bardsongs
The bard's songs is an own path of casting, like the alchemy of mixpotion, the power of spellcasting wielded by mages and clerics, or the skills of the warriors and thieves. There is a list of songs (and thus effects) comparable to the list of spells a highlevel caster can choose from. The bard's songs all work with a held instrument, and all are interrupted when the bard either is attacked, target of a successful negative spell or gets thirsty. A bard may choose to sing from a songsheet while he is playing a song, and emotes or recites the sheet line by line. When a bard plays a song, each few seconds a message is displayed, along with potential text the bard is singing. Every time such a message is displayed, a check for the effects is made. There is a certain saving throw for mobs and players alike, which can be made easier to win for the bard if the victim listens to him. Some songs have an instant duration, others are quasi-permanent. The former start to take effect after about three seconds, the latter start to take effect after three seconds, too, but the effect stays up as long as the bard continues to play the song.
See Also: tune instrument, play instrument