Fighter Martial Archetype: Dancer
Every fight is sequence of steps and moves, if you have ears to hear the music. Your training as a dancer gives you unique abilities as a fighter. Your dance partners may be your allies, or your foes. Your spins are as deadly as they are difficult to hit. A drop into the splits may avoid an attack, trip a foe, or allow you to strike behind your enemy’s shield. For a dancer, above all, every battle is a performance.
Dancer’s Art
3rd Level Fighter Dancer Archetype feature
When you choose this archetype you gain proficiency in the Performance skill. If you already have proficiency in the Performance skill, you gain another skill of your choice.
Martial Dance
3rd Level Fighter Dancer Archetype feature
Beginning at 3rd Level, you learn two dances from the following options. Once each initiative, when you take movement, you can begin a martial dance, which lasts until you are out of initiative, unless you end it sooner (no action required). Some of your dance moves require saving throws. The DC is 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Dexterity or Charisma modifier (your choice).
Acrobatic Dance
Provided you are not wearing heavy armor, you can perform a dance of acrobatic feats. When you perform an acrobatic dance, each time you take movement of at least 10 feet on a turn, you gain a bonus of +2 to your AC as you whirl, dive, roll, and leap unpredictably.
While you perform an acrobatic dance, if you are prone, creatures within melee range do not gain advantage on strikes against—this is all part of the dance.
While dancing, as a bonus action you can make a whirling kick. On a hit, this attack does the normal unarmed strike damage and causes the hit creature to have disadvantage on its next attack before the beginning of your next turn, if the creature is no more than one size larger.
Alluring Dance
When you perform an alluring dance, you use seductive and distracting movements to get your opponents off guard. At the beginning of your turn, you can choose a creature within 30 feet that can see you. When you move toward that creature on your turn, moving no more than 10 feet, the creature must make a Charisma saving throw. If the creature has taken damage from one of your attacks it has advantage on this saving throw. On a fail, creature is charmed until the beginning of your next turn or until it takes damage.
While charmed, the creature will use its reaction to oblige requests from you to make movements toward you or away from another creature (potentially provoking an attack of opportunity) up to 10 feet or half its speed, whichever is lower. It will not move willing into an area with a damage-dealing effect that it can sense. While charmed the creature will not intentionally attack or deal damage to you, and has disadvantage on Dexterity saving throws and Wisdom (Perception) checks. If you attempt to grapple a creature of up to one size larger while it is charmed in this manner, it has disadvantage to avoid the grapple.
Deceptive Dance
This dance of unpredictable bursts of speed and hectic motions creates a dizzying display. Extraneous movements disguise your attacks. While dancing the deceptive dance and you use at least 10 feet of movement prior to taking the attack action you can make the next weapon attack with advantage against a creature within 30 feet.
During the dance, when an enemy creature ends its movement within 5 feet of you, you can use your reaction to either make an unarmed strike against the creature (you can do this even if both hands have weapons or a shields), or use up to half of your movement without provoking opportunity attacks from that creature.
Partner Dance
When you begin the partner dance and at the beginning of each of your turns, choose a creature within 30 feet as your partner, which lasts until the beginning of your next turn. Thanks to your coordinating movements, if the partner is an ally, the partner gains advantage on one melee attack on their turn if you are within 5 feet of them. If a creature within your reach attacks your partner, you can use your reaction to make an attack against that creature.
If the partner is a hostile creature, while you are within 5 feet of the creature, your movements cause it disadvantage to attack any other creature besides you. If the partner hits you with an attack, you can use your reaction to make an attack against the partner—you were expecting this move.
Encore Performance
7th Level Fighter Dancer Archetype feature
When you make an Athletics, Acrobatics or Performance check, you can roll another d20 and choose the higher result. Once you use this feature you cannot use it again until you complete a short or long rest.
Improvisational Dance
10th Level Fighter Dancer Archetype feature
You learn two more dances. Choose another two options from the list in your Martial Dance feature. Also, when you action surge, you can change your dance type, using that dance type during your action surge and thereafter.
Invigorating Dance
15th Level Fighter Dancer Archetype feature
When you are dancing, each turn that you use movement for a dance feature (acrobatic, alluring, or deceptive dance) or end your turn within 5 feet of your partner (partner dance), you gain temporary hit points equal to 5 + your Dexterity or Charisma modifier (your choice).
Climactic Dance
18th Level Fighter Dancer Archetype feature
Your mastery of martial dance leads to a stunning climax in the dramatic and tragic end for your foes. While you are dancing, each consecutive time you hit a creature with an attack, without missing, the damage you deal increase by 5. The first attack deals nominal damage. The second hit in a row (including a hit from a previous turn in the same combat) deals an additional 5 damage. The third hit deals an additional 10 damage, and so on. You can attack other creatures in-between these attacks, so you can be building multiple climaxes at once. However, if you miss a creature with an attack, the climactic dance for that creature must restart and damage to it returns to normal.
Version History
| Date | Version | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2023.05.26 | 1.1 | Nerf partner dance advantage |
| 2023.05.24 | 1.0 | Initial release |
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Credits
All artwork is original (Midjourney tool v5). This subclass was created for the Royal Academy campaign. (More soon!)
