Sword Dancer (Magus/Bard)

Somewhere between the musical talent of the bard and the magus's dedication to the arcane lie the talents of the sword dancer. He is a warrior, as skilled in combat as his cousins. And while he is a spellcaster who primarily casts the magus's combat-focused spells, he weaves song and dance into his every action. He can learn performance-themed spells not normally available to a magus, and instead of blending combat with wizardry, he gains the ability to dance through the fray, attacking with musical precision. (Original Concept by Unknown)

Primary Class: Magus.

Secondary Class: Bard.

Alignment: Any. 

Hit Dice: d8.

Bonus Skills and Ranks: A sword dancer selects three bard skills to add to his class skills in addition to the normal magus class skills, one of which must be Perform (dance). The sword dancer gains a number of ranks at each level equal to 4 + Int.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A sword dancer is proficient with all simple and martial weapons, with light armor, but not with shields. He can cast arcane spells while wearing light armor without incurring the normal arcane spell failure chance. Like any other arcane spellcaster, a sword dance wearing medium armor, heavy armor, or a shield incurs a chance of arcane spell failure if the spell in question has a somatic component.

Spellcasting: A sword dancer casts arcane spells drawn from the magus spell list presented in Chapter 1 of Ultimate Magic, in addition to a number of bard spells listed below. He can cast any spell he knows without preparing it ahead of time. To learn or cast a spell, a sword dancer must have a Charisma score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The DC for a saving throw against a sword dancer's spell is 10 + the spell level + the sword dancer's Charisma modifier.

Like other spellcasters, a sword dancer can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. His base daily spell allotment spells known are both presented on the tables in this entry. In addition, he receives bonus spells per day if he has a high Charisma score. A sword dancer's selection of spells is extremely limited.

Every sword dancer spell has both verbal and somatic components in addition to their normal components, unless the sword dancer is using the Silent Spell or Still Spell feats.

The sword dancer adds the following bard spells to his spell list at the indicated levels: 0th–ghost sound, lullaby; 1st–chord of shards, dancing lantern*, solid note*, ventriloquism; 2nd–allegro, distracting cacophony, distressing tone, ghostbane dirge*, heroism, silence; 3rd–arcane concordance*, haunting choir, purging finale*, reviving finale*; 4th–dance of a hundred cuts*, discordant blast*, heroic finale*, shout, sonic thrust, virtuoso performance; 5th–frozen note*, shadowbard, song of discord; 6th–dance of a thousand cuts, deadly finale*, shout (greater). (*Advanced Player’s Guide, Ultimate Magic.)

Dance of Swords (Su): At 1st level, a sword dancer learns to integrate his attacks with a magical dance that accelerates his strokes and confounds his foes. To do this, the sword dancer must have one hand free and be able to dance and listen. He cannot use this ability when wielding two weapons, a double weapon, or a shield, nor when paralyzed or otherwise unable to move, nor when deafened or silenced or otherwise unable to hear himself. As a full-round action, the sword dancer designates one enemy to whom he is adjacent as the target of his dance. He then makes a number of attacks against that enemy as though he were making a full attack with two-weapons, using his singular weapon for both his primary hand and off-hand attacks. His penalty to attacks is calculated as though he had the Two-Weapon Fighting feat and wielding a weapon of his weapon's type in both his primary hand and off-hand. He adds his full Strength bonus to damage with all attacks when using this ability.

Before each attack, the sword dancer must move 5 feet. This movement is free and does not provoke attacks of opportunity from the target of his dance, though it does provoke attacks of opportunity as normal from any other threats. This movement must always be made into a square adjacent to the sword dancer's target. The sword dancer cannot reenter any square he has already occupied during his turn. If the only square that allows him to continue his routine is occupied by an ally, he may take an extra 5 feet of movement free (passing through his ally’s square) to continue his dance. The sword dancer can choose to make fewer than his maximum number of attacks, but his turn ends when he stops attacking. This ability replaces spell combat.

Bardic Performance: At 1st level, a sword dancer gains bardic performance which functions as the bard class feature of the same name, except that the sword dancer has access to a more limited selection of performances. He begins knowing the bladethirst performance ability. At 3rd level, and every three levels thereafter, he may choose to learn another bardic performance in place of a magus arcana. All performances use the sword dancer's level as his effective bard level. This ability replaces arcane pool.

