When I say important, I mean for any practical or mechanical reasons. The reason I ask is I love Bards but I shy away from the whole traveling musician/singer trope. It seems like a de facto choice for Bards, but I would rather not choose it unless there is a substantive reason I should.
I mean, pratical and mechanical uses of skills tent to vary a lot deppending on the DMs way of rule the game. Some may prefer to players enacting to overcame mechanics and the luck factor of skill checks (sometimes letting this skill a bit aside), others may demand skill checks even when players make exceptional performance for the matter (mostly arguing that the players and the characters skills aren't the same) and another ones may use both ways according to players preference (or its own) at specific circumstances.
What I suggest you is to talk about your DM what is preferable to him/her at this matter.
Even though, any skill are performable for any character and proficiency just ment that you are trained on it. There is a lot of ways you can be a bard and it's not just enacting/performating (in general). A bard that is a musician, for exemple, can be proficient playing drums but not in performance, so it can add its proficiency bonus to any performance check needed to play its drums but not to a drama scene.
Also remember that at 5th edition, bards get the Jack of All Trades feat at 2nd level that let add half your proficiency bonus to any of your skills that you aren't proficient. In that way, bards didn't need to worry to much about its proficiencies since they are the swissknife of the D&D classes.
There's nothing in the Bard kit that scales off of Performance, like there was in 3.5e. A Bard is assumed to be someone the public want to come out and see for some reason, but maybe you're leaning more into the distributer of knowledge angle, like a reporter, or a philosopher. I mean you could just play it like you're a mercenary warrior but I'm not sure you'll have a good time.
There's nothing in the Bard kit that scales off of Performance, like there was in 3.5e. A Bard is assumed to be someone the public want to come out and see for some reason, but maybe you're leaning more into the distributer of knowledge angle, like a reporter, or a philosopher. I mean you could just play it like you're a mercenary warrior but I'm not sure you'll have a good time.
Well, my planned Eloquence Bard character concept is a spy/infiltrator. Complete with stealth, thieves tools, disguise kit and the disguise spell, etc. Think Val Kilmer from that movie, The Saint.
If your Bard is fully themed around using magical instruments then you definitely want the skill, as it's an obvious combo with musical instrument proficiency, meaning you can almost always have both proficiency (maybe expertise) and advantage when performing music, and without having to spend any resources to boost yourself. While you could maybe still argue for the advantage using Jack of All Trades + instrument proficiency, I'm not sure that that's really rules as intended.
But it's going to depend a lot on the type of bard you want to play; your stereotypical bard is the over-confident face who can command a room with a musical performance, so will definitely want to be able to pull that off as reliably as possible. But that's not the only type of character you can play as a bard; you can focus on the skilled and support aspects without being so flamboyant or extroverted, you can retheme bard to not use instruments for casting etc., so it depends on your character.
There's nothing in the Bard kit that scales off of Performance, like there was in 3.5e. A Bard is assumed to be someone the public want to come out and see for some reason, but maybe you're leaning more into the distributer of knowledge angle, like a reporter, or a philosopher. I mean you could just play it like you're a mercenary warrior but I'm not sure you'll have a good time.
Well, my planned Eloquence Bard character concept is a spy/infiltrator. Complete with stealth, thieves tools, disguise kit and the disguise spell, etc. Think Val Kilmer from that movie, The Saint.
I'm not too familiar with that. What's his Bardic Inspiration like?
There's nothing in the Bard kit that scales off of Performance, like there was in 3.5e. A Bard is assumed to be someone the public want to come out and see for some reason, but maybe you're leaning more into the distributer of knowledge angle, like a reporter, or a philosopher. I mean you could just play it like you're a mercenary warrior but I'm not sure you'll have a good time.
Well, my planned Eloquence Bard character concept is a spy/infiltrator. Complete with stealth, thieves tools, disguise kit and the disguise spell, etc. Think Val Kilmer from that movie, The Saint.
I'm not too familiar with that. What's his Bardic Inspiration like?
