Creating new Pathfinder rules (including a new way to sing).

[Private Sanders]

So, I'm creating rules for playing Pathfinder in a 17th/18th/early 19th century technology level. I plan to create a free PDF called Sloops and Sabers containing all these rules, but first I have to write them.

I plan to have extensive rules for naval combat and sailing in general in this PDF (It is the "Age of Sail", after all) and one of the things I was thinking about is sea shanties and how cool it would be if they had an actual effect on gameplay. So I wrote down what I think are fair rules for such a thing:

Cadences

A cadence is a song sung by several people while working or marching in order to coordinate timing. Cadences aid timing in physical labor and relieve boredom during monotonous work, making them useful for keeping people working hard over long periods. There are many different types of cadence, such as military marching cadences, sea shanties, mining songs, agricultural songs, and so forth. Instruments may be used, but very often are not. Whether or not an instrument is used has no gameplay effect when singing a cadence.

Cadences are generally call and response songs, where once person leads the cadence (usually calling one or two lines at a time) and the rest of the people singing call the chorus or a response to the lines called out by the leader. The timing of this is synchronized to the task being performed, so that a specific action is either performed or ended when the chorus is called. Only the person leading the cadence makes a Perform (Sing) check. Responding to the leader requires no check so long as the individual is familiar with the song (a DC 10, 15, or 20 Knowledge check [The DC depends on how common the song is and the Knowledge category depends on what kind of work the cadence is meant for] may be made if it is unsure whether someone should be familiar with a specific cadence). People with ranks in a profession skill should be considered familiar with local cadences connected to that skill, regardless of whether or not they have ranks in any knowledge skills. They should not be considered familiar with foreign cadences unless they have ranks in an appropriate knowledge skill or some other reason to know that particular cadence.

A successful Perform (Sing) check by the cadence leader against a DC appropriate to the type of work being performed (10 for the least demanding tasks, such as marching or harvesting crops, 15 or 20 for more complicated tasks such as many shipboard jobs, marching on poor terrain, or working in adverse conditions such as severe weather) gives a +1 bonus to Profession checks connected to the work being performed, plus an extra +1 bonus for every 3 points the cadence leader exceeds the DC by. A morale bonus of the same amount is gained to saving throws and ability checks directly related to the work being performed (such as saving throws connected to a forced march). During combat a cadence called by a military unit gains this bonus to fortitude saves against fatigue or exhaustion and will saves against fear only, and a cadence can only be called while the unit is in a tight formation and not running or charging (hustling is okay). A Perform (Sing) check should be made once per hour. A successful Perform (Sing) check while marching adds 10% to the distance marched that hour along with all the benefits listed above. This bonus is do to the marchers being kept in step, not morale. A failed Perform (Sing) check while leading cadence has no effect.

Cadences are very commonly used by militaries, so Barbarians, Fighters, Paladins, Rangers, Clerics, Warriors, and Cavaliers (all classes commonly found in military units) treat Perform (Sing) as a class skill when calling cadence.

This is the first rule I've written for Sloops and Sabers, and I would appreciate it if people would look over it and critique it's balance, ask about anything unclear, and generally tell me how good the rule is.

At the moment I'm working on melee weapons, specifically knives (the absence of armor and availability of firearms makes them one of the most common melee weapons, and I'm adding some knives not represented in medieval Pathfinder). I'll have them posted when they are ready.  

[InsaneKatKing]

Actually, that's a pretty interesting idea. A few dms might consider adding that into a couple of their games, cause even back in medieval times, there were songs that people sang to march to or to work in general. Especially marching, it passed a lot of time when one's company wasn't being pressed for silence. And i believe your DC choices are suitable as well as the results for rolling over the DC. Of course, this is all my opinion, but again, totally interesting and believable concept.  

[Private Sanders]

InsaneKatKing475

Actually, that's a pretty interesting idea. A few dms might consider adding that into a couple of their games, cause even back in medieval times, there were songs that people sang to march to or to work in general. Especially marching, it passed a lot of time when one's company wasn't being pressed for silence. And i believe your DC choices are suitable as well as the results for rolling over the DC. Of course, this is all my opinion, but again, totally interesting and believable concept.

That's what I was thinking. I wrote these rules for a world with firearms, but they should work with any technology level.  

[Raganui Minamoto]

I'm in agreement with Kat  

[Suicidesoldier#1]

Eh, so, people sing, in order to improve moral?  

[Private Sanders]

Disregard this thread. Based on recommendations in another thread I changed the skill check to a charisma check, forbid this ability's use in combat or against attacks, and made the bonus a flat +2 to related saves and checks/ +10% move speed when marching.