Dervish Dancer's Battle Dance


Rules Questions

Sovereign Court

I just wanted to clarify my understanding of the Dervish Dancer archetype for Bards, specifically the Battle Dance ability.

I was pretty sure I had a firm idea of how the skill works, but after doing some research I'm finding that a lot of people have their own thoughts on how Battle Dance works with Bardic Performance.

At no point does it say that it replaces Bardic Performance. It does state that it cannot be used with other performance abilities. That being said, you can't use a dance and Bardic Performance at the same time, but you do still have Bardic Performance as an option. You can either be a normal bard and use your Bardic Performance rounds to buff your party, or you can Battle Dance and use them for yourself.

Some people have brought up why you would Battle Dance instead of using Bardic Performance, if that's the case. The reason is because of the buffs you gain while using Battle Dance. Sure you can Inspire Courage the party and it would be an overall bigger benefit; but you can also use it on yourself and gain the extra 10 feet of movement from Fleet, as well as Dance of Fury/Battle Fury at the higher levels. Also it's a turn quicker when it comes to getting into the fight, since it's a move action.

Long story short...

Dervish Dancers get:
Battle Dance - Inspire Courage, Inspire Greatness, Inspire Heroics, as well as the 3 Battle Dances you get from the archetype.
Bardic Performance - Countersong, Distraction, Fascinate, Inspire Courage, Inspire Competence, Inspire Greatness, Inspire Heroics.

Am I wrong?
Man I'm tired.


It doesn't state it outright, but it's pretty clear throughout that battle dance is supposed to replace bardic performance.


If it doesn't state it outright, it's not actually clear, is it?

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Yes. you can use EITHER one or the other as a Dervish Dancer.

So it all depends on your priorities... buffing yourself as a meleer or the entire party as a group.

You do lose whatever specific performances that are specifically replaced by Battle Dance, those are gone period.

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