Action: Perform

TypeAction
Rarity
Common
Actions1
PublicationPathfinder Player Core

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.

Performance

Additional Traits

Examples

Acting

Auditory, linguistic, and visual

Drama, pantomime, puppetry

Comedy

Auditory, linguistic, and visual

Buffoonery, joke telling, limericks

Dance

Move and visual

Ballet, huara, jig, macru

Play Keyboard

Auditory and manipulate

Harpsichord, organ, piano

Oratory

Auditory and linguistic

Epic, ode, poetry, storytelling

Play Percussion

Auditory and manipulate

Chimes, drum, gong, xylophone

Singing

Auditory and linguistic

Ballad, chant, melody, rhyming

Play Strings

Auditory and manipulate

Fiddle, harp, lute, viol

Play Winds

Auditory and manipulate

Bagpipe, flute, recorder, trumpet


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 commoners
  • Trained 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