Bladethirst (Su): At 1st level, a sword dancer may use performance to grant one weapon, one natural weapon, one end of a double weapon, or 50 items of ammunition of the same type within 30 feet a +1 enhancement bonus. This enhancement bonus increases to +2 at 5th level and by +1 for every five levels after to a maximum of +5 at 20th level). These bonuses stack with existing bonuses and may be used to increase the item’s enhancement bonus up to +5 or to add any of the following weapon properties: dancing, flaming, flaming burst, frost, icy burst, keen, mighty cleaving, shock, shocking burst, speed, or wounding. If the weapon is not magical, at least a +1 enhancement bonus must be added before adding special abilities. These bonuses and properties are decided when the performance is made and cannot be changed until the next time the sword dance uses this ability. These bonuses do not function if the weapon is wielded by anyone other than the sword dancer. A sword dancer can only enhance one weapon in this way at one time. If he uses this ability again, the first use immediately ends.

Starting at 3rd level, a sword dancer may select one of the following bardic performances in place of a magus arcana: distraction, fascinate, or inspiring blow*. (*Advanced Player’s Guide bard archetype)

At 6th level, a sword dancer adds the following to the list of performances he may select in place of a magus arcana: inspire competence, inspire courage, satire*, or wordstrike. (*Advanced Player’s Guide or Ultimate Magic bard archetype)

At 12th level, a sword dancer adds the following to the list of performances he may select in place of a magus arcana: dirge of doom, dramatic subtext*, inspire greatness, or suggestion. (*Advanced Player’s Guide bard archetype)

At 18th level, a sword dancer adds the following to the list of performances he may select in place of a magus arcana: dance of the dead, frightening tune, or inspire heroics. (Ultimate Magic bard archetype)

Blade Performance (Ex): At 2nd level, whenever the sword dancer uses dance of swords, he may, as a free action, start any bardic performance that requires 1 standard action or less to initiate. Doing so expends one extra round of his daily bardic performance. This ability replaces spellstrike.

Whirring Dance (Ex): At 4th level, the sword dancer gains partial concealment against the target of his dance of swords until the beginning of his next turn. This ability replaces spell recall.

Bonus Feats: A sword dancer may learn any bardic masterpiece listed in Ultimate Magic for which he meets the prerequisites in place of a bonus feat.

Ritual Dance (Su): At 7th level, as a special use of bardic performance, a sword dancer can spend 10 minutes and expend 6 rounds of bardic performance in order to expand his spell knowledge. Upon completing the ritual dance, the sword dancer selects one spell from his spell list that he does not know and adds it to his list of spells known. The chosen spells remain on his list of known spells until the next time he regains his spells for the day, at which time it is wiped from his memory. A sword dancer may perform this ritual a number of times per day equal to his Charisma bonus, as long as he has bardic performance rounds to spend, each time selecting another spell. This ability replaces knowledge pool.

Shield of Blades (Ex): At 7th level, whenever the sword dancer uses dance of swords, he gains a shield bonus to his AC equal to the number of attacks he made during his turn, but only against attacks made by the target of his dance. This bonus remains until the beginning of the sword dancer’s next turn. This ability replaces medium armor.

Improved Dance of Swords (Su): At 8th level, the sword dancer is considered to have the Improved Two-Weapon Fighting feat when using his dance of swords, gaining a second off-hand attack with his single weapon. This attack otherwise follows all the rules for improved two-weapon fighting and receives a -5 penalty to hit in addition to the normal two-weapon fighting penalties. This ability replaces improved spell combat.

Improved Whirring Dance (Ex): At 11th level, the sword dancer gains total concealment against the target of his dance of swords until the beginning of his next turn. This ability replaces improved spell recall.

Fortress of Blades (Ex): At 13th level, the sword dancer’s shield bonus to AC granted by his shield of blades ability is applied against attacks from all enemies. This ability replaces heavy armor.

Dance in Circles (Ex): At 14th level, when using dance of swords, the sword dancer receives a flanking bonus to hit against the target of his dance of swords. He need not actually be flanking with any allies to receive this bonus. The sword dancer does not receive this bonus against creatures with uncanny dodge or similar abilities.

Greater Dance of Swords (Su): At 15th level, the sword dancer is considered to have the Greater Two-Weapon Fighting feat when using his dance of swords, gaining a third off-hand attack with his single weapon. This attack otherwise follows all the rules for greater two-weapon fighting and receives a -10 penalty to hit in addition to the normal two-weapon fighting penalties. This ability replaces greater spell combat.

Intense Blade Performance (Ex): At 19th level, whenever the sword dancer uses dance of swords, and benefits from his blade performance ability, he may start two performances as a free action instead of one. Both performances must require 1 standard action or less to initiate. He expends no rounds of bardic performance in order to start the second performance, but he must end it when his dance of swords ceases. This ability does not stack. This ability replaces greater spell access.

Perfect Dancer (Ex): At 20th level, the sword dancer reduces his two-weapon fighting penalties by 2 when using dance of swords. This ability replaces true magus.

Table: Sword Dancer

Table: Sword Dancer Spells Known