I've read a post about bards rolling perform checks in front of their audience, but as it was in DM posts, i'll give my thoughts here.

I noticed most of the times the bard just "used and item" and then "rolled a perform check", and then waited to see other peoples reactions. I do understand it's great to pull a 47 roll, but as a player that wouldn't draw my attention at all if the bard didn't actually "sing" or "tale" at least a bit.

As a paper-rp dm i asked my players to actually "persuade" (ie: talk, bring a few ideas, etc..) before actually making a check. I would enjoy bards "singing a song" (just a few lines, to give the atmosphere), and not just *rolls perform check*

I've seen some do it, others not. When people do that, i tend to pay more attention, and then i do look at the check to see if i'll clap or laugh or cry...

That was just my two cents.

I agree with Snow Jewel.

When I hear a bard *use an item* or perform I am not sure what emotion they were intending to impart on the crowd.

Do they want me to like them? Do they want me to rise up, drag the councilors out of their homes and beat them senseless? Do they want coin? Should I go home and cry? Go out into the underdark and attack a goblin fort?

If you are going to perform, please tell us what it is you are aiming for at least. As with SJ's example, if a line or two stated what the bard was thinking, that would provide me with some RP reason to react.

I have heard of a gnasty gigolo gnome that definitely put a certain tone to the room, but otherwise please tell us what you want from of us.

i don't mean to boast or brag, especially since the player I will be commenting on is my girlfriend but..PHM's character Sandra Marie wrote all of her own music, and poems, and performed them at different locations on EFU. Rock Bottom, the Crone, publically and even The Last Stand. Playing a bard really should be more than rolling some amazingly high perform check, even beyond the point of emoting plucking a few strings and then making a perform check. Throughout my time on EFU I have seen many bards played this way and it is a shame. I personally would like to see more bards performing their own music, whether it's entirely original or spinoffs of actual modern day songs.

Keep in mind a Bard has many talents and they do not need to focus solely on music (or that's my take on it at least) They are artists, and whatever piece of art they work on, they should do so with dedication and understanding. This is in fact a roleplay server, if you plan to roleplay a bard who goes from Tavern to Inn to Bar performing melodies, reading poetry, singing songs, or even dancing, or juggling, do it with some form of in character passion, and don't be afraid to take the time to write up some of your own stuff. Don't be so relient on a skill roll, because honestly, I have not once been taken aback, or amazed at a bard who rolls a 47, and then emotes *sings*. It just isnt as much fun as saying your own little poem, even if you roll a 1 afterwards, or don't roll at all.

I agree with MSD's post.

It all depends upon the material you use as a bard. If you have excellent poetry, songs, jokes etc, escpecially like PrettyHateMachine has, and your audience [the players] enjoy them then you've already achieved a successful performance check without even having to resort to making a "roll" against your ability.

If you can come up with original material that reaches your audience, then I think the roll is unnecessary.

...though it may be a good idea to remember that, since this is a RPG, not all players posess the artistic abilities of their characters. Just because you play a bard who is legendary for her song and text, it doesn't mean you can sing or write for five cents. Not everybody who plays a bard enjoy or are good at that.

I think that it's not like every song a bard sings is written by him. It's often about recreating what they have heard somewhere else. So with some research a player can find something that he would like his character to share with others. Maybe it's not very creative, but still, it's some effort put in developing your bard. And it's way better than just *rolls perform check*.

take our modern day "bards" for example... they all rip off old songs to make themselves famous

This goes for every skill check, I find it more enjoyable if you persuade me with reasons and threats and such rather than *Roll persuade* or, *Roll intimidate* checks. 47 Perform is awesome, but what good is it if you do not sing?

Perform checks aren't all about singing. Even without 'Perform' you can have the voice of an angel. Anyone can sing, whether good or not so good is irrelevant; it's about to way you give the show. Do you stand still, paralyzed by people watching, or do you jump around like a frog on drugs, putting up a real performance/show which reaches one's heart and soul? Surely, Perform might as well mean how well you can sing, but it mostly means how well you manage to reach people with your performance.

What, what? In the butt - But.

I for one really dislike it when people roll a perform check and give me a simple "*Whistles*" or some other random emote which doesn't really give the dimension of an actual performance. I personally don't, and probably never will appreciate a bard (IC) who just goes around rolling perform checks without putting effort into it. It's like: "I'm a good physican *Roll heal check: 18 + 22 = 40*" inside the streets or something.

As I am particularly guilty of this, I had never really thought about it before. I will certainly endeavor to do better in the future. Although my bard might have a slightly difficult time with the actual singing, I'll start describing the type of song he is playing, what he's doing, etc.

I once played a goblin who sang random bit of complete rubbish but emoted the crap outta his songs saying that *The voice of the small goblin is course and scratchy but strangely pleasant as he speaks words that to you have no apparent meaning to you or him.His legs wobble as he takes to his knees to shout out the final bits of his strangely pleasing song* Seriously though mostly what he did was spout of random things going on about him and put enthusiam into it...he unfortunaly was killed very soon after I made him...like very very soon.

Perform checks aren't all about singing.

I couldn't agree with you more.

The great thing about the Perform check is it is the one skill in all of NWN (and, arguably, in PnP too) that can really be customised to a character. In all my time on NWN across the many servers I've played, I've seen the Perform skill interpreted in so many different and original ways. One of my favourites, was on another server I won't name, the bard used the skill as Perform: Dancing. She would captivate entire audiences with her incredible skills at dancing. There was no singing involved, and no lyrics, only descriptive emoting.

Indeed, its not always about singing, my character Ian Shargen often plays the harmonica and usually rolls very low scores such as -1 once :D and all i did was emote the word *SCREECH* and with everyone witnessing the roll and the prompt of the screech had the desired effect... basically disgust and horror... :)