PERFORMANCE (CHA)
You are skilled at a form of performance, using your talents to impress a crowd or make a living.
BASIC COMPETENCE
Some performances require you to be more than just charismatic, and if you don't meet the demands of the art form or the audience, the GM might apply a penalty based on the relevant ability score. For example, if you're dancing and have a negative Dexterity modifier, you might take a penalty to your attempt at dancing. Likewise, if you are orating and have a negative Intelligence modifier, you might have to hope your raw Charisma can overcome the penalties from your intellectual shortcomings—or ask someone to help write your speeches!
PERFORMANCE TRAITS
When you use an action that utilizes the Performance skill, it gains one or more traits relevant to the type of performance. The GM might change these depending on the circumstances, but the most common performance-based traits are listed below.
Performance | Additional Traits |
Act or perform comedy | auditory, linguistic, and visual |
Dance | move and visual |
Play an instrument | Auditory and manipulate |
Orate or sing | Auditory and linguistic |
PERFORMANCE UNTRAINED ACTIONS
Perform
Concentrate
When making a brief Performance - one song, a quick dance, or a few jokes - you use the Perform action. This action is most useful when you want to prove your capability or impress someone quickly. Performing rarely has an impact on its own, but it might influence the DCs of subsequent Diplomacy checks against the observers - or even change their attitudes - if the GM sees fit.
Critical Success Your Performance impresses the observers, and they're likely to share stories of your ability.
Success You prove yourself, and observers appreciate the quality of your Performance.
Failure Your Performance falls flat.
Critical Failure You demonstrate only incompetence.
Sample Perform Tasks
Untrained audience of commonersTrained audience of artisans
Expert audience of merchants or minor nobles
Master audience of high nobility or minor royalty
Legendary audience of major royalty or otherworldly beings
Source Core Rulebook pg. 250
PERFORMANCE TRAINED ACTIONS
Earn Income
Downtime
You use one of your skills to make money during downtime. The GM assigns a task level representing the most lucrative job available. You can search for lower-level tasks, with the GM determining whether you find any. Sometimes you can attempt to find better work than the initial offerings, though this takes time and requires using the Diplomacy skill to Gather Information, doing some research, or socializing.
When you take on a job, the GM secretly sets the DC of your skill check. After your first day of work, you roll to determine your earnings. You gain an amount of income based on your result, the task’s level, and your proficiency rank (as listed on Table 4–2: Income Earned).
You can continue working at the task on subsequent days without needing to roll again. For each day you spend after the first, you earn the same amount as the first day, up until the task’s completion. The GM determines how long you can work at the task. Most tasks last a week or two, though some can take months or even years.
Task Level | DC | Failed | Trained | Expert | Master | Legendary |
0 | 14 | 1 cp | 5 cp | 5 cp | 5 cp | 5 cp |
1 | 15 | 2 cp | 2 sp | 2 sp | 2 sp | 2 sp |
2 | 16 | 4 cp | 3 sp | 3 sp | 3 sp | 3 sp |
3 | 18 | 8 cp | 5 sp | 5 sp | 5 sp | 5 sp |
4 | 19 | 1 sp | 7 sp | 8 sp | 8 sp | 8 sp |
5 | 20 | 2 sp | 9 sp | 1 gp | 1 gp | 1 gp |
6 | 22 | 3 sp | 1 gp, 5 sp | 2 gp | 2 gp | 2 gp |
7 | 23 | 4 sp | 2 gp | 2 gp, 5 sp | 2 gp, 5 sp | 2 gp, 5 sp |
8 | 24 | 5 sp | 2 gp, 5 sp | 3 gp | 3 gp | 3 gp |
9 | 26 | 6 sp | 3 gp | 4 gp | 4 gp | 4 gp |
10 | 27 | 7 sp | 4 gp | 5 gp | 6 gp | 6 gp |
11 | 28 | 8 sp | 5 gp | 6 gp | 8 gp | 8 gp |
12 | 30 | 9 sp | 6 gp | 8 gp | 10 gp | 10 gp |
13 | 31 | 1 gp | 7 gp | 10 gp | 15 gp | 15 gp |
14 | 32 | 1 gp, 5 sp | 8 gp | 15 gp | 20 gp | 20 gp |
15 | 34 | 2 gp | 10 gp | 20 gp | 28 gp | 28 gp |
16 | 35 | 2 gp, 5 sp | 13 gp | 25 gp | 36 gp | 40 gp |
17 | 36 | 3 gp | 15 gp | 30 gp | 45 gp | 55 gp |
18 | 38 | 4 gp | 20 gp | 45 gp | 70 gp | 90 gp |
19 | 39 | 6 gp | 30 gp | 60 gp | 100 gp | 130 gp |
20 | 40 | 8 gp | 40 gp | 75 gp | 150 gp | 200 gp |
20 (critical success) | — | — | 50 gp | 90 gp | 175 gp | 300 gp |
Critical Success You do outstanding work. Gain the amount of currency listed for the task level + 1 and your proficiency rank.
Success You do competent work. Gain the amount of currency listed for the task level and your proficiency rank.
Failure You do shoddy work and get paid the bare minimum for your time. Gain the amount of currency listed in the failure column for the task level. The GM will likely reduce how long you can continue at the task.
Critical Failure You earn nothing for your work and are fired immediately. You can't continue at the task. Your reputation suffers, potentially making it difficult for you to find rewarding jobs in that community in the future.
Sample Earn Income Tasks
These examples use Alcohol Lore to work in a bar or Legal Lore to perform legal work.Trained bartend, do legal research
Expert curate drink selection, present minor court cases
Master run a large brewery, present important court cases
Legendary run an international brewing franchise, present a case in Hell's courts
Source Core Rulebook pg. 236