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Copper Elven Vampire
Master of Realmslore
1078 Posts |
 Posted - 02 Nov 2009 : 19:44:49
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Here is my version of an alternate Bladesinger. Possibly from another clan style or family tradition.
The Bladesinger
Bladesingers are elves who have blended art, sword-play, and arcane magic into a harmonious whole. In battle, a bladesinger's lithe movements and subtle tactics seem beautiful, and belie their deadly martial efficiency.
Multiclassed fighter/wizards can become bladesingers most easily, though any elf who can wield a martial weapon and can cast arcane spells can become a bladesinger. Bladesinging ranger/wizards, rogue/wizards and sorcerer/rogues, sorcerer/rangers and bladesinger bards are not unknown. Bladesingers are known to be in the divine services of Corellon, Sehanine, Hanali, Erevan, Anggaradth(sp), Rillifane and very rarely Deep Sashelas.
Bladesingers command great respect in most elf communities and NPC bladesingers usually serve as itinerant guardians and champions of the elf community at large.
Hit Die: d8.
Requirements: To qualify to become a Bladesinger, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.
Race: Character must be a Elf or Half Elf.
Base Attack: +5
Skills: Concentration 4 ranks, Perform (dance), (sing): 3 ranks each, Tumble 3 ranks.
Feats: Combat casting, Dodge, Expertise, Still spell, Weapon focus (longsword/Rapier).
Spellcasting: Ability to cast 1'st level arcane spells.
Class Skills: Balance (Dex), Spellcraft (Int), Tumble (Dex), concetration (Con), Perform (Cha), jump (Str), Knowledge (any)(Int).
Skill points at each level: 2 + Int Modifier.
Class Features:
Weapon & Armor Proficiency. Bladesingers gain proficiency with small or light weapons.
Spells per day: A Bladesingers training focuses on magic as much as sword-play. Thus, when a character gains a new Even level of Bladesinger, she gains new spells per day as if she aso gained a level in whatever spellcasting class she belonged to before she added the prestige class. She does not however gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained.
Bladesong Style: At 1'st level when weilding a longsword in one hand (and nothing in the other), the bladesinger begins to dance in a hauntingly graceful style of combat. While spinning, and arching her blades at impossible angles, with stunning speed and agility, she gains a dodge bonus to AC equal to his Int. Modifier.
Bonus Feat: At 2'nd, 6'th, and 10'th level, the bladesinger gains a bonus feat. This must be a metamagic feat, or a feat from the following list: Chain Spell, Mobility, Quick draw, spring attack, Whirlwind attack, Two-weapon fighting, and Chink in the Armor.
Duel Bladesong Style: At 1'st level, when using a longsword in one hand, and a smaller weapon in the off hand, the bladesinger begins a beautiful, ancient dance, while whirrling, and twirling her duel blades in a graceful, yet deadly style of bladesong. She gains a +2 Melee and damage bonus, OR she can use the +2 bonus to add to her AC, and Saving Throws while fighting in this style. NOTE: You cannot use both bladesong style, and duel bladesong style at the same time during a round.
Lesser Spellsong: At 3rd level When wielding a longsword in one hand (and nothing in the other), the bladesinger can take 10 when making a Concentration check to cast defensively.
Combat song: At 3'rd level the bladesinger can sing a powerful song during combat gaining a +1 bonus to Initiative rolls. This inceases by +2 at 9'th level.
Graceful Disarm: At 4'th level the bladesinger who succeeds in disarming an opponent and has a free hand, can grab the weapon herself instead of letting it fall to the ground. If you can weild that weapon in one hand, you can immediately make a single attack with it, though you suffer the usual penalty for a second attack with an off hand weapon.
Song of Celerity: At 5th level When wielding a longsword in one hand (and nothing in the other) and using the full attack action, the bladesinger can cast one spell each round as a free action.
Greater Spellsong: At 6th level The bladesinger ignores arcane spell failure when wearing light armor.
Song of Fury: At 7th level When wielding a longsword in one hand (and nothing in the other) and using the full attack action, the bladesinger can make one extra attack in a round at his highest base attack, but this attack and each other attack made that round suffer a -2 penalty. This penalty applies for 1 round, so it affects attacks of opportunity the bladesinger might make before his next action.
