Blade Dancer [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTimePost
thought_riot

12-20-05, 10:04 PM
One of my player's wants to take the Blade Dancer prestige from Oriental Adventures. The only thing i'm wary aobut allowing is the Acrobatics ability, which provides +10 bonuses to Jump, Tumble and Balance, +20/+30 at later levels in the prestige,.

As anybody else allowedthis class? Is it balanced?
Grizzled Gryphon

12-21-05, 12:29 PM
Sure I would allow it. What is the problem you have with the bonuses to those skills? Will it screw up your game? I think all that is supposed to reflect is the superb acrobatic abilities of some oriental martial artist types. With these bonuses, he will be better at fighting on strange surfaces. Some obstacles aren't nearly as hard to overcome for this character.

Ultimately, it depends on your campaign, and what you want in it. Remember, all the PrC's of the game are purely optional. As a great many of them have an organization that they come from, having those organizations in your campaign world is up to you. I, for one, try and have as many possibilitie open to my gamers as possilbe, and thus I don't limit what PrC the characters can take. Most of the PrC's have requirements that are sub-optimal for a character, I like this. If you want a particular PrC, and took the time to make sure you have the right feats and skills, and what-have-you, then by all means, enjoy.
thought_riot

12-21-05, 03:18 PM
I just think the bonuses seem really high, and I was wondering if it really is that high, or it just seems that high, before allowing it.
Pellanor

12-21-05, 03:45 PM
Yes the bonuses are really high. They let you do some insane stuff. However it's not game breaking.

One sceane with my blade dancer: Ice cavy, 30' diameter. In the middle is an ice bridge over a 80' pit, at the bottom of which was jagged icebergs floating in ice cold water. Standing on the bridge is a Stone Golem. What's my character do? Fast climbs along the (ice) wall in the surprise round. Next round he jumps accross, lands on the bridge, makes his balance check to not slip and fall on the bridge. He now attacks the golem, and uses spring attack to leap across the gap to the far (ice) wall, once again grabbing on. He repeated that again the next round. Of course our war mage just hit the golem with a maxamized orb of acid and a quickened orb of acid, killing the thing outright, but I still had fun.

Things to be aware of:
A tumble check DC 40 let's you move 10' as a five foot step.
Just because your Blade Dancer can run accross the sloped rope that's been coated in ice at full speed, while in the middle of combat, doesn't mean the rest of the party can.
Don't put this guy up against a monk in a foot race. The Blade Dancer will win.
If you have archers firing at your players from 200 feet away, expect the blade dancer to charge them and be able to attack that round. Even if there's a 50' gap in the way, that's only a DC 50 Jump check, and at that level your PC should have an easy +68 to jump (10 ranks, 30 from acrobatics, 28 from speed of 100), plus he can take 10. (note: I know that the base speed would only be 90, but if your players can't get an extra +10 to speed from somewhere, then he's doing something wrong).

Really, this will make your PC a higley tactical character. If the player sucks at tactics, then you have nothing to worry about. If your player has studied the Art of War, then you may be thoroughly screwed.
thought_riot

12-21-05, 03:53 PM
Things to be aware of:
A tumble check DC 40 let's you move 10' as a five foot step.
Where is this? Also, would that qualify for the scout's skirmish ability (move 10 feet in around, gain bonuses to damage).

Really, this will make your PC a higley tactical character. If the player sucks at tactics, then you have nothing to worry about. If your player has studied the Art of War, then you may be thoroughly screwed.
The player is very intelligent, and very tactical as is.
Pellanor

12-21-05, 04:06 PM
Where is this? Also, would that qualify for the scout's skirmish ability (move 10 feet in around, gain bonuses to damage).That's in Oriental Adventures. Of course you can rule against it if you want. And yes it would theoretically qualify you for the skirmish ability. The problem being that unless your opponent is exactly 10' away, you still can't make your full round attack.

The player is very intelligent, and very tactical as is.Do you mind telling me what his build is? I might be able to point out a few dangerous points (such as the skirmish ability).
thought_riot

12-21-05, 04:38 PM
That's in Oriental Adventures. Of course you can rule against it if you want. And yes it would theoretically qualify you for the skirmish ability. The problem being that unless your opponent is exactly 10' away, you still can't make your full round attack.

Do you mind telling me what his build is? I might be able to point out a few dangerous points (such as the skirmish ability).


Well, this is for planning ahead. Right now, he's Scout 2/Psychic Warrior 1, and he's planning on alternating between the two.
Pellanor

12-21-05, 05:06 PM
Okay, I was afraid it was something like that...

