Prestige Class: Bladesinger

Background and Appearance
Along with arcane archers, bladesingers are the elite guardians of the elven race. They are deployed by elven rulers to protect elven interests in the outside world, serving simultaneous roles as scouts, diplomats, and one-elf armies. All bladesingers, save for the occasional renegade, are absolutely loyal to their people, although their tasks are usually general and far-reaching, making it acceptable for them to work with most adventuring parties. Bladesingers are organized in lodges. Each lodge trains with a particular weapon, and all members of a lodge wear a tattoo that represents the lodge. That tattoo is linked to the chosen weapon: a whip lodge might choose a snake, for example. 
Only pure-blooded elves may study as bladesingers. The bladesong is such a closely-guarded racial secret that even those non-elves who are very close allies of the race are not allowed to learn it. Some also speculate that non-elves could not learn the bladesong even if they were allowed to study it, because the unique mental and physical processes of the combat art require a distinctly elven physiology.
A bladesinger is a versatile and powerful combatant trained to combine spellcasting and melee abilities into one coherent fighting style. The bladesong is quite deadly and extraordinary graceful: while its movements are simple and economical, they have a powerful and understated beauty.
A bladesinger generally defeats opponents with his weapon, and uses spells to protect himself and enhance his attacks. Bladesingers need high Dexterity to fight effectively, and often find Charisma to be very useful. Bladesingers trained as wizards also need Intelligence for spellcasting. Because of the mixed nature of a bladesinger’s skills, a prospective bladesinger must be competent in both spellcasting and melee combat. In general, characters become bladesingers if they have some training as a fighter, paladin, or ranger, as well as some magical background as a wizard or sorcerer. Some bards also train as bladesingers, but those are rare. Clerics, monks, druids, and barbarians rarely become bladesingers.

Requirements
Base Attack Bonus:	+5
Race: Elf
Spellcasting: Ability to cast 2nd level Arcane spells
Feats:	Weapon Focus*
Expertise
Combat Casting
Skills:	Concentration: 4 ranks
Perform (Dancing): 4 ranks
Diplomacy: 3 ranks
Knowledge (Elven Culture): 2 ranks
Spellcraft: 2 ranks
Special:	Becoming a bladesinger is a high honor. In addition to having the required skills, an elf is only accepted for bladesinger training if she has distinguished herself in the service of her people, usually by completing some major quest in order to aid the elves. 

* All one-handed simple and martial melee weapons are appropriate for the bladesong, in addition to the whip and bastard sword (if it’s used one-handed).

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Bladesingers are proficient with all simple weapons and martial weapons, and light and medium armor. 
Class Skills: Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Concentration (Con), Diplomacy (Cha), Knowledge (Arcana) (Int), Knowledge (Elven Culture) (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), Spellcraft (Int), Tumble (Dex).
Skill Points: 4 + Intelligence Modifier
Hit Die: d8

Class Features
Level	Attack	Fortitude	Reflex	Will	Special Abilities	
1	+1	+0	+2	+2	Bladesong Offense (+1), Armored Casting	
2	+2	+0	+3	+3	+1 Spell Caster Level, Enchanted Strike	
3	+3	+1	+3	+3	Bladesong Defense (+1), Uncanny Dodge 	
4	+4	+1	+4	+4	+1 Spell Caster Level	
5	+5	+1	+4	+4	Bladesong Offense (+2), Defensive Casting 	
6	+6	+2	+5	+5	+1 Spell Caster Level	
7	+7	+2	+5	+5	Bladesong Defense (+2), Uncanny Dodge (cannot be flanked)	
8	+8	+2	+6	+6	+1 Spell Caster Level	
9	+9	+3	+6	+6	Bladesong Offense (+3), Flurry of Cuts	
10	+10	+3	+7	+7	+1 Spell Caster Level, Improved Enchanted Strike	

