Post/Author/DateTime	Post
FabulousRex 01-26-06, 01:37 AM	Well hello there! I recently took a look at the Dragon Compendium, and noticed a bunch of interesting new classes, prestige classes, and other neat things. One of the biggest draws for me was the Battledancer base class, with a heavy Chaotic flavor and emphasis on quick light fighting. These are some of my favorite D&D themes, so I instantly came to admire this new/old class. Upon further review, it seems that it's a little wonky, but perhaps in coming here to the CO boards once again, we can see what can be done with this great, flavorful new base class. Here's a rundown of the basics: d10hd Any Chaotic Full BAB Strong REF, Poor FORT/WILL 4+INT Sp/lvl Bard-like Skill list, minus any Magical or Knowledge-related Skills Monk-like CHA to AC bonus, unarmored and unencumbered, AC bonus as you level up Only proficient with Simple weapons (Ouch!) Fast Movement Natural (Ex) Flight at higher levels Tumble-based Pounce ability Tumble-based AC penalty to enemies Tumble-based Charge bonuses (and more if flying) Right off the bat, there are some very special things going on, but some pretty severe limitations as well. Only Simple weapons really puts a damper on any Full-BAB class, and the poor FORT/WILL also is a cause for concern. Skills are OK, good social stuff and excellent movement skills. Getting some useful and awesomely flavorful abilities later seems to be the balance here, Pounce attacks (with any kind of weapon), EX Flight, and the other great abilites are powerful, but only available at high levels in the class. So what's to be done? As a dip class, it works well for a Bard, Paladin of Freedom, Hexblade, and Warlock. Getting an instant non-level depenant CHA-to-AC bonus really helps out alot for these kind of classes, despite having to give up armor. Since it works like the Monk's AC bonus, it also boosts your Touch AC quite nicely. But I wanted more out of the class itself, and think that if you can find ways to shore up it's weaknesses, could be a great and fun class to play. The big trouble is that alot of the great CHA-dependant abilites require massive multiclassing and dipping, which is something I prefer to avoid if possible. This is also compounded by the fact that the class' better abilities are at lvl12+. Some good dips to support the Battledancer include the many of the classes mentioned above along with some other neat extras: Cleric, Fighter, Swashbuckler, Paladin of Freedom, Bard, and perhaps the best of all, the Marshall. Getting CHA-to certain abilites can greatly enhance the class' ability to deal damage, which currently is really it's greatest downfall. The great complementary saves and Martial weapon Profs certainly help alot as well. It seems that grabbing Master of Tactics (for normal Combat) and Over the Top (for big-time Charge damage) are the best way to go. Master of Tactics is also very synergistic with the rest of the party against smaller numbers of tougher opponents. Over the Top seems to be a natural choice when the Pounce ability becomes available, especially if you perform a Flying charge. What I'm wondering is if there is anything that can be done to enhance the class without to much severe level dipping, so as to preserve the higher-level abilites. Marshall 4 seems like a fantastic choice, with the CHA synergies going on. Cleric is also a strong choice, but doesn't grant more weapon Profs outside of the War domain. Luck, Travel, Magic, War, and Chaos all seem like strong choices for a Cleric-dip. Are there any other feats, skills, or other PrCs that can enhance the Battledancer? I'm wondering because I'm seriously considering being a Battledancer in our Eberron lvl20 pre-Epic campaign, as my Iajutsu Master idea didn't really work out that well (damn no-3.0-material!)...
FabulousRex 01-26-06, 04:49 PM	Been here a day and already being forgotten, eh?
nachtmeister 01-26-06, 04:58 PM	in which Dragon was it printed first ?
FabulousRex 01-26-06, 10:06 PM	It's in the Dragon Compendium book out this month. I think it was originally 3.0, but it's since been updated. I'm still trying to wrap my head around it, so any help would be appreciated...
Kessalin Talira 01-27-06, 01:42 AM	Dragon 159, actually, according to the Dragondex. So it's First Edition.
FabulousRex 01-27-06, 02:33 PM	Wow, I didn't think it was THAT old... Anyhow? Does anyone have any ideas? This seems to be a very abusable class at the very least as a Dip class. Cha-to-Ac and full BAB is very frontloaded for one level. But, like I said, I'm interested in making a Battledancer that has more base class levels to gain access to the neat higher-level abilities...