Blood Dance: At 9'th level the bladesinger who has been injured sevearly and is within 20 hitpoints of death, or 10 hitpoints of 0, can sing a death song to the Seldarine and is granted the ability to Rage (as per the barbarian ability) for as many rounds as you have bladesinger levels, plus your Con. Modifier.
CL-BAB-FS-RS-WS-Special- Spells per day
1'st-+1-+0-+2-+2-bladesong, duel bladesong style.
2'nd-+2-+0-+3-+3-bonus feat-+1level
3'rd-+3-+1-+3-+3- Combat song- lesser spellsong
4'th-+4-+1-+4-+4-+1level- graceful disarm
5'th-+5-+1-+4-+4- song of celerity
6'th-+6-+2-+5-+5-bonus feat- greater spellsong-+1level
7'th-+7-+2-+5-+5- song of fury
8'th-+8-+2-+6-+6-+1level
9'th-+9-+3-+6-+6- blood dance
10'th-+10-+3-+7-+7-bonus feat-+1level
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Alystra Illianniis
Great Reader
USA
3750 Posts |
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dwarvenranger
Senior Scribe
USA
428 Posts |
Posted - 12 Jan 2010 : 23:48:43
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| Ya just keep 'em coming eh? Diffan and myself took a good hard look at your Shadowmage PrC and made a number of recommendations. Would you be wanting the same thing here? |
If I waited till I knew what I was doing, I'd never get anything done.
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Copper Elven Vampire
Master of Realmslore
1078 Posts |
Posted - 13 Jan 2010 : 00:14:51
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| Sure thing my friend. I read all the replies on my Shadowmage, but haven't had the chance to respond to any of them. Feel free to critique. |
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Diffan
Great Reader
USA
4426 Posts |
Posted - 13 Jan 2010 : 11:14:55
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Ahh the bladesinger. Its one of the few PrCs of 3.5 that I never really felt got done right with those mechanics. The problem with the Complete Warrior version is that the class features aren't really that impressive until really late in the progression. The problem with the Races of Faerun version is that it has the same problem as the CW version plus it has a limited spell selection by having it's own spell list.
So now on to your version:
* Feat requirement: Expertise. I'm assuming with the 3.5 update, this would be changed to Combat Expertise.
* Spells per day (lvl 2/4/6/8/10) - One of my biggest peeves with this class was it's limited spellcasting. With it being 5/10 casting, it severely limits what the base arcane spell class can do. I'd like to see at 6 or even 7/10 spellcasting progression. Sure, it's a bit on the powerful side but have you seen Abjurant Champion??! I think it needs the boost to be a good choice for those who Optimize as well. Others will probably think the other way, but it's just my two cents.
* Bonus Feat - I think it'd be easier to say any metamagic feat or Fighter feat instead of a selective list of Fighter feats. It makes the class more unique to a variety of arch-types than a set specific style of fighting.
* Combat Song - Does this change your initiative order when the battle starts or is it a bonus you always have active? If it's the former, then I'd suggest adding an action (I say free action or minor action).
* Blood Dance - While I adore the flavor and uniqueness of the ability, it's very situational. If you have say 25 hp and a monster's attacks drop you in 1 round to 0 or -1, then it's pretty pointless. Maybe something like if your droped to within 10 hp then you gain the barbarian rage ability as a immediate action for a number of rounds = to your Bladesinger lvl + Con modifier. It seems like this situation would happen more often or clarify how the ability works better.
Overall, I say good job. You definitly made a this PrC a much more viable option to us Optimizers than previous versions. |
Edited by - Diffan on 13 Jan 2010 11:15:41 |
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dwarvenranger
Senior Scribe
USA
428 Posts |
Posted - 13 Jan 2010 : 13:21:28
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Okay I don't have much time this morning but off the bat I'd say it's front loaded. Getting both Bladesong and Dual bladesong at first level seems a bit much, giving them a full Int mod to AC at first level really makes this a tempting PrC to single dip into and giving Dual Bladesong also is too much at first level. I'd move back dual to at least third level.
