Guide to Bardic Music

Bard Music Abilities:

• First, it cannot be interrupted unless the bard using this ability dies or is somehow stunned or held.  Damage itself will not prevent this song from being completed.  
• Second, Fascinate takes a five seconds to come into effect.  A bard can move while using this ability, so one should start playing it from a distance, and then run to the opponent, timing one's arrival among the opponents you wish to fascinate for the last second of the song.  This takes a little practice. 
• Finally, and most importantly, the save dc of bard's fascinate is very high.  The dc of a bard's fascinate ability is D20 + perform ability (including bonuses).  Since you can reach a dc of 17 with perform, before adding charisma, item and enhancement bonuses, this means that a high level bard often can have their fascinate ability have a dc as high as 40 or more!

Inspire Courage:  This ability is available at level 1, and increases in effectivenss at levels 8 and 14.  Furthermore, it can be upgraded via enhancements.  This is a buff which, when played around your companions, grants all who are present when the song is completed a excellent buff to hit, damage, and fear saves.  This requires the bard to have perform skill rank 3 to use.

The original bonus is a +1 bonus to hit, damage and fear saves.  The further buffs at levels 8 and 14 are an additional +1 to hit, damage and fear saves.  These are morale bonuses, meaning they stack with prayer or recitation, but not spells like bless.  Inspire Courage lasts 4 minutes.  This buff is extremely powerful, and is arguably the best buff in the game.  With use of all the available enhancements (at level 14 cap), this buff grants a total of +6 to hit, +6 damage and +6 to fear saves!

Inspire Competance:  This song is available at level 3 and requires perform level 6 to use.  It grants a rare +2 competance buff to a targeted ally.  It cannot be used on oneself.  This lasts 4 minutes, and is a very useful buff, because it stacks with all the other buffs in the game, such as prayer, skill items and so on.

Suggestion:  Probably the least useful of the bard songs, this requires perform 9 to use, and is received at level 6.  It grants the ability to cast a suggestion spell (as the spell, but with no concentration check, but the same dc as the spell) that lasts 6 seconds/level.

Inspire Greatness:  This is an excellent buff, granting all allies nearby a +2 bonus to attack, +1 fortitude saves and bonus hit points equal to 10 + 1/level (max 20). This requires 12 ranks of perform, and is gains at level 9.  This is a morale bonus, so it does not stack with inspire courage.

Song of Freedom:  This song is received at level 12, and and is basically a single target break enchantment.  It requires a perform of 15.  It's chance to break spells is the same as break enchantment.. 1d20 + your caster level (maximum +10) versus 11 + the spell's caster level to remove an effect  Remember that break enchantment only works on enchantments, necromancy and transmutation.

Special Enhancements:

Aside from the various bard songs, there are three special enhancements which grant unique bard song abilities.  Each of these enhancements have special requirements to achieve (like more enhancements).

Bard Spellsinger:  This ability grants (among other things) the ability to expend one use of your bard song to grant all nearby allies a +1 morale bonus to spell DC's and a 10% morale discount on spell costs.  This lasts 4 minutes

Bard Virtuoso:  This ability grants (among other things) the ability to expend one use of your bard song to enthrall multiple enemies, fascinating them and inflicting a -2 penalty to attack rolls and Will saves even if the fascination is broken.

Bardic Warchanter: This ability grants (among other things) the ability to expend a use of bardic music to grant grant all nearby allies damage reduction 5/-.

Strategies for using Bard Song:

Bard Resources: