Musical Instruments
Music rings out from every tavern large enough to squeeze in a gnome, voices echoing across the night sky. Bards, composers, singers, and more share their gift of music to the world and the best tunes, or at least the catchiest, grab the world by the ear, their music leading listeners on a journey of emotions. If you wish to join those on stage, from the run-down tavern to the largest music halls, from the side of the road to the noble's house, you must practice and hone your craft.
To spread your name, and by extension your music, you must start small and work your way up to the great music halls and royal banquets. Once you have increased your popularity in a city, you might be invited to perform for royalty, at banquets, important feasts or any other important events.
In Order to Perform
To perform and increase your popularity in the various musical circles, you must be proficient with a musical instrument. Your choice in musical instruments might affect who invites you where, as many may refuse to host someone playing bagpipes to a tea party or a will jump at the chance to invite you to a tea party if you can play the harp. Your choice in musical instruments and their effects on others is determined by the DM.
Finding a Venue
When you are just starting, you will first need to increase your popularity to play at better-paying gigs. Most local taverns will host you for a few hours, and might even pay you some coins if they think you did well enough. Larger and more established businesses and establishments may not allow you to perform until you have a more recognizable name.
When you first arrive in town, based on your overall popularity, see the Popularity chart below, you may have a hard time finding a nice establishment to perform at that will appreciate your skills.
Performing
Once you find a venue, you must determine how long you will be playing for and then roll a Charisma (Performance) check. Your Performance check will be affected by how long you performed for and the DM may place restrictions as to how long the owner of the establishment is willing to allow you to perform.
Performance Time
| Hours | Effect | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Hour or Less |
Disadvantage on Charisma (Performance) check |
|
| 1-3 Hours | No Effect | |
| 4 Hours or More |
Advantage on Charisma (Performance) check |
The effects that correspond to time may change based on the circumstances surrounding the performance. The DM may decide that a music hall is fine with a short 1-hour performance and doesn't impose disadvantage while performing for 4 hours at a long banquet doesn't grant advantage as you are not the focus.
The Effects of Performing
After you roll your Performance check, thus ending your performance, you then form a dice pool and roll a number of dice equal to the result of your Charisma (Performance) check.
If you performed at a tavern for 2 hours and rolled a total of a 13 on a Performance check, you would have 13 dice in your dice pool.
Building the Dice Pool
The dice pool starts as d8s, but changes based on different factors as decided by the DM. Examples are provided in the Performance Situations chart below, though these situations may affect the dice pool differently depending on circumstances and venue being played at, per the DM's discretion.
When a situation causes the size to decrease, you decrease the size of the dice rolled by one step. If a situation causes the size to increase, you increase the size of the dice rolled by one step. You can not decrease the size of the dice below a d4 and you can not increase the size of the dice rolled above a d12.
Your pool's dice size will be determined by the DM and they may include several different factors and situations that affect the size of the dice in the pool.
If a situation calls for your dice to decrease in size, you would decrease your starting pool of d8s to a pool of d6s. On the reverse, if the situation called to increase your dice, you would increase your starting pool of d8s to d10s.
On very special occasions, the DM may decide that to perform for a grandmaster in their field, and to determine their enjoyment of your music, you must increase the size of your dice to d20s. This represents the most difficult of challenges that only but the most gifted could ever hope to attempt, let alone succeed.
Performance Situations
| Situation | Effect on Pool |
|---|---|
| Low attendance | Increase size by one |
| High attendance | Decrease size by one |
| Small Village / Little Other Entertainment |
Decrease size by one |
| Large City / Lots of Other Entertainment |
Increase size by one |
| New in Town | Increase size by one |
| Well Known / Well Loved | Decrease size by one |
| Lots of Competition | Increase size by one |
| No Competition | Decrease size by one |
| Audience Listening Intently | Increase size by one |
| Very Intoxicated Audience | Decrease size by one |
Determining Number of Successes
Once you roll your dice pool, you then count the number of 1s you rolled, those are your successes for the performance and go towards the amount of money you make for the performance as well as increases your popularity in the city.
