Sword Dancing

Inspired by the grace and beauty of the Dark Seladrine goddess Eilistraee, the Sword Dancing was created to grant drow the strength to free themselves from the Lolth’s clutches and fight the oppression of the underdark. While most Sword Dancers are drow followers of the Dark Maiden, they are willing to teach the art to any who would learn, no matter their race, so long as they use it to bring freedom and joy to others.

In combat, Sword Dancers move in graceful, flowing motions, that allow them to deftly weave around the attacks of their foes while their own strikes land true. The elegant beauty of the dance is said to inspire those who behold it.

Dark Maiden’s Training

When you become a Sword Dancer at 3rd level, you have received the necessary training, both magical and nonmagical, to use a sword in combat. You gain proficiency with greatswords, longswords, rapiers, scimitars, or shortswords. At your DM’s discretion, you may also gain proficiency with double-bladed scimitars. You can use any of these weapons as a spellcasting focus for your bard spells.

In addition, the following spells are added to the bard spell list for you: booming blade, green-flame blade, mage armor, and shield. When you gain this feature, you can replace one bard cantrip you know with a cantrip granted by this feature.

Fighting Style

At 3rd level, you adopt a particular style of fighting as your specialty. Choose one of the following options. You can't take a Fighting Style option more than once, even if you later get to choose again.

Dueling

When you are wielding a melee weapon in one hand and no other weapons, you gain a +2 bonus to damage rolls with that weapon.

Great Weapon Fighting

When you roll a 1 or 2 on a damage die for an attack you make with a melee weapon that you are wielding with two hands, you can reroll the die and must use the new roll, even if the new roll is a 1 or a 2. The weapon must have the two-handed or versatile property for you to gain this benefit.

Two-Weapon Fighting

When you engage in two-weapon fighting, you can add your ability modifier to the damage of the second attack.

Sword Dance

Also at 3rd level, you have learned the combat technique known as the Sword Dance. You can expend one use of your Bardic Inspiration to start a Sword Dance, provided that you aren’t wearing armor or using a shield and are holding one or two double-bladed scimitars, greatswords, longswords, rapiers, scimitars, or shortswords.

You can use a bonus action to start a Sword Dance, which lasts for 1 minute. It ends early if you are grappled, incapacitated, restrained, or are knocked prone, if you don armor or a shield, if you use a weapon that is not a sword, or if at any point you are not holding a sword. You can also dismiss the Sword Dance at any time (no action required).

While your Sword Dance is active, you gain the following benefits:

• You gain a bonus to your AC equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of +1).
• Your walking speed increases by 15 feet.
• When you attack with a melee weapon, you can use your Charisma modifier, instead of Strength or Dexterity, for the attack and damage rolls.
• You have advantage on Dexterity ability checks and Dexterity saving throws.
• Once per turn when you make a melee weapon attack, you can give a Bardic Inspiration die to a creature within 15 feet of you that can see you as part of the action. If you do so, you can’t give another Bardic Inspiration die during the same turn.

Extra Attack

Starting at 6th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn. Moreover, you can cast one of your cantrips in place of one of those attacks.

Refined Dance

Starting at 14th level, you have improved your Sword Dance to such a great extent that those who gaze upon it are able to move with the same grace you do. If an ally is within 15 feet of you and can see you while Sword Dance is active, they have advantage on Dexterity ability checks and saving throws, and, at the start of their turn, their walking speed increases by 15 feet for the turn.