[3.5 Race] Dance 'Till You're Black and Bloody [PEACH]

[Lord_Gareth]

Dusk Dancers

The wilds of Faerie aren't what they used to be. The Fey, once objects of awe, reverence, and fear, have been relegated to either the shadows of history or the trophies of ignorant adventurers. The nymphs and dryads are ineffectual; the dark Fey are too chaotic and fractional to drive back the endless tide of civilization. Something had to be done.

Something was.

The Dusk Dancers are new Fey, young and hot-blooded and full of vigor. Faeries with connections not necessarily to the city, but to civilization; the group, the family, the city, the nation, these are their birthrights and their purpose. Too long have the great courts of the Fey stagnated, and they will now live by their own creedo - change, or die.

Appearence: Dusk Dancers are, as befits their name, dusky-skinned humanoids with dark hair and dark eyes that reflect a light rainbow sheen. They have prominent canines and are often very attractive by human (or elven) standards, with a tendency to build lean muscle and long, shapely legs. Dusk Dancers often collect jewelry, holy symbols, and other marks of community, and have a strong urge to display symbols of those communities they belong to, even dispite urgings towards secrecy.

Racial Features
+4 Charisma, +2 Dexterity, -2 Strength. Dusk Dancers retain the nimbleness characteristic of the Fey, but tend to build lean, agile muscle instead of strong, thick muscles. Their innate connection with societies, communities, and humanoids in general, as well as their innate Fey nature, leads to an above-average Charisma score.

Medium Fey (Humanoid): Though Fey, the Dusk Dancer's connection to humanoids works against them; they are treated as whichever type would be least advantageous to them at any given time. Dusk Dancers advance by class level, and do not gain weapon or armor proficiencies from their type. As Medium creatures, Dusk Dancers have no bonuses or penalties associated with their size.

Base Land Speed: 30 Feet

Low-Light Vision (Ex): As the elf racial feature.

+2 to Perform Checks: Music, dance, poetry, and other forms of self-expression are a natural outgrowth of civilization.

Eternal Dance (Su): Dusk Dancers do not require sleep, and never suffer fatigue or exhaustion. A Dusk Dancer still needs eight hours of rest in order to prepare spells. Dusk Dancers do not age, and gain no bonuses or penalties no matter how long they live.

Untouchable Waltz (Su): Dusk Dancers gain a deflection bonus to their armor class equal to their charisma modifier, up to a maximum bonus equal to their hit dice. However, they lose this bonus whenever they are denied their dexterity bonus to their armor class; they must be free to move for their Dance to protect them.

Lead the Dance (Su): Whenever a Dusk Dancer rolls a natural 20, all his or her allies within a 30ft radius gain a +1 bonus to all rolls for 1 round. This bonus increases to +2 at 4th level and increases by an additional +1 every 4 levels past 4th (+3 at 8th, +4 at 12th, +5 at 16th, +6 at 20th).

Dance 'Em Bloody (Su): Once a day, as a full-round action, the Dusk Dancer may command a single being that they can see to dance. Their victim must succeed at a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 the Dusk Dancer's hit dice + the Dusk Dancer's charisma modifier) or begin dancing and keep dancing for a number of hours equal to the Dusk Dancer's hit dice. While dancing, the being's speed (in all forms) is halved and it suffers a -2 penalty to all actions. This is a mind-affecting ability.

A Dusk Dancer with fifteen or more hit dice instead measures the duration of this ability in days. Unfortunately, a being forced to dance for days at a time cannot sleep or rest unless forced to do so magically or through incapacitation, and may very well begin to starve if it cannot reach food in time.

Languages: Sylvan, Common. Bonus: Any, except for secret languages such as Druidic.

Favored Class: Any; Dusk Dancers adapt rapidly to whatever society they call their own.

Level Adjustment: +1

[Djinn_in_Tonic]

Interesting. Blend into Crowds seems out of place though: I have trouble imagining such a creature being that difficult to spot in a group of people.

The rest I quite like, although you may want to consider limiting Untouchable Waltz to +1 per Hit Die of the character to prevent abuse at low levels with that high a Charisma score.

[Cieyrin]

So these are like the second coming of the Killoren, interesting...

I agree with Djinn about limiting the Deflection bonus by character level and Blend Into Crowds being a mite out of place. Fey are designed to be seen (well, except for Shadarkai, I suppose) and it seems odd that people would miss someone who has a minimum of 12 Cha and more like 14-15. Given the whole race does, they'd give an almost exotic, sensual sensation by being around, which just screams to be noticed.

