'DAUNTING PRESENCE' (1300)
All successful bards have a strong charm and sense of the theatric, enabling them to evoke a sense of awe or dread. However, independent of this, some bards are people worthy of genuine fear, able to kill and maim a hundred different ways with the power of their voice alone. For these bards, their theatrical ability magnifies the seeds of hesitation or trepidation in an enemy's mind a hundredfold, causing even those who despise them to occasionally lose their nerve for a moment and fail to attack them. While such hesitation is rare in a seasoned adventurer, it can easily save the bard's life. For this ability to work, the victim must be able to both see and hear the bard; it works better as the victim's morale falls or fear grows. This edge requires that the bard have a reputation for deadly combat prior to learning the 'grand nocturne' song.