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\title{The Sword Dancer}
\author{A character class for AD\&D \\ by Jim Vassilakos \& Ed Zeamba}
\date{November 1990}
\maketitle
\setcounter{page}{85}

{\noindent \it
{\Large T}his is the Sword Dancer character class, originally
conceptualized by Jennifer Roberson in her book, \underline{Sword Dancer},
interpreted
for AD\&Dv2 by Ed Zeamba, and {\bf heavily} bastardized by Jim
Vassilakos for inclusion into his Divlantian Rules.\\}

\begin{center}
\begin{tabular}{|cc|cc|}
\hline
\multicolumn{4}{|c|}{Stat Prerequisites}\\
\hline
\multicolumn{2}{|c}{Levels 1-12} & \multicolumn{2}{|c|}{Levels 13+}\\
\hline
Str    &13   &   Str  &16\\
Dex    &15   &   Dex  &16\\
Wis    &11   &   Wis  &14\\
\hline
\multicolumn{4}{c}{ }\\
\end{tabular}
\end{center}

{\noindent T}he Sword Dancer is a subclass of Warrior which specializes in ritualized
sword combat. The class is restricted to leather armor and may not employ
shields or bucklers or gain proficiencies in weapons other than swords.

\begin{center}
\begin{tabular}{|crcc|}
\hline
\multicolumn{4}{|c|}{Experience Table}\\
\hline
Level &  Experience &     Circle  &      Title \\
\hline
  1   &        0    &   1st Circle&     Initiate\\
  2   &     2500    &             &\\
  3   &     5000    &           &\\
  4   &    10000    &   2nd Circle&     Disciple\\
  5   &    20000    &   &\\
  6   &    40000    &   3rd Circle&     SwordBearer\\
  7   &    80000    &    &\\
  8   &   150000    &   &\\
  9   &   300000    &   4th Circle &    SwordSinger\\
 10   &   500000    &    &\\
 11   &   750000    &    &\\
 12   &  1000000    &     &\\
 13   &  1300000    &   5th Circle  &   SwordSlayer\\
 14   &  1600000    &     &\\
 15   &  1900000    &     &\\
 16   &  2200000    &    &\\
 17   &  2500000    &   6th Circle   &  SwordMaker\\
 18   &  2800000    &     & \\
 19   &  3100000    &      &\\
 20   &  3400000    &     &\\
 21   &  3700000    &     &\\
 22   &  4000000    &   7th Circle &    SwordMaster\\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\end{center}

{\large Hitpoints:} {\em d8 per level w/ Con bonus\\}

{\large Proficiencies}

\begin{description}
\item[Weapon:]
\item[\ \ \ \ ]
\begin{itemize}
\item{Double Specialization in Weapon of Choice}
\item{Basic Proficiency in all other Swords}
\item{One additional weapon proficiency per two levels of experience}
\item{One Combat Point per level after first \\ {\em (q.v. House Rules:
Combat System)}}
\end{itemize}
\item[NonWeapon:]
\item[\ \ \ \ ]
\begin{itemize}
\item{Blind Fighting + two initial proficiencies}
\item{One addition nonweapon proficiency per three levels of experience\\}
\end{itemize}
\end{description}

\begin{center}
{\large Mentalist Disciplines\\}
\end{center}

{\noindent S}word Dancers have the ability to sense the psychic impressions
left on swords, both with regard to the blade and hilt. Such
impressions are accurate 50\%+10\%/lvl of the time with a
substantial negative modification for more detailed
sword-scrying.

At 4th level they gain a resistance to charm, hypnosis, and suggestions
at 15\% + 5\% per level.

At 6th level, Swords dancers gain a 30\% resistance to resistance to
ESP \& telepathy. This rises 10\% at 9th, 13th, 17th, and 22nd level.\\ \\

\begin{center}
{\Large The Five Quests of the Dancer\\}
\end{center}

\begin{center}
{\large Thulecuivi: The Awakening\\}
\end{center}

{\noindent A}t 4th level, Dancers fall into a quest for their SoulSword,
a very individualistic, secret, and holy ordeal known as the Thulecuivi.
During this period, the Dancer must find and spiritually unite
with his (or her) weapon before graduating to the
3rd circle at 6th level of experience, that of the SwordBearer.

