Bards, songs, and spells

JMason · 09-01-2017, 08:39 AM

So, it looks like DFPRG has cleaned up Bard abilities a bit, but there are some things I still don't quite "get" and was wondering if I'm missing something.

First, it looks like bard song abilities require continual singing/playing, and the effects end if they don't. This is defined as a series of concentrate manuvers.

Spells, on the other hand seem to be simplified so that a bard needs to sing to CAST, but the effects happen for their normal duration regardless if the bard keeps singing.

Assuming I got the above correct, there is a bit of a situation that I'm not quite sure on. "Concentrate" is normally combat maneuver, that is it takes up a characters action for that combat turn. Except that isn't true for maintained spells. These (for whatever reason) can be concentrated on, but still allow a second spell to be cast (at a penalty).

My question is, how does Bard Song work into this? If you are playing an interment to maintain a bard song ability (a concentrate maneuver), can you still sing/cast a spell? Is this at -3, as if it was another spell? My reading of RAW makes me think that you CAN'T really do anything other than concentrate on your playing/maintaining ability's effect. But maybe I've missed something.

09-01-2017, 08:39 AM	#1
JMason Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Cockeysville, MD	Bards, songs, and spells So, it looks like DFPRG has cleaned up Bard abilities a bit, but there are some things I still don't quite "get" and was wondering if I'm missing something. First, it looks like bard song abilities require continual singing/playing, and the effects end if they don't. This is defined as a series of concentrate manuvers. Spells, on the other hand seem to be simplified so that a bard needs to sing to CAST, but the effects happen for their normal duration regardless if the bard keeps singing. Assuming I got the above correct, there is a bit of a situation that I'm not quite sure on. "Concentrate" is normally combat maneuver, that is it takes up a characters action for that combat turn. Except that isn't true for maintained spells. These (for whatever reason) can be concentrated on, but still allow a second spell to be cast (at a penalty). My question is, how does Bard Song work into this? If you are playing an interment to maintain a bard song ability (a concentrate maneuver), can you still sing/cast a spell? Is this at -3, as if it was another spell? My reading of RAW makes me think that you CAN'T really do anything other than concentrate on your playing/maintaining ability's effect. But maybe I've missed something. __________________ --- My Blog: Dice and Discourse - My adventures in GURPS and thoughts on table top RPGs.