Flash Dancer Of The 13 Counts

Amongst the Shinigami there are those who see Shunpo as more than just a tool, but as an art, a thing of grace and beauty. These are the flash dancers. Found in every squad, though highly sought after by the 1st division, flash dancers are primarily from the female Shinigami though there are a number of male Shinigami amongst their numbers. On the battlefield, flash dancers are creatures of unparalleled grace blended with deadly precision. It is hard for even the trained eye of the Shinigami to keep track of a flash dancer in the middle of her lethal performance.

Entry requirements:

Feats: Shunpo Mobility, any two other Shunpo feats , Evasion
Skills: Perform (dance) 13 ranks, move silently 8 ranks, tumble 8 ranks
BaB: 7+
Class features: Shunpo 70ft+ (Sonido and Hirenkyuyaku do not count for this)

Hit Dice: As Base Class

Class: Flash Dancer

level Benefit
1st Flash Dance: Whirl of the Crimson Roses
2st Flash Dance: Veiled Steps of the Lotus, Shunpo Trick
3rd Dancing Through Life, Shunpo Onslaught
4th Flash Dance: Deadly Kiss of the Belladonna, Shunpo Trick
5th Flash Dance: Lament of the Fallen Cherry Blossoms

Class skills: As base class
Skill points per level: as base class. One skill point must be spent on perform (dance)

Weapon and armour proficiencies: the Flash Dancer gains no new weapon or armour proficiencies


Class Features

Shunpo Progression Flash dancers are amongst the most proficient users of Shunpo, capable of making use of this ability to the highest levels of skill. Each level of flash dancer gives an extra +5 to Shunpo distance, in addition to the normal progression (thus Shunpo distance increases by +10, rather than +5, each flash dancer level).

Flash Dances: The art of the flash dancer extends to much more than combat, and the school teaches dances that can take the breath away, the dances taught can be applied to the art of combat as well, and some are taught purely for this means, as this was the only way the school had to get funding from the captain-commander.
The flash dancer learns a number of flash dances as she advances in levels in this class. Each dance is focused on empowering the effectiveness of a specific facet of Shunpo. While using a flash dance, the Shinigami cannot use any ability that looses their control, such as rage or frenzy, nor can she use any Int or Wis based skills as she is focused on dancing. So long as she is dancing, she receives a +2 bonus on all reflex saves, and can use ½ her perform (dance) modifier as her base will save.
She cannot dance if she is denied her dexterity bonus to AC, if she's wearing armour heavier than light, a sheild, or if she's carrying more than a light load
Starting or changing a dance is a free action, though she can only do so during her turn. She can only use one dance at a time.

  • Whirl of Crimson Roses: As the rose is both beautiful to look, and deadly to touch, so too is a flash dancer in the Whirl of Crimson Roses, the quick steps and flowing movements allowing her thorns to dig deep into those who come to close. She may use Shunpo Counter without first using Shunpo Dodge, and she can use Shunpo counter a number of times per round equal to the number of attacks of opportunities she can make in one round.
  • Veiled Steps of the Lotus: Not every dance is to be seen, not every step flamboyant. This dance teaches the art of beauty in subtlety, and grace in silence. It is most often danced with no beat or music, to let the steps speak for themselves. When using Shunpo blur (or improvements), the Shinigami can pay 5 sep to have enemies re-roll their attempts to overcome her concealment. If using Shunpo trail, any doubles hit and destroyed are recreated next to her at the start of her next turn.
  • Deadly Kiss of the Belladonna: The Belladonna is at most an unassuming flower, yet when the unsuspecting come close, it can cost them their lives. The Kiss of the Belladonna focuses on sinuous, sensual steps to draw the victim in, and then a quick pirouette sees the end of the victim. When using Senka (and succeeding) or Shunpo Rend, the Shinigami causes their victim to bleed. The victim must make a fortitude save with a DC of 10 +1/2 character level + dexterity modifier or suffer base Zanpakuto damage at the start of each subsequent round. They may attempt another save at the beginning of each round.

If the Shinigami has any form of poison on her weapon, then the save DC to resist it is increased by the 1 for each 20ft she moved using Shunpo in the previous round.