It is said that the Disciple must first
meet his weapon in meditation, before embarking on his quest, thus
awakening the spirit of the weapon to his intent. At 5th level,
once the sword's spirit has awakened, it will search for its
wielder, meeting him in the DreamLands to test his resolve. Only
when the weapon is held with the Disciple's mind will it make
its physical location known.

Finally, when the Dancer has earned enough experience to progress to
6th level, he must fight within the DreamLands, slaying his own
spirit as a sacrifice to the blade. Then, and only then, will
the weapon make its truename known to the Dancer. And only
with knowledge of its truename will the sword's spirit accept
the wielder's physical manifestation without killing the
Dancer outright.\\

\begin{center}
{\large Macilinde: The Singing\\}
\end{center}

{\noindent U}pon attaining the experience necessary for 9th level, the Dancer
embarks upon his second quest, the Macilinde, the magic of music by
which he weaves the forces of chaos through the spirit of his
SoulSword. Again an expedition to the DreamLands is required, but
this time the SwordBearer must also bare his physical manifestation
to the dangers within the multilayered the Planes of Oniros. There
he must seek the source of his SoulBlade, the ancient and dreaded
Wyrms of Song who capture the shattered spirits of the Greatest SwordMasters
and transform them into the blades of their forging. Assuming the Bearer
is successful in his journey, he must there learn the ancient art of
SwordSinging, thus entering the 4th circle of
mastery. The form of his SongMagic is individualistic as is his SoulSword,
his school of training, and the nature of the quest he undertakes.\\

\begin{center}
{\large Serkai: The Blooding\\}
\end{center}

{\noindent W}hen the wielder has attained the necessary experience to progress
to 13th level, he enters his third quest, that of Serkai,
the Blooding. Before progressing to the 5th circle, he must undergo
this quest on behalf of his SoulSword which awakened for and nurtured
him that it might in time undergo its own right of passage, from
that of the SoulSword to that of the Jivatma.

Making a spiritual journey into the star of his sword, the wielder
must learn the identity of the Hunted One for which the spirit of
the sword descended to the Wyrms of Song that it might take vengeance
in a distant age. Within the heart of his individual, he must blood
the weapon, allowing it to swallow the spirit before it escapes from
the coil of life.

The Jivatma (or SlayingBlade) thereby acquires the most terrible
attributes of its victim, the magic of the Blooding serving to compliment
its song-magic so that the Jivatma is separate from all other blades both
in power and purpose, a master of its wielder, untouchable save by the
hand that knows its name.\\

\begin{center}
{\large Kirumbar: The Calling\\}
\end{center}

{\noindent W}hen the wielder has attained the necessary experience for 17th
level, the cutting hand of fate is said to intervene, creating
a stirring within the soul, a calling known only as the Kirumbar.
With it, comes the realization of the fourth quest, whereby the
dancer must, with the aid of a SwordShaper, forge the blade of his
own future imprisonment from
SpiritSteel, coiled from skyborn iron. The blade cannot be finished,
however, until it is baked beneath the breath of a Wyrm of Song, the Wyrm's
price for this completion being the sword itself, that the soul
of the dancer may be captured and put to use upon his mortal demise.\\

\begin{center}
{\large Echiluve: The Merging\\}
\end{center}

{\noindent U}pon attaining experience for 22nd level, the SwordDancer enters his
fifth and final quest known always as Echiluve, the final mergence of
Sword and Dancer. Again, the Dancer must journey to the DreamLands,
this time to the final forge upon which his SoulSword was completed.
There, he must find the Wyrm who taught him SongMagic and must
prove himself worthy of the mergence which will wind about him the
bind that will merge him with his SoulSword. If the quest is successful,
his spirit is made one with the Sword, the latter no longer commanding the
former but both made whole, once and forevermore.

