On p. 84 in the core rulebook, under the Performer skill, you can find this charming little text:

"The Explorer may make a Difficult (-10) Performer (Storyteller) or Perfomer (Singer) Test instead of Charm,..." "...when used to improve Morale,a succesful Test adds +5 to the ship's Morale, with and a additional +10 for every to Degrees of Success, for the duration of the combat."

So you goad your armsmen to combat by singing a hearty tune? Something must be very wrong here. The other main Extended action style way to shore up Morale is the use of disinformation. I would have expected some sort of use of Command or Intimidation to achieve these results. Not the captain going "Don't worry about the invading orks, I hear they can't stand the sight of blood anyway, and here's a little piece I wrote earlier this morning..."

Think less "rock" and more "inspirational hymns". And usually, that's the Missionary's duty (or possibly the Sororitas', assuming there's one aboard).

Think of the Political Officer in "Hunt for the Red October" singing the national anthem and other inspirational battle hymns. That's what that bit means.

No.

Yeah, I think the last video was bang on the money when it comes to what that rule makes me envisage. I suppose it's just one single replaceable rule and i could just drop it (or better still - allow a Challenging Performer test have the same effect as a regular Charm test as per the Extended Action rules) but it just sort of strenthens that uncomfortable feeling that the skills and talents haven't really been synched with the ships rules.

Millandson said:

"Think of the Political Officer in "Hunt for the Red October" singing the national anthem and other inspirational battle hymns. That's what that bit means."

I'm not saying it shouldn't be possible, I'm just saying maybe it doesn't warrant a specific rule. Using Performer to mimic the effects of a Charm test is fine, but the ability in question is actually more powerful than a charm test.

I suppose it's a good excuse to let blast the Red Army Choir on full volume in the middle of the session though...

Etepete said:

Well yea, that was just an example, I never intended for it to sound like a hard and fast rule. But yea, the Red Army Choir does sound a lot more 40k-esque than that video.

I'm not saying it shouldn't be possible, I'm just saying maybe it doesn't warrant a specific rule. Using Performer to mimic the effects of a Charm test is fine, but the ability in question is actually more powerful than a charm test.

And that's why Perform is actually harder than using Charm. But picture a whole ship, every single crewmember, singing a hymn to the Emperor while engaging in battle with a Chaos Marauder, the decks vibrating from the sound.

Tell me that's not inspiring.

I don't know about you, but if my captain broke out into song and dance like Picard did, my morale would be instantly restored! The rule makes complete sense.

"And that's why Perform is actually harder than using Charm. But picture a whole ship, every single crewmember, singing a hymn to the Emperor while engaging in battle with a Chaos Marauder, the decks vibrating from the sound.

Tell me that's not inspiring."

Lasers said:

I think it'd be more like

I haven't looked at those links, since I'm here at work and can't view videos.

Anyway, if anyone has seen the old Micheal Caine movie ZULU, there's a great piece where the color-sergeant (I think it is) begins singing when facing the multitudes of zulu warriors. All the British troops immediately perk up and join in, and IIRC it wasn't even a particularly Hymnal song. It certainly bolstered the morale of the British troops.

So, there is precedent even for singing to bolster morale.

My DH group even allows a successful Perform(Sing) to inspire allies and provide a +10 to fear tests to allies, which we have found handy but far from overpowering. It also gives a good reason for characters to take ranks in a less-used skill like Perform(sing). My Sororitas has taken up to +20, and attempts to sing quite often (even without needing the bonus against fear).

Don't forget Casablanca, which has another good example of what a well timed song can do for a group's morale.

hey when yer a jet, yer a jet all the way...

Last I checked, there was a long tradition of song and music being used to boost morale of a friendly army, and perhaps to intimidate the enemy as well. The bagpipers that accompanied many a Scottish regiment in the past comes to mind.

Incidentally, an interesting usage of Perform (Singer) might be to help speed up certain shipboard tasks, especially if the power is knocked out. Look up "Sea Shanties" if you want to know what I'm speaking of.

-Kirov

Made Of Win.

I'm pretty sure that if one of the players in my group ever notices that rule, he's going to do everything in his power to turn it into a Rogue Trader Rock Opera.

And that ladies and gentlemen is how chaos Noise Marines came about.