbox telepathically....

:P

[Sstoopidtallkid]

If sneaking and speaking is the problem, take Perform:Dance or Perform:Mime. Also, don't forget the feat Lingering Song. It lets your music last a minute so you can drop one effect and start another and both will last the entire combat.

[Epinephrine]

If sneaking and speaking is the problem, take Perform:Dance or Perform:Mime. Also, don't forget the feat Lingering Song. It lets your music last a minute so you can drop one effect and start another and both will last the entire combat.

While those might address some of the move silently penalty (some, you still have to move around to dance, and it's not in a very sneaky manner, typically), both would really interfere with hide checks. As everyone else is hidden in the shadows, you're trying to silently do a jazz-tap interpretation of the battle of the three kingdoms.

As a DM, I wouldn't allow either of those without some (potentially significant) penalties to hide/move silently.

[metagaia]

While those might address some of the move silently penalty (some, you still have to move around to dance, and it's not in a very sneaky manner, typically), both would really interfere with hide checks. As everyone else is hidden in the shadows, you're trying to silently do a jazz-tap interpretation of the battle of the three kingdoms.

As a DM, I wouldn't allow either of those without some (potentially significant) penalties to hide/move silently.

Don't forget the outfit's that mimes wear gives significant penalties to both hide and diplomacy

How about Perform:shadow puppetry?

[Kizara]

Don't forget the outfit's that mimes wear gives significant penalties to both hide and diplomacy

How about Perform:shadow puppetry?

Naw, the real solution is Perform (ventrilloquism). Make the hide/move silently penalty someone else's problem. :)

[Sstoopidtallkid]

While those might address some of the move silently penalty (some, you still have to move around to dance, and it's not in a very sneaky manner, typically), both would really interfere with hide checks. As everyone else is hidden in the shadows, you're trying to silently do a jazz-tap interpretation of the battle of the three kingdoms.

As a DM, I wouldn't allow either of those without some (potentially significant) penalties to hide/move silently.

Fine. Perform:Ninja. You inspire with how sneaky and awesome you are. Happy now?

[Peregrine]

Heh, it's funny, I only just realised myself the other day that not all bardic musics require a standard action to keep performing, and now there's a thread about it... This was quite a welcome revelation for the bard's player in the game I'm running.

And in an even odder coincidence, she does bardic "music" through Perform (Dance). When running a game with a character like this, you really see the ways in which they didn't plan for bards to use the more unusual Perform categories for their "music". So I've mostly ruled that dancing instead of singing doesn't ultimately change the nature of bardic music one jot. It still has to be audible (she wears bells and claps her hands), which is explicitly in the rules for affecting subjects with bardic music, so it's no better for Inspiring Competence with Move Silently. I haven't yet had to worry about her Inspiring Competence with Hide, but really, how do you see that working with regular music? "Sounds from nowhere" are still going to be mighty suspicious, unless you're trying to hide from the deaf.

Of course, it does (as pointed out) have the benefit of allowing her to speak, though I can imagine holding a conversation while dancing could be awkward (about as awkward as talking between bars of a song, funnily enough). On the other hand, I might have had to consider applying a penalty to things like attacking made while maintaining the non-standard action bardic dances, since she's dancing and (e.g.) trying to fight at the same time... except her melee weapon is a bladed cloak, which she swishes about as part of her dancing anyway. (Might still have to think about penalties for trying to shoot a bow and dance, though.)

[Sstoopidtallkid]

Heh, it's funny, I only just realised myself the other day that not all bardic musics require a standard action to keep performing, and now there's a thread about it... This was quite a welcome revelation for the bard's player in the game I'm running.

And in an even odder coincidence, she does bardic "music" through Perform (Dance). When running a game with a character like this, you really see the ways in which they didn't plan for bards to use the more unusual Perform categories for their "music". So I've mostly ruled that dancing instead of singing doesn't ultimately change the nature of bardic music one jot. It still has to be audible (she wears bells and claps her hands), which is explicitly in the rules for affecting subjects with bardic music, so it's no better for Inspiring Competence with Move Silently. I haven't yet had to worry about her Inspiring Competence with Hide, but really, how do you see that working with regular music? "Sounds from nowhere" are still going to be mighty suspicious, unless you're trying to hide from the deaf.

Of course, it does (as pointed out) have the benefit of allowing her to speak, though I can imagine holding a conversation while dancing could be awkward (about as awkward as talking between bars of a song, funnily enough). On the other hand, I might have had to consider applying a penalty to things like attacking made while maintaining the non-standard action bardic dances, since she's dancing and (e.g.) trying to fight at the same time... except her melee weapon is a bladed cloak, which she swishes about as part of her dancing anyway. (Might still have to think about penalties for trying to shoot a bow and dance, though.)

Point her towards Snowflake Wardance. That's a very nice feat for a fighting Bard, and really fits her flavor.

[Person_Man]

Perform (Pantomime) or something similar. Completely silent and established performance art. Of course, everyone will want to kill you, including your party members.

"And when they came for the mimes, I said nothing."

[Stupendous_Man]

Cast Message. People can hear you at great distances. Hang back and start singing to your heart's content.

[monty]

How about Perform (acting)? The scene you are acting out is of someone hiding and/or moving silently.

[Keld Denar]

How about Perform (acting)? The scene you are acting out is of someone hiding and/or moving silently.

Man, I get images of Peter Griffen trying to sneak into the high school in that one episode. So exagerated its hillarious.

Dun dun dun.......dun dun dun dun.....dun dun dun dun dun daaaaahhhhhhhhh.

lol