Monday, March 11, 2013

The Sword Dancer of Eilistraee

My wife is a huge fan of Eilistraee, and we both were pretty upset when Wizards of the Coast decided to have her whacked. In my version of the Forgotten Realms, though, everything that WotC did in order to bring the Forgotten Realms up to D&D 4E (aka D&D, the WoW edition) standards never happened. Does this mean I hate Fourth Edition D&D? No. It means I hate what became of my favorite campaign setting. That being said, I now have focused my D&D efforts through the Pathfinder (D&D 3.75) rules.

In order to best assist in this effort, I'm posting here the Sword Dancer of Eilistraee. This is what I did to "Pathfinder" the version found in the Faiths and Pantheons book. I've done what I can to update the class, hopefully not butchering the design intent. Now, I want this to be very clear, I am not claiming that I made this class. I am just tweaking this class for ease of use. Also, if you're wanting the un-Pathfinder version, I suggest buying the book. Hopefully, though, this will help a few "sisters" out there in their following of the Dark Maiden. Also, if there's anything I can do to improve it, please let me know.

EDIT (08/19/2015): I am revisiting this PrC, trying to do some minor tweaks to bring this more in line with Pathfinder guidelines. I am debating making this an archetype of the Magus class, instead of a PrC. I may present the archetype later. For right now, this should be good. This would allow a cleric or oracle with levels of fighter, or a warpriest to take the PrC. 

Sword Dancer of Eilistraee

LevelBase Attack BonusFort SaveRef SaveWill SaveSpecialSpells per Day
1st+0+0+1+1Low light vision,  Attune Sword, Sword song+1 level of divine spellcasting class
2nd+1+0+1+1Moonlight+1 level of divine spellcasting class
3rd+2+1+2+2Sword dance+1 level of divine spellcasting class
4th+3+1+2+2Bonus Feat+1 level of divine spellcasting class
5th+3+1+3+3Maiden's Sword+1 level of divine spellcasting class
6th+4+2+3+3Lesser spellsong+1 level of divine spellcasting class
7th+5+2+4+4Bonus Feat+1 level of divine spellcasting class
8th+6+2+4+4Spellsong+1 level of divine spellcasting class
9th+6+3+5+5Bonus Feat+1 level of divine spellcasting class
10th+7+3+5+5Sword Shield+1 level of divine spellcasting class

Hit Dice: d8

Requirements
Alignment: Any nonevil, nonlawful
Deity: Must worship Eilistraee (or campaign setting equivalent)
Race: Elf or Half-elf
Gender: Female
Base Attack Bonus: +4
Skills: Diplomacy 3 ranks, Perform (Sing) 2 ranks, Perform (Dance) 2 ranks
Feats: Dodge, Combat Expertise, Skill Focus (Perform), Weapon Focus (any sword)
Special: Must speak both Elven and Undercommon
Special: Must be able to cast 1st level divine spells.

Class Skills
The class skills for  a sword dancer (and the key ability for each skill) are Acrobatics (Dex), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Knowledge (History) (Int), Knowledge (Local) (Int), Knowledge (Nature) (Int), Knowledge (Religion) (Int), Perception (Wis), Perform (Cha), Stealth (Dex), Survival (Wis)

Class Features
The following are class features of the sword dancer prestige class.
Weapons and Armor Proficiencies: The sword dancer gains no proficiencies with weapons or armor.
Spells per Day: At the indicated levels, a sword dancer gains new spells per day as if she had also gained a level in a divine spellcasting class he belonged to before adding the prestige class. She does not, however, gain other benefits a character of that class would have gained, except for additional spells per day, spells known (if she is a spontaneous caster), and an increased effective level of spellcasting. If she had more than one divine spellcasting class before becoming a sword dancer, she must decide to which class he adds the new level for the purpose of determining spells per day.
Low-Light Vision (Ex): All sword dancers have Low-Light Vision. If the character does not already have Low-Light vision, they gain low-light vision equivalent to an elf. Characters that already have low-light vision double the distance of the sword dancer’s low-light vision extends.
Attune Sword (Su): A sword dancer can attune herself to a particular sword (magical or not), a process that takes one week to complete. During this time she must be wearing or holding the sword for at least 8 hours each day, and if interrupted she must begin the process again. She may only be attuned to one sword in this manner at a time. Beginning the process of attuning to a new sword negates the attuned abilities of the currently attuned sword.
Sword Song (Su): A sword dancer can cause her attuned sword to begin to “sing” a number of  rounds per day equal to their class level plus their Charisma modifier (minimum of 1)., these minutes do not need be spent consecutively. This song inspires courage and confidence in the sword dancer, granting the sword dancer  a +2 morale bonus on attack and damage rolls and a +3 morale bonus on saving throws against mind-affecting spells and effects. This ability is a sonic, mind-affecting effect.  If this ability is used on a sword with the dancing quality, the bonuses to attack and damage apply to the sword and the bonuses to saving throws apply to the sword dancer.
Moonlights (Su): Beginning at 2nd level, at will and as a free action,  the sword dancer can create small lights equal to those produced by the dancing lights spell. These lights are under the control of the sword dancer but cannot move more than 5 feet from her body. The sword dancer can have a number of lights in existence at the same time equal to her sword dancer class level.
Sword Dance (Su): At 3rd level, the sword dancer can grant her attuned sword the dancing magic weapon property a number of times per day equal to her class level.
Bonus Feat: At 4th, 7th, and 9th level the sword dancer gains a bonus feat from the following list: Dazzling Display, Improved Sidestep, Initiate of Eilistraee, Lightning Stance,  Mobility,  Sidestep, Spring Attack,  Wind Stance, Whirlwind Attack. The sword dancer still must meet any requirements for the feats that she chooses. Other feats may be available with the GM's discretion.
Maiden’s Sword (Su): At 5th level, a sword dancer gains the ability to craft magic swords as if she had the Craft Magic Arms and Armor feat. This ability only works on her attuned swords, but the magic abilities given to the sword persist even if she loses her attunement to the sword. She may add any properties (including enhancement bonuses) to a sword as long as she meets the property’s other prerequisites.
Lesser Spellsong (Su): At 6th level, a sword dancer gains the ability to spontaneously cast domain cleric spells of 3rd level of lower as any of her prepared spells, just as a good cleric can channel the spell energy to cast any cure spells.  Any spells cast in this manner always have a verbal component in addition to their normal components.
Spellsong (Su): At 8th level, the sword dancer’s less spellsong ability expands to include the spontaneous casting of domain spells of up to 6th level as cleric spells.
Sword Shield (Su): At 10th level, as a free action a sword dancer may command her dancing sword to fight in a defensive manner, taking up to a -5 penalty to the sword’s attacks in order to add the same number  (up to +5) to her Armor Class and CMD as an armor bonus. The changes in the attack and Armor Class/CMD last until her next action. The sword dancer can only apply this ability to one dancing sword at a time.

No comments: