Vocals skill
A musical Lore skill, trained by singing or humming.
Use
While Bards gain the most tangible benefits from training Vocals (such as helping to reach mana caps on vocal enchantes), and is used in the Voice Throw check vs. Perception to determine if someone sees your lips move or not. Barbarians should note that training the Vocals skill minorly increases the rate at which the voice recovers after Roaring, so it is recommended that all Barbarians train it passingly. Aside from Bard enchantes and Barbarians roars, however, the skill has few applications. However, for Clerics, enough ranks in Vocals skill will aid you in getting the Preacher title.
Vocal Ranges
All characters are randomly assigned a voice type (within the range dictated by race and gender), such as soprano, alto, or tenor. You can check your natural voice type with the PRACTICE VOICE command.
Bards with sufficient Vocals skill have access to all voice types for their gender regardless of race and can change their voice types at will with the PRACTICE VOICE <type> command. Non-Bards cannot change their voice types.
Voice types display with use of the SING, CHANT, and CHORUS commands.
Training
This skill is learned mainly through the usage of enchantes and song scrolls by Bards, yet may also be learned by anybody by either writing and SINGing their own songs (the more people to hear your song, the better you learn), or taking advantage of the HUM system to learn in a less restrictive way.
To learn Vocals by humming, type HUM HELP in game. A list of play styles will be shown, sorted from easiest to hardest. Try humming different styles until you find one that gives you "only the slightest hint of difficulty". This will provide optimal learning. Additionally, there are diffculty modifiers that can help you "dial in" to the play style that will yield the best results.
It should be noted that certain actions cannot be performed while humming, such as attacking in combat and preparing or casting spells, so experimentation is key. Working humming into your existing training regimen is a great way to pick up another skill (and thus more TDPs) for little to no extra effort.
Humming (Non-Bard)
Although not of much use for non-Bards, humming is commonly done for TDPs, titles, and role-playing. You gain the most experience from humming a song "with only the slightest hint of difficulty." Below is a chart that shows how many ranks it takes to hum a song at that difficulty level. Unless otherwise indicated, the song has no special style or mood.
You can hum in a special style or mood to decrease or increase the difficulty level. For example, you can "masterfully" hum songs that are three levels below your current "slightest hint of difficulty" level.
| Song | Min | Max | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| scales (ruff) | 0 | 25 | |
| arpeggios (rudiments) | 0? | ||
| ditty | 25 | 31 | |
| folk | 31 | 40 | |
| ballad | 40 | 50 | |
| waltz | 50 | 60 | |
| lullaby | 60 | 70 | |
| march | 70 | 88? | |
| jig | 78? | 87 | |
| lament | 87 | 107 | |
| wedding | 107 | 126 | |
| hymn | 126 | 147 | |
| rumba | 147 | 174 | |
| polka | 174 | 198 | |
| battle | 198 | 237 | |
| reel | 237 | 258 | |
| elegy | 258 | 286 | |
| serenade | 286 | 316 | |
| minuet | 316 | 341 | said to increase spirit regeneration of everyone in the room when performed flawlessly |
| psalm | 341 | 370 | |
| dirge | 370 | 407 | |
| gavotte | 407 | 441 | |
| tango | 441 | 475 | |
| tarantella | 475 | 513 | |
| bolero | 513 | 546 | |
| nocturne | 546 | 580 | |
| requiem | 580 | 617 | |
| fantasia | 617 | 653 | |
| rondo | 653 | 686 | |
| aria | 686 | 728 | |
| sonata | 728 | 766 | |
| concerto | 766 | 812 | |
| confident concerto | 812 | ||
| masterful concerto | hard cap is 1,579 ranks but can be performed well with fewer than 900 ranks |
Spirit Regeneration
Anyone with sufficient Vocals skill can increase the spirit regeneration of all those in the room by flawlessly humming a minuet (or higher). This feat also applies to applying Percussions, Strings, or Winds to PLAY a flawless minuet (or higher).
Restrictions
Humming will prevent attacking, hiding, and spell casting.
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