There's enough stuff in this PrC that bonus feats are not needed, just move around some of the other class abilities I'll give suggestions later today.
Does Song of Celerity stack with quicken spell? If so, it's too powerful.
It think that 5/10 casting is appropriate for this PrC as it's already a very powerful one, yes it limits some of your spell casting options but this is supposed to be a warrior first I believe. If you want to cast higher level spells use scrolls. As for comparing it to the Abjurant Champion PrC, well let's just say that that PrC is the poster child for a broken PrC. |
If I waited till I knew what I was doing, I'd never get anything done.
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Diffan
Great Reader
USA
4426 Posts |
Posted - 13 Jan 2010 : 14:05:39
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quote:
Originally posted by dwarvenranger
Okay I don't have much time this morning but off the bat I'd say it's front loaded. Getting both Bladesong and Dual bladesong at first level seems a bit much, giving them a full Int mod to AC at first level really makes this a tempting PrC to single dip into and giving Dual Bladesong also is too much at first level. I'd move back dual to at least third level.
There's enough stuff in this PrC that bonus feats are not needed, just move around some of the other class abilities I'll give suggestions later today.
Does Song of Celerity stack with quicken spell? If so, it's too powerful.
It think that 5/10 casting is appropriate for this PrC as it's already a very powerful one, yes it limits some of your spell casting options but this is supposed to be a warrior first I believe. If you want to cast higher level spells use scrolls.
dwarvenranger has some good points on moving the Dual Spellsong Style a few levels back. I like it at 3rd or 4th myself.
As for the Song of Celerity and Quicken Spell, since they errata the Quicken Spell feat to be a swift action, you can only use 1 swift action per turn. So they couldn't act in the same round. Basically this negates any reason for you to spend a feat to take Quicken Spell.
True, the 5/10 spellcasting is the norm for a Gish like this, but it's a big reason why it's almost never suggested in builds when compared to say the Eldritch Knight (9/10 spellcasting). I'd still like to see maybe 6/10 spellcasting, 1st/2nd; 5th/6th; 9th/10th would be different and not too overpowering.
quote:
Originally posted by dwarvenranger
As for comparing it to the Abjurant Champion PrC, well let's just say that that PrC is the poster child for a broken PrC.
Yea, it's also one of my favorite PrCs for this style of build. Man I love that Abjurant Champ... But here I thought the poster child of broken PrCs was the Planar Shepard??  |
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dwarvenranger
Senior Scribe
USA
428 Posts |
Posted - 14 Jan 2010 : 00:24:54
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Never heard of the Planar Shepard, what book is it in?
Okay, now to the PrC.
I suppose I could buy off on 6/10 or even 7/10 but not full casting.
One thing that bothered me about the other Bladesinger PrC's is that you have to wait so long to be able to wear armor. And light armor at that. This guy's supposed to be a warrior It seems like you should get it earlier I would say around 2nd level.
As for Combat Song, a +1 increasing to a +2 at 9th level to initative, seems rather weak. I think I'd rather just let them add their INT mod to Init in addition to DEX, probably around 5th level.
I'm thinking Dual bladesong around 4th level as well Diffan.
I think that'd I'd move Lesser Spellsong to 3rd level and then change Greater Spellsong to adding INT mod to Concentration checks at 6th level and make a Perfect Spellsong at 9th where the character no longer provokes AoO's for casting arcane spells in a threatened square.
I'd say change Blood Dance to the Song Never Ends. It allows the Bladesinger to keep going even after others have fallen. While in combat they may make a Perform (singing) check to keep going even when their hit points are below zero. The DC of this check is 10 + 1 per previous check. I like this as a capstone abiltily, so gain it at 10th.
Moving this stuff around like this leaves a dead level at 8th. Got any ideas? |
If I waited till I knew what I was doing, I'd never get anything done.
