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Terronus 03-16-07, 10:05 PM

The Shade http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/ToMagic_Gallery/96092.jpg "You have to have darkness for the dawn to come..."* -Remma Gravenmore, a Shade. Dorian could spot a fox by starlight at fifty paces, and that was naught to scoff at for a man of his age. But when the stranger walked into Rivermeet, Dorian did not see him until he was less than a dozen paces distant. And gods curse the eyes he placed so much faith in, but he didn’t just appear-- like a mage teleporting about on whatever business is urgent enough to teleport about on in the first place-- but it looked as though he pressed through the shadows, like a man coming through the surface of the River. The stranger’s hair was thick and dark… and his skin had a slight gray tint that seemed unnatural. Dorian had held fast against orcs, ogres, and even a minotaur while guarding Rivermeet, but when the stranger met eyes with him, Dorian could not help but feel unsettled. The stranger's voice was like a ghost, when he asked courteously enough, as if manifesting out of shadows was as common as a tip of the hat, “Good morrow, watchman. I’m looking for a lady elf. She’d be clad in blood red and carrying a fine staff. Have you seen her?” Dorian cleared his throat, and fixed the grip he held on his spear. “About three days past, sir.” Dorian spoke, but it was little more than a whisper. “Pray you won’t be causing trouble in our humble town?” The stranger gave what might have passed for a smile, and the silken black cloak he wore flapped briefly about his arms, although the watchman noted that there was no wind. “I’ll be causing no trouble, watchman.” The stranger continued along the road. “But rest assured I will be ending it.” Adventures: Many of the reasons of why a Shade adventures are shrouded in mystery. Shades do not exist in great numbers, and they have no guilds or organizations to speak of. It is unknown how they acquire their powers, but scholars suggest that it is in a manner similar to the shadowdancer (which is not fully understood either). A Shade might adventure to gain knowledge of his otherworldly powers, or simply for personal gain. They might see themselves as dark heroes… or deadly assassins. Characteristics: Shades draw their power from the plane of shadows, but this does not necessarily make them evil. In fact, most Shades do not think of this link in terms of good or evil at all, for shadows are no more evil than a flame or bit of dirt. However, most people do not share this mentality; a Shade is often met with apprehensive silences and uneasy glances from all but the most open-minded folk. For this reason, most Shades are reserved in speech and brooding by nature, but others might be open about their abilities and use it to their advantage. While some Shade’s are perpetually rolling stones, others might find their niche within a large city. Alignment: Most Shades tend to be evil, but that is a reflection of their environment, and not their nature. Evil organizations are more welcoming of a Shade’s powers than a crusading church, for example. But there are numerous possibilities: a lonely traveler might be true neutral; a roguish crime-lord lawful evil, or a vigilante chaotic good. Background: The Shade’s powers are acquired naturally, not through study, and often under mysterious circumstances. Evil mages are just as likely as fair-minded champions to encourage a Shade to hone their strengths, even if they do not entirely understand them. Races: No one knows what makes a Shade: a tainted bloodline, perhaps, or an aligning of the planes during one’s birth? Halfling or half-orc… no race is more likely than another to become a Shade… although certainly some take up this mantle more easily than others. Other Classes: Dark and ominous, the Shade relates to those they can see aspects of themselves in. Shadowcasters, shadowdancers, binders, rogues, bards… each have some common trait with the Shade, which is usually enough for some form of binding trust in a world that frequently shuns them. Role: Too much armor interferes with the Shade’s power, perhaps it hinders their link to the shadow plane, making them more of a supportive combatant. However, a Shade's entropic armor and shadow jaunting can allow them to remain on the front lines of combat for a time. Their flicker, shadowstrike, and sudden strike abilities can make them deadly offensive combatants as well. Outside of combat, the Shade might function as a scout in the wilds or a dungeon, or a scoundrel in the city. Alignment: Any Hit die: d8 Skill points: (4+Int modifier) x 4 at 1st level and 4+Int modifier at each additional level. Class skills: Balance, Bluff, Climb, Craft, Disguise, Escape Artist, Hide, Intimidate, Jump, Knowledge (the planes), Knowledge (religion), Knowledge (local), Listen, Move Silently, Spot, Swim, and Tumble. Level BaB Fort Ref Will Special 1st +1 +2 +0 +0 Entropy Pool, Shadow Jaunt 1/day, Sudden Strike +1d6 2nd +2 +3 +0 +0 Iron Will 3rd +3 +3 +1 +1 Entropic Armor +1 4th +4 +4 +1 +1 Flicker 5th +5 +4 +1 +1 Ghoststrike 6th +6/1 +5 +2 +2 Shadow Jaunt 2/day 7th +7/2 +5 +2 +2 Sudden Strike +2d6 8th +8/3 +6 +2 +2 Entropic Armor +2 9th +9/4 +6 +3 +3 - 10th +10/5 +7 +3 +3 Lesser Shadowstrike 11th +11/6/1 +7 +3 +3 Shadow Walk 12th +12/7/2 +8 +4 +4 Shadow Jaunt 3/day 13th +13/8/3 +8 +4 +4 Entropic Armor +3 14th +14/9/4 +9 +4 +4 Sudden Strike +3d6 15th +15/10/5 +9 +5 +5 Shadowstrike 16th +16/11/6/1 +10 +5 +5 Holistic Dark 17th +17/12/7/2 +10 +5 +5 Overwhelming Darkness 18th +18/13/8/3 +11 +5 +5 Entropic Armor +4, Shadow Jaunt 4/day 19th +19/14/9/4 +11 +6 +6 - 20th +20/15/10/5 +12 +6 +6 Shadowmantle, Greater Shadowstrike Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: A Shade is proficient with light armor and all simple and martial weapons. Entropy Pool: The Shade draws upon the plane of shadows for many of his class abilities. This reserve of dark