A Bit Surprised "Bladesinger" Wasn't One of the First New Kits Added...
HaHaCharade
Member Posts: 1,644
Considering the popularity of Bladesingers beginning in 2nd Edition AD&D, I'm surprised that they weren't one of the first kits added for BG:EE. I do hope if they get added, that they are not OP as they could easily be. With race only kits already out there (Dwarven Defender) I'd think eventually they'd be put in place at some point. What do I know though?
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Imagine the modding potential if multikits were created...
Furthermore, IIRC Bladesinger disadvantages were basically RP/DM based (stuff like 'trouble follows you') so unless Beamdog were to implement special minibosses exclusive to Bladesingers, they would be ridiculously overpowered as they would get their perks for free. That said, they're a an awesome kit so I hope that they do get implemented.
Bladesinger: Fighter/Mage Kit
Must be Elven
Minimum Stats:
Strength: 13
Constitution: 13
Dexterity: 15
Intelligence: 15
Advantages:
1: Bladesingers get a natural +1 to both attack roles and damage. This stacks with the elven +1 to swords.
2: When attempting special maneuvers in melee, they receive a +1 per 4 levels for every roll.
3: Bladesingers get a godly AC bonus (level/2 +1) when casting a spell at the cost of a slower casting time. If they want, they can cancel the AC bonus in exchange for getting rid of the casting penalty.
4: They can fight blind, so no AC penalty or whatever in the Underdark.
Disadvantages:
1: Bladesingers must try to help the elvish people at all times. If they consider an elf (except for poor old drow) to be in danger, they MUST aid them.
2: They don't get the Elven bow bonus.
3: They get a -1 to all attack rolls if not wielding their chosen weapon (which is almost always some form of 1-handed sword. They also have other penalties.
Now, let's see why this is godly overpowered.
1: If they consider the elf to be in danger. That means that you can just say 'nah, probably a trap' and you get away with leaving it.
2: There is no actual punishment for ignoring a troubled elf, so it's incredibly easy to just say 'I'm roleplaying a rebel Bladesinger! YAY!'
3: They don't get a bow bonus. That would be tragic if they couldn't, y'know, just annihilate everything at range with a fireball/magic missile/anything else.
4: In BG, the best weapons are nearly always swords (especially BG1).
Hope someone found this informative.
True that. I was very pleased that they added the ones they did.
Requirements:
- Elf F/M
Penalties:
- No proficiency dots in any missile weapons.
- Casting time for all spells increased by +1.
- Can only put dots in Single Weapon Style (no 2-handed, no sword & shield, no two weapon).
Benefits:
- Immunity to Blindness.
- Bonus +1 to melee attack & damage.
- Bladesong: gain good bonus to AC for 1 turn, but you move at half speed. Basically a mobile version of Defensive Spin. Starts at 2/day at 1st level, gain +1/day every 5 levels.
but
disadvantages should be: elf,can only specialise in bladed weapons,can only put dots in single weapon style
as for the advantages it's hard to pick
shouldn't be too much though as fighter/mages are already too strong,probably something minor to off-set the fact that you have to use single weapon and you have only 17 con, infact anything above +1 to ac,Thac0,damage would probably end up being op...
Requirements:
- Elf F/M
Penalties:
- Can only become Proficient in any ranged weapon.
-Takes a -1 to all attack rolls when wielding a ranged weapon.
- Can only put dots in Single Weapon Style.
-Can only become more than proficient in a single edged melee weapon. (basically, when you choose to become specialized in a weapon type all other weapons cannot be brought up to specialized)
-Takes a -1 to all attack rolls when wielding a non-edged weapon.
Benefits:
- Immunity to Blindness. (blind fighting)
- Bonus +1 to melee attack & damage. (as in typical d&d)
-Increased critical hit chance: +5% every 5 levels, capping at +25% at level 25. (replicating the +1 to special manoeuvres)
- Bladesong: gain (1 for every 5 levels) AC for 1 turn, but casting time is increased by +2 during this time. Starts at 1/day at 1st level, gain +1/day every 5 levels.
Maybe make it be that you can crit with a 19 or 20 naturally with the kit.
The author has even been forced to apologize for what he did:
I disapprove of classes that are 3rd edition based... like dwarven defender.. they could add Battlerager thats 2nd edition dwarven fighter kit.
I disapprove of shadowdancer... just how silly isn't that name someone that dances in the shadow... ohh man what a silly name ... plus it is 3rd edition class not 2nd edition... they could add spy or smuggler instead of Shadowdancer
I disapprove of Monk cuz of its 3rd edition verson they could have used the 2nd edition monk...
same goes with barberian and sorcerer
I approve of Wild Mage cuz thats 2nd edition...
However, most of the suggested BG implementations look pretty dull. And +1 casting time would really hurt.
I think this kit was only popular in PnP because it was overpowered in PnP, not because it was in any way interesting.
On topic, Bladesingers likely weren't implemented because
1) It's a multiclass kit, which probably requires a little more effort to add, and
2) They would cause confusion with the already existent, arcane spellcasting, melee-focused Blade kit.
I do not approve of any 3rd edition classes that have been implemented in BG... cuz they are not 2nd edition and most of time brings lot of technical troubles..
I don't like the names of shadowdancer and Dwarven defender... they are 3rd edition they should at least try to change thair name to a 2nd edition kit at least but have same abilities... Spy,smuggler and Battlerager is much better names....
personally I even think The name Shadowdancer is silly... someone who dances in shadow oohh come on... do you know how silly that name is especially when you translate it to other language haha...
As @subtledoctor said: Make it a Blade avilable to elves (forced like Illusionist for gnomes). I suggest able to put two blips in single weapon style instead of two-weapon style, who can specialize in all the sword type weapons and lose their elven bonus for bows and without the ability to use bardsong. Maybe they could also substitute their pick pocket for detect illusion (at 1/4 Bard pick pocket progression to not make it OP). Once they reach hero levels they also have access to the Wirldwind and Critical strike type abilities instead of traps. Perhaps they should also have to be of good or true neutral alignment to represent their duties.
They might need more drawbacks however, I just couldn't think of any suitable ones at the moment.
Bear in mind that making the kit much more different wouldn't be in keeping with any of the other kits who are pretty minor changes to the original class.
What I'm saying is, why not bypass the feature request? Surely this kit is well within the reach of some clever modder out there?