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Edited by - dwarvenranger on 14 Jan 2010 00:27:30 |
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woodwwad
Learned Scribe
USA
267 Posts |
Posted - 14 Jan 2010 : 19:49:40
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| I think the base class Duskblade makes a better bladesinger than the bladesinger prestige class which I also agree is too weak and it shouldn't be as it was one of the best kits in 2nd and there isn't much reason to use this class, your wizard abilities end up too weak, especially with the requirements for the class. The original prestige class just needs more spell levels, I think it has 5 but feel it should have either 7 or 9. |
Check out my reviews on youtube of Forgotten Realms and other rpg products. http://www.youtube.com/user/woodwwad?feature=mhum |
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Copper Elven Vampire
Master of Realmslore
1078 Posts |
Posted - 14 Jan 2010 : 23:07:23
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You don't think +1 level of spellcasting every other level with full fighter BAB progression is powerful enough? Hmmm... let me get home from work and I'll reply to all and edit the PrC to fit better and balanced.
CEV |
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dwarvenranger
Senior Scribe
USA
428 Posts |
Posted - 14 Jan 2010 : 23:43:33
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quote:
Originally posted by Copper Elven Vampire
You don't think +1 level of spellcasting every other level with full fighter BAB progression is powerful enough? Hmmm... let me get home from work and I'll reply to all and edit the PrC to fit better and balanced.
CEV
Well I think it is. However the others don't agree. I'm willing to compromise some, but not to the point of full spellcasting. |
If I waited till I knew what I was doing, I'd never get anything done.
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Diffan
Great Reader
USA
4426 Posts |
Posted - 15 Jan 2010 : 04:09:30
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quote:
Originally posted by dwarvenranger
quote:
Originally posted by Copper Elven Vampire
You don't think +1 level of spellcasting every other level with full fighter BAB progression is powerful enough? Hmmm... let me get home from work and I'll reply to all and edit the PrC to fit better and balanced.
CEV
Well I think it is. However the others don't agree. I'm willing to compromise some, but not to the point of full spellcasting.
True, full spellcasting would be making it too overpowered, but like I said, I could be comfortable with 6/10 spellcasting which isn't all that big a difference and it more unique than the standard fare.
quote:
Originally posted by dwarvenranger
Never heard of the Planar Shepard, what book is it in?
It was detailed in Faiths of Eberron and it's designed to make a planar druid. You pick a plane of existance other than the Prime Material plane and you gain certian benefits such as plane shift and (my personal favorite) Wild shape (elemental or outsider),
which allows you to use wild shape into any elemental or outisder form from that plane and you get to use all the supernatural, extraordinary, and spell-like abilities. Yea, pretty damn broken.
quote:
Originally posted by dwarvenranger
Moving this stuff around like this leaves a dead level at 8th. Got any ideas?
I like Channel Spell personally, since it allows Bladesingers to use powerful offensive spells like fireball, lightning bolt, etc.. on one specific target. And because it's gained at 8th level, I'd say the ability is limitless. If that might be a bit overpowered, then keep it to an ability modifier per day or a singular number like 3/day. |
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dwarvenranger
Senior Scribe
USA
428 Posts |
Posted - 15 Jan 2010 : 14:10:31
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quote:
It was detailed in Faiths of Eberron and it's designed to make a planar druid. You pick a plane of existance other than the Prime Material plane and you gain certian benefits such as plane shift and (my personal favorite) Wild shape (elemental or outsider),
which allows you to use wild shape into any elemental or outisder form from that plane and you get to use all the supernatural, extraordinary, and spell-like abilities. Yea, pretty damn broken.
Egads, who would allow that, I think I'll be a Solar today?!!
quote:
I like Channel Spell personally, since it allows Bladesingers to use powerful offensive spells like fireball, lightning bolt, etc.. on one specific target. And because it's gained at 8th level, I'd say the ability is limitless. If that might be a bit overpowered, then keep it to an ability modifier per day or a singular number like 3/day.
Good idea |
If I waited till I knew what I was doing, I'd never get anything done.
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Diffan
Great Reader
USA
4426 Posts |
Posted - 15 Jan 2010 : 21:39:32
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quote:
Originally posted by dwarvenranger
[quote]
Egads, who would allow that, I think I'll be a Solar today?!!
Exactly, though you do have to have the same amount or greater HD as the creature you're trying to wild shape into. Still......
