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New Version Has Arrived! Version 9 as of 3/29/19

Salutations. Over the many moons of leaving this page as it was, I've been updating the class a ton. Here is the link to a completely revised class. Hopefully anyone who's been using this page will enjoy the newer version even more. (Here is the PDF version in case you don't like Homebrewery) You can also see a list of the changes made from version 8 to version 9 right here.

Companion

An elf's heart channels the crowd's energy as she weaves complex symbols through the air with her feet. Her elegant, inviting, vivacious movements tell tall tales of their own.

A human twirls and leaps through the air before
pulling his partner close, guiding her. The feel of his hand
emboldens her forward while he fights back a swarm of blows meant for her. They've both forgotten how to hesitate.

Leaving behind a cloister and crystal ball, a tiefling pulls extravagant blades from beneath flowing garments and steps forward into the light, ready to protect their people from a cutthroat aristocracy that discredits their craft.

Some live to entertain—others wish to be humane, but a companion always serves others to some end. They use vivid movements to flicker their way through, savoring their audience all the while.

Exotic Magic

Companions draw their bizarre strength from embracing that which is unknown. By separating themselves from society, they harness expressions of wonder from those they attend to. None are born with an innate grasp of this; to break the mold, one must first learn what is customary. Companions spend every waking moment learning about the world so that they can serve as a source of counsel. They channel their connection to the pulses of those around them.

One would be remiss to call their techniques "martial arts," for their physical prowess springs from the beat of a dance. It is said that those who hear the art's calling are sometimes found sleepwalking through the night with impossibly loud footsteps. Companions are renowned for their discretion of courtesy and their boldness of performance, speaking so enchantingly that you may not notice what they've done.

Their limber and soaring style allow
them to slip by enemies, all the while putting on a
show for the eyes. An intricate mix of handsome beauty, complex movements, and fearless magic, companions
offer much for the world to learn.

Dangerous Novelty

Companions may find themselves serving a court, enslaved due to fear of their kind, or passing wisdom on to clients worldwide. Regardless of their company, their purpose is often the same: to spread passion and transform their experiences into an uninhibited story. They thrive on attention, and what good is a performer if they aren't seen?

To be recognized as a master of their art, it is typically expected of a companion to go forth and grace the
populace with imaginative scenes far diverging from
reality. Companions tend to be free-spirited characters,
going where the winds blow them and thoroughly
preferring not to be tethered down by mediocrity. Their presence is sometimes associated with a lawless lack of authenticity. The hope they call to mind is bewildering: that all might not be as it seems, and that everything could change in an instant.

/u/Shadowsocks COMPANION

The Companion
Level Proficiency Bonus Features Spells Known 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th Steps Known
1st +2 Swaying Steps 1
2nd +2 Spellcasting,
Rhythmic Redirection
2 2 1
3rd +2 Companion Archetype 3 3 2
4th +2 Ability Score Improvement 3 3 2
5th +3 Fluttering Counterpart 4 4 2 3
6th +3 Flamboyant Expertise 4 4 2 3
7th +3 Companion Archetype,
Set the Stage
5 4 3 4
8th +3 Ability Score Improvement 5 4 3 4
9th +4 6 4 3 2 5
10th +4 Prolific Pivots 6 4 3 2 5
11th +4 Companion Archetype 7 4 3 3 6
12th +4 Ability Score Improvement 7 4 3 3 6
13th +5 8 4 3 3 1 7
14th +5 Merry Visionary 8 4 3 3 1 7
15th +5 Companion Archetype 9 4 3 3 2 8
16th +5 Ability Score Improvement 9 4 3 3 2 8
17th +6 10 4 3 3 3 1 9
18th +6 Bittersweet Allure 10 4 3 3 3 1 9
19th +6 Ability Score Improvement 11 4 3 3 3 2 10
20th +6 Dominar Bailarín 11 4 3 3 3 2 12

Creating a Companion

Before making a companion, think about what causes you to open your heart to others. Were you trained in a monastery from an early age to perfectly suit another's needs? Does your community seek guidance from you? Are you an information broker whose job is to make people drop their guard? Your aspirations may amount to something that cannot be spoken: the fading legacy of a precious one or a modest memory that can only be immortalized by a masterful rendition.

Perhaps you're an outcast seeking to serve a home where everyone can finally feel safe, or perhaps you offer body and soul for financial gain alone. Do you greet all with wonder in your eyes or habitually imitate those around you? In any case, it's imperative to consider what general impression you think others get of you, since self-efficacy and the pulsating gazes of others are considerable sources of your powers.

Quick Build

When you make a companion, consider these suggestions! First, Dexterity should be your highest ability score, followed by Charisma. Second, take the Entertainer background.


Class Features

As a companion, you gain the following class features.

Hit Points


  • Hit Dice: 1d8 per companion level
  • Hit Points at 1st Level: 8 + your Constitution modifier
  • Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d8 (or 5) + your Constitution modifier per companion level after 1st

Proficiencies


  • Armor: Light Armor
  • Weapons: Simple weapons, rapiers, scimitars, whips
  • Tools: Disguise kit, one musical instrument

  • Saving Throws: Charisma, Dexterity
  • Skills: Performance and choose any two

Equipment

  • (a) any three simple weapons or (b) a rapier and a scimitar
  • (a) a disguise kit or (b) a component pouch
  • (a) an entertainer's pack or (b) a diplomat's pack
  • (a) a book of lore or (b) an hourglass

/u/Shadowsocks COMPANION

Swaying Steps

At 1st level, the fruits of your labor are already evident from the reception of your onlookers. You've learned to rehearse steps—coordinated techniques that express your whimsy and flair. These steps expand your aura and employ your personality to produce nigh-superhuman effects, often with the help of a dance partner. Your journey begins with a single step of your choice. As evident on the companion table, you master one more step whenever you gain an odd level in this class. Upon reaching any even level, you may replace one step that you've learned with another. Refer to the steps list following the base class description. You're encouraged to work with your DM to create new steps.

