College of Dance (5A)

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This is a Bard subclass for 5A.

Formally The College of Dance, the dancer focuses on bodily expression, including dance, mime, and physically demanding acting. From high ballet to rough-and tumble physical comedy, the dance bard entertains, but is also an unarmed combatant similar to the Monk.

Greyhawk: Related to monks, the College of Dance is often a part of monastic practices, primarily in Baklunish lands. Some fey and their friends practice and teach this art completely independently. There are also dancing schools whose most talented pupils become dance bards, and exceptional individuals can master this art by themselves.

Subclass Features

Dance Spells

Starting at 3rd level when you join this bardic college, you learn additional spells when you reach certain levels as a bard, as shown on the Dance Spells table. Each of these spells counts as a bard spell for you, but it doesn't count against the number of bard spells you know.

Whenever you gain a bard level, you can replace one spell you gained from this feature with another spell of the same level. The new spell must be from the bard spell list.

Dance Spells

Bard Level	Spells
3	Expeditious Retreat, Shield
3	Mirror Image, Misty Step
5	Fly, Haste
7	Dimension Door, Freedom Of Movement
9	Far Step, Steel Wind Strike

Bonus Proficiencies

When you become an dancer at 3rd level, you gain proficiency in one of Acrobatics, Athletics, Perform, or Stealth.

Fleet Inspiration

At 3rd level, your inspiration allows additional movement, and your bardic inspiration can affect creatures who can see or hear you. On their turn a creature can use an inspiration die you gave them to move 5 ft. times the result of the inspiration die using a type of movement available to them (such as land, swim, or fly speed). This is in addition to their normal movement and does not provoke attacks of opportunity. Their long jump distance improves by 2 ft. and their high jump distance by 1 ft. for every 5 ft. of movement until the end of their turn. If they make an ability check as a part of this movement, usually Dexterity (Acrobatics) or Strength (Agility) but potentially others as the situation dictates, they add the result of the bardic inspiration die to the ability check.

On your turn, you can spend a bonus action to gain this increased movement without spending any uses of bardic inspiration.

Unarmed Attacks

At 3rd level, you can roll your bardic inspiration die in place of the normal damage of your unarmed strike. This does not count against your limit on Bardic Inspiration. You can use Strength (Athletics), Dexterity (Acrobatics), or Charisma (perform) to make a Shove (see the combat rules), and if you succeed you can move the target in any direction.

Safety Dance

At 3rd level, you learn to defend yourself through dance. When not wearing armor or wielding a shield, your armor class is 10 + your Dexterity bonus + your Charisma bonus.

Extra Attack

Starting at 6th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.

Evasion

Beginning at 14th level, you can nimbly dodge out of the way of certain area effects, such as a red dragon's fiery breath or an Ice Storm spell. When you are subjected to an effect that allows you to make a Dexterity saving throw to take only half damage, you instead take no damage if you succeed on the saving throw, and only half damage if you fail.

Designer's Notes

Dance is a natural mode of artistic expression, and a dancer's ability as an unarmed combatant is a common trope. The unarmed damage is higher than the base monk's and should be compared to 5A's revised Monk.

See Also

• Mystic Dancer (Apath)