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<blockquote data-quote="Nerfwright" data-source="post: 3430403" data-attributes="member: 41134">Very cool idea! I love it when a real life interest crosses over into my RPGs. In the Shackled City group I'm playing in, all five players are friends from a country and Western dance troupe (Two-step, swing, Waltz and line). We confuse our poor DM with dance references all the time. Only two of us are aiming at dance-related PrCs, though.It's very hard to do couples dancing justice in a few paragraphs of text. Video may be your best bet.In East Coast Swing, a couple can easily turn about each other with a somewhat circular pattern, the couple possibly 'opening out' frequently on the rock steps. It's usually upbeat and energetic.In a vastly oversimplified East Coast Swing/Lindy, the couple (lead and follow) step together in time with 'opposing feet'; the lead starts on the left and the follow starts on the right. The count starts with a pair of triple-steps side-to-side[1 &amp; 2] [3 &amp; 4], followed by a pronounced small rock step back and forward again over two counts for the distinctive [5, 6] rock step. Note the extra step on the half-beat between each of the first two pairs of beats; this is why I call them 'triples' here. The patterns can get much more complicated, but I'm aiming for brevity here.Assuming each full-integer beat is of equal length, it might be described as:[Triple-step], [Triple-step], [Rockback, Stepforward]&nbsp;[1 &amp; 2]&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; [3 &amp; 4]&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; [5&nbsp; &nbsp; 6]&nbsp;[L R L]&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; [R L R]&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; [L&nbsp; R]&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &lt;-- Leader footwork&nbsp;[R L R]&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; [L R L]&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; [R&nbsp; L]&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &lt;-- Follower footwork&lt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Coast_Swing&gt;West Coast Swing is a bit slower, and a good bit more advanced dance than ECS - I'd assume at least a +5 DC adjustment for a Perform(dance) Check to attempt a passable West Coast Swing over many other dance forms. It is also usually more sultry or funky than ECS is.In WCS, the dance is also made up mainly of triples and twos, but this time the leader is passing the follower back and forth along a very narrow 'slot' - basically a straight line of variable length for each pass. Instead of rock steps, the follow usually ends each pass at one end of the slot or the other with a triple step, ready to go in the opposite direction again (this is called the 'anchor step'). The leader generally orbits somewhere in the middle of the slot, getting out of the way for the follower to pass.The leader and follower are stepping the same beat pattern again with opposite feet, but their motion and direction can be very different from each other. Also the patterns of triples and double steps is much more variable and flexible at the leaders whim, hence the added difficulty.6-beat pattern:[Step, step], [Triple-step], [Anchor-step]&nbsp;[1&nbsp; &nbsp; 2]&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; [3 &amp; 4]&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; [5 &amp; 6]8-beat pattern:[Step, step], [Triple-step], [Step, step], [Anchor-step]&nbsp;[1&nbsp; &nbsp; 2]&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; [3 &amp; 4]&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; [5&nbsp; &nbsp; 6]&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; [7 &amp; 8] &lt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_coast_swing&gt;I'd also suggest Waltz as appealing option. Waltzes are not hard find in the movies (the Fisher King has a gorgeous, brief scene in Grand Central Station), and I think it fits well with a mythic/historical motif, even if it's far from medieval.Oh! Making characters line dance could be marvelously humiliating. There are especially awful ones like the Achey-Breaky or the Macarena.&nbsp;&nbsp; <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png"&nbsp; class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":]" title="Devious&nbsp; &nbsp; :]" data-shortname=":]" />&nbsp; &nbsp; Step sheets for those are innumerable on the web, like little electronic abcesses. Handle with care.Enjoy!NWEdited to remove my deeply flawed ascii WCS diagram.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Nerfwright, post: 3430403, member: 41134"] Very cool idea! I love it when a real life interest crosses over into my RPGs. In the Shackled City group I'm playing in, all five players are friends from a country and Western dance troupe (Two-step, swing, Waltz and line). We confuse our poor DM with dance references all the time. Only two of us are aiming at dance-related PrCs, though. It's very hard to do couples dancing justice in a few paragraphs of text. Video may be your best bet. In East Coast Swing, a couple can easily turn about each other with a somewhat circular pattern, the couple possibly 'opening out' frequently on the rock steps. It's usually upbeat and energetic. In a vastly oversimplified East Coast Swing/Lindy, the couple (lead and follow) step together in time with 'opposing feet'; the lead starts on the left and the follow starts on the right. The count starts with a pair of triple-steps side-to-side[1 & 2] [3 & 4], followed by a pronounced small rock step back and forward again over two counts for the distinctive [5, 6] rock step. Note the extra step on the half-beat between each of the first two pairs of beats; this is why I call them 'triples' here. The patterns can get much more complicated, but I'm aiming for brevity here. Assuming each full-integer beat is of equal length, it might be described as: [Triple-step], [Triple-step], [Rockback, Stepforward] [1 & 2] [3 & 4] [5 6] [L R L] [R L R] [L R] <-- Leader footwork [R L R] [L R L] [R L] <-- Follower footwork <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Coast_Swing> West Coast Swing is a bit slower, and a good bit more advanced dance than ECS - I'd assume at least a +5 DC adjustment for a Perform(dance) Check to attempt a passable West Coast Swing over many other dance forms. It is also usually more sultry or funky than ECS is. In WCS, the dance is also made up mainly of triples and twos, but this time the leader is passing the follower back and forth along a very narrow 'slot' - basically a straight line of variable length for each pass. Instead of rock steps, the follow usually ends each pass at one end of the slot or the other with a triple step, ready to go in the opposite direction again (this is called the 'anchor step'). The leader generally orbits somewhere in the middle of the slot, getting out of the way for the follower to pass. The leader and follower are stepping the same beat pattern again with opposite feet, but their motion and direction can be very different from each other. Also the patterns of triples and double steps is much more variable and flexible at the leaders whim, hence the added difficulty. 6-beat pattern: [Step, step], [Triple-step], [Anchor-step] [1 2] [3 & 4] [5 & 6] 8-beat pattern: [Step, step], [Triple-step], [Step, step], [Anchor-step] [1 2] [3 & 4] [5 6] [7 & 8] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_coast_swing> I'd also suggest Waltz as appealing option. Waltzes are not hard find in the movies (the Fisher King has a gorgeous, brief scene in Grand Central Station), and I think it fits well with a mythic/historical motif, even if it's far from medieval. Oh! Making characters line dance could be marvelously humiliating. There are especially awful ones like the Achey-Breaky or the Macarena. :] Step sheets for those are innumerable on the web, like little electronic abcesses. Handle with care. Enjoy! NW Edited to remove my deeply flawed ascii WCS diagram. [/QUOTE]

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