Rekt_Angles
2022-01-21, 11:07 AM
I'm a long time lurker who thoroughly enjoys reading the Iron Chef build competitions hosted here, and I wanted to get y'all's opinion on my build for the Blade Dancer that was featured in Iron Chef CII. Please note that the formatting is way off since I'm posting this from a text document without having any actual Iron Chef formatting done. Had this been an actual entry, it would definitely be written much much better. This is my first post, so my apologies if it's not quite up to par.
Name: Beri Allynn
Race: Elf from the Forest of Lethyr
Alignment: TN
Hey! Do you want to feel SO FAST?! Try BLADE DANCER! It's a prestige class for people who need GRATUITOUS AMOUNTS OF SPEED! If you take this prestige class, you're going to feel UNCOMFORTABLY AWESOME! You want to wall run? Why not just jump over the buildings with your LEAP OF THE CLOUDS! Spring attacks! You'll be good at them! It's a prestige class for The Flash. FLASH PRESTIGE! Speed, fast, speed, fast, speed, flash, MORE SPEED THAN YOUR CHARACTER SHEET HAS ROOM FOR! Thanks to your +30 bonus to acrobatic skills, you'll be tumbling so fast that your DM will be like SLOOOOOW DOOOOWN AND then you say F*** YOU and hit him with you ENCHANTED BLADES! Speed weapons speed striking speed jumping speed tumbling! D6'S! Roof-Jumping will give you so many D6's! FOUR HUNDRED D6'S!* Give this prestige class to your elves and they'll move as fast as QUICKLINGS Your party will watch you run and think you're a QUICKLING! You'll move so fast you'll RIDE THE WIND back to AVALON, LAND OF THE FEY! Don't gamble on your elven life. Take Blade Dancer for all 10 levels today!
*This amount has not been verified. Many factors are involved in calculating how many D6's of damage Roof-Jumper can realistically add to your damage. Conservative estimates place it in the ballpark of around +5d6.
32pt buy:
STR-16 (+1 at levels 12, 16, and 20)
DEX-12+2
CON-16-2 (+1 at levels 4 and 8)
INT-14
WIS-10
CHA- 8
Classes (In order) Barbarian 1/Combat Wizard 5/Swiftblade 4/Blade Dancer 10
ACFs:
Combat Wizard (Unearthed Arcana)
Focused Specialist: Transmuter (Banned Schools: Necromancy, Enchantment, Evocation) (Complete Mage)
Immediate Magic: Sudden Shift (Lose Familiar. Gain new movement type BASED ON LAND SPEED) (Player's Handbook II)
Skilled City Dweller (Barbarian) Trade Ride for Tumble (Cityscape)
Feats by level:
1-Fleet of Foot (PGtF)
2-(Wizard) Expeditious Dodge (RotW)
3-Power Attack (PHB)
6-Improved Toughness (CWar), (Wizard) Mobility (PHB)
7-(Swiftblade) Spring Attack (PHB)
9- Leap Attack (CAdv)
12-Roofwalker (City)
15-Roof-Jumper (CIty)
18-Elusive Target (CWar)
Skills broken down by level, and cross class skills are denoted by the entries with the parenthesis:
1- Jump 4 ranks, Tumble 4 ranks, Concentration 2 ranks (4 points), Spellcraft 2 ranks (4 points), Knowledge Nature 4 ranks, Survival 4 ranks
2-Concentration 3, Spellcraft 3, Jump 5 (2 points)
3- Concentration 4, Spellcraft 4, Tumble 5 (2 points)
4- Concentration 5, Spellcraft 5, Jump 6 (2 points)
5- Concentration 6, Spellcraft 6, Tumble 6 (2 points)
6- Jump 7 (2 points), Tumble 7 (2 points)
7-Jump 10, Tumble 10
8- Jump 11, Tumble 11, Balance 4
9- Jump 12, Tumble 12, Balance 7, Concentration 7
10-Jump 13, Tumble 13, Concentration 11
11-(Blade Dancer 2+2) Jump 14, Tumble 14, Concentration 14, Spellcraft 7
12-Jump 15, Tumble 15, Concentration 15 (2 points)
13-Jump 16, Tumble 16, Concentration 16 (2 points)
14-Jump 17, Tumble 17, Concentration 17 (2 points)
15-Jump 18, Tumble 18, Concentration 18 (2 points)
16-Jump 19, Tumble 19, Concentration 19 (2 points)
17-Jump 20, Tumble 20, Concentration 20 (2 points)
18-Jump 21, Tumble 21, Concentration 21 (2 points)
19-Jump 22, Tumble 22, Concentration 22 (2 points)
20-Jump 23, Tumble 23, Concentration 23 (2 points)
Final Skill ranks: Jump 23, Tumble 23, Concentration 23, Spellcraft 7, Balance 7, Survival 4, K(Nature) 4
Wizard Spells:
1-Mage Armor, (Swift) Expeditious Retreat
2-(Luminous Armor), Mirror Image, Wraithstrike
3-HASTE, Greater Mage Armor
4-Greater Mirror Image
These items aren't required by any means, but rather are simply cool things to have.
