MASTERPIECES
You learn your first masterpiece at 1st level, and an additional masterpiece at 2nd level and every 2 levels thereafter. Each masterpiece has auditory components (A), visual components (V) or both.
Berserkergang (A) (requires 12th level)
The bard can use this masterpiece to inspire a rapturous battle trance that suppresses pain, stunning, and fear effects for one creature, plus one additional creature per three levels after 12th. Affected creatures also gain DR 5/— (DR 10/— against nonlethal damage); this benefit stacks with the damage reduction class ability of barbarians. This is a mind-affecting ability.
Break Curse (A) (requires 6th level)
The bard can use this masterpiece to suppress a single curse affecting an ally within 30 feet that is able to see and hear her. Each round the bard performs, he attempts a Perform check against the original DC of the curse. If successful, he suppresses the curse for 1 round. After the bard has suppressed the curse for four consecutive rounds, he can attempt an MSB check to remove the curse as if he had cast remove curse.
Brief Distraction (A or V)
The bard can use this masterpiece to briefly catch creatures off balance. Whenever an ally attacks a creature within 60 feet of the bard, as long as he is aware of the attack and is not flat-footed, he can spend an immediate action to make attacked creature flat-footed against the triggering attack (Will negates).
Call Lightning (A or V) (requires 8th level)
The bard can use this masterpiece to summon bolts of lightning, as per the spell call lightning. The lightning storm lasts for as long as he continues his performance, calling down one bolt of lightning per round as a standard action. The damage of these lightning bolts can be increased in stormy areas or can be limited as call lightning describes.
Dance of the Dead (A or V) (requires 10th level)
The bard can use this masterpiece to cause dead bones or bodies to rise up and move or fight at his command. This ability functions like animate dead, but the created skeletons or zombies remain fully animate only as long as the bard continues the performance. Once it stops, any created undead collapse into carrion. Bodies or bones cannot be animated more than once using this ability. Unlike animate dead, this masterpiece requires no components and does not have the evil descriptor.
Deadly Performance (A and V) (requires 20th level)
The bard can use this masterpiece to cause one creature to die from joy or sorrow. To be affected, the target must be able to see and hear the bard perform for 1 full round and be within 30 feet. The target receives a Will save to negate the effect. If a creature’s saving throw succeeds, the target is staggered for 1d4 rounds, and the bard cannot use deadly performance on that creature again for 24 hours. If a creature’s saving throw fails, it dies. This is a mind-affecting death effect.
Dirge of Doom (A and V) (requires 8th level)
The bard can use this masterpiece to foster a sense of growing dread in his enemies, causing them to become shaken. To be affected, an enemy must be within 30 feet and able to see and hear the bard's performance. The effect persists for as long as the enemy is within 30 feet and the bard continues his performance. This performance cannot cause a creature to become frightened or panicked, even if the targets are already shaken from another effect. Dirge of doom is a mind-affecting fear effect.
Disappearing Act (V)
The bard can use this masterpiece to divert attention from an ally. All creatures within 30 feet treat one creature chosen by the bard as if it were invisible (Will negates). This performance affects one additional creature at 5th level and every six levels thereafter. If the targets take any action that would cause them to become visible, they become visible to everyone. The bard cannot use this ability on himself. This ability is a mind-affecting effect.
Dispiriting Words (A)
The bard can use this masterpiece to cut surprisingly deep wounds. The bard chooses a creature that can hear and understand him within Close range, making them dispirited for 1 minute. While dispirited, the target suffers a -2 penalty to ability checks and skill checks attempted using a single ability score of the bard’s choice, in addition to the DC required to affect them with skills of the chosen ability score. This penalty increases by 1 per five bard levels he possesses. This is a mind-affecting emotion effect, and is generally considered a non-hostile action. The bard can only have a single instance of dispiriting words applied to a target at one time.
Fascinate (A or V)
The bard can use this masterpiece to cause one or more creatures to become fascinated with him (Will negates). Each creature to be fascinated must be within 90 feet, able to see and hear the bard, and be capable of paying attention to him. The bard must also be able to see the creatures affected. The distraction of a nearby combat or other dangers prevents this performance from working. The bard can target one creature with this ability at 1st level, and can target an additional creature at 4th level, and every three levels thereafter. Fascinate is an enchantment (compulsion), mind-affecting ability.
Funereal Ballad (A or V) (requires 20th level)
The bard has learned a masterpiece that can return life to even long-dead creatures, as the resurrection spell using the bard’s level as their caster level and requiring no material components. Performing this masterpiece requires 20 rounds of continuous performance and requires the deceased’s body to be within 10 feet of the bard for the entire performance.
Glimpse the Future (A or V) (requires 20th level)
The bard can use this masterpiece to grant awe-inspiring glimpses of the future to himself and his allies. All allies who can see and hear the performance gain the effects of the personal version of the foresight spell for the duration of the performance.