Further, your unpredictable yet flowing movements are a defensive asset. While you are wearing no armor and not wielding a shield, your AC equals 10 + your Dexterity modifier + your Charisma modifier as a result of your poise. You're always practicing, never standing still.

Spellcasting

By 2nd level, you have learned to channel the magical energies of the social atmosphere around you. See chapter 10 of the Player's Handbook for general rules of spellcasting.

Spell Slots

The companion table shows how many spell slots you have to cast your spells of 1st-level and higher. To cast one of these spells, you must expend a slot of the spell's level or higher. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a long rest.

For example, if you know the 1st-level spell charm person and have a 1st-level and a 2nd-level spell slot available, you can cast charm person using either slot.

Spells Known of 1st Level and Higher

You know two 1st-level Spells of your choice from the companion spell list.

The spells known column of the companion table shows when you learn more companion spells of your choice. Each of these spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots. For instance, when you reach 5th level in this class, you can learn one new spell of 1st or 2nd level.

Additionally, when you gain a level in this class, you can choose one of the companion spells you know and replace it with another spell from the companion spell list, which also must be of a level for which you have spell slots.

Spellcasting Ability

Charisma is your spellcasting ability for your companion spells, since their power is expressed through your beguiling motions. You can use your Charisma whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use your Charisma modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a companion spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one.

Spell Save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier

Spell Attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier

Set the Tempo

Your spells spring forth from the pace of a beat. You must fulfill the verbal component for a spell by using castanets, snapping, tapping, clapping, or any form of percussion. Also, you can gesticulate with any part of your body to fulfill a somatic component and do not require at least one free hand.

Rhythmic Redirection

Starting at 2nd level, as an action, you can produce a beat with your feet and gyrate, entering an evasive, manipulative dance lasting 1 minute. For the duration, whenever a creature threatens you with an attack or a spell that provokes a saving throw, you can first use your reaction or expend a spell slot of any level to make a Dexterity saving throw with a DC equal to the creature's attack roll or spell save DC. Upon succeeding against a spell or ranged attack, your dance flares to divert it, causing it to instead target or be centered on another creature of your choosing within 10 feet of you. If this causes a spell to affect the same creature twice, they need only make one saving throw. If you succeed against a melee attack, you may redirect the attack to target a different creature within its range. You cannot cause a creature to target itself in melee.

This dance does nothing if there are no other Small or larger creatures within range. You cannot redirect an attack or spell that has already been diverted by this feature. You must concentrate on this dance as though it were a spell. You may use this feature to enter the dance once per short rest.

Companion Archetype

At 3rd level, you determine what path to pursue: that of the Soothsayer or the Halcyon, both detailed toward the end of the class descrption. Your choice grants features at 3rd level, and again at 7th, 11th, and 15th level.

Ability Score Improvement

When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two Ability Scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.

____COMPANION

Fluttering Counterpart

By 5th level, whether it be the result of training under a professional or sheer necessity, you can use unconventional weapons such that their attacks naturally accompany your motions. You gain proficiency in three Flicker weapons, and your unarmed strikes are empowered as noted below. Whenever you use your action to make a melee attack or finish using your reaction to move with a basic step, you can thereafter make one Flicker attack using a Flicker weapon.

Your Flicker Weapons

Each weapon has a trait which illustrates your nature. All Flicker weapons have the Finesse property, a cost of 10 gold, and a weight of 2lbs. You have advantage on Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) checks made to conceal or downplay them.
Bladed Fan: 1d4 slashing damage. You may additionally make one free Flicker attack with this weapon whenever you cast a spell that heals another creature. You can equip this weapon to your arms or legs and do not need to hold it.
Bladed Geta: 1d4 slashing damage. This sandal weapon's attacks against creatures with 15 hit points or less deal 1d10 slashing damage instead.
Chain: 1d4 bludgeoning damage. When you hit a creature that is your size or smaller with this weapon, you can forgo damage to bind that creature to you. To escape, the target can make a Dexterity or Strength saving throw against your step save DC at the ends of their turns. Until they succeed and escape, your speeds are halved. When either moves, the other moves with them. You can equip this weapon to any sturdy body part and can end the binding effect as an action.
Chakram: 1d4 slashing damage. Light, Thrown (range 15/30). When you make an attack with this weapon against creatures that are adjacent to each other, you can ricochet the chakram between each adjacent target. Make a single attack and divide that attack's damage evenly between any enemies this attack would hit (rounding down if necessary).
Shoe/Wrist Knife: 1d4 piercing damage. You have advantage on your next Charisma (Intimidation) check against any creature that you damage with this weapon if they were not aware of it.
Stilettos: 1d4 piercing damage. When you use your heel to attack a prone creature, you can target its eyes. If the attack hits, they must succeed on a Constitution saving throw against your step save DC or be blinded until the end of their next turn.
Unarmed Strike: 1d4 bludgeoning damage. Your arms and legs have been brutally honed into natural Flicker weapons that you'll never be without.