Standard stat boosters for str, dex, and con (Tome +5 Str 137,500 gp and +4 Con 110,000 gp , +6 items for all 3 for total of 108k)
+2 headband of int for the extra 3rd level spell per day (MORE HASTE!), extra sudden shift, and an extra +1 to initiative
Rapid Wrath (11,702gp Spear from Ghostwalk) with Morphing added on so you can turn it into a greatsword. Alternatively, see if you can make a +1 "Rapid" Greatsword for significantly cheaper
Halberd of Vaulting (20,310gp halberd from Arms and Equipment Guide) Add Rapid, or add Morphing like the item above. Ideally, merge the two!
Circlet of Mages (Like a pearl of power, but cooler and more flexible at a fraction of the cost)
+5 Twilight Mithril Chain Shirt (Conserve spell slots)
Tooth of Lehrje (Conserve money on enchanting weapons)
Level Breakdown:
1-5: You're a slightly unusual gish with a chunky health total at level 1. You can charge from a crazy distance thanks to your movement speed and tumble away to avoid any major return attacks. Still, you have to suck up a d4 hit die for a while, and even swiftblade only has a D6. Improved toughness goes a long way to assist that. Elves have a -2 Con, but we want elf for the ability to take Fleet of Foot. I could've chosen human, but I'm so tired of building humans all the time. Plus the bonus dexterity increases initiative and AC.
6-10: SWIFTBLADE TIME. 40% concealment, haste as a swift action, and Int to initiative makes for a happy charger. Spring attack comes online, allowing you to hit and run with the best of them. Leap attack makes your charges PAINFUL, and your spells give you some increased versatility. Plus, you can go nova once per day using only one swift and free action. Remember: Haste first, THEN rage.
11-15: Blade Dancer comes online at roughly the same time as your other source of bonus damage: Roof-Jumper. Now, you have an impressive bonus to your jump checks from your movement speed alone, but blade dancer also gives a sizeable bonus. Lets take advantage of that and turn speed into damage! As a small bonus, since we needed Balance for the feats, we're no longer flat footed while balancing. There's a little bit of ambiguity over how much of a speed boost you get from this class due to the wording of Fleet of Foot. That feat doesn't give a bonus per say, but simply says that you move 10ft faster than normal for your race. If your DM rules that it increases your base speed, then enjoy the 40ft movement speed table! If not, and the DM rules that it's a 10ft bonus, then the 30ft movement speed table is also very good. Regardless of how the DM rules, you're still moving ridiculously fast.
16-20: More Blade Dancer means more speed. These levels just take what we already have and improve upon them. At level 18 we take our final feat: Elusive target, adding some useful tactical maneuvers.
Optional Variants:
Athas elf from Dark Sun setting: Gains proficiency with ALL ranged weapons, and has a BASE move speed of 40ft. It's 3rd party though, so good luck getting that DM approval.
Spirit Lion Totem barbarian: Pounce is nice, arguably better than the fast movement. This build is made for SPEED though, so it's more personal preference
Traits: The Quick trait is always fun. Again, this build is made for speed. If you feel lucky with your HP rolls, this trait is practically nothing but upside.
Gestalt breaks this wide open, as it does with most things. My recommendation is to gestalt it with Swordsage for the Ring of Fire (Desert Wind 6) and Tornado Throw (Setting Sun 9) maneuvers that turn speed into damage, even though your wisdom is low.
Free LA or LA buyoff to play with? Dark template (+1LA) is fun, but Shadow Creature (+2 LA) is even more fun. SPEED FOR DAYS
The alignment of the build is relatively flexible. True Neutral was chosen due to its ease of use, but Neutral good allows for Luminous Armor spells if you have a way to manage the ability damage, and Neutral Evil allows for easy use of the Feathered Wings graft for flight at DOUBLE YOUR LAND SPEED.
Taking a Flaw would accelerate feat progression, allowing for Bounding Assault to be attained. It's not the best feat, but hell, you've already got Spring attack. You may as well. Shaky impacts you about as much as a snowball on a brick wall.