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Copper Elven Vampire
Master of Realmslore
1078 Posts |
Posted - 06 Feb 2011 : 09:34:11
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| re-vamped. |
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Diffan
Great Reader
USA
4426 Posts |
Posted - 12 Feb 2011 : 15:18:49
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Question:
In the Spells Per Day category, it states that the Bladesinger gains an existing level of spellcasting at each bladesinger level as if they had gained a new one in their original class but that's not shown on the table. So is it still 5/10 spellcasting or is it now a full spellcasting progression? Just asking since I'm doing a massive Playtest soon with various PrCs and I want to make sure I got it right.
Otherwise, great job! |
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Copper Elven Vampire
Master of Realmslore
1078 Posts |
Posted - 17 Feb 2011 : 21:57:39
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| It's a 10/10 progression, but I have to remove a few things to tame this PrC down a bit. |
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Diffan
Great Reader
USA
4426 Posts |
Posted - 18 Feb 2011 : 13:07:14
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Well if you want some ideas and pointers, I made a small list of revision that might balance out this PrC a little. They're just suggestions, so use what you feel is best.
- Spellcasting: With a full BAB (like a fighters), i'd suggest nothing higher than 7/10 casting. Something like "You gain spellcasting at every level except 1st, 5th, and 10th." If you want more spellcasting, then decrease the BAB to Average (like a cleric) and make the spellcasting 9/10 or 10/10.
- Bladesong Style: I'd add in that the Dodge bonus cannot exceed your Bladesinger level.
- Dual Bladesong: Honestly, I'd remove this feature all together. I love the style and flavor, but I think it's detrimental to the class at large. I mean, all the class features focus on one-handed fighting, leaving the other hand open for spell components. Instead, how about a free feat like Eschew Materials or Improved Unarmed Strike so they can use that second hand as a weapon?
- Bonus Feats: A simple "You must still meet the prerequisites of this feat to take it." So people aren't getting Whirlwind Attack and Spring Attack for free. You also might want to add some other specialty feats in there like Einhander (from Player's Handbook 2)
- Combat Song: I'd also add in a bonus to Damage rolls and DC saves for your spells in addition to your Initiative rolls. This would require a Perform (sing) check to limit the duration. So say...a DC 12 (sing) check for 1 round. DC 15 (sing) check for 1 + Cha modifier rounds. DC 18 (sing) for 1d8 + Cha modifier rounds.
- Song of Celerity and Greater Spellsong: Great class features that just need their levels swapped. So Greater Spellsong at 5th level, Song of Celerity at 6th level.
- Blood Dance: Instead of a low hit point amount (20 hp from death is really, really low) how about something more generic like 1/4 hit points. SO a Bladesinger with 103 hp who has 25 hp remaining can invoke the Blood Dance. I think it's more thematic.
I think the rest of the class is perfectly fine and would work well. Again, these are just suggestions so take what you like, ignore the rest.
Happy gaming!
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Edited by - Diffan on 18 Feb 2011 18:48:45 |
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Diffan
Great Reader
USA
4426 Posts |
Posted - 18 Feb 2011 : 15:21:18
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Here's a table I drew up, maybe you can use it?
TABLE 11: BLADESINGER
Level BAB F/R/W Saves Special Spellcasting
1st +1 +0/+2/+2 Bladesong,
Off-hand focus*
2nd +2 +0/+3/+3 Bonus feat +1 of existing spellcasting class
3rd +3 +1/+3/+3 Combative Song, +1 of existing spellcasting class
Lesser Spellsong
4th +4 +1/+4/+4 Graceful Disarm +1 of existing spellcasting class
5th +5 +1/+4/+4 Greater Spellsong
6th +6 +2/+5/+5 Bonus feat, +1 of existing spellcasting class
Song of Celerity
7th +7 +2/+5/+5 Song of Fury +1 of existing spellcasting class
8th +8 +2/+6/+6 +1 of existing spellcasting class
9th +9 +3/+6/+6 Blood Dance +1 of existing spellcasting class
10th +10 +3/+7/+7 Bonus feat
*Off-hand Focus: At 1st level, a Bladesinger focuses on fighting with the one-handed style. His off-hand is often used to hold magical focuses or as a secondary weapon. When you gain this feature, you may select either the Eschew Materials or Improved Unarmed Strike feat. |
Edited by - Diffan on 18 Feb 2011 18:53:38 |
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Diffan
Great Reader
USA
4426 Posts |
Posted - 21 Feb 2011 : 10:46:18
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| Hey CEV, I also found this topic over on the Paizo boards, maybe it'll give you some additional ideas! -----> Pathfinder Bladesinger. The poster, aptly named Bladesinger, has his own version that was geared towards Pathfinder, though conversions work both ways. |
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Erik Scott de Bie
Forgotten Realms Author
USA
4598 Posts |
Posted - 28 Feb 2011 : 20:45:21
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First off, read this article Tom Costa and I wrote, in the Bard's Rumors section of Alaundo's Library. It has suggestions on creating bladesingers and using duskblade substitution levels: http://www.candlekeep.com/downloads/greater-treasure.zip
I have played bladesingers across the editions (2e elf fighter/mage/bladesinger kit, 3e from Races, 3.5e from CW, and 4e swordmage and I've looked at the new bladesinger class coming out in August), so I feel like I've got a good sense of what the class should be.