Flamboyant Expertise

At 6th level, choose two skill proficiencies, or one skill proficiency and your proficiency with your disguise kit. Your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make that uses one of the chosen proficiencies. Furthermore, your familiarity with every sort of ambience grants you a dignified awareness. You may use your Charisma (Performance) modifier instead of your Wisdom (Perception) modifier for any active checks requiring the latter.

Set the Stage

Scenery is key for sentiment. As of level 7, you learn the Hallucinatory Terrain spell without it counting against your spells known. You can cast it once per long rest without expending a spell slot. However, you can only use this spell to transform natural terrain into the illusion of a theater, an arena, or a tower. This illusory structure can have any interior backdrop, decor, or ambience you'd like. Any creature that willingly owns a ticket or other token to see a show of yours will be unable to disbelieve illusions within this structure.

Prolific Pivots

By 10th level, your love for stirring the flow of battle and seeing others react manifests itself. When you successfully hit two different enemies with Flicker attacks in a single round, you immediately regain the last spell slot that you expended. You can regain spell slots in this way a number of times equal to your Dexterity modifier per long rest.

Whenever you perform a duet, if you harm more creatures than your partner does by the time the dance ends, you can use your reaction to expend a spell slot of the highest level you know and fill your partner's next attack or damaging spell with passion. It will deal one additional damage die per spell level you spent and will count as magical for overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage.

Merry Visionary

By the time you reach 14th level, you are able to channel the magic around you to create an impossible plane where imagination meets reality and where the stories told by your dances come to life. Whenever you perform a dance step, you can describe any visual and auditory phenomena you wish to occur within 5 feet of you as per the programmed illusion spell, except the effect lasts until the start of your next turn. If you do so, one other creature within 30 feet of your dance may be put under the effect of the Help action once. You could create a swirling myriad of colors around your arms, the roar of a marketplace cheering you on, a short burst of magical darkness, or even an eligible illusory dance partner.

Further, when performing a duet, you and your partner are unable to lose concentration.

/u/Shadowsocks COMPANION

Bittersweet Allure

As of 18th level, your swirling style is so vibrant and intense that you can tickle the senses of any creature. When you enter Rhythmic Redirection, all creatures of your choosing within 150 feet must make a Charisma saving throw. On failure, they are charmed by you for 1 hour. A creature charmed in this way cannot willingly move away from you. This effect ends for a target if you personally harm them or if they lose sight of you for an entire round. Once a creature has broken free, it cannot be charmed by you in this way again until 24 hours have passed unless it chooses to be.

Dominar Bailarín

At 20th level, you have attained utmost mastery of your art. You learn two additional steps of your choice and your solo dance steps can now be used any number of times. Additionally, your duet dance steps can now be performed twice per long rest instead of once.

Steps

Since steps are the result of extensive practice, basic steps can be used any number of times without tiring you. However, dance steps can each only be performed once per long rest. During a short rest, you can teach a creature with an Intelligence score of 4 or more how to perform one of your duets. They'll find it effortless to learn from you, and will forever be treated as an eligible partner when you begin that duet. If you try to dance with an ineligible partner, they must succeed on a Dexterity (Performance) check against your step save DC or the performance will fail. Any duet will end instantly if your partner is no longer within 10 feet of you.
You and your partners cannot perform a dance step while grappled, incapacitated, knocked prone, or restrained. Such a condition will end a duet dance step's effects. You or your duet partner may spend movement remaining for the round to follow the other on their turn.

Saving Throws. Some steps require your target to make a saving throw to resist the step's effects. The saving throw DC is calculated as follows:

Step save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Dexterity modifier

Back Walkover

Basic step: As a reaction to being targeted by a melee attack, if you consume 20 feet of movement remaining from your last turn, you impose disadvantage on the attack. After their attack, you can move backward up to 10 feet without provoking an attack of opportunity. This step also ends the prone condition on you, but it cannot be used on your turn.

Bell Kicks

Prerequisite: 3rd level. Solo dance step: When you Dodge, you can start running and jumping, tapping your ankles together. You percussionize a beat to anger creatures of
these types: aberrations, beasts, celestials, elementals, fey, fiends, and monstrosities. Any creature of those types within 120 feet of you must make a Charisma saving throw at the start of its next turn. Those who fail must use their turn to attack only you if you're within reach after movement.

Bewitching Ballet

Prerequisite: 3rd level. Solo dance step: As an action, you perform a saut de chat and choose two creatures within 60 feet of you. Each creature must succeed on an Intelligence saving throw or it will forget itself for a moment, losing a single damage resistance (one of your choosing if you know of its resistances, otherwise of your DM's choosing) until the start of your next turn. You may alternatively cause a damage immunity to become a resistance or cause the creature to lose immunity to a single condition for the duration.

Cha-Cha-Challenge

Duet dance step: As an action, choose a creature within 5 feet of you to provoke with shuffles. Your turn ends and they make a Charisma saving throw against your taunts. Upon failure, the target will spend an action at the start of its turn making a Charisma (Performance) skill check which you can contest with your own as a reaction. The better performer can immediately take a free Attack action against the loser.