Sources:
PHB
PHB II
Cityscape
Complete Mage
Complete Warrior
Complete Adventurer
Races of the Wild
Player's Guide to Faerun
Unearthed Arcana
Oriental Adventures
Web Article: Swiftblade "Haste Personified"
Name: Beri Allynn
Race: Elf from the Forest of Lethyr
Alignment: TN
Hey! Do you want to feel SO FAST?! Try BLADE DANCER! It's a prestige class for people who need GRATUITOUS AMOUNTS OF SPEED! If you take this prestige class, you're going to feel UNCOMFORTABLY AWESOME! You want to wall run? Why not just jump over the buildings with your LEAP OF THE CLOUDS! Spring attacks! You'll be good at them! It's a prestige class for The Flash. FLASH PRESTIGE! Speed, fast, speed, fast, speed, flash, MORE SPEED THAN YOUR CHARACTER SHEET HAS ROOM FOR! Thanks to your +30 bonus to acrobatic skills, you'll be tumbling so fast that your DM will be like SLOOOOOW DOOOOWN AND then you say F*** YOU and hit him with you ENCHANTED BLADES! Speed weapons speed striking speed jumping speed tumbling! D6'S! Roof-Jumping will give you so many D6's! FOUR HUNDRED D6'S!* Give this prestige class to your elves and they'll move as fast as QUICKLINGS Your party will watch you run and think you're a QUICKLING! You'll move so fast you'll RIDE THE WIND back to AVALON, LAND OF THE FEY! Don't gamble on your elven life. Take Blade Dancer for all 10 levels today!
*This amount has not been verified. Many factors are involved in calculating how many D6's of damage Roof-Jumper can realistically add to your damage. Conservative estimates place it in the ballpark of around +5d6.
32pt buy:
STR-16 (+1 at levels 12, 16, and 20)
DEX-12+2
CON-16-2 (+1 at levels 4 and 8)
INT-14
WIS-10
CHA- 8
Classes (In order) Barbarian 1/Combat Wizard 5/Swiftblade 4/Blade Dancer 10
ACFs:
Combat Wizard (Unearthed Arcana)
Focused Specialist: Transmuter (Banned Schools: Necromancy, Enchantment, Evocation) (Complete Mage)
Immediate Magic: Sudden Shift (Lose Familiar. Gain new movement type BASED ON LAND SPEED) (Player's Handbook II)
Skilled City Dweller (Barbarian) Trade Ride for Tumble (Cityscape)
Feats by level:
1-Fleet of Foot (PGtF)
2-(Wizard) Expeditious Dodge (RotW)
3-Power Attack (PHB)
6-Improved Toughness (CWar), (Wizard) Mobility (PHB)
7-(Swiftblade) Spring Attack (PHB)
9- Leap Attack (CAdv)
12-Roofwalker (City)
15-Roof-Jumper (CIty)
18-Elusive Target (CWar)
Skills broken down by level, and cross class skills are denoted by the entries with the parenthesis:
1- Jump 4 ranks, Tumble 4 ranks, Concentration 2 ranks (4 points), Spellcraft 2 ranks (4 points), Knowledge Nature 4 ranks, Survival 4 ranks
2-Concentration 3, Spellcraft 3, Jump 5 (2 points)
3- Concentration 4, Spellcraft 4, Tumble 5 (2 points)
4- Concentration 5, Spellcraft 5, Jump 6 (2 points)
5- Concentration 6, Spellcraft 6, Tumble 6 (2 points)
6- Jump 7 (2 points), Tumble 7 (2 points)
7-Jump 10, Tumble 10
8- Jump 11, Tumble 11, Balance 4
9- Jump 12, Tumble 12, Balance 7, Concentration 7
10-Jump 13, Tumble 13, Concentration 11
11-(Blade Dancer 2+2) Jump 14, Tumble 14, Concentration 14, Spellcraft 7
12-Jump 15, Tumble 15, Concentration 15 (2 points)
13-Jump 16, Tumble 16, Concentration 16 (2 points)
14-Jump 17, Tumble 17, Concentration 17 (2 points)
15-Jump 18, Tumble 18, Concentration 18 (2 points)
16-Jump 19, Tumble 19, Concentration 19 (2 points)
17-Jump 20, Tumble 20, Concentration 20 (2 points)
18-Jump 21, Tumble 21, Concentration 21 (2 points)
19-Jump 22, Tumble 22, Concentration 22 (2 points)
20-Jump 23, Tumble 23, Concentration 23 (2 points)
Final Skill ranks: Jump 23, Tumble 23, Concentration 23, Spellcraft 7, Balance 7, Survival 4, K(Nature) 4
Wizard Spells:
1-Mage Armor, (Swift) Expeditious Retreat
2-(Luminous Armor), Mirror Image, Wraithstrike
3-HASTE, Greater Mage Armor
4-Greater Mirror Image
These items aren't required by any means, but rather are simply cool things to have.
