Shadowdancer variant: The Rain Dancer

[CleverNickName]

A while ago, I posted a variant of the Shadowdancer that had been modified to be more suitable to a desert climate. Smootrk commented on that particular post, and suggested other "dancer" variants, like rain dancers and Polynesian fire dancers. That got me to thinking about yet another variant for the "tropical island" themed campaign I am developing.

Please comment and critique freely. The concept I am going for here is "rogue meets druid, in the rain."

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EDIT (4/16/07): Feedback has been incorporated. Hat tip: Nifft, smootrk, Sound of Azure, Brimshak.
EDIT (4/16/07): Now with linky goodness.
EDIT (4/16/07): Many spell-like and supernatural abilities stack with Druid levels.
EDIT (4/17/07): Changed the skill requirements to be more consistent with the theme.
EDIT (4/17/07): Chanced the class skills for the same reason.
EDIT (9/13/08): Posted the final document in the downloads section (link).

 

[Tonguez]

nice!
I could see this class working for fey and aquatic elves to get that 'stranger in the mist' vibe going.

I'd love to see your Fire Dancer

 

[smootrk]

I really like this prc, and I am not just saying this because you gave me kudos for the suggestion.

Might I suggest some electrical effects thrown in (flavor from the concept of thunderstorms), like Call Lightning or even other Control Weather methods (limited to liquid precipitation maybe). Anyway, just some suggestions.

And now this line of thinking makes me reminisce about 'Big Trouble in Little China' and the three storms as similar PRC's: Rain (this prc), Thunder (sonic), Lightning (electrical)... hmmm

 

[CleverNickName]

I thought about adding these abilities to the Rain Dancer as class features, but the class was already too front-loaded. By the time I added all of these abilities, I would have had to expand the class to 12 or 15 levels just to stay balanced...and that's no fun.

So instead, I wrote a handful of feats that your average Rain Dancer might make good use of. I figure that if a player wants his character to have any of these abilities badly enough, he/she can invest in the appropriate feats instead of just letting the class do all the work.

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EDIT (04/16/07): Now with linky goodness.
EDIT (04/16/07): Incorporated comments and suggestions. Hat tip: Nifft, Brimshack
EDIT (09/13/08): Compiled into a single document, which is now available in the downloads section.

 

[Sound of Azure]

This is heaps cool! I think it might just find its way into my upcoming game.

I like your new feats too, although if I might make a suggestion: The Healing Mist feats might be better as Fast Healing, rather than a flat out healing "burst", similar to the "vigor" series of spells.

Again, nice work!

 

[Nifft]

I love this idea!

IMHO the class it's based on is too weak, but the translation is very well done.

Some suggestions: 1 inch of rainwater is too restrictive; can't ever be used underground, right? How about you can jump into rain, or into mist that would grant you at least partial Concealment. Mist and fog are common enough.

How about Cloudwalking (as the Silver Dragon special ability)? Something very cool about being able to stand on a fog bank and rain down arrows of death.

Cheers, -- N

 

[CleverNickName]

Wow, guys...these are really awesome suggestions! I think I will implement them en force.

smootrk: I thought about adding some storm-summoning elements to this class, but I think it would be more fitting to my Stormlord rebuild. In this campaign I am cooking up, I am seeing the "good guys" (humans, elves) being Rain Dancers, and the "bad guys" (sahuagin, kopru) being Storm Bringers. So look for it in a couple weeks...it will have all of the thundery, lightningy goodness you are looking for.

Sound of Azure: My plan was to stay with the SRD as closely as possible, so that people could more easily adapt it to any campaign. But I really, really like your suggestion about fast healing instead of a healing "burst." What book are you pulling the "vigor" spell family from? I'd like to read more about it.

Nifft: Oops, my wording on the Rain Jump ability was bad. The idea I was trying to convey was that the Rain Dancer must either be outdoors in the rain, or standing in one inch of water. Because you are right; one inch of rainwater is too restrictive for this ability to be useful. I'll fix the wording, right after I file my taxes.

As for the Cloudwalking ability, I might make that a feat that the Rain Dancer could take, instead of an automatic class feature. I feel like the number of class abilities is fast approaching critical mass, but this is a great idea that I want to include.

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Thanks for the input, guys...please keep it coming. You have no idea how much it helps to have different brains looking at the same thing.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

This is one cool PrC. It'll definetely be seeing use in my upcoming Sixguns & Sorcery campaign.

 

[Brimshack]

I think I did a fire dancer once. We commissioned a mini of a fire dancer, and it looks pretty cool. Can't remember if I finished the class or not. I know I wrote a Hula dancer. Played her in my friends campaign.

The rain dancer is very cool. Have you done the fire dancer yet?

What about a sort of Divination Cloud? She knows what's happening wherever the rain falls from it.

 

[Sound of Azure]

Sound of Azure: My plan was to stay with the SRD as closely as possible, so that people could more easily adapt it to any campaign. But I really, really like your suggestion about fast healing instead of a healing "burst." What book are you pulling the "vigor" spell family from? I'd like to read more about it.

You can find the vigor series of spells in Complete Divine, though they originally appeared in the 3.0 supplement Masters of the Wild as the "Regenerate X wounds" series. The pertinent two you'd be looking for are Mass Lesser Vigor (level 3) and Vigorous Circle (level 6).