Faolyn
(she/her)
Somehow I don't think this is what @TheHand meant when they suggested a party/carousing culture...
Until something stops the music for that a Dancer, forcibly removing them from the Wild Dance and stranding them forever in the real world. Perhaps the being that drew them into the dance grew bored with them, or was slain. Perhaps they suffered an injury or the infirmities of age and were abandoned by their uncaring fellow dancers. Perhaps their former family and friends broke the curse that bound them. Or perhaps, the individual had a burst of sheer willpower and managed to break free on their own.
But even then, their mind is still filled with the dance, and their memories from before they were taken are blurry. Many people freed from the Wild Dance are despondent, desperate to get back to the troupe, the safety of its mob mind, and the freedom from reality that they knew for so long. But just as many are relieved to be free and to have their minds back, or are filled with a need to destroy the troupe that took them, to prevent others from being taken as well.
Characters who were in the wild dancer culture share a variety of traits in common with one another.
Capering Movement. When you take the Dash action, your movement doesn’t provoke opportunity attacks. Additionally, you can forgo your movement on your turn to teleport 30 feet to an unoccupied space you can see. Once you have done so, you can’t do so again until you complete a short or long rest.
Dance of the Wild. You are proficient in the Performance skill, and gain an expertise die when dancing. You also gain proficiency with one of the following skills: Acrobatics, Arcana, Religion, or Nature. You were exposed to many supernatural entities in your time as a Dancer, and you still remember some of what learned from them.
Raving. You have known only the freedom of the Dance for so long that the thought of orderly conduct is abhorrent to you. You have the Chaotic alignment for the purposes of any spell or ability that would detect or affect Chaotic creatures.
Standing Still. The Wild Dance taught you how to move your body. Being severed from it taught you how to remain in one place. You have advantage on Strength and Dexterity saving throws against any effect that would cause you to move.
Telepathic. Wild Dancers think as one. You can speak telepathically to any creature within 30 feet of you that you can see. The creature understands you only if the two of you share a language. You can speak telepathically in this way to one creature at a time
The Unending Dance. While you were part of the Wild Dance, the music kept you going, long after your body should have dropped. You still hear echoes of the music, keeping you company on those quiet nights. You need to spend only 4 hours sleeping each night. A long rest remains 8 hours for you as normal, but you can spend the remainder of that time engaging in light activity—or in dancing.
Languages. You can speak, read, sign, and write one of Abyssal, Celestial, or Sylvan, as well as one other language of your choice.
(I kind of want to give them a trait where they always fail their saves against irresistible dance, but that's so niche I don't think it's worth it.)
Wild Dancer
There are places in this world and throughout the planes where the line between revelry and madness is blurred to the point of nonexistence. Places where satyrs and nymphs and other faerie folk dance wildly to the rhythm produced by the heartbeat of the world, where gods of joy and intoxication hold court, and where foul fiends and Old Ones break the minds of cultists and innocent alike, turning joyful dance into ecstatic violence. The curious, the carefree, and the unwary are sometimes caught up in the madness—and remain caught, as their mind is altered so they know only the Wild Dance, the music of the eldritch pipers that urge them onwards, the sound of blood pounding in their ears, and the taste of wine and blood on their tongues. They are a whirlwind of movement, with no thoughts beyond their need to move and sing and consume. Should they come across someone not of the Dance—a Still One, as the Dancers call them—the Dancers may attempt to entice them to join… or if their mood is soured, they may try to tear the Still Ones apart. Their past life, sometimes even their name, is completely lost to them, as they are now one with the troupe.Until something stops the music for that a Dancer, forcibly removing them from the Wild Dance and stranding them forever in the real world. Perhaps the being that drew them into the dance grew bored with them, or was slain. Perhaps they suffered an injury or the infirmities of age and were abandoned by their uncaring fellow dancers. Perhaps their former family and friends broke the curse that bound them. Or perhaps, the individual had a burst of sheer willpower and managed to break free on their own.
But even then, their mind is still filled with the dance, and their memories from before they were taken are blurry. Many people freed from the Wild Dance are despondent, desperate to get back to the troupe, the safety of its mob mind, and the freedom from reality that they knew for so long. But just as many are relieved to be free and to have their minds back, or are filled with a need to destroy the troupe that took them, to prevent others from being taken as well.
Characters who were in the wild dancer culture share a variety of traits in common with one another.
Capering Movement. When you take the Dash action, your movement doesn’t provoke opportunity attacks. Additionally, you can forgo your movement on your turn to teleport 30 feet to an unoccupied space you can see. Once you have done so, you can’t do so again until you complete a short or long rest.
Dance of the Wild. You are proficient in the Performance skill, and gain an expertise die when dancing. You also gain proficiency with one of the following skills: Acrobatics, Arcana, Religion, or Nature. You were exposed to many supernatural entities in your time as a Dancer, and you still remember some of what learned from them.
Raving. You have known only the freedom of the Dance for so long that the thought of orderly conduct is abhorrent to you. You have the Chaotic alignment for the purposes of any spell or ability that would detect or affect Chaotic creatures.
Standing Still. The Wild Dance taught you how to move your body. Being severed from it taught you how to remain in one place. You have advantage on Strength and Dexterity saving throws against any effect that would cause you to move.
Telepathic. Wild Dancers think as one. You can speak telepathically to any creature within 30 feet of you that you can see. The creature understands you only if the two of you share a language. You can speak telepathically in this way to one creature at a time
The Unending Dance. While you were part of the Wild Dance, the music kept you going, long after your body should have dropped. You still hear echoes of the music, keeping you company on those quiet nights. You need to spend only 4 hours sleeping each night. A long rest remains 8 hours for you as normal, but you can spend the remainder of that time engaging in light activity—or in dancing.
Languages. You can speak, read, sign, and write one of Abyssal, Celestial, or Sylvan, as well as one other language of your choice.
(I kind of want to give them a trait where they always fail their saves against irresistible dance, but that's so niche I don't think it's worth it.)
