Dancing Blade

A Dancing Blade is a skilled combatant who has mastered the use of fanciful combat, utilizing graceful footwork and precise strikes to land a whirlwind of strikes upon their opponent.

Not to be outdone defensively, dancing blades utilize similar footwork to fend off enemy attackers, creating a perfect balance of offense and defense that keeps enemies second-guessing their every step all the while whittling down their fortitude.

Requirements

To choose the Dancing Blade martial archetype, you must have taken one of the following fighting styles at 1st level:

• Dueling
• Great weapon fighting
• Shield
• Two-weapon fighting

Fighter Level	Feature
3rd	Combat Superiority, Finesse Master
7th	Dancer’s Steps
10th	Improved Combat Superiority
15th	Muscle Memory
18th	Dancer’s Duet

Combat Superiority

When you choose this archetype at 3rd level, you learn maneuvers that are fueled by special dice called superiority dice. This feature works exactly like the Battle Master martial archetype feature of the same name, except your maneuvers that require you to hit with an attack (such as disarming attack) only work if you hit with a weapon that matches your fighting style (see Finesse Master).

Finesse Master

At 3rd level, when wielding a melee weapon that you’re proficient that matches your fighting style, you treat that weapon as if it had the finesse weapon property. If you’re wielding a weapon that actually has the finesse weapon property, you increase its damage as follows: 1d4 ? 1d6 or 1d6 to ? 1d8.

The weapons that match each fighting style are as follows.

• Dueling. Unarmed strikes and any one-handed melee weapon that lacks the heavy weapon property. You lose this benefit when two-weapon fighting or wielding such a weapon in two hands.
• Great Weapon Fighting. Any two-handed melee weapon that lacks the heavy weapon property.
• Shield. Any one-handed melee weapon without the heavy weapon property. You lose this benefit if you are twoweapon fighting or wielding such a weapon in two hands. If you have the Shield Master feat, this also applies to attacks used to Shove with your shield.
• Two-Weapon Fighting. Any one-handed melee weapon that lacks the heavy weapon property. You lose this benefit when wielding such a weapon in two hands or when twoweapon fighting with an off-hand weapon that isn’t a light weapon. If you have the Dual Wielder feat, you don’t lose this benefit when two-weapon fighting with an off-hand weapon that isn’t a light weapon.

Dancer’s Steps

Starting at 7th level, you expertly shift between several fighting styles, utilizing your agility to your advantage. At the start of your turn, you can use your action to expend a superiority die.

Choose one of the following benefits. The effects lasts for 1 minute or until combat ends. If you use Dancer’s Steps while already benefiting from one of its benefits, you replace the previous benefit with the newly chosen one.

• Acrobatic Athlete. You gain all the benefits of the Athlete feat except for an increase to your Strength or Dexterity score. If you’re proficient with Acrobatics, you can use your Dexterity modifier in place of your Strength modifier to determine how far or how high you can jump.
• Dancing Charge. You gain all the benefits of the Charger feat. You don’t need to move in a straight line to gain the bonus damage or bonus distance shoved from this feat.
• Dancing Dash. You can use a bonus action to move up to half your speed without provoking an opportunity attack.
• Dancing Dodge. When an attacker you can see hits you with an attack, you can use your reaction to halve the attack’s damage against you. Alternatively, you can use your reaction when you are subjugated to an effect that allows you to make a Dexterity saving throw to take only half damage, you can use your reaction to instead take no damage if you succeed on the saving throw, and only half damage if you half.
• Dancing Defense. You gain all the benefits of the Defensive Duelist feat. As part of your reaction, you can move 5 feet.

Improved Combat Superiority

At 10th level, your superiority dice turn into d10s. At 18th level, they turn into d12s.

Muscle Memory

Starting at 15th level, you can expend a superiority die at the start of your turn to gain a benefit from the Dancer’s Steps feature without needing to use an action. You can only use Dancer’s Steps in this manner once per round; using Dancer’s Steps again during your turn requires an action as normal.

Dancer’s Duet

At 18th level, whenever you expend a superiority die to gain a benefit from the Dancer’s Steps feature, you instead gain two benefits from that feature.