Bringing the Perform (song) into it is neat, but not terribly practical for relatively optimized builds. Plus, bladesingers aren't the most charismatic of characters in fiction, so high CHA bladesingers would be rare at the table (though I've played bard-based bladesingers, and it's fun). I would maybe suggest that Bladesingers gain a class feature like the following. I'd give it to the PrC at 1st level.
Song of the Sword: A bladesinger may use Perform (song) with a bonus equal to Intelligence modifier + Charisma modifier + Bladesinger class level.
Special: This class feature does not stack with ranks in Perform (song).
That's almost entirely a flavor/RP mechanic, though a bladesinger could earn a few coins with it under the right circumstances.
Also, a couple suggestions:
BAB vs. Spell Progression: I would go with full BAB and 8/10 spellcasting (spellcasting bump at every level except 1st and 6th, say). This makes the class competitive with other PrCs, I think, in a way that doesn't make it too awesome. Different bladesingers will go through the class differently--a melee-focused bladesinger will probably have more fighter levels and feats going in, whereas an arcane-focused bladesinger will probably have more spellpower and need the BAB bump.
Prereqs: I would remove Still Spell. The others are all good.
Bonus feats: With these good class features, you probably don't need these at all. You might just limit them to 2 for the 10 level spread (at the non spellcasting bump levels).
Combat Song: I would suggest this one read: "A bladesinger who is not surprised can add his Intelligence modifier to initiative rolls, in addition to his Dexterity modifier." The "not surprised" reflects that he actually has to has a sense danger is coming in order to start singing.
Blood Dance: I'd make the trigger a quarter of his maximum hit points (round down), at which point he can rage as a barbarian. Quarter hit points represents a pretty seriously damaged character. The ability will activate faster for wizard-focused bladesingers (who have fewer hit points), though such bladesingers won't last as long as fighter-focused bladesingers (who have more).
Greater Spellsong: My problem with the bladesinger from the original sources had much to do with not being able to wear light armor until ridiculously high levels (considering you're entering the class as your 6th or 7th level, then around 12-14th, depending on your build). This, I think, is dumb and gets away from the classic elven-chain wearing bladesinger (statistically, these will be very rare in the campaign world, because MOST bladesingers will be lower level and not able to wear light armor). I suggest giving the light armor casting to the PrC at 2nd level (An ability called "Armored Caster"), and making "Greater Spellsong" something cooler than "you can wear light armor."
Song of Celerity: While this is a cool class feature that is completely and utterly enviable, I would limit it perhaps in the following way: "The level of the spell cannot exceed your half your Bladesinger level." We should not have bladesingers who immediately start whipping out quickened save-or-die spells as soon as they get the class feature, and we should never have bladesingers who can use quickened meteor swarms (unless there's a 20 level progression for this PrC, in which case the DM is already playing epic with it, at which point that's not really as amazing).
Dual Bladesong Style: I think you don't need this, as you want your PrC to be the classic true elven bladesong, which is single weapon. But read on! 
Back in the day, I theorized about different (rarer) schools of bladesong that utilized different configurations of swords (two hander, dual-wielding, etc.). This was mostly to accomodate the duskblade bladesingers.