You mean the alternate use of Inspiration Dice? It's called Unsettling Words. It lowers an opponent's next saving throw (by what you roll on the die) as a bonus action. Also, Silver Tongue allows you to treat rolls of 1 through 9 as a 10 when you do deception and persuasion checks.
There's nothing in the Bard kit that scales off of Performance, like there was in 3.5e. A Bard is assumed to be someone the public want to come out and see for some reason, but maybe you're leaning more into the distributer of knowledge angle, like a reporter, or a philosopher. I mean you could just play it like you're a mercenary warrior but I'm not sure you'll have a good time.
Well, my planned Eloquence Bard character concept is a spy/infiltrator. Complete with stealth, thieves tools, disguise kit and the disguise spell, etc. Think Val Kilmer from that movie, The Saint.
I'm not too familiar with that. What's his Bardic Inspiration like?
You mean the alternate use of Inspiration Dice? It's called Unsettling Words. It lowers an opponent's next saving throw (by what you roll on the die) as a bonus action. Also, Silver Tongue allows you to treat rolls of 1 through 9 as a 10 when you do deception and persuasion checks.
I meant Val Kilmer. I've never seen him in anything, I think.
There's nothing in the Bard kit that scales off of Performance, like there was in 3.5e. A Bard is assumed to be someone the public want to come out and see for some reason, but maybe you're leaning more into the distributer of knowledge angle, like a reporter, or a philosopher. I mean you could just play it like you're a mercenary warrior but I'm not sure you'll have a good time.
Well, my planned Eloquence Bard character concept is a spy/infiltrator. Complete with stealth, thieves tools, disguise kit and the disguise spell, etc. Think Val Kilmer from that movie, The Saint.
I'm not too familiar with that. What's his Bardic Inspiration like?
You mean the alternate use of Inspiration Dice? It's called Unsettling Words. It lowers an opponent's next saving throw (by what you roll on the die) as a bonus action. Also, Silver Tongue allows you to treat rolls of 1 through 9 as a 10 when you do deception and persuasion checks.
I meant Val Kilmer. I've never seen him in anything, I think.
He's a hired spy/infiltrator. He uses disguises, uncanny false personas, and cunning.
Making Performance a proficient skill depends on how you want to play the bard and how your DM meshes with this style.
If making friends and leveraging friendships to gather information would suit you, then you can profit from this combination by gaining intel on who is coming and going around here and what are the reliable rumors about what's up. But if that doesn't appeal to you then maybe not.
If playing in the tavern, getting free rooms and food each day, and a split of the tips, suits you, then you can benefit from the combination. But that is if your DM would reward you in this way.
If your DM would allow a performance to be highly engaging so that guards stop attending to their duty, and the watch commander doesn't notice, then this combination could work for you.
But if none of those things resonate with you, then it is OK. You still get Jack of All Trades, and your Bard has a high Cha score, so your Performance Modifier Skill is still +4 or better, so you should get above average performance rolls. If you have a party member with Enhance Ability, then you get to roll those things with advantage (which is typically cited as a +5 effectively on a skill check). If you combine the ability to use prestidigitation in a creative way to boost your performance, your DM may give you another +1 or something for that. So getting above average Performance skill checks is going to happen anyway. But you may not roll above 15 as often as you like.
Good luck and enjoy playing your Bard.
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When I say important, I mean for any practical or mechanical reasons. The reason I ask is I love Bards but I shy away from the whole traveling musician/singer trope. It seems like a de facto choice for Bards, but I would rather not choose it unless there is a substantive reason I should.
I think that's up to your DM.
I mean, pratical and mechanical uses of skills tent to vary a lot deppending on the DMs way of rule the game. Some may prefer to players enacting to
overcame mechanics and the luck factor of skill checks (sometimes letting this skill a bit aside), others may demand skill checks even when players make exceptional performance for the matter (mostly arguing that the players and the characters skills aren't the same) and another ones may use both ways according to players preference (or its own) at specific circumstances.
