Haha, no. Real rules for skills aren't happening.pragma wrote:On this note, does anyone know what the difference is between situations that call for a performance check and situations that call for a musical instrument proficiency check. They seem like they would be identical with some very rare exceptions: fiddling contests with Old Scratch in Georgia and reciting the Iliad.Voss wrote:Instruments give me a headache all around. They sub for spell components, but take up both hands in most cases, and sometimes also the mouth. The flute player shouldn't be able to do anything, unless it is a material component only spell. And any spell that has material components that cost money is impossible to use without a free hand in any case, because you can't sub those out.
My instinct is to houserule out the perform skill, replace it with streetwise because I think the game will hurt from the absence of that skill, and treat poems, songs, etc. as "tool" proficiencies.
That said, if there are real rules on the subject then I'd be happier with them.
As to the first question... no idea, except for the obvious: things that aren't musical instruments use performance.
My personal preference would be to ditch musical instruments as discrete, individual 'tools' and keep performance. Because honestly separate skills for hundreds of individual things is fucking dumb, and your attempt to busk or impress nobles or whatever can have whatever fucking flavor text you want. If it were Orchestra Simulator 2014, I might care about individual instrument skills, but its D&D, so I really.... don't.
If your background says you're good with pennywhistles, harps and poetry I'm just willing to accept that. I wouldn't want someone who's proficient in weaponsmith to have to tell me that they're specifically proficient in 5lb hammers, 10lb hammers, tongs and anvils, as well as making longswords, maces and knives, so I've no idea why you'd want to insist people list that they are proficient by instrument, songs, poems & etc.
But I'm afraid streetwise doesn't make any sense either- it is a quality, not a skill. If you want to do 'street' activities, check whatever real skill that would actually apply to whatever you're doing. Shaking down a gang is intimidate, pulling information is deception or insight, or whatever. I'd hate to see a hundred different variations of etiquette: street, nobility, clergy, drow, woodsie elves, & etc as well, which is what opening the box marked streetwise basically amounts to.