Contra Body Movement

Prerequisite: 5th level. Basic step: When you use your action to Dash, rather than gaining movement equal to your speed, you gain movement equal to double your speed. Much like how others swing their corresponding arms as they walk for balance, you learn to lean your shoulders back to propel yourself forward. You cannot benefit from magical speed increases while Dashing with this step.

Fanciful Foxtrot

Prerequisite: 11th level. Duet dance step. Requires a partner within 5 feet of you: As an action if your partner chooses to enter closed dance position with their reaction, you begin to transfer your energy into them. Until the start of your next turn, this duet offers the following benefits:

  • They can take one additional action on their next turn. They cannot benefit from Action Surge or any other effect that would give them a third action on this turn.
  • Their speed becomes equal to your remaining movement if that amount is higher than their normal speed.
  • You can both levitate up to half your speed in any direction as part of your movement, floating harmlessly down once the duet ends.
Front Walkover

Basic step: As a reaction to being threatened by a ranged attack or spell, you may consume 20 feet of movement from your next turn to revolve your body through the air. Upon doing so, the ranged attack or spell has disadvantage to hit and you have advantage on any saving throws to resist any effects of the attack or spell. You lunge forward up to 10 feet.

/u/Shadowsocks COMPANION

Grapevine

Prerequisite: 5th level. Solo dance step: When you take the Dodge action or perform Bell Kicks, you can use your bonus action to to step side to side and take a breather. You regain hit points equal to quadruple the number of Medium or larger creatures within 10 feet of you, savoring their energy.

Head Over Heels

Prerequisite: 7th level. Basic step: After you perform a Solo dance step on your turn, you can immediately tumble 5 feet as a reaction without expending movement. If your tumble lands you within 10 feet of an allied creature, you may perform a duet dance step or Rhythmic Redirection as a bonus action instead of an action.

Hopak Dropkick

Prerequisite: 5th level. Solo dance step: When you take the Attack action, you may begin this dance as a bonus action. Until the start of your next turn, whenever you make a Flicker attack, you may also make a Dexterity (Acrobatics) check contested by the target’s Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check. If you win the contest, you dropkick the target 5 feet away from you. If the target is pushed into another creature's space and they are of the same size as the target or smaller, this creature must make a Dexterity saving throw. Upon failure, both will fall prone in the spaces they occupied just before the collision.

Mesmeric Mambo Muffle

Solo dance step: As an action, you percussionize a melody at a creature within 60 feet and it must make Charisma saving throw. Upon failure, it will be deafened, incapable of speech, charmed by you, and will have disadvantage on saving throws against your other steps until the end of your next turn. A creature under the effect of the enthrall spell has disadvantage on this step's saving throw.

Overstep

Prerequisite: 5th level. Basic step: When you take the Attack action, you can use your unarmed Flicker attack to launch yourself with a kick from an enemy, a stable object, or even the floor. If the attack hits, you long jump up to your speed or high jump up to half your speed in a line off of the target, expending movement equal to that distance and dealing your unarmed strike's damage to the target. This provokes attacks of opportunity. As a bonus action, you may make another Flicker attack where you land. You cannot benefit from magical speed increases while using this step.

Prowling Bolero

Prerequisite: 3rd level. Duet dance step; requires a partner within 5 feet of you: As an action if your partner uses their reaction, you lean together and begin a leisurely yet intense display of dips and turns. Until the start of your next turn, you both are placed under the effect of Rhythmic Redirection and can protect one another. Only you need to concentrate on it. In addition to its usual effects, either of you can use a reaction or a spell slot of any level to attempt to divert a spell or attack that targeted the other. Rhythmic Redirection continues for you alone when this dance ends.

Pendulum Wing

Prerequisite: 5th level. Basic step: As a Flicker attack while adjacent to more than one creature, instead of making an attack, you can force creatures of your choosing within 5 feet of you to make a Dexterity saving throw against a whirl of swinging strikes. Those who fail are each dealt your Flicker weapon's damage. Those who succeed are moved 5 feet away from you. You can only perform this step once per round.

Quebradita of Bruises

Prerequisite: 3rd level. Duet dance step; requires a partner within 5 feet of you: As an action if your partner chooses to react, you begin a feverish series of spins, lifts, and pulls. Until the start of your next turn, spaces within 5 feet of the two of you become difficult terrain for anyone else. You become weapons for each other. When you start this dance, creatures of your choosing within 5 feet of either of you must make a Dexterity saving throw.

You or your partner deal 2d12 bludgeoning damage to those that fail or half that to those that succeed by using the other's body as a whirling weapon. The first time per round that a creature enters this range or ends its turn within range, it must make the same saving throw.

Red Rover

Prerequisite: 7th level. Solo dance step: As an action at the start of your turn, you can expend your remaining movement for the round and move up to that distance in a straight line from where you stand. Your legs are lit with magical flame as you lash out at creatures in your path. You can move through the spaces of other creatures. This movement does not provoke opportunity attacks and is unimpeded by nonmagical difficult terrain. You can make one Flicker attack against all creatures whose spaces you move through. On each hit, you deal your normal Flicker damage plus 1d8 fire damage. You cannot end this movement in another creature's space.

Spellthief's Flamenco

Prerequisite: 7th level. Basic step: When you successfully divert a spell onto an enemy with Rhythmic Redirection, you can expend movement from your last turn to move toward that enemy and make a Flicker attack against them as per Fluttering Counterpart (level 5 feature). If the redirection would normally cause you not to be affected by a spell, this movement does not bring harm to you. Additionally, once per long rest, you can cause an enemy to have disadvantage on a saving throw against a spell that you've diverted by expending a spell slot of the highest level you know.

