7.17 Perform (Dex)
The Perform skills represent your ability to create particular forms of entertainment. Like Craft, Knowledge, and Profession, Perform is actually a number of separate skills. You could have several Perform skills, each with a separate degree of training. 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.
- Acting (drama, impersonation, 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)
- Singing (ballad, chant, melody)
- String instruments (fiddle, harp, lute, mandolin)
- Wind instruments (flute, pan pipes, recorder, shawm, trumpet)
7.17.1 Performance Types
There are four types of performances: dance, instrumental, manipulation, and vocal.
- Dance: You use your body to dance or act. This limits your ability to defend yourself, giving you a -2 penalty to your Armor and Reflex defenses as a Swift effect. Dance performances have the Visual tag.
- Instrumental: You use an instrument to make music. This requires at least one free hand to use the instrument. Instrumental performances have the Auditory tag.
- Manipulation: You use objects or gestures to perform, such as juggling or puppetry. This requires at least one free hand to use the objects. Manipulation performances have the Visual tag.
- Vocal: You use your voice to orate or sing. This prevents you from talking or using other abilities with verbal components. Vocal performances have the Auditory tag.
7.17.2 Limitations while Performing
It takes a minor action to initiate and sustain a performance. While you are performing, you take a -5 penalty to the Perform skill for any other performances. This penalty stacks, and applies separately for each simultaneous performance. For example, if you were playing a lyre, singing, and juggling balls with your feet, you would take a -10 penalty to all three performances. These limitations are in addition to any restrictions imposed by your method of performing, such as your hands being occupied playing an instrument.
You can otherwise act normally while performing, including attacking in combat, if doing so is physically possible.
Performance Time: In general, you can maintain a performance for up to an hour. After that time, you must finish a short rest before performing again.
7.17.3 Common Perform Tasks
Distract: If you succeed at an opposed Perform vs. Social Insight check, you can distract a creature observing your performance. This generally makes the distracted creature briefly partially unaware (50% miss chance, -2 Armor and Ref) of you, which can allow you to hide or backstab them. Normally, the creature realizes that you tricked them once the distraction ends, which prevents them from being distracted again and may influence their behavior.
Entertain: You can make a Perform check to provide entertainment or to show off your skills.
Earn Income: You can make a Perform check to practice your trade and make a decent living. You earn about half your Perform check result in silver pieces per week of dedicated performance.
Fascinate: If you succeed at an opposed Perform vs. Social Insight check, you can keep attention focused on you while you perform. This generally gives distracted creatures a -5 penalty to the Awareness and Social Insight skills to notice anything other than you. You repeat this check once per minute, with a cumulative -5 penalty for each minute that the distraction has lasted.