Bladesinger
Tome and Blood p49 / Races of Faerûn p179 / Complete Warrior p17

Bladesingers are elves who have blended art, swordplay, and arcane magic into a harmonious whole. In battle, a bladesinger's lithe movements and subtle tactics seem beautiful, and belie their deadly martial efficiency.

Multiclassed fighter/sonorists are the most likely combination of bladesingers. In campaigns not using Sonorism as the root of all elven magic can substitute wizardry. However, any elf who can wield a martial weapon and can cast arcane spells can become a bladesinger. Bladesinging ranger/wizards, rogue/wizards and bladesinger bards are not unknown.

Bladesingers command great respect in most elf communities and NPC bladesingers usually serve as itinerant guardians and champions of the elf community at large.

Game Rule Information

These following rules are a combination of the many versions of the Bladesinger found in Tome and Blood, the "Complete Bladesinger" in the Tome and Blood web enhancement, Races of Faerûn and Complete Warrior. As printed, no version satisfied my own vision of the Bladesinger, but together they create something quite special. The following details of the Bladesinger are presented in full and supercede any published version.

Hit Die: d8

Requirements

To qualify to become a bladesinger, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:

Race: Elf, half-elf.
Base Attack: +5
Feats: Combat Casting, Combat Expertise, Dodge, Weapon Focus (longsword or rapier)
Skills: Balance 2 ranks, Concentration 4 ranks, Perform (dance) 2 ranks, Perform (sing) 2 ranks, Tumble 2 ranks.
Special: Able to cast Arcane spells of 1st level.

Class Skills

The bladesinger's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Balance (Dex), Concentration (Con), Jump (Str), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Perform (Cha), Spellcraft (Int), Tumble (Dex).

Skill Points at Each Level: 3 + Int modifier

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the bladesinger prestige class:

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The bladesinger gain no additional proficiency in any weapon. They gain proficiency in light armour, but not with shields.

Spells per Day: At every odd numbered level gained in the bladesinger class, the character gains new spells (and spell points) per day as if she had also gained a level in an arcane spellcasting class she belonged to before adding this prestige class. She does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained, except for an increased level for spell-casting. If a character had more than one arcane spellcasting class before beoming a bladesinger, she must decide to which class she adds the new level for the purpose of determining spells per day.

If the bladesinger wears medium or heavy armor, he loses all benefits of any of his song abilities (bladesong, lesser, spellsong, song of celerity, greater spellsong, song of fury).

A bladesinger suffers the normal spell failure chance when casting spells while armored (except as noted below).

Bladesong Style (Ex): When wielding a longsword or rapier in one hand (and nothing in the other), the bladesinger gains a dodge bonus to AC equal to her class level, up to a maximum of her Intelligence bonus.

Lesser Spellsong (Ex): When wielding a longsword in one hand (and nothing in the other), a bladesinger of 2nd level or higher can take 10 when making a Concentration check to cast defensively.

Song of Celerity (Ex): When wielding a longsword or rapier in one hand (and nothing in the other) and using the full attack action, a 4th level bladesinger can cast one arcane spell each round as a free action. This spell must have a casting time of one action and counts against the number of quickened spells a character can cast in one round. The highest level spell a bladesinger may cast in this manner is 2nd at 4th level, rising to 4th at 8th level. With this powerful ability the bladesinger can make a full attack against an opponent, take a five foot step and cast a spell all in the same round.

Greater Spellsong (Ex): A bladesinger of 6th level or higher ignores arcane spell failure when wearing light armor - i.e. he gains the feat Ignore Spell Failure (Light Armour). If the bladesinger already has this feat, he may choose another.

Song of Fury (Ex): When wielding a longsword or rapier in one hand (and nothing in the other) and using the full attack action, the bladesinger can make one extra attack in a round at his highest base attack, but this attack and each other attack made that round suffer a -2 penalty. This penalty applies for 1 round, so it affects attacks of opportunity the bladesinger might make before his next action.