I’m working on a Wardancer class. I’m not that knowledgeable on Warhammer but I find the flavor pretty cool : a savage wood elf that makes fluid moves on the battle field, dodging blows and arrows and making so erratic moves that enemies are easily confused.
All in all, I don’t necessarily want to follow the Warhammer canon, just inspired by.
It’s the first class I’m trying to make so I’m going blind on this. I accept failing and restarting from scratch few times đ
So far, for the starting moves I have :
Wardance
When you Hack & Slash using your war dance style, add your Dex instead of your Str to your roll.
Catâs Grace
Because you rely on your superior agility in combat, your Armor equals to your Dex when you donât wear any armor or shield.
Fangs of the Cobra
When you Hack & Slash while fighting with two blades, on a hit you can deal Dex damage to a different target that is close.
I think it’s all fair… but it’s mostly combat oriented moves.
But I’m struggling to find something thematic for out of combat.
(My) Wardancers are fast and nimble. They fight with two short blades. They like arts. They practice their dance form which is akin to martial arts forms (like Kung-Fu or the like). They are brash (according to elf standards at least) and brave.
Anyone got ideas?
/sub
Swoop of the Dragonfly
When you try to confuse an enemy by erratic feints and flurries, roll +Dex. *On a 10+, the enemy is Confused. *On a 7-9, the target gets -2 ongoing and you get -2 ongoing for interacting with anyone but the target until you are no longer close to him.
But that’s still combat oriented XD
Would that be OP?
Dance ritual
When you spend uninterrupted time (an
hour or so) practicing a martial dance form,
roll +Wis. *On a 10+, hold 3. *On a 7-9, hold 1.
⢠Spend 3 Hold immediately and are no longer Shaky, Stunned or Confused.
⢠Spend 1 Hold to Aid or Interfere with someone you donât have a Bond with.
⢠Spend 1 Hold to Defy Danger by getting out of the way or acting fast and automatically get the 10+ result.
What would this do that an Elven Fighter doesn’t do already? The few bits of extra damage can be done with a matching weapon enchantment or with taking the Dual Wield move from the Ranger via Multiclassing.Â
Tim Franzke By “this” you mean the class?
Viper’s Strike (Ranger move) does extra 1d4 damage. Here it’s fixed damage (Dex) to a different target. I think it has its niche.
Whirling Dervish
When you defy danger with your DEX to dance past someone in combat, on a 10+ you may deal 1d6 damage to them. (1d8 on the advanced move version.)
Limber Strikes
When you are performing your Wardance, your range with short blades increases from hand to close.
A Leaf on the Wind
You are a whirlwind of movement in battle. While Wardancing, you can jump further, run faster and fall further without harm than a normal member of your race.
Bladestorm
All who stand before you will fall. When you are outnumbered, roll+DEX. On a 10+ hold 3, on a 7-9 hold 1. You may spend your hold 1 for 1 to perform any of the following:
> Deal your damage to all enemies in range.
> Add the forceful tag to your strikes until you are no longer outnumbered.
> Confuse, awe or frighten your enemies with your deft movements, gaining an advantage of the GMs choice.
Just off the top of my head đ
I’d probably recommend making this a compendium class rather than a base class. Â “Elf with specific fighting style” probably isn’t robust enough to support an entire set of 25 moves.
Check out Class Warfare, specifically the Blade Dancer (Battle Dancer?) specialty for some good ideas.  Very similar to where Scott Selvidge is going.
Oh, and for a not-just-fighting move, maybe something like…Â
Free Runner: when you use your sick moves to radically change your position, tell us how you do it and where you go and roll +DEX: on a 7+, bam, you’re there; on a 10+, take +1 ongoing as long as you maintain your momentum.
Have you checked out the Skirmisher class? Not saying it’s exactly what you want, but you can get allot from it.
Thx I’ll look into it!
Yeah I’ll make this a compendium class. Makes way more sense.
Scott Selvidge Those moves are nice. I’ll add them!
Thanks. Just kicked them out while waiting at the doctor lol
When you are waiting for the doctor. Roll+WIS. * 10+ You stop getting bored and come up with something useful. *7-9 You stop getting bored but your idea sucks.
You definately scored 10+ đ
That’s how I roll đ
Scott Selvidge Haha, nice pun! đ
So I’ve chosen my 4 starting moves. Would you feel exited to play this class?
What is lacking? Is it OP?
Personally, I’m not sure if it’s a good idea to have all 4 starting moves rely on DEX. Does this matters?
Wardance
When you Hack & Slash using your war dance style, add your DEX instead of your STR to your roll.
Catâs Grace
Because you rely on your superior agility in combat, your Armor equals to your DEX when you donât wear any armor or shield. If you are bounded or otherwise restrained in such a way you canât dodge attacks, you lose this benefit.
Fangs of the Cobra
When you Hack & Slash while fighting with two blades, on a hit you also deal DEX damage to a different target that is close.
Treerunner
When you use your acrobatic moves to access hard-to-reach spot, roll +DEX. â´On a 10+, you get where you wanted and also take +1 ongoing as long as you maintain your momentum. â´On a 7-9, you get where you wanted but you are out of breath.
I’d be careful with the +1 ongoing in Treerunner. Should their momentum really grant them +1 to Spout Lore, for example? You might say ‘+1 ongoing to any action that requires power or speed.’
I think you could tighten up some of the wording, like for Cat’s Grace: “When your movements aren’t hampered by worn armor, a shield, physical bonds, or a tight space, your superior agility grants you armor equal to your DEX.”
I was also trying to think of some moves that are less combat focused. So here’s one:
Hypnotic Exhibition
When you perform your wardance for an audience, roll+DEX. *On a 10+ choose 2. *On a 7-9 choose 1:
> Onlookers are captivated, leaving them surprised and defenseless to the first aggression that befalls them during your dance.
> They’re impressed. You take +1 forward to Parley with them.
> Any ally attempting to act stealthily takes +1 ongoing to their rolls during your dance, or until they are discovered.
Jason Shea Great feedback! Thanks! I’ll copy-paste as is the text for Cat’s Grace if you allow it, it’s just perfect đ
The move is also pretty cool!
Go for it. You could also think about adding a magical aspect to the dances, like they can be ritualistic. Maybe a ‘raindance’ that works like a weak version of the Cleric’s control weather spell. Or maybe a move like halfling move for the Druid but they dance instead of sing and there is a different effect granted (+1 armor forward or something).