Here's some of the dirty things you have to look out for:
Psionic Lions Charge: Psi power that let's you make a full attack after a charge. If he takes his uber speed and charges, he can easily attack somebody 100' away, getting his full skirmish bonus on damage, and being able to make a full attack, with some extra damage if he's augmented the power.

Hustle: Extra move action in a round. Combine this with skirmish and you can hustle into position, then make your full attack action with all your skirmish bonuses because you've moved at least 10'.

If he takes Leap Attack then watch out for him pulling the combo with psionic lions charge, plus he's getting 3:1 returns on power attack with a two handed weapon.

There's actually a build on the Character Optimization Board which is a Scout / Psichic Warrior / Bladedancer. You can find it here (http://boards1.wizards.com/showpost.php?p=5436939).

I suggest reading that post to see what this build is potentially capable of.

If your player just uses some of those tactics then expect him to have a solid build, that excels in some situations. If he uses all of them, and you le thim get all that magic gearmo, expect this PC to be very powerfull.

I don't think it's so much the blade dancer that makes this powerfull, it on it's own isn't a particulairly powerfull class, it's when you combine all the elements of those three classes that you get a truley powerfull character.
Even without blade dancer, the Hustle / Psionics Lions Charge + Skirmish combo is fairly potent on it's own. Plus if you add Burst or Skate for some extra speed (though burst can't be combined with Hustle or PLC) you can mimic some of the high speed of the Blade Dancer.

The one problem I can envision for you is that you'll have this one character who's fairly uber, and then the rest of the PCs who aren't as well designened. If you're other PCs are just average, then you'll probably notice a bit of a power difference between them and this guy. However if they all have well crafted characters then I'd say it's no problem.

On a side note, the Lance there is probably my favorite build to come out of the char opt board, and is what my previously mentioned blade dancer was based on.
Always-Late

12-21-05, 05:19 PM
Just as a note, some people on the CO boards used a psy-war/blade dancer in order to make a FF Dragoon. The general idea was that he could jump 25 feet over an opponents head, use a psychic feat that let you twist 90 degrees in a charge, and end up coming straight down on someone's head. Make sure to watch out for ridiculous things like that (although it does sound like a lot of fun.)

From a tactical point of view, this guy will be able to pull of dimension doors every round - he will be able to move anywhere on the map he wants. Don't count on any sort of terrain stopping this guy.
Grizzled Gryphon

12-21-05, 05:29 PM
If he has taken all the feats and has all the abilities for the class, let him have it. For the most part, it sounds like what he will do with the character are some cool things, and thus, fun. As this IS a game, that is the whole point, isn't it? Remember, also, that a multicalss character isn't going to have the abilities of a straight class, too. for example, if he continues at this rate, he would be a Psywarrior 10/ Scout 10. So, his skirmish isn't as good as it coud be, and he doesn't have nearly the psionic powers or level of powers that he could have. There is balance, my friend.
thought_riot

12-21-05, 05:35 PM
Thanks guys.

Yes, that build of the Dragoon is where he got the idea from. Our campaign is very high-powered. Him, along with the warforged fighter, will stand out the most in battle. After reading everyones thoughts, I think this will work out. Thanks.
Pellanor

12-21-05, 05:39 PM
No problem, glad to be able to help out.
Chosen of the Dark Sun

12-21-05, 10:03 PM
Yeah, those bonuses are insane, but as others have said, they really aren't game breaking. If those bonuses were to bluff or something, I'd be worried. What those bonuses to is just make the guy really mobile. Don't expect terrain to block him at all really. But there are still ways of taking him out. Even the jump check isn't much good against someone flying a ways up. And he can't climb sheer surfaces. It sounds like an excellent PrC, and you may have to adjust your own tactics a little to counter him, but it sounds like you should just let him have his fun so long as it doesn't break the game. Now if he chose thri-kreen as his race (another +30 to jump), I'd be really scared. :D Man, having nearly +100 to jump by level 20, thats just sick... ;)
Jherid

12-21-05, 10:32 PM
And he can't climb sheer surfaces.