Thereafter, the Dancer is no longer an Ishtoya (student), but is rather
a Kaiden, a SwordMaster in the since that he is both Sword and Master.
The surname, Turion, is thereafter indicative of his status in the
Cult of Dancers.\\ \\

\begin{center}
{\Large Facets of the Dancer\\}
\end{center}

\begin{center}
{\large The SwordDance\\}
\end{center}

{\noindent T}he Dance is a ritualized, often non-lethal exercise used
both for training, exhibition, and competition. Thus, there
are accordingly many levels of sophistication and seriousness
which the Dance itself may take. At the simplest level, the
dance begins with a circle, two swords, and two dancers. As
the circumstance grows more serious, a judge may be
added, opponents may be allowed representatives, and the
circle itself may be modified not merely in size but also in
its magical nature, the flowing essence of life and death
intermixing with the power of song, itself a symbol of
the life of a dancer, of his purpose, and of the oaths held
sacred. Within such a complex circle, such fights are often
to the death, an individual being allowed to yield only by
accepting the demand of his opponent, this demand taking the
form of a magical geas which can only be broken by the winner's
acquiescence or death.\\

\begin{center}
{\large The Cult of Dancer\\}
\end{center}

{\noindent T}he many Cults of Sword Dancing collectively form an ancient and
highly ritualized religion, whereby the dancer swears a symbolic
servitude to his weapon in much the same fashion as the original
Knights of Wurm gave up possession of their souls to their
great reptilian steeds. Whatever the case, it is certain that
the relationship between Sword and Dancer is both symbiotic yet
dominating.

Each of the Cults form their basis around a particular style of
SwordDancing and SwordSinging which is indicative of their
relationship to the Wyrms of Song from which the propagation
of the Cults spring. Within each, there is a rigid social order and
a system of ranks by which the members are stratified.

Each Cult holds a Voca or ruling council of the best ten SwordDancers,
often Masters in their own right. This court arbitrates disputes
and executes its verdict by the command of its subjects, the
authority of their judgments winning recognition not merely
by the social hierarchy but also by the weapons which they wield and
the powers of Song each may bring against the others.\\

\begin{center}
{\large The Song of the Dancer\\}
\end{center}

{\noindent U}nlike the training of warriors, rangers, and even knights, tasks
assumed by the state often merely for the sake of regional defense,
SwordDancing is regarded as much more individualistic a career, and
a Dancer is trained
only having demonstrated a profound need for the skills and powers
of the Circle. Having been trained, this need takes the form
of a song, a life-song, which the dancer must sing and eventually finish
with the settling of his worldly affairs. Such tasks, entangled within the
magic of Song, take the form of a sort of holy quest, the dancer gaining a
+1 on all to-hit rolls and saving-throws which directly
relate to the achievement of this quest, however, if the quest is
set aside, the song is said to be unfinished, and all to-hits are
at -1. Thus, the song is a commitment or chain of commitments
which cannot be undone regardless of circumstance.\\

\begin{center}
{\large The Personality of the Dancer\\}
\end{center}

{\noindent T}he SwordDancer, although as much an individual as anyone, adheres
to a code, an ethic to put it bluntly, which is as binding as the
Magic of Song, and the main focus of this ethic, to put matters of
alignment aside, is within the personality of the Dancer himself.
The Dancer is disciplined, honors the Circle, the Sword, and the
Dance, is obedient to the Mastery of his SoulSword, to the
demands of his Song, and to the Voca, and is respectful of all things
including his enemy. The extent to which the Dancer adheres to this
ethic may determine the extent to which he may advance in the ranks
of his profession. DM's discretion is advised.\\

\vspace{2in}
\begin{quote}
``A long time ago, on a distant planet, I was a high priest of an
evil cult.  Now, as payment for past sins, what remains of what
I was must manifest itself as this exceedingly pointless
quote.  Perhaps on a different plane of reality, we could have been friends."\\
\begin{tabbing}
\ \ \ --- \=A tasteless engineer\\
\>Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL\\
\end{tabbing}
\end{quote}

\end{document}
