Sword Dancer of Elistraee Archetype

The Sword Dancers of Eilistraee are the specialty priests of the Dark Maiden. They comprise nearly 90% of the clergy of the Moonlight Dancer’s faith.

Only female elves, drow, half-drow and half elves can become Sword Dancers. Any priestess of Eilistraee who wishes to become one has to spend at least one month on the surface, dancing each moonlit night for Eilistraee, and has to witness dawn at least once. They also have to be quick and agile, proficient in the arts of dance, song and acrobatics and skilled diplomats.

As priestesses of Eilistraee, the Sword Dancers act according to her teachings. They have the duty to lead and be on the frontline in missions to find, encourage, assist and protect any drow looking to return to the surface (or that could be made to return) and join a different life, far from Lolth. They put a lot of effort into promoting harmony and cooperation between the drow and other races, and as a result they usually live near elven (or other races) settlements. There they work to aid the local population by bringing food, cures and protection, in order to establish friendships and offer to the drow converts a place on the surface world.

The Sword Dancers are artists, excellent dancers, fit acrobats and — like all priestesses of the Dark Maiden — skilled in the arts of singing and playing the harp, flute or horn. They are also known to nurture beauty, music and song and to work to spread joy whenever they may.

As the Omdura class except for the following:

Deity: A Sword Dancer must worship Elistraee. If she ever leaves the service of Elistraee or strays from her alignment, she loses the abilities of this archetype. She may seek atonement in order to regain these features.

Alignment: Must be within one step of her deity alignment (CN, CG, NG). Unlike the base class, a CN Sword Dancer does not have the option to channel negative energy.

Skills:  A Sword Dancer adds Acrobatics and Perform (Dance) to the Omdura’s list of class skills. This modifies the Omdura’s class skills.

Proficiencies: The Sword Dancer is proficient with all simple weapons as well as the bastard sword.

Armor of the Goddess (Ex): So long as the Sword Dancer is wearing no armor and not carrying a shield, she adds 1 point of her Charisma bonus as a sacred bonus to her Armor Class; at 3rd and every odd numbered level thereafter, she may add another point of her Charisma bonus, up to a maximum of her Charisma bonus. As a sacred bonus, it applies to the Sword Dancer’s touch AC, and is retained if the she is flatfooted or otherwise loses her Dexterity bonus to AC. This alters the Omdura’s armor and shield proficiencies.

Battle Dance: Blade Dancers are trained in the use of the Perform skill, especially dance, to enhance their battle prowess with Elistraee’s chosen weapon. This functions like bardic performance, except that Inspire Courage, Inspire Greatness, and Inspire Heroics provide double their normal bonuses, and these bonuses only affect her. She does not need to be able to see or hear her own performance. A battle dance can only be done when the bard is wearing no armor or shield, and only using her bastard sword in hand. Like bardic performance, battle dancing cannot be maintained at the same time as other performance abilities.

Starting a battle dance is a move action, but it can be maintained each round as a free action. Changing a battle dance from one effect to another requires the sword dancer to stop the previous performance and start the new one as a move action. Like a bard, a Sword Dancer’s performance ends immediately if she is killed, paralyzed, stunned, knocked unconscious, or otherwise prevented from taking a free action each round. A  Sword Dancer cannot perform more than one battle dance at a time.

At 10th level, the she can start a battle dance as a swift action instead of a move action.

She gains the following performances, at the same levels as if she were a bard of the same level: Distraction, Fascinate, Inspire Courage, Dirge of Doom, Inspire Greatness, Soothing Performance, Frightening Tune and Inspire Heroics. All types of performance besides the Inspiration performances work normally (affecting the performer and her allies, or the bard’s enemies, as appropriate). To affect others, they have to either see the Sword Dancer’s performance, or hear the audible hum the dance elicits from the sword in hand.

This ability is treated as Bardic Performance, for the purpose of qualifying for, and being affected by, any feats which the Sword Dancer may select, except that battle dancing does not benefit from the Lingering Performance feat or any other ability that allows a bardic performance to grant bonuses after it has ended.

This ability replaces the Omdura’s invocation ability.

Sword of the Dance (Ex): When wielding any bastard sword, and nothing in the other hand, and wearing no armor or using a shield, the graceful moves of a Sword Dancer allow her to treat the bastard sword as if she had the Slashing Grace feat — using her DEX modifier for attack and damage rolls.

This replaces the Omdura’s Detect Alignment.

Divine Weapon (Su): Modified from the Omdura ability description in the following ways:

• She can only call the favor upon a weapon in the bastard swords favored weapon group,
• She can add the Merciful and Dancing properties to the weapon.
• She cannot add the Vicious property, nor Vorpal.
• If a sword granted the Dancing quality by the Sword Dancer’s Divine Weapon ability is loosed to fight upon its own, the Sword Dancer is still considered holding the blade — for the purposes of her abilities that require her to wield her weapon one handed with nothing in the other — so long as she doesn’t hold another weapon for the duration of the sword’s dance, and her blade shares all of the benefits of a battle dance, if the Sword Dancer is performing one.

Divining Eye (Sp): At 7th level the Sword Dancer can cast one of the following spells each day as a spell-like ability: Commune, Scrying or True Seeing. She treats her omdura level as her caster level for these spells. She can do this a number of times per day equal to 3 + her CHA modifier. At 15th level, she can case one of these spells an additional time per day. This replaces the Improved Invocation ability. This replaces commune.

Greater Sword Dance: At 11th level, when using her sword dance, the Inspire Courage, Inspire Greatness, and Inspire Heroics performances also affect her allies as a normal bard’s performance. 

Moonlit Dancer (Su): At 20th level, all effects of the Sword Dancer’s battle dance give full effect to her allies within 30 feet, so long as they can see her performance or hear the hum of her blade, and they receive the same bonuses as the sword dancer. Further, she may invoke the effects of two performances. These can be any combination of beneficial performances for herself and allies, or baneful effects for her opponents. The morale brought by the Sword Dancer’s performance is so inspiring, it gains the benefits of Lingering Performance, as if she possessed the feat. If she possesses the Lingering Performance feat, then its extended duration is doubled.