  • Lament of Fallen Cherry Blossoms: A dance made to show how fast the light of life fades, this graceful, mournful dance can reduces those who watch to tears. In battle, the fast flowing motions and rapid stops are turned from mourning the brevity of life, to encouraging it. When using Shunpo Pounce, she may make a number of attacks up to twice the number she could otherwise make. She must still pay for each one. Each attack after the normal amount she could make provoke an attack of opportunity from the foe.

Whilst using this dance, she can pay 20 SEP to make a single attack against all enemies within her maximum Shunpo range. The is a full round action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity. This counts as her having moved her full Shunpo distance in that round for all intents and purposes, and she can end her turn at any point in her Shunpo distance.
Note: Other than Lament of Fallen Cherry Blossoms, your DM may allow you to reorganise the order the dances are learned

Flash Tricks: It is hard for anyone to match a flash dancer's mastery of Shunpo, as the graceful dancers can twist the flash step into techniques beyond what most would think possible. Whenever they are entitled to pick a flash trick (as shown on their class features) they gain one of the following abilities.

  • Flash Pursuit: The Shinigami is adept at tracking the movement of others, even when they use Shunpo themselves. Whenever a creature she threatens uses Shunpo (or equivalent) she may, as an immediate action, use her own Shunpo. She must end her Shunpo threatening the creature.
  • Flash Strike: The Flash Dancer's mastery of Shunpo is so great she can catch those less experienced unawares even when they feel safe. As an immediate action, she can make an attack of opportunity against any creature that uses Shunpo to move into or out of her threatened zone.
  • Flash Evasion: The Shinigami gets a bonus to reflex saves equal to ½ her AC bonus from Shunpo Mobility.
  • Flash Forward: Whenever the flash dancer suffers damage, she can pay 1 SEP to take a 5 foot step using Shunpo. This is a free action that does not use her 5-foot step for the round, nor does it count towards her Shunpo use. This does not provoke attacks of opportunity, though the movement is done at the end of the attack action.
  • Flash Time: The Flash Dancer can use flash step to buy herself time, rather than to move. In any round she does not use Shunpo, she can pay 3 SEP to take an additional swift action.
  • Flash Physics: The Shinigami gains a +1 bonus to jump and balance tests after for every 10 feet she moved using Shunpo. This lasts until the start of her next round.
  • Blinding Flash: Shunpo is also called flash step for a reason. Creatures adjacent to the Shinigami must make a dc 10 + ½ character level reflex save whenever she uses Shunpo or be blinded for one round.
  • Efficient Flash: Shunpo costs 1 SEP rather than 3
  • Material Flash: The Flash Dancer pauses in numerous locations as she moves, stopping for a split second. She can draw a line of movement when using Shunpo, starting where she began moving and ending where she finishes, with no more total movement than her Shunpo distance. She counts as having moved through this line, rather than simply teleporting, for all purposes except for attacks of opportunity.
  • Flash Swap: The Flash Dancer can swap places with one willing ally within ½ her flash distance when she uses Shunpo, instead of moving normally.
  • Twin Flash: Using [[[Shunpo-Feats#ShunpoDodge|Shunpo dodge]] does not prevent her from using Shunpo in her subsequent turn

Shunpo Onslaught: Moving fast enough to be in several places at once is considered a myth to most, but to some it is but another step in the dance of life.
The flash dancer can, instead of using Shunpo in a round, create a double of herself within 5 ft. this functions as a mirror image for targeting etc, save the double can act by itself. The double acts like a summoned creature identical to the Shinigami, save they have a shared SEP pool and SEP per turn limit. All actions made by the double are only 20% real. This costs 5 SEP If she has Shunpo trail, she can increase the cost of her Shunpo onslaught to 10 SEP, if she does so, she summons a number of doubles equal to what her Shunpo trail would. This counts as her moving her full Shunpo distance for all purposes.

Dancing Through Life: The flash dancer sees herself as much an entertainer as a warrior, and is one with the rhythm. From 3rd level onwards, she can use her perform (dance) skill in place of any jump, balance, move silently or tumble skill for skill checks.

Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License