The more 1s you roll, the more successful your performance and the more that people will remember you and spread your name around the city. This type of popularity may provide additional benefits not mentioned here, like people recognizing you on the street or inviting you to play private parties, per the DM's discretion.
Popularity
Your popularity determines what establishments will excitedly allow you to play at their venue, as well as how much you could expect to get paid for performing at those establishments. Consult the Popularity chart for more information.
The DM may determine that you can play at higher-end establishments, even if your popularity isn't high enough, so long as you can pay or bribe your way onto the stage. In this case, they may also determine to increase the size of your dice pool by one or more.
Popularity
| Popularity Score |
Establishments | Pay |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Low-Tier and Rundown Taverns / Lower Class Establishments |
xd8 cp |
| 5 | Mid-Tier Taverns / Middle Class Establishments |
xd8 sp |
| 15 | Top-Tier Taverns / Upper Class Establishments |
xd4 gp |
| 30 | Dance Halls | xd6 gp |
| 40 | Music Halls | xd8 gp |
| 50 | Concert Venues | xd10 gp* |
| 75 | Playing for Royal Banquets | xd12 gp* |
| 100 | Playing just for the Royalty | xd4 pp* |
*This might represent tips and gifts left behind by your audience. You have have set up a fee before hand.
The Effects of Success
Once you determine the number of successes on your dice pool, you add that total to your Popularity and then you determine your pay by referencing the chart above and rolling a number of Pay dice equal to your total successes.
The DM may determine that you can roll additional dice for your pay based on any special circumstances.
If you performed at a mid-tier tavern and rolled 13 dice in your pool, you may end up with 3 successes at the end of the performance. You would then add 3 to your total Popularity Score and then roll your pay, which would end up being 3d8 sp. This is the pay given to you by the tavern and any tips you made that night.
Spending Popularity
The DM may decide that you can spend any points you have in your popularity score to better help you and your party get out of trouble, connect with the right people or get free lodgings at a tavern. A few examples are provided below, the DM might determine that certain requests cost more or less popularity. Once you spend your popularity points, your total popularity score decreases by an equal amount, which might impact what places you can play at.
Spending Popularity Examples
| Costs | Event |
|---|---|
| 1 | Free lodging for one night at a low-tier tavern. |
| 2 | Free lodging for one night at a mid-tier tavern. |
| 4 | Free lodging for one night at a top-tier tavern. |
| 3 | Getting yourself out of jail for a misdemeanor. |
| 7 | Getting a friend out of jail for a misdemeanor. |
| 5 | Asking to meet a village lord. |
| 15 | Asking to meet a regional lord. |
| 30 | Asking to meet a king. |
Adjusting Popularity
Traveling to new locations can greatly reduce your popularity score simply because they haven't gotten a chance to hear about you yet, or you've just been away for so long that they have forgotten about you. When you travel to another city, decrease your popularity by an amount as determined on the Travel chart. The DM may determine that you are famous and that the decrease is less, typically if you have a Popularity of 50 or more.
If you once performed in a city and are returning, determine how long since you last performed and add that penalty to your score, to a minimum of 0.
Travel
| City | Penalty to Score |
|---|---|
| Travel to a city you've never been to. | -30 |
| Travel to a city you once performed in. | -10 |
| Travel to a nation you've never been to. | -40 |
| Travel to a nation you once performed in. | -15 |
| 1+ year since you last performed there. | -30 |
| 6+ months since you last performed there. | -15 |
| 3+ months since you last performed there. | -5 |
| You don't speak the language. | -40 |
| They don't like your musical instruments. | -30 |
Other Ways to Effect Popularity
The DM may have other ways for you to spend your popularity, or allow you to increase it. Fighting off monsters that have been plaguing a village is a good way of building up your popularity, just as killing the town leader may greatly reduce your popularity.
Variant Rules
These rules can help provide more challenges or provide different ways of affecting performances.
