Battle Dancer - will this stack or not

[thecrimsondawn]

So lets say I was a monk who worked for an empire that I found was using the "law" in ways that I did not agree with and over the course of time shifted from LG to CG to fight and make changes.
That would make me an ex monk, but I would keep what I gained.

If I took a level of Battle Dancer (dragon mag compendium pg26), would that instance of AC stack with monk?
I know in most cases if a class feature is named the same, or has the same wording, then they dont stack, but nether of that applies in this case, but that could very well be due to the face of just how old Battle Dancer is.

Thoughts?

Edit: I must really be out of it, the wording is the same <_<
Never mind then, they will not stack lol.

[animewatcha]

Ac by level, no. AC by stat yes.

[Malak'ai]

You'd still get your Cha bonus to AC, just not the extra points from levels.

[thecrimsondawn]

Not what I was really asking tho from the topic.

The Monk skill that gives your wisdom to AC - changed to CHA to AC with a feat
and the battle dancer skill that adds cha to ac


the wording is nearly identical, only changed for the different stat for the class. If it stacks, it would free up a whole lot of room in my build.
If they both stack, that is an insane amount of AC :P

[General Sajaru]

The bonuses from being a certain level (i.e. +1/5 levels) from the two different classes would stack. However, you would only receive the bonus equal to your Cha bonus once (I'm getting that from the Ninja AC Bonus ability description that notes "When unarmored and unencumbered, a ninja adds her Wisdom bonus (if any) to her Armor Class. This ability does not stack with the monk’s AC bonus ability (a ninja with levels of monk does not add the bonus twice).").

[Hiro Quester]

The bonuses from being a certain level (i.e. +1/5 levels) from the two different classes would stack. However, you would only receive the bonus equal to your Cha bonus once (I'm getting that from the Ninja AC Bonus ability description that notes "When unarmored and unencumbered, a ninja adds her Wisdom bonus (if any) to her Armor Class. This ability does not stack with the monk’s AC bonus ability (a ninja with levels of monk does not add the bonus twice).").

That it's explicitly banned from stacking there could be taken to imply that it would stack when not explicitly banned from stacking.

Furthermore, I'd say they don't have the same wording.


When unarmored and unencumbered, the battle dancer adds her Charisma bonus (if any) to her AC. She uses the captivating and confusing movements of the battle dance to evade her foes' attacks.


Battle dancer gets this AC bonus from deceptive dancing movements. That is a benefit to AC that is untyped (stacks) and is over and above the bonus a monk gets just by standing there and being monastic.

[General Sajaru]

Battle dancer gets this AC bonus from deceptive dancing movements. That is a benefit to AC that is untyped (stacks) and is over and above the bonus a monk gets just by standing there and being monastic.

I hadn't looked up Battle Dancer (assumed from OP that the ability was the same as the monk/ninja ability) but looking at it, I'd be inclined to agree with you; if you'd changed your monk bonus to be based on Cha, you'd get it once from that (along with the level dependent bonus, if any) and again from the Battle Dancer ability, stacking with each other. Which is indeed an insane amount of AC bonus :smallsmile:

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

The most recent version of Battle Dancer is in Dragon Compendium, and its class feature named "AC Bonus" is what adds both your Cha bonus and the level-based bonus to your AC. Monks also have a class feature named "AC Bonus" which adds your Wis bonus and a level-based bonus to your AC. Ninja also gets an "AC Bonus" class feature, etc. All of these class features give untyped bonuses, and all of these class features have the same name, making them technically from the same source, so they will not stack. Your class levels in Monk and Battle Dancer should stack for purposes of determining your level-based bonus, but you will only add either your Wis bonus or your Cha bonus to your AC, not both.