This skill encompasses several categories, each of them treated as a separate skill. These categories are identified and defined below.
The number of Perform categories is kept purposely finite. When trying to determine what Perform skill a particular type of performance falls under, use a broad interpretation of the existing categories. Do not arbitrarily make up new categories.
Check: You are accomplished in some type of artistic expression and know how to put on a performance. You can impress audiences with your talent and skill. The quality of your performance depends on your check result.
The eight Perform categories, and the qualities each one encompasses, are as follows.
Act: You are a gifted actor, capable of performing drama, comedy, or action-oriented roles with some level of skill.
Dance: You are a gifted dancer, capable of performing rhythmic and patterned bodily movements to music.
Keyboards: You are a musician gifted with a talent for playing keyboard musical instruments, such as piano, organ, and synthesizer.
Percussion Instruments: You are a musician gifted with a talent for playing percussion musical instruments, such as drums, cymbals, triangle, xylophone, and tambourine.
Sing: You are a musician gifted with a talent for producing musical tones with your voice.
Stand-Up: You are a gifted comedian, capable of performing a stand-up routine before an audience.
Stringed Instruments: You are a musician gifted with a talent for playing stringed musical instruments, such as banjo, guitar, harp, lute, sitar, and violin.
Wind Instruments: You are a musician gifted with a talent for playing wind musical instruments, such as flute, bugle, trumpet, tuba, bagpipes, and trombone.
| Result | Performance |
|---|---|
| 10 | Amateur performance. Audience may appreciate your performance, but isn’t impressed. |
| 15 | Routine performance. Audience enjoys your performance, but it isn’t exceptional. |
| 20 | Great performance. Audience highly impressed. |
| 25 | Memorable performance. Audience enthusiastic. |
| 30 | Masterful performance. Audience awed. |
Try Again?: Not for the same performance and audience.
Special: You can take 10 when making a Perform check, but you can’t take 20.
A character without an appropriate instrument automatically fails any Perform (keyboard), Perform (percussion), Perform (stringed), or Perform (wind) check he attempts. At the GM’s discretion, impromptu instruments may be employed (such as an upside-down garbage can in place of a drum), but the performer must take a -4 penalty on the check because his equipment, although usable, is inappropriate for the skill.
Every time a character takes the Creative feat, he gets a +2 bonus on checks involving two Perform skills he designates.