Does Control Sound Help Perform checks? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Does Control Sound Help Perform checks? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
MindFlayerZoidberg
02-29-08, 09:10 PM Just thinking about a fun role playing situation where I am at any public place and I can take any instrument, pluck a few notes, then control the sound of it to make it sound like an epic ballad.

However, would Control Sound let me do that, would it give me a bonus? If I get a +5 on a bluff check to sound like someone else's voice, would it work out to giving me a +5 on a perform check with an instrument?

Sure there is more to perform that just playing the instrument, but it is a big freggin part of it. I would say that I have listened to many a bard, and with my 19 Intelligence, I would be able to remember and reproduce the sound with the power. Whaddya think?
Bacris
02-29-08, 11:14 PM I'd allow a circumstance modifier. :)

I think it's a cool idea, even if it isn't in the rules.
MindFlayerZoidberg
02-29-08, 11:21 PM My roommate/DM from another campaign said, if it were his campaign, he would give me a +2. I think that is a little cheap, since I am CONTROLLING THE SOUND . Not like I am using a masterwork instrument, I am manipulating the sound waves to match as closely as possible the sound of great ballads, and I can make it pretty loud, have some bass in it.
Tempest Stormwind
02-29-08, 11:42 PM I say it can let you make a check even if you wouldn't normally be able to. I've written scenes in a character journal where my shaper's used Control Sound and her Throw Ectoform power to produce literal one-man bands. (In her case, she actually *does* play the violin, so it was sort of an impromptu riverdance (with the accompaniment being mental manipulations of the sound a crude ectoplasmic duplicate violin makes when the "bow" is scraped across the "strings"), but I imagine other characters would find equally creative uses here.)
CrimsonDeath
03-01-08, 12:26 AM Reminds me of the time my Bard and an allied Sorcerer put on a Prestidigitation puppet show.
MindFlayerZoidberg
03-01-08, 06:53 AM I am thinking of having a bag of holding, and have lots of instruments at my disposal for any given situation.

Control Sound just seems to be full of role playing awesomeness, but a lot of it would have to be house ruled.

For those of you who remember my discussion on being a Chaotic Good Psion, I am using this to also be more anti-authority, perhaps playing songs which will be the D&D equivalent of Rage Against the Machine in taverns and markets, at every turn trying to undermine corrupt government institutions.

However, any other argument I can make for having a +5 modifier to perform, which seems to me to be the most logical result of controlling the sound of an instrument at my will.
Mirannan
03-01-08, 10:11 AM How about this idea?

The main problem as I see it is actually remembering the sound of a great performance, well enough to reproduce it. Another problem is having sufficient skill in the actual manipulation.

I would be inclined to this: The bard that originally made that sound presumably made a Perform check. I propose an Autohypnosis check when you are trying to remember it, with a DC equal to that number, with a following Psicraft check with the same DC to reproduce the performance.

Although this is two skill checks instead of one, I think it's fair; after all, what you are after is to get the advantages offered by a skill without actually having it.
MindFlayerZoidberg
03-01-08, 02:40 PM That seems right. I thought of autohypnosis, but the Psicraft check also makes a lot of sense.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
MindFlayerZoidberg 02-29-08, 09:10 PM	Just thinking about a fun role playing situation where I am at any public place and I can take any instrument, pluck a few notes, then control the sound of it to make it sound like an epic ballad. However, would Control Sound let me do that, would it give me a bonus? If I get a +5 on a bluff check to sound like someone else's voice, would it work out to giving me a +5 on a perform check with an instrument? Sure there is more to perform that just playing the instrument, but it is a big freggin part of it. I would say that I have listened to many a bard, and with my 19 Intelligence, I would be able to remember and reproduce the sound with the power. Whaddya think?
Bacris 02-29-08, 11:14 PM	I'd allow a circumstance modifier. :) I think it's a cool idea, even if it isn't in the rules.
MindFlayerZoidberg 02-29-08, 11:21 PM	My roommate/DM from another campaign said, if it were his campaign, he would give me a +2. I think that is a little cheap, since I am CONTROLLING THE SOUND . Not like I am using a masterwork instrument, I am manipulating the sound waves to match as closely as possible the sound of great ballads, and I can make it pretty loud, have some bass in it.
Tempest Stormwind 02-29-08, 11:42 PM	I say it can let you make a check even if you wouldn't normally be able to. I've written scenes in a character journal where my shaper's used Control Sound and her Throw Ectoform power to produce literal one-man bands. (In her case, she actually does play the violin, so it was sort of an impromptu riverdance (with the accompaniment being mental manipulations of the sound a crude ectoplasmic duplicate violin makes when the "bow" is scraped across the "strings"), but I imagine other characters would find equally creative uses here.)
CrimsonDeath 03-01-08, 12:26 AM	Reminds me of the time my Bard and an allied Sorcerer put on a Prestidigitation puppet show.
MindFlayerZoidberg 03-01-08, 06:53 AM	I am thinking of having a bag of holding, and have lots of instruments at my disposal for any given situation. Control Sound just seems to be full of role playing awesomeness, but a lot of it would have to be house ruled. For those of you who remember my discussion on being a Chaotic Good Psion, I am using this to also be more anti-authority, perhaps playing songs which will be the D&D equivalent of Rage Against the Machine in taverns and markets, at every turn trying to undermine corrupt government institutions. However, any other argument I can make for having a +5 modifier to perform, which seems to me to be the most logical result of controlling the sound of an instrument at my will.
Mirannan 03-01-08, 10:11 AM	How about this idea? The main problem as I see it is actually remembering the sound of a great performance, well enough to reproduce it. Another problem is having sufficient skill in the actual manipulation. I would be inclined to this: The bard that originally made that sound presumably made a Perform check. I propose an Autohypnosis check when you are trying to remember it, with a DC equal to that number, with a following Psicraft check with the same DC to reproduce the performance. Although this is two skill checks instead of one, I think it's fair; after all, what you are after is to get the advantages offered by a skill without actually having it.
MindFlayerZoidberg 03-01-08, 02:40 PM	That seems right. I thought of autohypnosis, but the Psicraft check also makes a lot of sense.