Standard stat boosters for str, dex, and con (Tome +5 Str 137,500 gp and +4 Con 110,000 gp , +6 items for all 3 for total of 108k)
+2 headband of int for the extra 3rd level spell per day (MORE HASTE!), extra sudden shift, and an extra +1 to initiative
Rapid Wrath (11,702gp Spear from Ghostwalk) with Morphing added on so you can turn it into a greatsword. Alternatively, see if you can make a +1 "Rapid" Greatsword for significantly cheaper
Halberd of Vaulting (20,310gp halberd from Arms and Equipment Guide) Add Rapid, or add Morphing like the item above. Ideally, merge the two!
Circlet of Mages (Like a pearl of power, but cooler and more flexible at a fraction of the cost)
+5 Twilight Mithril Chain Shirt (Conserve spell slots)
Tooth of Lehrje (Conserve money on enchanting weapons)
Level Breakdown:
1-5: You're a slightly unusual gish with a chunky health total at level 1. You can charge from a crazy distance thanks to your movement speed and tumble away to avoid any major return attacks. Still, you have to suck up a d4 hit die for a while, and even swiftblade only has a D6. Improved toughness goes a long way to assist that. Elves have a -2 Con, but we want elf for the ability to take Fleet of Foot. I could've chosen human, but I'm so tired of building humans all the time. Plus the bonus dexterity increases initiative and AC.
6-10: SWIFTBLADE TIME. 40% concealment, haste as a swift action, and Int to initiative makes for a happy charger. Spring attack comes online, allowing you to hit and run with the best of them. Leap attack makes your charges PAINFUL, and your spells give you some increased versatility. Plus, you can go nova once per day using only one swift and free action. Remember: Haste first, THEN rage.
11-15: Blade Dancer comes online at roughly the same time as your other source of bonus damage: Roof-Jumper. Now, you have an impressive bonus to your jump checks from your movement speed alone, but blade dancer also gives a sizeable bonus. Lets take advantage of that and turn speed into damage! As a small bonus, since we needed Balance for the feats, we're no longer flat footed while balancing. There's a little bit of ambiguity over how much of a speed boost you get from this class due to the wording of Fleet of Foot. That feat doesn't give a bonus per say, but simply says that you move 10ft faster than normal for your race. If your DM rules that it increases your base speed, then enjoy the 40ft movement speed table! If not, and the DM rules that it's a 10ft bonus, then the 30ft movement speed table is also very good. Regardless of how the DM rules, you're still moving ridiculously fast.
16-20: More Blade Dancer means more speed. These levels just take what we already have and improve upon them. At level 18 we take our final feat: Elusive target, adding some useful tactical maneuvers.
Optional Variants:
Athas elf from Dark Sun setting: Gains proficiency with ALL ranged weapons, and has a BASE move speed of 40ft. It's 3rd party though, so good luck getting that DM approval.
Spirit Lion Totem barbarian: Pounce is nice, arguably better than the fast movement. This build is made for SPEED though, so it's more personal preference
Traits: The Quick trait is always fun. Again, this build is made for speed. If you feel lucky with your HP rolls, this trait is practically nothing but upside.
Gestalt breaks this wide open, as it does with most things. My recommendation is to gestalt it with Swordsage for the Ring of Fire (Desert Wind 6) and Tornado Throw (Setting Sun 9) maneuvers that turn speed into damage, even though your wisdom is low.
Free LA or LA buyoff to play with? Dark template (+1LA) is fun, but Shadow Creature (+2 LA) is even more fun. SPEED FOR DAYS
The alignment of the build is relatively flexible. True Neutral was chosen due to its ease of use, but Neutral good allows for Luminous Armor spells if you have a way to manage the ability damage, and Neutral Evil allows for easy use of the Feathered Wings graft for flight at DOUBLE YOUR LAND SPEED.
Taking a Flaw would accelerate feat progression, allowing for Bounding Assault to be attained. It's not the best feat, but hell, you've already got Spring attack. You may as well. Shaky impacts you about as much as a snowball on a brick wall.
Sources:
PHB
PHB II
Cityscape
Complete Mage
Complete Warrior
Complete Adventurer
Races of the Wild
Player's Guide to Faerun
Unearthed Arcana
Oriental Adventures
Web Article: Swiftblade "Haste Personified"