Dear every single #TTRPG system with a bard-type class in it, including those in development:
*deep breath*
🎶
THE HUMAN VOICE IS AN INSTRUMENT! IT REQUIRES YEARS OF TRAINING! IT CREATES MUSIC
IT
IS
AN
INSTRUMENT
🎶thank you for listening to my opera talk.#OperaGeek
— Kelli🎶#OperaGeek (@TheOperaGeek) February 19, 2020
What’s the upshot here? More to the point, are you looking for a bard's voice to be treated as a spellcasting focus for them, meaning as a material component?
— Dan Dillon (@Dan_Dillon_1) February 19, 2020
I don’t understand what you mean by upshot.
My point is – singers, &opera singers especially (as well as many amazing vocal genres) spend YEARS training & learning to use their instrument
Sure, a silence spell could suck
but try breaking the fingers of a lute bard, same thing Sure. I'm trying to figure out why a voice being classified as an instrument matters.
The only thing I can think of would be to have it count for Material components as well as Verbal for bard spells.
— Dan Dillon (@Dan_Dillon_1) February 19, 2020
The point is that the voice is just as much an instrument as a violin or a trumpet, and most TTRPGs create a false dichotomy between the two. Having vocal instruments be relegated to the catch-all category of the Performance skill is inconsistent. There is no comprehensive list of tool proficiencies in D&D. When a bard gains proficiency in 3 musical instruments, voice can absolutely be one of those. It's not listed in chapter 5 because it has no cost or weight, but it certainly is an instrument.
— James Wyatt (@aquelajames) February 19, 2020