/u/Shadowsocks COMPANION

Suitor's Kathak

Basic step: Your eyes and arms are so expressive that you needn't speak. Your reactions speak louder than words. Whenever you affect another creature with a spell, you may immediately make any Charisma skill check as a bonus action. Furthermore, as a reaction to an ally (other than yourself) within 30 feet being hit by a melee attack or to an enemy being knocked prone, you can consume movement remaining from your turn to move toward the trigger.

Tantalizing Tango

Duet dance step; requires a partner within 5 feet of you: As an action if your partner chooses to enter closed dance position with their reaction, you draw eyes to your cat-like stride. Choose a number of creatures within 30 feet of you equal to your Dexterity modifier. Each one must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw and does so with advantage if either you or your partner have personally attacked them before. Upon failure, they are badly distracted; they have disadvantage on attack rolls and concentration checks until the start of your next turn. They must also immediately make a disadvantaged concentration check.

Tarantella Therapy

Group dance step: When you take a short rest, you may involve any number of willing partners in this upbeat, spry dance. All who participate will lose one level of exhaustion and may expend a single hit die to instead restore hit points to another creature of their choosing. Also, you regain one usage of one other dance step of your choice that you know.

Zipping Zekari

Prerequisite: 9th level. Duet dance step. Requires a partner within 5 feet of you: As an action if your partner uses their reaction, you begin to mimic them and perplexingly exaggerate their every motion. Until the start of your next turn, your partner has advantage on all weapon attack rolls, and you can make a free Flicker attack whenever your partner hits a creature with a weapon attack.

Companion Archetypes

As a companion, your partners, passions, and desires empower every step you take, but one cannot live indecisively forever. On reaching 3rd level, you must dedicate yourself to one particular style of magic that suits your future role and your motivations: that of the Halcyon or the Soothsayer.

Soothsayer

Those who practice farsight tend to seek answers wherever they go, but soothsayers simply begin to notice intricate connections—widespread strings of correlation, causation, and potentiality. Starting at 3rd level, your interest in finding and creating your own truths allows you access to an expanded list of spells.

You gain the following spells at the following companion levels. They do not count against your number of spells known. You can cast any Soothsayer spell you know as a ritual if that spell has the ritual tag.

Soothsayer Expanded Spells
Companion Level Spells
3rd Banish Dazzle, Wicked Truth
5th Flare Share, Isolde's Answer
9th Know Customs, Vision Stones
13th Dwarkanath’s Tutor, Mirage
17th Rary's Replay, Scapegoat

Sympathetic Sight

Also at 3rd level, you can see visions of each person's potential. Before a long rest, you can name a target and dream vaguely of their possibilities. Then, over the course of a short rest, you can teach them one skill, weapon, or tool proficiency by showing them how their future self did it. If they were already proficient in a given skill or tool, you can teach them expertise. This can only be done once ever per target, and never to yourself.

Unforgiving Competitor

When you reach 7th level, your confidence that enemies will be unable to hit you grows into a predisposition—you're always ready to take advantage of any openings. Whenever you successfully divert an attack or spell with Rhythmic Redirection, you can immediately make a free Flicker attack.

/u/Shadowsocks COMPANION

Grace Ordains Pace

Beginning at 11th level, you possess two ingenuity dice that scale with your Dexterity instead of your Intelligence. In addition to their usual effects, you can use your action to expend a spell slot of any level and add an ingenuity die's result to your step save DC until the end of your next turn. This counts as performing a Solo dance step for the purpose of Head Over Heels and can only be done once per long rest.

Demand Paradise

By 15th level, you're used to pushing those around you to their limits, especially yourself. You and one other creature of your choice gain proficiency in an additional saving throw.

Also, when making a Dexterity saving throw, add half of your Charisma modifier (rounded up) to the roll, and when making a Charisma saving throw, add half of your Dexterity modifier (rounded up) to the roll.

Halcyon

Life with a Halcyon is like an oasis of soulful serenity, bliss, and unquestionable safety. Those of this path are inclined not to pay any attention to their environment. Their gaze lies solely on their partners, and their desire to protect and serve those they hold dear is intense. Starting at 3rd level, you play the role of a caretaker, allowing you access to an expanded list of spells.

You gain the following spells at the following companion levels. They do not count against your number of spells known. You can cast any Halcyon spell you know as a ritual if that spell has the ritual tag.

Halcyon Expanded Spells
Companion Level Spells
3rd Doting Curator, Preventative Amulet
5th Mark of Malice, Flare Share
9th Agra's Ambush, Favor of Amelioration,
13th Hiding Place, Song of Compulsion
17th Endless Dance, Stapling Spikes

Overbearing Ward

By level 3, you've formed a habit of obsessing over your friends. At the end of each long rest, pick a creature to act as the target of your concern. You have advantage on Wisdom (Insight) checks against anyone speaking with this chosen creature. Also, once per turn, you and this creature can convey a single thought or idea of up to 10 words in length to the other by making a particular gesture, placing an object in a certain way, or giving the other a meaningful look. Finally, duets now last until the end of your next turn, not the start. However, a duet will end if you begin a solo dance.

