Spear Dancer

Quintessential Barbarian II

Author Patrick Younts

Series Quintessential Series

Publisher Mongoose Publishing

Publish date 2004

The barbarians of the northlands are skilled spearmen, using their longspears in both melee and ranged combat. The spear dancer is the champion of his people, a ferocious warrior whose spear is but an attachment of his arm. The spear dancer is abjectly fearless, throwing himself into battle against hordes of rival clansman and planting his spear to intercept the force of a dragon’s charge without flinching. The spear dancer’s arm is so strong, his eye so sure that he could fling his spear to the heavens if he wished, there to pierce the golden shields of the gods themselves.

The spear dancer is a prestige class based on the famous legends of the Celts and, more specifically, on the ferocious and infamous Cuchulain. This makes it the ideal prestige class for a Player who wishes his character to resonate with the themes of the lonely hill warrior, or who simply wishes to create a barbarian capable of shattering shields with a single spear blow.

Hit Die: d12.

Requirements

In order to qualify for the spear dancer prestige class, the character must meet or exceed all the following requirements.
Base Attack Bonus: +11.
Skills: Jump 13 ranks, Survival 7 ranks.
Feats: Combat Reflexes, Point Blank Shot, Weapon Focus (shortspear).
Alignment: Any non-lawful.
Special: Must possess the ability to rage.

Class Skills

The spear dancer’s class skills (and the relevant abilities) are: Balance (Dexterity), Craft (Intelligence), Handle Animal (Charisma), Intimidate (Charisma), Jump (Strength), Ride (Dexterity), Spot (Wisdom), Survival (Wisdom) and Tumble (Dexterity).
Skill Points: 4 + Intelligence bonus per level.

Spear Dancer
Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special
1st	+1	+2	+2	+0	Gae bolga
2nd	+2	+3	+3	+0	Spear dance
3rd	+3	+3	+3	+1	Powerful arm
4th	+4	+4	+4	+1	Greater rage
5th	+5	+4	+4	+1	Eagle’s eye, rage
6th	+6	+5	+5	+2	Weapon Specialisation, returning
7th	+7	+5	+5	+2	Striking snake
8th	+8	+6	+6	+2	Tireless rage
9th	+9	+6	+6	+3	Razor point
10th	+10	+7	+7	+3	Mighty arm

Class Features

All the following are class features of the spear dancer.

Weapon and Armour Proficiencies: The spear dancer is proficient with all simple and all martial weapons and is proficient with light and medium armour and with all shields, save the tower. Remember that a spear dancer loses his fast movement when wearing medium armour or carrying a medium or heavy load.

Gae Bolga (Ex): The spear dancer is capable of incredible feats of martial prowess when he concentrates all his efforts on a single attack. Beginning at 1st level, while he rages, the spear dancer can make a single attack as a full-round action. When he does this, his Strength bonus to damage is doubled and the critical multiplier of his spear is increased by one, from x3 to x4.

Spear Dance (Ex): The spear dancer’s spear is not just a weapon, it is his shield and primary means of defence. Beginning at 2nd level, the spear dancer gains a +1 competence bonus to his armour class for every two class levels he possesses. This bonus applies only while the spear dancer’s spear is in hand.

Powerful Arm (Ex): The spear dancer’s shoulders are massive, capable of propelling his spear with incredible force. Beginning at 3rd level, the spear dancer can substitute his Strength bonus for his Dexterity bonus when making ranged attacks with his spear. The benefits of this ability apply only while the spear dancer is raging.

Greater Rage: Upon reaching 4th level, the spear dancer gains the greater rage ability, just as a barbarian does. This increases his Strength and Constitution bonus to +6 each when he enters a barbarian rage.

Eagle’s Eye (Ex): The spear dancer is capable of striking at range with incredible accuracy. While raging, all range penalties for throwing his spear are reduced by 2. This means that the spear dancer suffers no ranged penalties when throwing a spear out to two range increments and only a –2 penalty when attacking a target three range increments away.

Rage: At 5th level, the spear dancer gains the ability to rage one additional time each day.

Weapon Specialisation: The spear dancer is a deadly warrior, with a steady aim and pinpoint accuracy. At 6th level, the spear dancer gains the Weapon Specialisation feat with his spear. If he already has the Weapon Specialisation feat and has applied it to his spear, then he gains the Greater Weapon Specialisation feat, even if he does not have the Greater Weapon Focus feat.

Returning (Su): The spear dancer and his spear cannot long be separated. At 6th level, any shortspear the spear dancer throws returns to him at the beginning of the round following any round in which he has thrown his spear. This ability functions exactly as the magic weapon enhancement returning.

Striking Snake (Ex): The spear dancer’s spear is an extension of his arm and he is capable of piercing his enemy’s defenses with ease. Beginning at 7th level, the spear dancer’s attacks ignore any armour class bonus gained from shields, whether the shield is magical or not.

The benefits of this ability apply only while the spear dancer is raging.

Tireless Rage: At 8th level and higher, the spear dancer no longer becomes fatigued at the end of his rage.

Razor Point (Ex): The point of the spear dancer’s weapon is keen and his ability to strike his opponent’s vitals unmatched. Starting at 9th level, when the spear dancer enters a rage, the critical threat range of his spear is doubled for the rage’s duration. This is considered a natural part of the spear’s critical threat range, so it stacks with feats like Improved Critical and spells like keen edge but cannot be used in conjunction with the Gae Bolga ability.

Mighty Arm (Ex): The spear dancer’s shoulders are so strong that he can throw a spear an incredible distance. At 10th level, the range increments for shortspears the spear dancer throws are doubled. If the spear dancer already has the Far shot feat, then he gains the ability to throw shortspear’s out to 10 range increments, rather than five.

The Epic Spear Dancer

Hit Die: d12.
Skill Points Per Level: 4 + Intelligence bonus.
Bonus Feats: The spear dancer gains a bonus feat every four levels.
Barbarian Rage: The spear dancer gains an additional rage use each day every five levels.
Spear Dance: The spear dancer’s bonus to armour class increases by +1 for every two levels he gains, to a maximum bonus of +10.