Armored Casting: As part of their martial training, bladesingers learn to compensate for the effects of armor on their ability to cast arcane spells. Bladesingers have their arcane spell failures reduced by 10% (to a minimum of 0%) while wearing armor, or by 20% if the bladesinger’s armor is of elven make.
Bladesong: Bladesingers fight using the ancient elven art of the bladesong, an intricate style of combat that is so impossibly graceful that it often appears as though a practitioner is dancing rather than fighting. To use the bladesong, a bladesinger must wield a weapon in one hand and have nothing in the other. Also, not every weapon is suitable for use with the bladesong: see above for acceptable weapons. Also, she cannot perform the bladesong in heavy armor, and must have a Weapon Focus in the weapon she’s using.
Because the bladesong depends on precision of movement instead of physical power, the bladesinger applies always her Dexterity modifier to both her attack and damage rolls instead of Strength. As the bladesinger becomes more experienced, she can use her style to greater effect. At 1st, 5th, and 9th level, the bladesinger gains +1 to attack rolls; at 3rd and 7th levels, she gains +1 to AC. These only apply when she’s actually using the bladesong fighting style, and AC bonuses also only apply in situations where the bladesinger would also apply her Dexterity modifier. 
Also the bladesinger must be using the bladesong fighting style to use many of her class abilities. These abilities include Defensive Casting, Enchanted Strike, and Flurry of Cuts. Bladesong is an extraordinary ability.
Defensive Casting: Experienced bladesingers can use bladesong techniques as a way to deflect attacks while casting spells, although they still may not attack and cast spells at once. While casting a spell, a bladesinger with Defensive Casting may increase his AC by one plus half his bladesinger level, rounded down, if he’s using the bladesong style. Thus, a 5th level bladesinger gains a +3 AC bonus when casting a spell.
Enchanted Strike: As one of the abilities they are most famous for, bladesingers quickly learn to release magical spells through their weapon in the heat of battle. Normally, an Enchanted Strike is a full action, and a bladesinger must be using the bladesong fighting style to use this ability.
An Enchanted Strike is a way to cast a spell on someone by attacking them. To use Enchanted Strike, a bladesinger chooses a spell to use, and then attacks an opponent as normal. If she misses, the spell is wasted. Otherwise, the target is affected by the spell in addition to taking normal damage from the attack. Note that a bladesinger still needs to roll for arcane spell failure as normal, but her attack still causes normal damage if the spell fails. 
If a bladesinger successfully delivers a spell with Enchanted Strike, it’s assumed to be a direct hit. The bladesinger doesn’t need to roll to hit with the spell, and the target is automatically assumed to have failed a Reflex check if he’d normally be allowed one. If a bladesinger gets a critical hit when using Enchanted Strike with a spell that can also cause one, both the weapon and spell damage are multiplied.
The greatest bladesingers are able to integrate Enchanted Strikes seamlessly into the other motions of the bladesong. At 10th level, the bladesinger can simply substitute any one of his attacks per round for an Enchanted Strike; in other words, the Enchanted Strike is treated much like a regular attack. This means she can use an Enchanted Strike as a standard action, or can make multiple attacks in addition to the Enchanted Strike by using full attack. She is still limited to one Enchanted Strike per round, however, and she can never execute an Enchanted Strike in the same round she casts a spell.
Enchanted Strike is a supernatural ability.
Flurry of Cuts:  A master bladesinger can move through the fluid motions of the bladesong with startling quickness, at the cost of some accuracy. At 9th level a bladesinger may elect to use the Flurry of Cuts whenever he makes a full attack and is using the bladesong style. When using the Flurry of Cuts, the bladesinger may make an additional attack at his highest attack bonus, but all of his attacks in the round are made at –2 to hit.
Spells per Day: All bladesingers continue their magical training in addition to their combat skills. For every even level that a character attains as a bladesinger, she may increase the level of her spellcasting class by one for purposes of determining the spells she can memorize or cast each day. This bonus stacks with any later levels the bladesinger achieves in her spellcasting class; if she has +2 spellcaster levels and is a 4th level wizard, if she casts spells at 7th level if she reaches 5th level as a wizard. She doesn’t gain any other abilities of her spellcasting class, however, and she can only increase her arcane spellcasting abilities in this manner. If a bladesinger has more than one class that can cast arcane spells, she must choose one class to increase spellcasting abilities in.
	Uncanny Dodge: At 2nd level, a bladesinger gains the Uncanny Dodge ability. The bladesinger can keep the bonuses to AC he gains from his Dexterity modifier and bladesong defense. When the bladesinger reaches 5th level, he can also no longer be flanked.
This is an extraordinary ability.

Notes
	Although there have been many interpretations of bladesingers as prestige classes on the Web, this bladesinger retains a degree of balance but has a number of distinct abilities. For comments or suggestions, email comrade_raoul@hotmail.com