Blade Dancer of the Sublime Way [PrC]

[HyunWoo]

I've always liked the idea of the Blade Dancer class from Oriental Adventures, just the ability to jump from one end of the battlefield to the other and beat on people with a sharp pointy object is very appealing for some reason... :smallbiggrin: However, I never really liked the way the blade enchantments were handled. To me it didn't seem to really embody the wuxia style of character the class was trying to emulate.

So I thought by replacing the Enchanted Blade ability with a maneuver progression from Tome of Battle would solve the issue, but the 10 levels of the class looked very empty with essentially five dead levels. So I changed it to a five level class, but now I'm afraid that it is overpowered, or at least too dense in abilities. Also, I'm uncertain about the requirements, I feel they are a bit steep for what this class is going for. I'll post my original ten level progression if anyone wants to see it, and as this is my first bit of posted homebrewing any help/ideas would be appreciated. Thanks!

Blade Dancer of the Sublime Way
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Maneuvers Known|Maneuvers Readied|Special|Speed Bonus

1st|
+1|
+0|
+2|
+0|
1|
0|Fast Movement, Leap of the Clouds|+30ft.

2nd|
+2|
+0|
+3|
+0|
0|
0|Acrobatics (+10)|+30ft.

3rd|
+3|
+1|
+3|
+1|
1|
1| Acrobatic Attack|+30ft.

4th|
+4|
+1|
+4|
+1|
0|
0| Fast Movement|+40ft.

5th|
+5|
+1|
+4|
+1|
1|
0|Acrobatics(+20), Ride the Wind|+40ft.[/table]
Hit Die: d8

REQUIREMENTS
To qualify to become a Blade Dancer of the Sublime Way, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.
Alignment: Any non-Chaotic.
Base Attack Bonus: +7.
Skills: Jump 12 ranks, Tumble 12 ranks.
Feats: Dodge, Mobility, Spring Attack.
Martial Maneuvers: Must know at least two Iron Heart maneuvers and two Tiger Claw maneuvers.
Special: Proficiency with any sword.

CLASS SKILLS
The Blade Dancer of the Sublime Way's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Concentration(Con), Craft (Int), Escape Artist (Dex), Jump (Str), Martial Lore (Int), Perform(Weapon Drill) (Cha), Profession (Wis), and Tumble (Dex).
Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.

CLASS FEATURES
The following are class features of the blade dancer.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Blade Dancers of the Sublime Way are proficient with all simple and martial weapons, and with light armor. A Blade Dancer of the Sublime Way who wears medium or heavy armor, or carries a medium or heavy load, cannot use any of his special abilities.

Acrobatics (Su): A 1st-level Blade Dancer of the Sublime Way gains a +10 competence bonus on Balance, Jump, and Tumble checks. At 5th level, this bonus increases to +20. In addition, a Blade Dancer of the Sublime Way can always choose to take 10 on a Balance, jump, or Tumble check, even when circumstances would normally prevent him from doing so.

Leap of the Clouds: A Blade Dancer of the Sublime Way gains the Leap of the Heavens feat as described in the Player’s Handbook II.

Acrobatic Attack: As described in Oriental Adventures (pg. 38)

Fast Movement (Su): A Blade Dancer of the Sublime Way moves faster than normal. See above table for bonus.

Ride the Wind (Su): As described in Oriental Adventures (pg. 38)

[Fizban]

Initial reaction is that it is indeed to powerful, and I can't think that a +20 to jump won't make tiger claw maneuvers insane.

I'd go with just a flat bonus to speed instead of a fractional/percentage/whatever. If it was an enhancement bonus, it would also stack less and be less abusable.

I don't know, those OA classes baisically all just seemed to "OMG insane jump bonus!", but ToB actually uses skill checks as part of it's system, so massive bonuses are bound to throw things off. Someone more skilled than I can comment better.

[HyunWoo]

Initial reaction is that it is indeed to powerful, and I can't think that a +20 to jump won't make tiger claw maneuvers insane.

I agree with you on this one, see below.


I'd go with just a flat bonus to speed instead of a fractional/percentage/whatever. If it was an enhancement bonus, it would also stack less and be less abusable.

Flat bonus makes more sense, the previous table came from meshing a 3.0 product with 3.5 rules (since in 3.0 speed bonuses like that were given in messy tables.)


I don't know, those OA classes baisically all just seemed to "OMG insane jump bonus!", but ToB actually uses skill checks as part of it's system, so massive bonuses are bound to throw things off. Someone more skilled than I can comment better.

Yes, Massive bonuses may throw things off a bit. But I'm debating on how much of a change is needed. I'm thinking a +5/+10 bonus may be more balanced. Any thoughts?

[IonizedChicken]

No, I think Competence is decent. After all, it won't stack with various skill-increasing items.
a +20 item would cost 40,000 gold, but that's hardly more than what a 5th level prestige class ability should cost.

Still, to make it less extreme you could make it +10/+15.

[Matthew]

I have to say +40 Speed seems like a lot by Level 14. Also, what is the Hit Die for this Class?

[HyunWoo]

Added the hit die, sorry for the oversight. As for the movement, it's the same as an equivalent level Monk. But it would make sense to make it an enhancement bonus so it doesn't stack with the Monk ability.