Never Miss A Beat

As of 7th level, your attentive nature makes you quick to react to the one you're watching carefully. Every round when you're in combat with the creature you chose for Overbearing Ward, your initiative is set to be the same as theirs if you get a lower result. You can choose between yourselves who goes first.

Further, whenever a duet that you were performing ends, you can use your reaction to expend a spell slot of the highest level you know and fill your partner with tranquility. They then regain a number of hit points equal to the damage dealt by your Flicker attacks made during the dance, up to a maximum of ten hit points per spell level expended.

Grant the Gala

Upon reaching 11th level, you learn to be a bit more inclusive. When you perform one of the following steps, an adjacent ally can immediately use their reaction to gain the step's effects in your stead if you're willing: Bell Kicks, Grapevine, or Contra Body Movements. The step is treated as though they personally performed it.

Endless Tempo

On 15th level, both you and the creature you choose with Overbearing Ward are permanently under the effects of Rhythmic Redirection whenever within 10 feet of each other, and it does not require you to concentrate unless you are separated. Additionally, when you perform a Prowling Bolero with this partner, the next 2 targeted spells or attacks against either of you during the duration are automatically diverted.

Spells Revised From 2E

Halcyon

Doting Curator

1st-level abjuration (ritual)


  • Casting Time: 1 action
  • Range: Touch
  • Components: V, S, M (a rose petal)
  • Duration: 24 hours

You touch a willing creature. For the spell’s duration, whenever that creature feels that it is in danger, you are warned and given a mental image of the situation. This works no matter how far away that creature is, but will not inform you of its location. To try determining where the image is, you may make an Intelligence (Investigation) skill check.

Preventative Amulet

1st-level abjuration (ritual)


  • Casting Time: 1 hour
  • Range: Touch
  • Components: V, S, M (any ornament)
  • Duration: 1 week

You enchant an amulet with the ability to protect the wearer from a specific spell that you or a willing helper know how to cast. This spell must allow for a saving throw. When the wearer is attacked by that spell and fails the saving throw, the amulet absorbs the magic and shatters, protecting the wearer. Only one such amulet enchanted by you can exist.

/u/Shadowsocks COMPANION

Mark of Malice

2nd-level abjuration (ritual)


  • Casting Time: 1 hour
  • Range: Touch
  • Components: V, S, M (any keepsake worth at least 5 gp and a relic of the target creature)
  • Duration: 1 month

You create a noticeably magical token out of a memento and attach to it an object that once belonged to or was part of a specific creature. While making the token, you must name that creature or at least provide a recognizable description of it (such as “the vampire Ebon Thuthane” or “the one-eyed giant boar that destroyed hamlet of Marswick”). You may then wear this token or give it to someone else.

When the wearer of this token confronts that creature in melee combat, the creature must make an Intelligence saving throw when it sees the token. If the creature fails, it will be at disadvantage on its first attack roll of each round when it attacks the token's wearer. One minute after the token is seen, it is destroyed and the spell ends. Only one such token created by you can exist at once.

Wistful Whispers

2nd-level divination (ritual)

  • Casting Time: 1 action
  • Range: 300 feet
  • Components: V, S
  • Duration: Concentration, up to 1 hour

You direct a subtle breeze to carry the sounds of distant conversation to your ears. You can hear what any speaking creature within range is saying as clearly as if they were right next to you. You do not have to be able to see the target creatures if you know their location. However, if you can see the targets, this divination cannot be prevented by the nondetection spell.

Agra’s Ambush

3rd-level abjuration (ritual)


  • Casting Time: 1 action
  • Range: Touch
  • Components: V, S, M (roughly-ground glass, which must be sprinkled in a circle around the recipient)
  • Duration: 8 hours

You provide protection for yourself or one willing creature against unwanted mental intrusion. A mental trap will be triggered if a protected creature is affected by a spell or effect that would sense its emotions, read its thoughts, put the charmed condition on it, or attempt to frighten or intimidate it. The creature that attempts such an effect is unsuccessful and must make an Intelligence saving throw. It takes 3d10 psychic damage on a failed saving throw and half as much damage on a successful one. The spell then ends. If you cast this on a creature that is already under such an effect, you learn the details of the effect, but this spell otherwise fails.

Favor of Amelioration

3rd-level abjuration


  • Casting Time: 1 action
  • Range: 30 feet
  • Components: V, S
  • Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute

Granted by gods of pain and protection, one willing creature you choose within range is made numb. For the duration, that creature is immune to being stunned or made unconscious (except by being reduced to 0 hit points), has resistance to poison damage, and is immune to the poisoned condition. If it takes 15 points of damage or less from a single attack or spell effect and it would be reduced to 0 hit points, it is reduced to 1 hit point instead. Finally, the creature gains 10 temporary hit points.

Hiding Place

4th-level abjuration (ritual)


  • Casting Time: Special
  • Range: Special
  • Components: V, M (a scroll covered with pictograms and runes depicting eyes, ears, and brains, which are burned when you cast the spell)
  • Duration: 1 week

You spend up to an hour completely sealing a room of no more than 150 cubic feet: you lock and board all windows and doors, cover all cracks in the walls with rags or putty, and so on. This can be done in as little as a minute depending on the nature of the room. This spell then makes that room completely undetectable to all divination spells of 5th level and lower. In addition, all creatures outside of that room forget about the room's existence. If you open any of the room’s doors or windows, the spell ends.