If you want to do this, you might let the bladesinger choose between these alternate class features to the standard Bladesong Style (see below). All of them have something to do with buffing the armor class, but some are more defensive and some more offensive. (Note that if you change Bladesong style as I'm suggesting, you should drop the PrC's reflex progression.) If the character can do all three, but only one at a time, specify what kind of action it is to switch styles (I suggest move-equivalent action).
Bladesong Style (standard): When wearing light or no armor and wielding a sword in one hand and nothing in the other, the bladesinger adds his Intelligence modifier to his Armor Class and half his Intelligence modifier to Reflex saves.
Cleaving Bladesong Style (two-handed): When wearing light or no armor and wielding a sword in both hands, the bladesinger adds his Intelligence modifier (up to his bladesinger level) to melee damage rolls and half his Intelligence modifier to his Armor Class.
Whirling Bladesong Style (dual wield): When wearing light or no armor and wielding a sword in one hand and a smaller weapon in his other hand, the bladesinger adds his Intelligence modifier to his Armor Class and half his Intelligence modifier to melee attack rolls.
See where I'm going with that?
I also think it would be MORE than appropriate to just keep the baseline *single-weapon* Bladesong style (which is classic) and say that alternate Bladesingers with multiple weapon configurations come from Duskblade builds. To me, the Duskblade doesn't represent the *true* heritage of Bladesinging, but a bastardization that opens itself up for multiple races. What the PrC should be, IMO, is *real elven bladesong*, and that should be single weapon.
Cheers |
Erik Scott de Bie
'Tis easier to destroy than to create.
Author of a number of Realms novels (GHOSTWALKER, DEPTHS OF MADNESS, and the SHADOWBANE series), contributor to the NEVERWINTER CAMPAIGN GUIDE and SHADOWFELL: GLOOMWROUGHT AND BEYOND, Twitch DM of the Dungeon Scrawlers, currently playing "The Westgate Irregulars" |
Edited by - Erik Scott de Bie on 28 Feb 2011 20:48:50 |
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Alystra Illianniis
Great Reader
USA
3750 Posts |
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Erik Scott de Bie
Forgotten Realms Author
USA
4598 Posts |
Posted - 02 Mar 2011 : 21:32:01
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quote:
Originally posted by Erik Scott de Bie
Whirling Bladesong Style (dual wield): When wearing light or no armor and wielding a sword in one hand and a smaller weapon in his other hand, the bladesinger adds his Intelligence modifier to his Armor Class and half his Intelligence modifier to melee attack rolls.
Revise this to "when wearing light or no armor and wielding a sword in each hand."
This makes those bladesingers who want to wield two shortswords or even two longswords (like Coronal Ynloeth, for instance) still capable of the bladesong.
Also, for those bladesingers with more than two hands (who knows?), this makes it clear they still have to have all their hands full.
Cheers |
Erik Scott de Bie
'Tis easier to destroy than to create.
Author of a number of Realms novels (GHOSTWALKER, DEPTHS OF MADNESS, and the SHADOWBANE series), contributor to the NEVERWINTER CAMPAIGN GUIDE and SHADOWFELL: GLOOMWROUGHT AND BEYOND, Twitch DM of the Dungeon Scrawlers, currently playing "The Westgate Irregulars" |
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Diffan
Great Reader
USA
4426 Posts |
Posted - 05 Mar 2011 : 03:48:37
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Erik,
The Bladesong Duskblade ACFs (alternate class features) are simply amazing!! I had been fishing for a good DMPC in my upcoming campaign (we've only got 3 players) and I was originally going to go human Abjurer 2 but the version of bladesong duskblade just seems too great to pass up to play. As I've tried looking for good versions of the 3.5 Bladesinger I've yet to see a properly balanced version. The Races of Faerϋn just doesn't cut it with it's own spell-list and the CW version is just too bland. So much thanks for sharing the info and definitly brings in some interesting NPCs to boot.
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Copper Elven Vampire
Master of Realmslore
1078 Posts |
Posted - 22 Jan 2012 : 14:00:07
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| Those are amazing ideas Erik... gonna stick with the 1 blade spell bladesinger. |
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Bladesinger