energy is called his “entropy pool” and it has a number of points equal to his class level. After resting for 8 hours, the pool is restored to its full amount, if the Shade has drawn upon it during the day. If a Shade is wearing medium or heavy armor, or uses a shield, he is unable to draw upon this pool of energy, and loses any ability that relies upon it. Shadow Jaunt (Ex.): The Shade may become nigh-incorporeal as a move action, gaining all the benefits and penalties thereof (except as noted). Because the Shade is not truly incorporeal, any attack he makes is resolved as a regular attack, not a touch attack, and it does not ignore armor bonuses, nor does he become immune to critical hits or precision damage. Each round the Shade remains incorporeal expends one point from his entropy pool. Sudden Strike: As the ninja class ability. Iron Will: As the feat. Entropic Armor (Su.): Barely tangible strands of darkness form around the Shade's body, granting him a deflection bonus to his armor class equal to his entropic armor modifier. If the Shade is wearing medium or heavy armor, or uses a shield, he loses this ability. Ghoststrike (Ex.): Any weapon the Shade wields is considered to have the ghost touch property. Flicker (Su.): By expending one point from his entropy pool, the Shade may move to any square up to (5 ft./two class levels) away, as per the dimensional door spell, as a swift action. If the Shade uses this ability to avoid an attack, it has a 50% chance to miss. If the Shade uses this ability to avoid an attack while incorporeal, it has a 75% chance to miss, unless he is attacked by a ghost touch weapon, in which case it still has a 50% chance to miss. If he uses this ability before attacking an opponent, the opponent is considered flat-footed against the Shade’s next attack. Lesser Shadowstrike (Ex.): Whenever the Shade is incorporeal, his weapons now deal +1d6 points of cold damage per hit. This cold damage stacks with any other cold properties the weapons might have. Shadow Walk (Ex.): This ability is exactly like the spell shadow walk except as noted: It may be used once per day for up to eight hours. When shadow walking, the Shade moves at a speed of 60mph. If the Shade is wearing medium or heavy armor, or uses a shield, he loses this ability. Shadowstrike (Ex.): While incorporeal, the Shade’s weapons now deal +1d8 cold damage per hit that stacks with any other cold damage the weapon might deal. This replaces the lesser shadowstrike ability. Holistic Dark (Ex.): As a swift action, the Shade may expend one point of his entropy pool to gain fast healing 2 for two rounds (he may expend multiple points at once to increase the duration, if he wishes). If the Shade is dying, this ability activates automatically if he still has energy to draw upon, and ends when he reaches 1 hp or his pool is depleted. Overwhelming Darkness (Su): By expending four points of his entropy pool, the strands of darkness that compose the Shade's armor grow into veritable tendrils, whipping about his body. His eyes and hair become entropic, and his veins appear deep and obsidian beneath his skin. The Shade may activate or dismiss overwhelming darkness at will, without further cost for the remainder of the day. While active, attackers have a 20% chance to miss the Shade (this does not stack with any concealment bonus the shade might have). He also gains a +4 circumstance bonus to Intimidate and a -4 circumstance penalty to Bluff, Disguise, Diplomacy, Gather Information, and Sense motive checks. Certain creatures comfortable with darkness, like vampires, might be unaffected by the bonus or penalties, or affected differently (the Shade might gain a Diplomacy bonus when interacting with a vampire rather than an Intimidate bonus), at the DM’s discretion. Shadowmantle (Ex.): The Shade manifests a mantle of semisolid shadow whose appearance may change when and if the Shade deems fit. It might appear as a rich, silky cloak or a billowing, ghastly cape, for example. Whatever its appearance, the shadowmantle serves several functions. At the beginning of his turn, he must declare whether he wishes to use the cape defensively or offensively. When used offensively the shadowmantle emulates the first (or only) attack the Shade performs during any attack action (except attacks of opportunity), dealing four-fifths, or 80%, of the damage, akin to the shades spell. This attack takes place during the Shade’s turn, similar to an action performed by an intelligent item. Unlike any other bonus damage the shadowmantle may inflict, it does not deal any sudden strike damage. When used defensively, the shadowmantle provides a +2 shield bonus. While using the shadowmantle as a shield does not apply against the Shade's class abilities, he does take a -2 to attacks when using it defensively. The shadowmantle may be enhanced as a wondrous item, but these enhancements cost 20% more than their market price, and the Shade must be present while they are being imbued. The shadowmantle provides a +2 bonus to Climb, Jump, Hide, and Move Silently checks, and a +2 bonus on Bluff attempts made to feint. The shadowmantle may be sundered, disarmed, or magically removed or destroyed, but it reappears 1d4+1 rounds later on the Shade’s back, as long as its remnants are still on the same plane. If it has been removed from the plane, or entirely obliterated, such as by a disintegrate spell, it reappears 1d4+1 days later. Regardless of how it is removed or destroyed, when the shadowmantle reforms, it retains any enhancements that may have been imbued into it. If the Shade is wearing medium or heavy armor, or uses a shield, the cape disappears, reappearing whenever he removes said item. Greater Shadowstrike (Su.): While incorporeal, the Shade’s weapons now deal +1d10 cold damage per hit that stacks with any other cold damage the weapon might deal. This replaces the shadowstrike ability. *found this quote online, don't know who originally said it, but it wasn't me.