Song of Compulsion

4th-level enchantment


  • Casting Time: 1 action
  • Range: Self, 45 foot radius
  • Components: V
  • Duration: Concentration, up to 1 hour

You start singing a well-known, mindless traveling song that has many verses. All living creatures within this spell's radius must make a Charisma saving throw at the start of their turn or be charmed by you and begin singing along (or perform some musical equivalent).

You and those who fail are filled with begrudging joy and are unable to harm any creatures contributing to the song. Whenever creatures under this effect receive damage, they may make a Charisma saving throw to stop singing. A creature that escapes this spell's radius can use its action to end this effect on itself. Once a creature is freed of this spell, they become immune to it for one minute.

/u/Shadowsocks COMPANION

Endless Dance

5th-level enchantment


  • Casting Time: 1 action
  • Range: Self (120-foot radius)
  • Components: V, S
  • Duration: Concentration, up to 10 minutes

You begin dancing wildly, slowly throwing in increasingly difficult moves. Creatures within range of your choosing who can see you must make a Charisma saving throw, and they do so with advantage if you or your allies are fighting them. A creature who fails will mirror you, expending their movement and using their action each turn to dance along. Creatures may make a new saving throw each minute, whenever they receive damage, or if they lose sight of you for an entire round. After the first minute, creatures take 1d8 radiant damage each round until the spell ends or until they fall unconscious. This radiant damage does not

Stapling Spikes

5th-level evocation


  • Casting Time: 1 action
  • Range: 30 feet
  • Components: V, S, M (a small iron spike)
  • Duration: 24 hours or until escaped

You create a dozen bolts of force which you direct at one creature you see within range. That creature must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failure, the spikes pin that creature to ground or to the nearest wall, restraining it but causing no damage. The escape DC is equal to your spell save DC, but if the creature attempts to escape, then the spikes sharpen, causing 2d4 force damage whether the attempt is successful or not. The spikes fade away if the target successfully escapes them or when 24 hours have passed, whichever comes first. You can dismiss them at any time, with no action required by you.

Soothsayer

Banish Dazzle

1st-level abjuration


  • Casting Time: 1 reaction
  • Range: 30 feet
  • Components: V, S, M (a shard of glass or any clear stone)
  • Duration: 1 minute

For the duration, you or one willing creature within range will become immune to being blinded by nonmagical light and can see through nonmagical mirages and optical illusions. Additionally, the target has advantage on ability checks to determine if visual-only illusions are real or not and advantage on saving throws against spells that create visual illusions or cause blindness through light, color, or flame, such as blinding smite, color spray, or holy aura. You can cast this as a reaction to any such effect before its saving throw is provoked. This also keeps creatures with the Sunlight Sensitivity trait from taking disadvantage on attack rolls and Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell with a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, you may protect one additional creature per slot level above 1st.

Wicked Truth

1st-level divination (ritual)


  • Casting Time: 1 minute
  • Range: 5 feet
  • Components: V, S, M (any candle)
  • Duration: 1 minute

You light a specially-made candle and place it within 5 feet of a named target. If the target then knowingly tells a lie, the candle flares brightly. A half-lie or slight deception causes the candle to gutter and flash briefly. If the target tells an outrageous lie, the candle extinguishes itself.


At Higher Levels. If you cast this spell using a 2nd-level or higher spell slot, you can make the flame leap and burn a lying target, inflicting 1d8 fire damage with each lie, and you can make it inextinguishable by nonmagical means.

Flare Share

2nd-level divination (ritual)


  • Casting Time: 1 action
  • Range: 120 feet
  • Components: S
  • Duration: Instantaneous

You flood the minds of your audience with memories of your past. Choose a moment that you can remember as a starting point. A flash of light will emanate from you as you think of it. Those within range who fail a Wisdom saving throw or who choose not to look away will experience a vivid mental scene of exactly what you sensed from that moment on. You can share up to 1 hour of memory in an instant, and viewers will possess the memory as though it happened to them. You can also choose to convey a single feeling or a simple idea to any creatures that see this scene. All living creatures can understand what you convey, as it transcends language.

/u/Shadowsocks COMPANION

Isolde’s Answer

2nd-level divination (ritual)


  • Casting Time: 1 action
  • Range: 5 miles
  • Components: V, S, M (a crystal ball, gilt-framed mirror, or extravagant window worth at least 250 gp)
  • Duration: Concentration, up to 10 minutes

You gaze into a reflective glass and ask a question which must have a "who," a "what," or a "where." For instance, “Where did I put my keys,” “What is on the other side of the Iron Gate,” or “Who is the fairest of them all?” Within the next minute, a correctly answering silent image will appear in the glass, provided that the person, object, or place is within 100 miles of you. It offers no information about the image. The glass can provide visions of the past or the present, but not the future. If the question is too difficult, the glass will fog up and you can ask another. Any creature within the image, whether past or present, can see your face watching it, floating in the air as though emerging from water.

Know Customs

3rd-level divination (ritual)


  • Casting Time: 1 action
  • Range: 30 feet
  • Components: V, S
  • Duration: Instantaneous

You choose one creature native to the area that has an Intelligence of 5 or higher and force it to make an Intelligence saving throw. On a failure, you gain any knowledge that creature possesses on local customs, including common courtesies, restrictions and taboos, upcoming holidays, festivals and observances, and important gossip.

