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)
Table: Perform Skill DCs
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.

Common Uses

You can impress audiences with your talent and skill in your chosen performance type.

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.

Retry? 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.)

Modifiers

  • Equipment A masterwork musical instrument gives you a +2 circumstance bonus on all Perform checks that involve its use.
  • Trained A bard must have ranks in specific Perform categories to use some of his Bardic Performance abilities.

Perform Unchained

Source PFU

Optionally, a character who reaches 5, 10, 15, or 20 ranks in a skill unlocks various bonuses and abilities unique to that skill. The unchained rogue uses these rules extensively, but others can gain access to them with a new feat.

In this system, characters unlock additional abilities when they attain 5, 10, 15, and 20 ranks in a skill. The skill unlocks system interfaces with the unchained rogue to make the rogue the true master of skills.

Skill unlocks give characters new abilities and ways to use their skills upon reaching 5, 10, 15, and 20 ranks in a skill. Any character with the Signature Skill feat can earn skill unlocks for a single skill, and they are a prime feature of the revised version of the rogue who uses her rogue’s edge ability to gain skill unlocks for several of her most iconic skills. Alternatively, you might make skill unlocks a universal part of the game, but you should be aware they add significant power and flexibility to skills, so giving them for free to all classes would grant power boosts to other highly skilled classes such as the investigator and bard, particularly in comparison to the rogue. Another alternative is to eliminate access to the Signature Skill feat, limiting skill unlocks to rogues and rogues alone.

With sufficient ranks in Perform, you earn the following.

5 Ranks: Whenever you attempt a Bluff, Diplomacy, Handle Animal, or Intimidate check, you can attempt a DC 20 Perform check to gain a +2 circumstance bonus on the check.

10 Ranks: Whenever you cast a spell with the emotion or language-dependent descriptor, you can attempt a DC 25 Perform check to increase the save DC by 1.

15 Ranks: Whenever you cast a spell with the emotion or language-dependent descriptor, you can attempt a DC 30 Perform check to increase your caster level by 1. You must choose whether to use this ability or the ability unlocked at 10 ranks when casting the spell.

20 Ranks: Choose one of the following skills: Bluff, Diplomacy, or Intimidate. When you attempt a skill check with that skill, you can also attempt a Perform check and use the better result to determine the success of that skill check.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook. Copyright 2009, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Author: Jason Bulmahn, based on material by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, and Skip Williams.

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