Bladedancer

As a member of an assassination guild, you have been practicing your technique since childhood. Now you take your own contracts, and have a reputation for shredding your targets beyond recognition.

A traveling performer whirls a bladed fan around, and a shimmering Chinese dragon seems to appear and follow her sweeping movements. Unbeknownst to the crowd, she has charmed an onlooking noble into reveling vital information for her next assassination.

As a party is being assailed by a volley of arrows, a half-orc wielding two scimitars dashes in front of his allies. As he twirls around, a wall of wind is summoned seemingly out of nowhere, emanating from him in a vortex as the arrows are blown harmlessly away.

A master of blades, bladedancers are proficient in all bladed weapons, especially preferring daggers and sword to shred through all those who would stand in their way. As opposed to their thief counterparts, bladedancers are pure assassins able to utilize a select few spells using their blades as an arcane focus. While the weapons themselves are not magical, bladedancers channel magic through their arcane knowledge around the meaning of the words "blade" and "dance." Consider where they received this knowledge, such as a mentor or due to their race. While members in this subclass prefer to assassinate up close cannot use ranged weapons such as crossbows or longbows, they are proficient in throwing melee weapons, such as daggers, and have a few ranged spells to engage in long-distance combat. Some bladedaners have a preferred weapon unique to their background. Consider why your character has this favorite weapon, due to background or perhaps they are a member of a larger race and wield a larger weapon.

Bladedance

Requires a bladed melee weapon. The user begins shifting and twirling around, concealing their weapons and themselves as they dance in practiced, precise, patient steps. While dancing, the user has advantage on their first attack per turn, and the first attack against them per turn has disadvantage. Movement speed is halved while bladedancing, but it does not break stealth. You can use your cunning actions and spells while dancing, but making a non-bladed ranged attack (such that you would need to steady yourself) will stop your dance. Being immobilized also breaks your dance. You may enter a blade dance as a bonus action. You may dash for full movement without breaking your blade dance but doing so requires an action and a bonus action.

School of Dance

Chose between one of three schools of dance: Enchanting dance, Deadly dance, or Mystical Dance. Once you chose a dance, you cannot change to another. At level eleven, you may learn one additional dance from this list. You can use this feature once before finishing a short or long rest. You gain all the features of bladedancing during these dances, and you may still enter a normal blade dance without these effects as many times as you wish.

Enchanting Dance

While blade dancing you can create an enchanted aura 50 feet around you. This can take the form of an image/images, a color etc. Those within your aura and that have a line of sight on you are affected. You gain advantage on intimidation or persuasion checks (chose one, but each time you dance you may chose again). Depending on which advantage you chose, you gain the following:

Intimidating dance - You gain the ability to cast crown of madness, command, thaumaturgy, compelled duel, fog cloud, darkness, hold person or dust devil without expending a spell slot. The spells that have a shorter range than fifty feet can automatically reach fifty feet. You gain advantage on sleight of hand checks using these spells as long as a character is within your fifty-foot zone. You may cast as many of these as you wish during the dance, but only the first one does not require a spell slot and is casted at your maximum spellcasting slot level.

Charming Dance - You gain the ability to cast one of the following: Charm Person, Friends, Suggestion, hold person, mirror image, or Dancing Lights as a bonus action without expending a spell slot. The spells that have a shorter range than fifty feet can automatically reach fifty feet. You gain advantage on sleight of hand checks using these spells as long as a character is within your fifty-foot zone. You may cast as many of these as you wish during the dance, but only the first one does not require a spell slot and is casted at your maximum spellcasting slot level.

For character purposes, consider the apparition of the dance an extension of the dancer and style of dance. Why does it appear this way to others?

Deadly Dance

If you chose to deadly dance, you gain the ability to make two attacks instead of one with an offhand weapon when attacking as a bonus action. You also gain access to the following spells: blade ward, green-flame blade, shadow blade, and steel wind strike without expending a skill slot. You can cast up to two of these per deadly dance but only the first one does not require a spell slot and is casted at your maximum spellcasting slot level.

Mystical Dance

While mystic dancing, chose to channel natural forces in a primal or divinity in a spiritual dance. 

Primal dance gives access to the following druid spells: absorb elements, animal friendship, control flames, thorn whip, detect magic,  thunderwave, barkskin, and warding wind. You can cast up to two of these per deadly dance but only the first one does not require a spell slot and is casted at your maximum spellcasting slot level.

Spiritual dance gives access to the following cleric spells: sacred flame, zone of truth, cure woulds, healing word, sanctuary, calm emotions, daylight,  and magic circle. You can cast up to two of these per deadly dance but only the first one does not require a spell slot and is casted at your maximum spellcasting slot level.

For character purposes, consider why your character has a connection with divinity or nature. Perhaps they worship a god, or grew up in the wilds. 

 

Practiced Dance

You may chose an additional dance to know from the schools of dance. You may also blade dance using the school bonus three times, instead of one, before finishing a short or long rest. You may seamlessly switch between dances as a bonus action, but doing so expends a dance slot.

Perfected Dance

Chose one of the two available dances to perfect or  add the third dance to your repertoire and you may enter a school of dance up to five times before a short or long rest.

Perfected Enchanting Dance

Intimidating Dance You gain are now guaranteed to succeed on an intimidation roll once per dance, at the start of your dance. 

Charming Dance You are now guaranteed to succeed on a persuasion roll once per dance at the start of your dance. 

Perfected Deadly Dance

You gain an third off-hand attack and an additional attack if you attack as an action. You also gain the ability to cast elemental weapon in addition to your other spells.

Perfected Mystical Dance

Your spellcasting pool while in primal dance is all druid spells, and for Spiritual dance you have access to all cleric spells. You may cast up to four spells from the associated pool.