Vision Stones

3rd-level divination (ritual)


  • Casting Time: 1 minute
  • Range: Touch
  • Components: V, S, M (pebbles or gemstones)
  • Duration: Until dispelled

You enclose one telepathic message in up to five stones that you can fit in the palm of your hand and set circumstances under which this message will be revealed. Whenever a creature holds a vision stone and the criteria you set are met, the message is transmitted telepathically to that creature. This message can be up to 100 words long or a one-minute silent vision of a memory you possess. When this occurs, you can sense the stone's direction and distance away from you.

Dwarkanath’s Tutor

4th-level divination (ritual)


  • Casting Time: 1 action
  • Range: Touch
  • Components: V, S, M (a golden apple worth 10 gp)
  • Duration: Concentration, up to 8 hours

One creature you touch “teaches” you proficiency in one skill, tool, or weapon that it knows for the duration. You may then use it with your own proficiency bonus. If you already know

how to use the skill or tool, you may double your proficiency bonus. If the creature is unwilling to give you this knowledge, it may make a Wisdom saving throw to resist, but it is not made aware that you are manipulating its mind.

Mirage

4th-level illusion (ritual)


  • Casting Time: 1 action
  • Range: 60 feet
  • Components: V, S, M (seven drops of water)
  • Duration: 1 hour

You create an elusive mirage of something desirable on the horizon—an oasis, a town, etc.—that seems to beckon the viewer to move toward it. The mirage always appears fuzzy and indistinct, but seems quite large and attractive.

All creatures with an Intelligence of 4 or higher who can see must make a Wisdom saving throw. A creature that fails its save is charmed and will be compelled to head directly towards the vision for the duration of the spell. If possible, the creature will always travel by the safest route. No matter how far or how fast they travel, they will not realize that the mirage has gotten no closer. Creatures that are immune to being charmed cannot be affected by this spell.

Rary’s Replay

5th-level divination (ritual)


  • Casting Time: 1 minute
  • Range: Self (10-foot radius)
  • Components: V, S
  • Duration: Concentration, up to an hour

You read the residual psychic impressions of a room or the immediate vicinity. Typically, you can only read the most recent events, but a highly-emotional event, especially one that is also very unusual or violent, leaves psychic energies that can be picked up for months or years afterwards. The event is played back perfectly—your senses can feel the events exactly as though you were there, but it may be fragmented or end abruptly if the impression is too weak. It is replayed for you in real-time, so the replay may take as long to complete as the original event.

Scapegoat

5th-level enchantment


  • Casting Time: 1 action
  • Range: Touch
  • Components: V, S, M (goat hair and a small stone)
  • Duration: Concentration, up to 10 minutes

When you lay your hand on a target and set them as the scapegoat, all creatures of your choosing within 60 feet of them must make a Charisma saving throw. Upon failure, they believe that the target is responsible for any troubles currently plaguing them and are inclined to get violent with the scapegoat if those troubles are serious. They are allowed to make an Intelligence saving throw to come to their senses if the scapegoat attempts to convince them of its innocence. This saving throw is at disadvantage if they already have reason to dislike or distrust the target. When the spell ends, no creature can tell that it has been magically manipulated.

/u/Shadowsocks COMPANION

Spell List

1st Level
  • Animal Friendship
  • Color Spray
  • Comprehend Languages
  • Cure Wounds
  • Disguise Self
  • Expeditious Retreat
  • Feather Fall
  • Healing Word
  • Illusory Script
  • Jump
  • Silent Image
  • Tasha's Hideous Laughter
2nd Level
  • Calm Emotions
  • Crown of Madness
  • Detect Thoughts
  • Enlarge/Reduce
  • Enthrall
  • Levitate
  • Magic Mouth
  • Misty Step
  • Nystul's Magic Aura
  • Phantasmal Force
  • Rope Trick
  • Suggestion
3rd Level
  • Clairvoyance
  • Counterspell
  • Dispel Magic
  • Haste
  • Hypnotic Pattern
  • Magic Circle
  • Major Image
  • Nondetection
  • Tongues
  • Wall of Sand
  • Water Walk
  • Wind Wall
4th Level
  • Arcane Eye
  • Confusion
  • Conjure Minor Elementals
  • Dimension Door
  • Elemental Bane
  • Freedom of Movement
  • Polymorph
5th Level
  • Animate Objects
  • Legend Lore
  • Mass Cure Wounds
  • Modify Memory
  • Planar Binding
  • Scrying
  • Teleportation Circle

Art Credits

  • Belly Dancer by chibi-oneechan
  • Middle East by Soul Candle
  • Dancing Feet by ZannsOriginalArt on Etsy
  • Windrea's Bladed Fan by Drakoling123
  • Kabaneri Cosplay Geta by Milanoo.com
  • Warrior Princess Weapon by teamzoth
  • Golden Filigree Mask by DigitalGraphicsShop
  • Dancer from Final Fantasy XI
  • Trickster Boy by breath-art
  • Halcyon by zenphoenixa
  • Flamenco Dance: Gypsy Spirit - Unknown
  • Through The Looking Glass - Unknown
  • The Lotus Dancer by Angela R. Sasser
  • Gymnast, Roses, and Breeze clipart
Thanks kindly to all those who've made suggestions, to /u/Faolyn for the unbelievable resource of spells, to /u/Ostrolo for ingenuity, and to Walrock Homebrew for some of the exotic weapon ideas! Here are some examples of how I imagined a companion's steps would look.