Glorious Epic (A) (requires 8th level)
The bard can use this masterpiece to captivate his foes and engross those who hear them. Enemies within 30 feet of the bard become flat-footed (Will negates). This is a mind-affecting effect.
Incite Rage (A) (requires 6th level)
The bard can use this masterpiece to induce a furious rage in one creature within 30 feet. This effect functions as a rage spell that lasts as long as the target can hear the bard’s performance (Will negates). The bard cannot target himself with this ability. If the target has the rage class feature, it can instead immediately rage and stay in this rage without consuming rounds of rage per day as long as the bard continues performing. This is a mind-affecting effect.
Inspire Aggravation (A) (requires 16th level)
The bard learns to counter magical effects with this masterpiece. When an enemy within 60 feet of the bard attempts to use a spell or sphere ability while this masterpiece is in effect, it must succeed at a MSB check against DC 11 + the bard’s level. If the ability has a verbal component, the creature has a -4 penalty to this roll. If it fails, it may not use that ability that turn, but does not lose its action or expend any spell points or spell slots.
Inspire Competence (A)
The bard can use this masterpiece to help an ally succeed at a task. That ally must be within 30 feet and be able to hear the bard. The ally gets a +1 competence bonus on skill checks with a particular skill as long as she continues to hear the bard's performance. This bonus increases by +1 at 3rd level and every four levels thereafter. Certain uses of this ability are infeasible, such as Stealth, and may be disallowed at the GM's discretion. A bard can't inspire competence in himself.
Inspire Courage (A or V)
The bard can use this masterpiece to inspire courage in himself and his allies, bolstering them against fear and improving their combat abilities. Affected allies receive a +1 morale bonus on saving throws against charm and fear effects and a +1 competence bonus on attack and weapon damage rolls. At 5th level, and every six bard levels thereafter, this bonus increases by +1, to a maximum of +4 at 17th level. Inspire courage is a mind-affecting ability.
Locking Chime (A) (requires 10th level)
The bard can use this masterpiece to secure an entrance. By spending a round of bardic performance, he can make a single door or a window within 30 feet resonate with a special vibration. Undead and creatures with an alignment of the bard's choice (Chaotic, Evil, Good, or Lawful) are unable to open a door or window affected in this way (as arcane lock) for 10 minutes per bard level. If such a creature has the incorporeal subtype, it is unable to move through the affected door or window, or through any walls, floors, or ceilings within 20 feet of it. Incorporeal creatures can attempt Charisma checks to break through areas warded by this masterpiece, using the same break DC as for the object the creature is trying to move through.
Maddening Harmonics (A) (requires 14th level)
The bard can create a performance so baffling and discordant that it usurps all thought within a 30-foot radius with chaos and entropy. The bard can select which creatures in this area are affected by this masterpiece and which are not. All targeted creatures within this area become confused for as long as they can hear the performance (Will negates).
Multiplicity of Masks (V) (requires 18th level)
The bard can use this masterpiece to cause any number of his allies to appear as himself or as another ally within 60 feet. To be affected, an ally must be within 60 feet of the bard and able to see him. As long as the bard maintains this performance, enemies perceive all affected allies as the chosen character. If an affected ally is a different size or creature type than the chosen character, enemies can attempt a Will save to disbelieve. Otherwise, there is no saving throw, but a successful attack against a disguised ally automatically reveals the ally’s true form. If an ally moves out of range, that ally reverts to his original form, and the entire effect ends if the ally providing his appearance to the others moves out of range. This masterpiece is an illusion (glamer) effect.
Mystical Allegory (A) (requires 6th level)
The bard can use this masterpiece to tell a story that matches some of the themes of the current situation in order to gain insight, gaining the effects of augury by performing for 1 minute and spending 4 rounds of bardic performance. At 11th level, he can perform for 10 minutes and spend 7 rounds of bardic performance to gain the effects of divination. At 17th level, he can perform for 1 hour and spend 10 rounds of bardic performance to gain the effects of legend lore, but the information is always vague and incomplete.
Restoring Resonance (A) (requires 4th level)
This masterpiece allows the bard to restore his allies of harmful effects. When the bard begins this masterpiece, he selects a single ally suffering from a harmful effect. After three rounds of continuous performance, that creature is affected by the effects of lesser restoration. This masterpiece requires no material components, but otherwise follows the same restrictions as the spell it is emulating. This masterpiece cannot be affected by effects that allow the bard to continue a masterpiece after they stop maintaining it, such as the Lingering Performance flourish. At 8th level, the bard can choose to perform for six rounds to affect an ally with the effects of restoration. At 14th level, the bard can choose to perform for ten rounds to affect an ally with the effects of greater restoration.