What I suggest you is to talk about your DM what is preferable to him/her at this matter.
Even though, any skill are performable for any character and proficiency just ment that you are trained on it. There is a lot of ways you can be a bard and it's not just enacting/performating (in general). A bard that is a musician, for exemple, can be proficient playing drums but not in performance, so it can add its proficiency bonus to any performance check needed to play its drums but not to a drama scene.
Also remember that at 5th edition, bards get the Jack of All Trades feat at 2nd level that let add half your proficiency bonus to any of your skills that you aren't proficient. In that way, bards didn't need to worry to much about its proficiencies since they are the swissknife of the D&D classes.
There's nothing in the Bard kit that scales off of Performance, like there was in 3.5e. A Bard is assumed to be someone the public want to come out and see for some reason, but maybe you're leaning more into the distributer of knowledge angle, like a reporter, or a philosopher. I mean you could just play it like you're a mercenary warrior but I'm not sure you'll have a good time.
I use the skill a lot. It's not something that affects bards, however. It's used for the same reasons any character might use the skill.
Well, my planned Eloquence Bard character concept is a spy/infiltrator. Complete with stealth, thieves tools, disguise kit and the disguise spell, etc. Think Val Kilmer from that movie, The Saint.
If your Bard is fully themed around using magical instruments then you definitely want the skill, as it's an obvious combo with musical instrument proficiency, meaning you can almost always have both proficiency (maybe expertise) and advantage when performing music, and without having to spend any resources to boost yourself. While you could maybe still argue for the advantage using Jack of All Trades + instrument proficiency, I'm not sure that that's really rules as intended.
But it's going to depend a lot on the type of bard you want to play; your stereotypical bard is the over-confident face who can command a room with a musical performance, so will definitely want to be able to pull that off as reliably as possible. But that's not the only type of character you can play as a bard; you can focus on the skilled and support aspects without being so flamboyant or extroverted, you can retheme bard to not use instruments for casting etc., so it depends on your character.
Characters: Bullette, Chortle, Dracarys Noir, Edward Merryspell, Habard Ashery, Legion, Peregrine
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I'm not too familiar with that. What's his Bardic Inspiration like?
You mean the alternate use of Inspiration Dice? It's called Unsettling Words. It lowers an opponent's next saving throw (by what you roll on the die) as a bonus action. Also, Silver Tongue allows you to treat rolls of 1 through 9 as a 10 when you do deception and persuasion checks.
I meant Val Kilmer. I've never seen him in anything, I think.
He's a hired spy/infiltrator. He uses disguises, uncanny false personas, and cunning.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1p6omIzsuY
followed by
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYufeLaIggU
And other disguises and personas.... great movie.
I've never been a Val Kilmer fan, not that I disliked him, but he never knocked my socks off as an actor. But he was freaking BRILLIANT in the Saint.
Making Performance a proficient skill depends on how you want to play the bard and how your DM meshes with this style.
If making friends and leveraging friendships to gather information would suit you, then you can profit from this combination by gaining intel on who is coming and going around here and what are the reliable rumors about what's up. But if that doesn't appeal to you then maybe not.
If playing in the tavern, getting free rooms and food each day, and a split of the tips, suits you, then you can benefit from the combination. But that is if your DM would reward you in this way.
If your DM would allow a performance to be highly engaging so that guards stop attending to their duty, and the watch commander doesn't notice, then this combination could work for you.
But if none of those things resonate with you, then it is OK. You still get Jack of All Trades, and your Bard has a high Cha score, so your Performance Modifier Skill is still +4 or better, so you should get above average performance rolls. If you have a party member with Enhance Ability, then you get to roll those things with advantage (which is typically cited as a +5 effectively on a skill check). If you combine the ability to use prestidigitation in a creative way to boost your performance, your DM may give you another +1 or something for that. So getting above average Performance skill checks is going to happen anyway. But you may not roll above 15 as often as you like.
Good luck and enjoy playing your Bard.
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt