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ChaosStorm
2006-12-03, 04:54 PM
While I do enjoy the bard class, it's focus is on auditory performance. I decided to create a Bard-like class that is more geared towards dance and body. So the Spell Dancer exists somewhere between the Monk and Bard, which I think is a really fun combination. It does, however, seem rather empty.


Spell Dancer

Hit dice d8
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: gauntlets, daggers, punching daggers, mace, club, quarterstaff, dart, sling, crossbow (light, heavy). The Spell dancer is not proficient with any armor or shields. Wearing Armor interferes with the Dancer’s spell casting and causes her to lose AC bonus, flurry of blows, and fast movement abilities.
AC Bonus: The Dancer adds her Cha Modifier to her AC


{table="head"]Level|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Special
1st|+0|+0|+2|+0|unarmed strike, flurry of blows
2nd|+1|+0|+3|+0|fast movement
3rd|+2|+1|+3|+1|evasion
4th|+3|+1|+4|+1|~
5th|+3|+1|+4|+1|ki-strike(magic)
6th|+4|+2|+5|+2|~
7th|+5|+2|+5|+2|~
8th|+6/+1|+2|+6|+2|~
9th|+6/+1|+3|+6|+3|~
10th|+7/+2|+3|+7|+3|improved evasion
11th|+8/+3|+3|+7|+3|~
12th|+9/+4|+4|+8|+4|~
13th|+9/+4|+4|+8|+4|~
14th|+10/+5|+4|+9|+4|~
15th|+11/+6/+1|+5|+9|+5|~
16th|+12/+7/+2|+5|+10|+5|~
17th|+12/+7/+2|+5|+10|+5|~
18th|+13/+8/+3|+6|+11|+6|~
19th|+14/+9/+4|+6|+11|+6|~
20th|+15/+10/+5|+6|+12|+6|~[/table]

Skill Points at 1st level: (4+ Int Modifier) x4
Skill Points at each additional level:4+ Int Modifier
Class Skills: Balance, climb, Concentration, Craft, Escape Artist, Hide, Jump, Listen, Move Silently, Perform, Profession, Sleight of Hand, Spot, Tumble

The Dancer has unarmed strike, and flurry of blows exactly like the Monk. The Ki-strike ability, however, only reaches magical type. The fast movement functions similar to the Barbarian ability (+10 bonus to speed when not in armor and not carry heavy load).

A Dancer's caster abilities are similar to a bard (Charisma based, spells known and spells cast same as the Bard) except that all Dancer spells must have a somatic component instead of a verbal.


Spell Dancer’s Spell List

0 level spells
Arcane mark, Dancing lights, Daze, detect magic, detect poison, flare, know direction, light, mage hand, mending, open/close, prestidigitation, resistance, touch of fatigue,

1st
Animate rope, cause fear, charm person, disguise self, endure elements, enlarge person, expeditious retreat, feather fall, grease, hypnotism, jump, lesser confusion, Nystal’s magic aura, protection from alignment, reduce person, remove fear, silent image, sleep, summon monster I, shield, true strike, unseen servant,

2nd
alter self, animal trance, Bear’s Endurance, blur, Bull’s Strength, calm emotions, Cat’s Grace, Daze Monster, delay poison, Eagle’s Splendor, Enthrall, Fox’s Cunning, Glitterdust, gust of wind, Heroism, Hold Person, Hypnotic Pattern, Invisibility, Knock, Levitate, locate object, Minor Image, Mirror Image, protection from arrow, Pyrotechnics, Rage, resist energy, Rope Trick, Scare, summon monster II, Summon Swarm, Spider Climb

3rd
blink, Charm Monster, confusion, Crushing Despair, Dispel Magic, Displacement, Fear, fly, Gaseous form, Geas(Lesser), Good hope, Haste, Invisibility Sphere, Leomund’s Tiny Hut, Major Image, Magic Circle Against alignment, nondetection, Phantom Steed, Protection from Energy, Remove Curse, See Invisible, Shrink item, slow, Summon Monster III, water breathing, Wind Wall,

4th
break enchantment, dimensional door, Dominate Person, Enlarge person (mass), Freedom of Movement, Hallucinatory Terrain, Hold Monster, Illusory Wall, Invisibility (greater), Leomund’s Secure Shelter, Locate Creature, Modify Memory, Neutralize Poison, polymorph, Rainbow Pattern, reduce person (mass), Repel Vermin, Shadow Conjuration, stoneskin, Summon Monster IV,

5th
Animal Growth, Dispel Magic (greater), Dream, False Vision, Heroism (greater), Mind Fog, Mirage Arcana, Mislead, Nightmare, Persistent Image, Seeming, Shadow Evocation, Shadow Walk, Summon Monster V, Teleport, Telekinesis

6th
Analyze Dweomer, Animate Object, Bear’s Endurance (mass), Bigby’s Forceful Hand, Bull’s Strength (mass), Cat’s Grace (mass), Charm Monster (mass), Eagle’s Splendor (mass), Eyebite, Find the path, Fox’s Cunning (mass), Geas/Quest, Heroes’ Feast, Otto’s Irresistible Dance, Permanent Image, Programmed Image, Project Image, Summon Monster IV, Veil,

icke
2006-12-04, 04:13 AM
You're right - it is rather empty.

