#fan dancer

[strange-angellika45]

She is a Diva💅 🪭

[kdo-three]

Sally Rand Fan Dancer 1935

Sally Rand: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally_Rand

[dailycharacteroption]

Fan Dancer (Pathfinder Second Edition Archetype)

(art by Eviljoss on DeviantArt)

With the speed and agility that is expected from them, it should come as no surprise to anyone that dancers have very powerful and athletic bodies rivaling master martial arts.

Indeed, the art of dance and martial arts are heavily entertwined, one feeding into the other and vice versa as they both demand incredible stamina, strength, and precision to execute. History is full of martial arts that blur the lines with dancing for one reason or another, ranging from simply being graceful enough to be mistaken for dancing or even have been deliberately cultivated to exploit that confusion, such as capoeira or today’s subject.

Fan dancing, as the name suggests, is a graceful dance meant for public performance that uses folding fans as props, most notable in the real world in the Korean buchaechum performances. Many fan dancing styles have been historically erotic in nature, or at least eye-drawing and alluring in nature, where the fans are uses to draw the eye as well as conceal subtle movements. In buchaechum specifically, the movements of a dancer or troupe can be graceful and slow one moment and a whirlwind the next.

It only makes sense then that in a world of fantasy and monsters, fan dancers can learn to turn their performances into a befuddling martial art, able to confuse and befuddle foes before unleashing dazzling blow after blow both with traditional fans and with the razor-concealing reinforced war fans.

This archetype is a fun example of the effort to use gaming elements to celebrate cultures that are prevalent throughout books like the Tian Xia Character Guide. So let’s see what it offers!

The base dedication of this archetype represents their dedication to mastering the performing arts, and is a rare case of an archetype automatically improving your proficiency with the iconic skill as you level. What’s more, their feinting maneuvers are distracting enough that they can shift position fluidly as they do.

The poise of many of these dancers is so great that they master stealth as well, and can step lightly enough to not set off tremorsense.

Whether they are a solo act or take the role of the central dancer in a troupe, some are used to moving to their own tempo, allowing them to use their performing skills to set their momentum in battle and catch foes off guard with their initial graceful attacks.

Those that are used to working with a team of dancers know a lot about coordinating their movements to avoid getting in the way. They can apply this in battle as they acrobatically slip in and out of the reach of their foes without painful consequence with the help of graceful dance moves.

The fans of these dancers catch the eye, drawing the gaze of others to them and no one else, making them the perfect distraction for their allies to use to slip away into hiding.

Whether it is from their large sweeping design or the wind they put off, a fan dancer wielding two fans can learn a technique for deflecting non-firearm projectiles away from themselves, and even snatching them up as well.

Additionally, the wind from their fans can be used to aid allies in movement slightly while hindering foes that have not been training with them.

Masters can strike foes as they dance in and out of their reach in a graceful and deadly parting gift.

Further utilizing their coordination training with others, these dancers wielding two fans have uncannily sharp sense, able to detect the presence of other creatures by the movement of air alone.

Further perfecting their dancing strikes, they can move from one foe to the next, striking them while also befuddling them, leaving them open for allies to follow up.

The distracting dance and fan maneuvers of these warriors can really throw a foe off their game, and when they see an attack coming, they can use these flourishes to make the foe that much more likely to miss entirely.

Perhaps the most uncanny techniques of these dancers allows them to not just deflect projectiles, but catch them in a swirling wind that sends them hurtling back at the shooter!

Like a dragon in flight, masterful fan dancers can move with sinuous grace, cutting a path with their fans, and even bringing along allies they move past along for the ride.

Other masters learn to use their brightly-colored fans and their movements to create a dazzling display that inhibits their ability to focus on anything else. At minimum, they might not notice the dancer’s allies, but they might be so enthralled they forget they are in a fight.

This archetype is absolutely a lot of fun, with options for battlefield mobility, debuffs, and defensive abilities. Swashbuckler and rogue are natural choices to pair with this archetype, but don’t dismiss other combinations, including other martial characters or even spellcasters, particularly bards!

In the real world, buchaechum was invented in the 1950s, inspired by religious ritual dances and Korean folk dances to create a performance art that was very much a part of Korean history and culture, and that is beautiful. Having it be used as a combat style by some in a fictional setting does bring up interesting points about how other such performances might be reinterpreted as martial arts with the right social pressures. (which is a fancy way of me saying that you could totally use this archetype as a baseline to homebrew your own).

Brikkiss the Darter is a literal dragon-fly, a faerie dragonet and dragonfly beastkin giving him an iridescent blue-green form that is beautiful and eye catching, and knows it. Eager to show off more, the diminutive drake has taken up fan dancing to dazzle others and accentuate his own form.

Traveling half the world to get there, the Peony Court is a troupe of dancers and performers that play for royalty and common folk alike, spreading knowledge of their culture and earning a fair bit of coin doing so. However, the party happen upon them in a state of distress, for a vorvorak, or dragon crocodile, has attacked their caravan!

Princess Jangmi is not actually royalty, but in fact the stage name for an especially talented fan dancer in the capital. She is legendary for both her skill as a traditional dancer but also in the martial art form of the dance. However, her motivations for being a competent fighter are a little more personal than tradition or the perfection of her art. No, she began learning to fight after a stalker almost kidnapped her, a fate she has sworn to never endure again.

[photozoi]

For recreation, Gus likes to go watch the Fan Dancer at the Crustacean Club.

[thecittiverse]

Princess Kashmir - Frinktober 2024 - Day 14

"Oh Bart, he's your father. We'll comp him tonight, start a tab tomorrow."

Frinktober 2024 Day 14: Local Celebs

Noted belly dancer, Maison Derriere fan dancer, and Springfield Squares mainstay Princess Kashmir.  See the whole Frinktober 2024 prompt list here.

[delguy]

My favorite Randian philosopher, Sally Rand. I mean who would you rather discuss the hot button issues of the day, Sally or (leech) Ayn?

[photo-critter]

Snake Oil and Shenanigans presents Hyacinth, Mystics and Marvels 2021

Working up a sweat over here!

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Fan dancer