The Performance skill is the mechanics hook for any time a character uses art, spectacle, presence, or ritualized display to move hearts and minds. It earns credits, wins crowds, anchors morale, and can literally steer political outcomes and Devotion currents when used well.
Performance
Charisma
Source Player Core pg. 203
Performance measures a character’s ability to entertain, impress, and communicate through deliberate display: music, dance, spoken word, theater, streaming, propaganda, ritual choreography, or even orchestrated battlefield pageantry.
Performance is more than “doing a show.” It is:
Art as influence: Concerts that double as political rallies or faction recruitment drives.
Spectacle as weapon: Psy-ops broadcasts, intimidation displays, and morale-anchoring rituals.
Persona as shield: Celebrity image, holonet avatars, and curated reputations that open doors or deflect scrutiny.
Ritual expression of Devotion: Color-coded performances that resonate with Mana currents and aligned factions.
Performance Actions
Untrained
- Perform: make a brief performance—one song, a quick dance, or a few jokes
- Recall Knowledge: Recall Knowledge about impressive performances, specific songs or media pieces, music groups, media personalities, and creatures who use song or dance abilities (such as magic songs or dances).
Trained
Earn Income: Earn Income by staging a performance.
Performance is used whenever the character’s deliberate act of display is the core action, not just flavor. Some common categories:
1. Live Artistic Performance
Singing, dancing, playing instruments, slam poetry, stand-up, theater, circus acts.
On-stage shows in cantinas, Rift-side shrines, corporate galas, or fleet ceremonies.
Street-performing in station plazas or outer-rim settlements.
2. Holonet & Infosphere Presence
Streaming as an idol, pundit, influencer, or propagandist.
Pre-recorded broadcasts: music vids, short dramas, war-docs, faction-produced holos.
Persona management: cultivating and maintaining an on-brand public image.
3. Tactical Spectacle & Psy-Ops
Coordinated military parades, flag rituals, and drum corps used to project power.
Intimidating enemy troops with pre-battle chants, call-and-response, or harsh war-marches.
Coordinated drone light-shows or holo-projector barrages to confuse, awe, or demoralize.
4. Devotional & Ritual Performance
Chants, dances, and symbolic displays used in Devotion-focused rites.
Ceremonial duels, pilgrim processions, or synesthetic “color concerts” that channel Mana.
Sect or order-specific rites (White processions, Red protest performances, Blue analytic recitals, etc.).
5. Social & Political Theater
Public debates are performed as staged shows, satirical revues, or benefit concerts.
“Soft power” displays: charity galas, awards ceremonies, public apologies.
Smoothed-over propaganda events: turning a scandal into a photogenic redemption arc.
Influence & Social Encounters
In the Influence subsystem, Performance is a top-tier skill in scenes where:
NPCs care about art, spectacle, celebrity, or ritual.
Events are structured around stage, spotlight, or broadcast: galas, award shows, live debates, idol competitions, Devotion festivals.
Common uses:
Influence Action:
Use Performance to win over an NPC (or crowd) impressed by:Talent, charisma, or production values.
A performance that echoes their Devotion color or faction aesthetic.
Solidarity performances (charity concerts, protest songs, unity rituals).
Discover Action (with Performance):
In some cases, a short piece of improvised performance can be used to:Probe an NPC’s tastes and values based on how they respond.
Test whether an NPC resonates with a particular Devotion or faction style.
Reveal who in a crowd is “off-beat” (e.g., disguised infiltrators who react wrong to traditional cues).
Alternative Initiative:
In dramatic social set-pieces, Performance can be used for initiative when:A dance-off, battle-of-the-bands, or debate-show begins.
Characters try to seize the spotlight first—who opens, who sets the tone.
Characters who invest in Performance might be:
Idols and entertainers:
Cantina singers, holonet stars, pirate-radio hosts, pop divas, or folk storytellers.Ritual leaders:
Devotion celebrants, shrine-keepers, grief-chanters, chorus-masters of a religious order.Military and faction showrunners:
Parade marshals, recruitment-speakers, psy-ops officers, or propaganda directors.Street artists and agitators:
Taggers, slam poets, guerrilla theater troupes, protest musicians.
Tie Performance into concrete goals:
“I want my band to headline the Accord’s Unity Festival.”
“I want my protest chants to be banned by three corporate states.”
“I want a song so powerful it becomes a Devotion rite everyone recognizes.”
Build scenes, adventures, and long-term arcs around Performance:
A battle-of-the-bands or idol contest hides a faction recruitment war.
A military unit’s morale rituals hold a frontier line together; losing the performer risks collapse.
A kidnapped icon must be rescued before a galactic broadcast, or an enemy faction will weaponize their image.
A Devotion cult believes a prophesied song will reopen a sealed Rift-gate—but rival factions dispute who should sing it, and what color it should be.
In each case, the Performance skill provides the mechanical backbone for tests of artistry, spectacle, and public presence, while Influence, Devotion, and faction rules determine the broader consequences.
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