Fenes 2 said:
It loks like a bit too good, however. The only thing the bard gives up are the will save and bardic knowledge advancement. In exchange the eroticist gains mutliple new powers. The dance of steel and the dance of wind look quite powerful, especially combined with some rogue leves and sneak attack.
I don't think I will take this class, in my current game it would be overpowered.
In 3.0 I tend to concur. Any time that a bard will be engaged in melee they'll almost certainly be doing one of the combat dances, for which they've given up some lore ability. Generally giving up lore abilities for greater combat prowess, extra charm attempts and cohorts doesn't seem balanced to me.
Even if you have a limited number of dances per day it seems like most of the fighting ones could continue indefinitely (unless theres something in bardic music that stops that? --- don't recal off the top of my head).
Giving up a level of arcane caster progression at some point would give the class a more balanced feel.
3.5 would be better though...
Reportedly (Ed stark on Mortality I think) bards get to cast in armor. So long as the class isn't changed to allow dancing in armor you -would- be giving up something.
Armors pretty dependable, you can mess up dancing at lot more easily
grease, tanglefoot bag, etc.
If bardic music becomes more powerful in 3.5 then giving that up in favor of dancing might look like more of a penalty.
(unrelated but kinda weird note: The perform/bluff/dip 9 requirement would usually imply that a 6th level character could get into the class, but it's not so. The earliest you can take the class is as at 7th level. You can get the eroticist feat at 6th, but you have to already have a feat before you qualify for the class. Might cause some confusion....)
The mechanics are sound, it seems balanced, and alot of its abilities are unique and/or interesting (Dance of Stolen Hearts perhaps being my favorite).
