Perform
Typically used with: Presence.
In short: make smiles and money. All the world's a stage and you're the star — or so your pretentious attitude would suggest. Drama jokes aside, characters with ranks in Perform are superbly good at entertaining others. Such a trade can be used to lighten moods, make some cash, and create diversions.
Difficulty
A Perform check can be used like a Negotiate check to improve someone's mood. See the Negotiate entry for the DLs for such a use.
A Perform check can also be used to score some quick wages in a populated area. Money received is not only a product of how well you Perform, but also the economy of the city or town in which you do it. Usually, a minstrel can entertain for an entire evening and earn an amount of wealth equal to the check rolled.
The GM should make it apparent that a great amount of attention (both good and bad) can come from higher Perform checks.
Opposed Rolls
A character can use Perform to create a diversion. Take for example a minstrel who sings a song on a street corner while his ally picks the pockets of the audience. Any person enthralled by the performance (i.e. loses a Discern to the Perform check) takes a −2 to their Perception to notice the Thievery.
Retry
A Perform check can be retried, but usually after one unimpressive performance, you may be too busy dodging tomatoes to give it another shot.