The Battle Dancer class originally appeard in Dragon magazine (issue #159) during the days of 2e. When Paizo published the Dragon Compendium, they kindly updated the Battle Dancer to 3.5. Basically, it was a "Chaotic Something", Charisma-using, capoeira-style Monk.
Has anyone made a credible update of the Battle Dancer to Pathfinder, preferably using an archetype on the Unchained Monk chassis?
Depends on what you want from the archetype. I looked up the battle dancer in both publications and they were kind of bland despite the cool flavor. I assume you're largely more interested in the flavor than the mechanics?
A combination of the Martial Artist (no alignment restrictions) and Scaled Fist (Cha to monk class features) archetypes would pretty well cover this class. Unfortunately, those two archetypes are not compatible with each other.
Actually, I'm not even sure if I would prefer an alternate class (similar to Paladin to Anti-Paladin) or an archetype. An archetype would probably be easier to implement, though.
What I liked about the original: the Chaotic alignment, the focus on Charisma, and the dance/capoeira flavour.
While the Martial Artist archetype definitely has its pros, in this case I'm also wondering if the archetype takes too much away. There's really not much wiggle room for adding anything dance-related, and Charisma is not important to them. I would really prefer an Unchained approach (with more flexible options).
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The Ascetic Entertainer Multiclass archetype might be a good start for you.
It would likely be better as a monk archetype that uses Charisma instead of Wisdom and has a few flavorful abilities. Honestly, you could pull off a character concept like this with just the vanilla unchained monk, such as refluffing style strikes as dance moves.
Though, I don't understand why you want it to have chaotic alignment. That doesn't make any sense to me. You can't be a dancer unless you're a liberal or anarchist? The only thing I can imagine is if you tied it towards azatas.
I do need to give Unchained Monk a go... its been on my to do list for too long!
I do need to give Unchained Monk a go... its been on my to do list for too long!
In the middle of my 4.5 year campaign, I gave a player the option to change his monk to an unchained monk. He was skeptical, so he created an unchained version of his character and did a test battle between both versions to see how the unchained measured up. The unchained version won by a landslide.
It would likely be better as a monk archetype that uses Charisma instead of Wisdom and has a few flavorful abilities. Honestly, you could pull off a character concept like this with just the vanilla unchained monk, such as refluffing style strikes as dance moves.
Though, I don't understand why you want it to have chaotic alignment. That doesn't make any sense to me. You can't be a dancer unless you're a liberal or anarchist? The only thing I can imagine is if you tied it towards azatas.
I'll look into your idea about the Charisma substitution for Wisdom. And unchained Monks. I like unchained Monks. :)
As for the Chaos part ... I think it has something to do with the perceived need for freedom of movement (not referring to the spell!). Movement = Chaos, Stasis = Law, that kind of thing. Personally, if I were to create such an archetype/alternate class, I would just make the alignment requirement non-Lawful.
The Ascetic Entertainer Multiclass archetype might be a good start for you.
That does look interesting! However, I'm not looking for any spellcasting when translating the Battle Dancer concept.
Alignment restriction doesn't make any sense to me, especially considering that it takes a lot of discipline to train your body and be a professional dancer.
Dotted. I'm a huge fan of dancer classes.
Sounds like a bard/monk hybrid class.
Maybe one of these days I'll make a class for it or something. *Adds it to his project to-do list*
Have you looked at the devoted muse?
Have you looked at the devoted muse?
(Sorry about the extremely late - like six years late - reply!)
The Devoted Muse prestige class is an interesting option and I can easily see how it can be "re-skinned" into a more generic Battle Dancer-like prestige class.
However, it's a prestige class, not 20-level base class like the Monk or the original Battle Dancer. I'm looking for something with the dance/capoeira style straight from character level 1.
It's not a Monk, but I don't think it's a coincidence that this archetype was named "Battle Dancer"--considering that the Brawler's parent classes are the Fighter and the Monk.