Why not add a few more bardic abilities, Fascinate should work with dance as well as with any other performance and if Your Spell Dancer is as much a traveller as the average Bard, bardic knowledge should be valid.
The problem clearly is filling up the higher levels. You should look for movement-oriented classes(Dervishes, Scouts etc.) and pick out what You like, as long as it stays balanced.

By the way: in my group we built a Bard variant class that is centered around cooking. It was rather funny :)

Khantalas
2006-12-04, 04:31 AM
Spells known? Spells per day? Any other bardic or monk-ish class features?

And why not make Perform (dancing) checks instead of Perform (music-related subtype) checks when using Bardic Performance? It makes for a great Bardarian.

icke
2006-12-04, 06:31 AM
Khantalas:
Difficult to have Inspire abilities via dance performance, you'll actively have to watch it to get any bonuses.

Casts spells as a bard, it's written there.

Khantalas
2006-12-04, 06:35 AM
Actually, just look once. It lasts for five rounds after that. Then look again.

icke
2006-12-04, 06:38 AM
Possible: Yes.

Practical: not really.

Triaxx
2006-12-04, 11:39 AM
Particularly during heavy fighting. Perhaps a sing and dance component, so as long as you're singing, they can see you dancing in their heads.

The_Ferg
2006-12-04, 11:51 AM
I like the idea, and I am rather fond of the concept of fascinate being used here. You start dancing and the enemies are all "What the crap is that guy dancing for? This is a battle!" So they ignore him and he catches them without a dex bonus. Ah, that's what this character's missing. Sneak attack damage. About half of the rogue's ought to do it. Oh, and d6, not d8.

ChaosStorm
2006-12-04, 03:38 PM
I didn't want to go with the bardic music because of the fact that it is so hard to explain how a dance creates that ability. You'll notice the Spell Dancer's spell list does nto include any audtiory based spells. My problem with the bard is that it is so focused on sound performance, and I want to move away from that. The possibility for this would be that the Dancer's ability effects only herself and maybe later on a partner.


The Spell Dancer also has spells known and cast from the Bard's table.


I really would like to give this class something unique. I didn't want to use the Bardic knowledge because I feel that should be reserved for just the Bard class and prestige classes. But at the same time I have taken several of the Monk's cool class features.


So what I'm thinking is remove the flurry of blows and probably the ki-strike and replace them with something newly hand crafted, which as a new homebrewer is a little difficult for me. I'm tempted to look at the Warlock and the Tome of Magic for ideas on how to create Magic that's not traditional Magic. Like Dancing styles that grant different spell-like abilities.

ChaosStorm
2006-12-04, 03:53 PM
I think I need to post a Flavor clip. The reason I started on this project was because of this image in my head of a dancing warrior in battle.


"Shelena surveyed the battlefield. Most of the fight had moved away from her position and her allies were making their way towards the Orc Chieftan. She however had managed to find herself in the midst of five orc fighters.

'Looks at the preeeetty Elf-woman," one of them taunted, "She dressed all nice and brought a ballie to play with us.'

The orc troops all laughed as the elf-maiden slowly raised the small ball she had been holding at her side. For a brief instant she was perfectly still. A slow breath escape out between her lips. Then she whirled her body around and hurled the ball at one of her opponents. In a flash she caught the instrument and spun again. The orcs charged her and began to try and hack out her with their blades. Shelena's body twisted and folded with grace as she dodged their blows. Her legs and arms, however, connected with eye sockets, feet, joints, and groins. The ball had burst into a radiant light and was moving in accordance with her steps.

A few moments later Shelena picked up her ball, now slowly fading back to its dull blue color and went to rejoin her allies."


So an aspect I see in all of this is a dance accesory. The Dancer gets it a couple of levels into the class and it functions to aid him in fights, possibly granting him an extra attack (and thus replacing the flurry of blows with a similar ability.) I'm sort of tempting to keep developing the accesory (like adding in the magic and such of the ki-strike) and maybe eventually turning it into a full fledge summoned Dance Partner. Like the little ball, when activated, becomes a humanoid shape that adds to the attacks of the Dancer.

And after reading about sneak attack I now see how that could be fitted into the Dancer class.