The material below is Open Game Content that uses the site-wide SRD
Perform (Cha)
You are skilled at one form of entertainment, from singing to acting to playing an instrument. Like Craft, Knowledge, and Profession, Perform is actually a number of separate skills. You could have several Perform skills, each with its own ranks.
Each of the nine categories of the Perform skill includes a variety of methods, instruments, or techniques, a small sample of which is provided for each category below.
- Act (comedy, drama, pantomime)
- Comedy (buffoonery, limericks, joke-telling)
- Dance (ballet, waltz, jig)
- Keyboard instruments (harpsichord, piano, pipe organ)
- Oratory (epic, ode, storytelling)
- Percussion instruments (bells, chimes, drums, gong)
- String instruments (fiddle, harp, lute, mandolin)
- Wind instruments (flute, pan pipes, recorder, trumpet)
- Sing (ballad, chant, melody)
Check: You can impress audiences with your talent and skill in your chosen performance type.
| Perform DC | Performance |
|---|---|
| 10 | Routine performance. Trying to earn money by playing in public is akin to begging. You can earn 1d10 cp/day. |
| 15 | Enjoyable performance. In a prosperous city, you can earn 1d10 sp/day. |
| 20 | Great performance. In a prosperous city, you can earn 3d10 sp/day. In time, you may be invited to join a professional troupe and may develop a regional reputation. |
| 25 | Memorable performance. In a prosperous city, you can earn 1d6 gp/day. In time, you may come to the attention of noble patrons and develop a national reputation. |
| 30 | Extraordinary performance. In a prosperous city, you can earn 3d6 gp/day. In time, you may draw attention from distant patrons, or even from extraplanar beings. |
A masterwork musical instrument gives you a +2 circumstance bonus on all Perform checks that involve its use.
Action: Varies. Trying to earn money by playing in public requires anywhere from an evening's work to a full day's performance. The bard's special Perform-based abilities are described in that class's description.
Try Again: Yes. Retries are allowed, but they don't negate previous failures, and an audience that has been unimpressed in the past is likely to be prejudiced against future performances. (Increase the DC by 2 for each previous failure.)
Special: A bard must have ranks in specific Perform categories to use some of his Bardic Performance abilities.
Other Specific Examples
Perform (games): There are many types of games in the world, and some people are better at them than others. Games can include both games of chance and games of skill, such as card games, chess, mahjong, dice, and many, many more. Every participant in a game makes a Perform (games) check, with the highest roll winning the game. In the result of a tie, the tied characters roll again until a winner is determined.
Characters who wish to cheat can make a DC 15 Sleight of Hand check. The check is opposed by Perception checks for each other character in the game (the Perception check DC is equal to the Sleight of Hand check total). Succeeding on the Sleight of Hand check without being discovered by the other characters means the cheating character receives a +10 circumstance bonus to their Perform (games) check. If the Sleight of Hand succeeds but the cheater is discovered, the +10 bonus still applies, but others know the character cheated.
Perform (tea ceremony): The tea ceremony is highly ritualized and performing it correctly is a means of showing reverence, refinement, contemplation, patience, and skill. The focus is on the correct subtle techniques of preparing powdered green tea, ritual purification, including cleansing of the instruments, as well as washing one’s hands and rinsing one’s mouth in a prepared stone basin.
The utensils are arranged in exact accordance with the ceremony, the powdered tea is added to the bowl, hot water is added, and the tea is whisked in ritual fashion. There are set courtesies between host and guest that must be observed as well, as well as formal exchanges of conversation.
A tea ceremony may take up to four hours to be properly executed. Correct performance is considered a great virtue for the samurai class and improperly preparing tea will cause considerable loss of reputation among one’s peers. The tea ceremony, if conducted properly, focuses and refreshes the mind the same as a period of meditation.
There is a -10 penalty to the skill check if the proper utensils are not used and a -5 penalty for using tea
leaves that have not been ground into powder. GMs might consider making Perform (tea ceremony) a class skill for courtesan characters from Eastern-themed lands.
The material below is Open Game Content from the System Reference Document.
PERFORM (CHA)
Like Craft, Knowledge, and Profession, Perform is actually a number of separate skills.
You could have several Perform skills, each with its own ranks, each purchased as a separate skill.
Each of the nine categories of the Perform skill includes a variety of methods, instruments, or techniques, a small list of which is provided for each category below.
• Act (comedy, drama, mime)
• Comedy (buffoonery, limericks, joke-telling)
• Dance (ballet, waltz, jig)
• Keyboard instruments (harpsichord, piano, pipe organ)
• Oratory (epic, ode, storytelling)
• Percussion instruments (bells, chimes, drums, gong)
• String instruments (fiddle, harp, lute, mandolin)
• Wind instruments (flute, pan pipes, recorder, shawm, trumpet)
• Sing (ballad, chant, melody)
Check: You can impress audiences with your talent and skill.
| Perform DC | Performance |
|---|---|
| 10 | Routine performance. Trying to earn money by playing in public is essentially begging. You can earn 1d10 cp/day. |
| 15 | Enjoyable performance. In a prosperous city, you can earn 1d10 sp/day. |
| 20 | Great performance. In a prosperous city, you can earn 3d10 sp/day. In time, you may be invited to join a professional troupe and may develop a regional reputation. |
| 25 | Memorable performance. In a prosperous city, you can earn 1d6 gp/day. In time, you may come to the attention of noble patrons and develop a national reputation. |
| 30 | Extraordinary performance. In a prosperous city, you can earn 3d6 gp/day. In time, you may draw attention from distant potential patrons, or even from extraplanar beings. |
A masterwork musical instrument gives you a +2 circumstance bonus on Perform checks that involve its use.
Action: Varies. Trying to earn money by playing in public requires anywhere from an evening’s work to a full day’s performance. The bard’s special Perform-based abilities are described in that class’s description.
Try Again: Yes. Retries are allowed, but they don’t negate previous failures, and an audience that has been unimpressed in the past is likely to be prejudiced against future performances. (Increase the DC by 2 for each previous failure.)
Special: A bard must have at least 3 ranks in a Perform skill to inspire courage in his allies, or to use his countersong or his fascinate ability. A bard needs 6 ranks in a Perform skill to inspire competence, 9 ranks to use his suggestion ability, 12 ranks to inspire greatness, 15 ranks to use his song of freedom ability, 18 ranks to inspire heroics, and 21 ranks to use his mass suggestion ability. See Bardic Music in the bard class description.
In addition to using the Perform skill, you can entertain people with sleight of hand, tumbling, tightrope walking, and spells (especially illusions).