Sure he can (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/epic/skills.htm#climb), and with the class +'s he'll be making that DC 70 sooner.
Chosen of the Dark Sun

12-21-05, 10:35 PM
Sure he can (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/epic/skills.htm#climb), and with the class +'s he'll be making that DC 70 sooner.
Well, paint me purple, that's pretty damn cool! :D
Pellanor

12-22-05, 12:42 PM
Actually, what he'd likely do, since climb isn't one of the skills that he gets those uber bonuses to, is just use the Psionic Feat "Up The Walls" to run up the wall, using hustle to let him take a tripple move to run up the wall. 300 foot perfectly smooth ice wall? Sure, my PC will just run up it, in one round.

Now a Thri-Keen Blade Dancer, ECL 20... could have 7 levels in Blade Dancer, 5 levels in Scout and 4 levels in Psichic Warrior.
Let's see...
Speed: 105 + 10 from scout + 15 from Slide = 130.
19 ranks in jump, plus skill focus(3) and athletcis(2), plus 30 racial, plus 20 from Blade Dancer, plus 40 from speed, plus 4 from run, gives us a total of +118, plus strength (let's say a Str of 24 for a +7) = +125. Then we can get a cusom magic item that gives an extra +30 bonus to that, for a total of +155 to jump, and you can always take 10. That's a 20 foot vertical jump from a standing start, or 41 foot vertical with a running start. 165 foor horizontal jump with a running start.

Of course that's just something I tossed together. If you head to the Char Op boards and check the world record thread, you'll see that they can get much better.

Have I mentioned that this is one of my favorite classes yet?
DarknessEternal

12-22-05, 01:06 PM
Incidently, when Oriental Adventures was updated to 3.5, nothing in Blade Dancer was changed. Well, technically, they lost Leap of the Clouds, but since that's a change to the basic rules, it's pretty irrelevant.
Pellanor

12-22-05, 01:15 PM
It was only ever updated in Dragon, which most people don't use, but yes that is true. The three classes I tend to use from OA (Blade Dancer, Shiba Protector and Iajutsu Master) didn't get updated at all.
Riznar

12-22-05, 01:17 PM
Keep in mind that it is a house rule that Psionics counts as a casting class for the prerequisites of Blade Dancer. Though if you're playing with Psionics you get used to allowing things like that.
Pellanor

12-22-05, 01:31 PM
Oh yeah, I completely forgot about that.

It's a fairly well accepted house rule though.

The one thing I think you can abuse with the Blade dancer is the one level dip, where you get +10 to Jump, Tumble and Balance, and double your base speed. That's a lot of mobility for only one level.
Chosen of the Dark Sun

12-22-05, 04:53 PM
Actually, what he'd likely do, since climb isn't one of the skills that he gets those uber bonuses to, is just use the Psionic Feat "Up The Walls" to run up the wall, using hustle to let him take a tripple move to run up the wall. 300 foot perfectly smooth ice wall? Sure, my PC will just run up it, in one round.

Now a Thri-Keen Blade Dancer, ECL 20... could have 7 levels in Blade Dancer, 5 levels in Scout and 4 levels in Psichic Warrior.
Let's see...
Speed: 105 + 10 from scout + 15 from Slide = 130.
19 ranks in jump, plus skill focus(3) and athletcis(2), plus 30 racial, plus 20 from Blade Dancer, plus 40 from speed, plus 4 from run, gives us a total of +118, plus strength (let's say a Str of 24 for a +7) = +125. Then we can get a cusom magic item that gives an extra +30 bonus to that, for a total of +155 to jump, and you can always take 10. That's a 20 foot vertical jump from a standing start, or 41 foot vertical with a running start. 165 foor horizontal jump with a running start.

Of course that's just something I tossed together. If you head to the Char Op boards and check the world record thread, you'll see that they can get much better.

Have I mentioned that this is one of my favorite classes yet?
:drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool:
Grizzled Gryphon

12-23-05, 07:41 AM
*sigh* I need the Oriental ... whatever it is called book. :weep:
thought_riot

12-23-05, 12:36 PM
*sigh* I need the Oriental ... whatever it is called book. :weep:

Oriental Adventures. It is 3.0 though, but it was updated to 3.5 in an issue of Dragon magazine.
Grizzled Gryphon

12-25-05, 12:20 PM
Great, so your telling me I need Oriental Adventures, AND an issue of Dragon? You know, this list keeps getting bigger, and bigger... :mad:
thought_riot

12-25-05, 12:28 PM
Great, so your telling me I need Oriental Adventures, AND an issue of Dragon? You know, this list keeps getting bigger, and bigger... :mad:
Well, youdon't NEED the Dragon. For the Blade Dancer andsome other prestige classes, the updates didn't change anything. I don't have the issyue of Dragon myself.