Ritual of Reconciliation (A) (requires 8th level)
The bard can use this masterpiece to force reconciliation among hostile parties. The attitudes of creatures within 30ft are improved by two steps (Will negates). Creatures whose attitude toward the bard becomes indifferent or better immediately cease attacking the bard and his allies, but may otherwise act as they please. The effect persists for as long as the creature is within 30 feet and the bard continues his performance. The effect ends if one of the bard’s allies attacks the creature.
Satire (A or V)
The bard can use a masterpiece to undermine the confidence of enemies who hear it, causing them to take a –1 penalty on attack and damage rolls (minimum 1) and a –1 penalty on saves against fear and charm effects as long as the bard continues performing. This penalty increases by –1 at 5th level and every six levels thereafter. Satire is a mind-affecting ability.
Song of Growth (A)
The bard can use this masterpiece to promote massive plant growth. While the bard maintains this masterpiece, he can spend a standard action to select one side of a square within 30 feet of himself and instantly create an opaque barrier of plant matter to block that face, providing total cover. He can create one barrier as part of starting this masterpiece if he starts the masterpiece as a standard action. The side the bard selects must be supported by the ground, and the growth itself cannot support more than 5 pounds of weight. The conjured barrier has hardness 0, AC 5, and 2 hit points per bard level. The bard can maintain a number of plant growths equal to his Charisma modifier + half his class level. These barriers immediately crumble to dust when the masterpiece ends.
Song of Storms (A or V) (requires 14th level)
The bard’s masterpiece can change the weather itself, as the control water, control weather, or control winds spell using the bard’s level as his caster level. Using this ability requires 1 round of continuous performance per level of the spell (as if he were a druid). These effects continue for as long as the bard continues performing (the effects on control weather happen immediately), and then persist for 10 minutes per round he performed, but not longer than the spell’s normal duration.
Song of Healing (A and V) (requires 12th level)
The bard learns a masterpiece that soothes the injuries of his allies. This creates an effect equivalent to mass cure serious wounds, using the bard's level as the caster level. In addition, this performance removes the fatigued, sickened, and shaken conditions from all those affected. Using this ability requires 4 rounds of continuous performance, and the targets must be able to see and hear the bard throughout the performance. Soothing performance affects all targets that remain within 30 feet throughout the performance. This masterpiece cannot be used to harm undead creatures, nor can it be extended using the Lingering Performance flourish, or any similar effects.
Soothing Performance (A or V)
The bard can use this masterpiece to influence the attitude of animals, functioning as a druid’s wild empathy ability, except the bard expends 1 round of bardic performance and makes a Perform check in place of the normal check. If the bard already has wild empathy from another class, he adds his class levels that provide wild empathy to the results of the Perform check to influence an animal.
Spell Catching (A or V) (requires 20th level)
Whenever the bard saves against a spell, sphere ability, or spell-like ability that targets only him (not including area spells), he may use this masterpiece as an immediate action. He must attempt a MSB check against the caster’s MSD. If it succeeds, the bard can absorb the effect without harm and immediately recast it using the original caster’s level and save DC. Using this ability consumes a number of rounds of bardic performance equal to the spell’s level, even if the check fails.
Still Water (A) (requires 4th level)
The bard can use this masterpiece to calm rough waters within 30 feet, reducing the DC for Acrobatics, Athletics, and Profession (sailor) checks aboard ship or in the water, by an amount equal to the bard’s level (to a minimum of DC 10) for as long he continues to perform. He can extend this duration to 1 hour by playing for 10 consecutive rounds.
Symphony of Madness (A) (requires 14th level)
The bard can use this masterpiece to sow madness within the minds of his foes, causing them to turn against each other. Enemies within 30 feet of the bard that can understand his language are affected as if by a song of discord for as long as they can hear the performance (Will negates). This is a mind-affecting ability.
Thunder Call (A or V) (requires 4th level)
The bard can use this masterpiece to unleash a deafening peal of thunder. This allows the bard to spend a round of performance to create an effect similar to the spell sound burst (having the same range and area and allowing the same saving throw). At 7th level, the sonic damage dealt by this blast of sound increases to 3d8. This damage further increases by 2d8 at 11th level, and every 4 levels thereafter. A creature that succeeds at its saving throw against thunder call is immune to the stunning effect but still takes sonic damage. Beginning this masterpiece is always a standard action.
Weird Words (A) (requires 6th level)
The bard can use this masterpiece to speak up to one word per four bard levels laden with sonic energy. Each word deals 4d6 points of sonic damage as a ranged touch attack with a range of 30 feet. The bard adds his charisma modifier on damage rolls with weird words. Multiple words that strike the same target stack into a single powerful attack, applying energy resistance and bonuses on damage rolls only once. The bard can target all words at the same or different targets, but he unleashes all words simultaneously. Each word costs 1 round of bardic performance.
Whistle the Wind (A or V) (requires 6th level)
The bard can use this masterpiece to create a gust of wind (as the spell). This wind lasts for as long as he continues his performance. He can extend this duration to 1 minute by playing for 5 consecutive rounds.