Additional Musical Instrument
If you are proficient in additional musical instruments, you can put on a more diverse performance. This allows you to reroll a number of dice in your dice pool equal to half the number of musical instruments you are proficient with. You must use the second result.
Multiple Performers
If more than one character is part of the performance, they do not make their own Charisma (Performance) check. Instead one character can help the other and add their Charisma (Performance) bonus to the other's check. They must be performing for the same amount of time.
Magic Item: Instrument of Sympathy
Wondrous item, uncommon
While performing with this musical instrument, it gives off such sweet melodies that over the course of an hour or longer performance, the attendants are under similar effects to that of a sympathy spell, though the effects are not as severe. Due to their rapt attention on you, when you roll your dice pool, you can count a success on any dice that comes up with the result of a 1 or 2.
Custom Music
A noble or establishment may insist that you come up with new music for their enjoyment. The first time you perform this music for them, you must have at least a number of successes in your dice pool as determined by the chart below. If you are unable to succeed at least the number of times as determined by the chart below, your performance was a failure and you are unable to add those successes to your Popularity Score or gain any pay for your efforts. The DM may determine that there are additional penalties for failing to succeed for your patrons, especially if they are someone important or the event you performed at was very important.
Custom Music DCs
| Event | Successes Needed |
|---|---|
| Performing at a low tier tavern | 2 |
| Performing at a mid tier tavern | 3 |
| Performing at a top tier tavern | 4 |
| Performing for a local lord | 2 |
| Performing for a great lord | 3 |
| Performing for the king | 4 |
The DM may determine, upon a success, that you gain additional pay for your efforts in pleasing your patrons.
Perfomance Complications
Occasionally, trouble and other surprises might happen while you are attempting to perform. These complications can be rolled for, or the DM can choose one that fits best for a specific situation.
Complications
| d12 | Complications |
|---|---|
| 1 | One of your adoring fans turns out to be married, their significant other is upset with the amount of attention you are getting. |
| 2 | Another performer in town is spreading wicked rumors that you stole their music. |
| 3 | Someone in the crowd threw a tomato, roll a Dexterity saving throw or get tomato on you. On a fail, this reduces the number of dice in your dice pool by one. The DM determines the DC by rolling a d20. |
| 4 | You break a string while performing, either you must use another instrument you are proficient with or you suffer disadvantage on the Performance check. |
| 5 | Due to heavy rains, the inside of the tavern you are performing in is covered in mud and barely anyone showed up. Your pay is now in copper pieces. |
| 6 | The tavern owner became upset with one of the songs you performed, the song is about his ancestors and is incredibly disrespectful. |
| 7 | A drunkard is heckling you on stage, you can attempt to Intimidate or Persuade them to stop. The DC is determined by the DM rolling a d20. |
| 8 | A woman stumbles onto the stage, she yells to the crowd that you are a fake and tries to convince the crowd to throw you out. She is upset that you took her performance spot. |
| 9 | A thief attempts to steal your tips for that night, roll a Perception check to catch them in the act. The DM determines the DC by rolling a d20. |
| 10 | A rival bard has jumped on stage and is attempting to play louder than you and get the crowd on their side. It's a battle of the bands and you must outperform them on your Performance check or they get your pay! The DM determines the bard's performance by rolling a d20 and adding your proficiency bonus to the result. |
| 11 | The tavern ran out of ale, the crowd is taking it out on you, expecting you to fix the situation. |
| 12 | Two gnomes are singing loudly out of tune with your music. Roll to maintain Concentration as if you were concentrating on a spell, the DM determines the DC by rolling a d20. On a fail, you have disadvantage on the Performance. |
Failed Performances
If you roll your dice pool and have no successes, then your performance was received so negatively that the audience began turning against you. You suffer a penalty to your Popularity Score equal to the number of dice you rolled whose results were the highest result on the die.
If you roll 10d8, and had no 1s in the dice pool, you failed the check. You then lose a number of popularity equal to the number of 8s you rolled in the dice pool.