Them's my 2 coppers. Take as you will.

[Lord_Gareth]

Alrighty; changes will be made, racial feats will be provided shortly, and more fluff will be forthcoming. What would ya'll replace Blend Into Crowds with?

[Cieyrin]

Upping their movement to 40' would be in line, I think. Perhaps free Accelerated Tumbling could also be in order, as natural dancers should be apt at moving around people quickly and easily. Reducing Sprinting Tumble to -10 as part of that should nicely round it out, I think.

[Lord_Gareth]

Umm...what's Accelerated Tumbling/Sprinting Tumbling?

[Djinn_in_Tonic]

Hmmm...things to consider giving them that carry a "group fey" sort of feel...

Group Revelry: A Dusk Dancer gains a +1 bonus to all attack rolls, saving throws, ability checks, and skill checks so long as there are at least 4 other living humanoid (or fey) creatures within 30ft of him/her.

Lead the Dance: Whenever a Dusk Dancer rolls a natural 20, all his or her allies within a 30ft radius gain a +1 bonus to all rolls for 1 round. This bonus increases to +2 at 4th level and increases by an additional +1 every 4 levels past 4th (+3 at 8th, +4 at 12th, +5 at 16th, +6 at 20th).

[Lord_Gareth]

Lead the Dance added.


The Dancing Connection

Why dancing? Aren't the Fey nature spirits?

Ehh...sort of.

Frankly, I've never been happy with WotC's depiction of faeries, which disgustingly oversimplifies a very rich and varied body of lore. Faeries are not just the sprites and fauns who guard the sacred groves; they are tricksters and thieves, demons and saints, stealers of children and purveyors of riches, tempters and defenders of virtue, wild dancers and somber judges. They are strange beings often beyond human kenning, and their laws are absolute - ignorance is no excuse, and their punishments are literally the stuff of legends. I cried when I read what passes for the Wild Hunt in Monster Manual V. I'm no end of irritated by the various evil Fey and the very idea that such beings are aberrations in the Faerie courts; the Strangers are seperate from petty morality!

In myth and legend, the Fey are often encountered dancing. The Dusk Dancers are an expression of the strongest connection the Others have with humanity; in an effort to understand the humanoids that have so firmly usurped their place, the Dancers were created and infused with the only aspect of civilization they truly understand. Even then, the Dancers are likely to, intentionally or otherwise, interpret things in Fey terms; they're so much closer to humanoids than their bretheren, but they're still apart, seperate, and that distance will never really close. They're Others, even if they don't want to be.

Plus, it's badass.

That is all.

[Djinn_in_Tonic]

Frankly, I've never been happy with WotC's depiction of faeries, which disgustingly oversimplifies a very rich and varied body of lore. Faeries are not just the sprites and fauns who guard the sacred groves; they are tricksters and thieves, demons and saints, stealers of children and purveyors of riches, tempters and defenders of virtue, wild dancers and somber judges. They are strange beings often beyond human kenning, and their laws are absolute - ignorance is no excuse, and their punishments are literally the stuff of legends. I cried when I read what passes for the Wild Hunt in Monster Manual V. I'm no end of irritated by the various evil Fey and the very idea that such beings are aberrations in the Faerie courts; the Strangers are seperate from petty morality!

In myth and legend, the Fey are often encountered dancing. The Dusk Dancers are an expression of the strongest connection the Others have with humanity; in an effort to understand the humanoids that have so firmly usurped their place, the Dancers were created and infused with the only aspect of civilization they truly understand. Even then, the Dancers are likely to, intentionally or otherwise, interpret things in Fey terms; they're so much closer to humanoids than their bretheren, but they're still apart, seperate, and that distance will never really close. They're Others, even if they don't want to be.

Plus, it's badass.

That is all.

Preaching to the choir, my friend. Preaching to the choir.

[Cieyrin]

Umm...what's Accelerated Tumbling/Sprinting Tumbling?

Accelerated Tumbling is straight out of the PHB, which lets you tumble at full speed at a -10 penalty. Sprinting Tumbles were introduced in Complete Adventurer, letting you tumble while you run at a hefty -20 penalty.

EDIT: Shouldn't Leading the Dance be a morale bonus? Seems like it should be, I think.

[Sir Shadow]

Frankly, I've never been happy with WotC's depiction of faeries, which disgustingly oversimplifies a very rich and varied body of lore.

uh, Fey are like the only things that can give me both insane dreams and terrible nightmares. This is most likely brought on by the various Changling books in Dark World...