Post/Author/DateTime	Post
LordArchaon 01-22-07, 07:13 PM	This is an attempt to convert the Shosuro Tejina PrC from Way of The Ninja (Rokugan) so that it becomes compliant with 3.5 standards (although a bit exotic) and replacing spells with Mysteries , the Shadow Magic spell-equivalents from Tome of Magic. I felt the original Shosuro Tejina had a strong Shadow Magic feeling (Tejina means shadow magic according to Way of The Ninja) and I wanted to convert the most particular spells of the PrC into mysteries, while also altering the class a bit so that it doesn't contain setting-specific material. So, to end this "introduction", I will explain the class concept. I know many people don't like ninjas, but to make it short and be honest from the beginning, this is a "supernatural-type-ninja" PrC. BUT, this doens't mean you have to use it in this way, and in fact I don't mean to use it that way either. Adaption is the keyword. The goal is to create a general stealthy and dark-flavoured (VERY dark flavoured...) class with moderate spellcasting and a bit of a defensive focus. A character taking many levels in this PrC will have the ability to sneak in many places, avoid many attacks and kill what he/she wants or has to kill. I studied the class so that nearly any character could take it. In particular, it has special advantages for Rogues, Ninjas, Monks and Shadowcasters (from ToM). It has variable requirements so that any of these could enter the class without even multiclassing, except for the Shadowcaster, which will need at least 1 level in the Ninja class, 3 levels in the Monk class or 5 levels in the Rogue class. As you can already imagine, the Ninja is the best candidate to enter the class. These three "paths" (I should call them with a different word in order not to get confused with Shadow Magic Paths) allow for three different resulting characters, so you could see this PrC as three PrCs in one. The original PrC was themed around a dark entity (the Shadow Dragon and others like Goju, the Lying Darkness...) that I wanted to replace with something demon-related. Let's say the particular powers of this PrC are "bound" to a demonic force of some kind, and advancing in the class makes the charcater awaken a "demonic aspect" inside of him... For this purpose, I make use of Abyssal Heritor feats. Feel free to criticize this choice, since I'm not so sure about it either, I just had the idea and saw it worked well, especially because one Abyssal Heritor feat in particular (Keeper of Forbidden Lore) is the key to enter this PrC without being a caster (or Shadowcaster) already. As a temporary class name, I'm going to use Shadow Demon. It's MEANT to be changed. http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/6052/shadowwarrior4uo1.png REQUIREMENTS Alignment: non-good Base Attack Bonus: +4 Skills: Hide 10 ranks, Move Silently 10 ranks Feats: any Abyssal Heritor Feat (Keeper of Forbidden Lore makes Knowledge(the planes) and Spellcraft class skills and they could be a requirement), OR Feats: Ordered Chaos, OR Feats: Nocturnal Caster. Shadowcasting: Ability to cast 1st level mysteries, OR Skills: Knowledge(the planes) 6 ranks, Spellcraft 6 ranks. Special: Ki Power class feature, OR Special: Still Mind class feature, OR Special: +3d6 Sneak Attack, OR Martial Maneuvers: Must know the Assassin's Stance and two Shadow Hand maneuvers of at least 2nd level. TABLES Hit die: d6 Note: if the character entered the PrC meeting the Martial Maneuvers requirement, he may need to modify/integrate the class table with the table found at the end of the Ways of Twilight class feature description, below. lv BAB Fort. Refl. Will Special 1st +0 +0 +2 +2 The Black Code, Ways to Twilight, SA/SS +1d6 2nd +1 +0 +3 +3 Silent Soul 3rd +2 +1 +3 +3 Shadow Demon Skin 1/day 4th +3 +1 +4 +4 SA/SS +2d6 5th +3 +1 +4 +4 random Abyssal Heritor feat, Ways to Darkness 6th +4 +2 +5 +5 Shadows and Air 7th +5 +2 +5 +5 SA/SS +3d6 8th +6 +2 +6 +6 Shadow Demon Skin 3/day 9th +6 +3 +6 +6 random Abyssal Heritor feat 10th +7 +3 +7 +7 SA/SS +4d6, Ways to Shadow Note: this is the table used by characters that didn't previously had the ability to cast mysteries. lv Mysteries known and type of casting 1st 3 Fundamentals 2nd 1, Apprentice mysteries (spells) 3rd 2 4th 3 5th 4, 1 Fundamental 6th 5 7th 6 8th 7 Apprentice mysteries (spell-like), Initiate mysteries (spells) 9th 8 10th 9, Chaotic Transformation (see Mysteries and Paths below) Note: this is the table used by characters that previously had levels in the Shadowcaster or Shadow Warrior (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=799350) class. lv Mysteries known and type of casting 1st - 2nd +1 level of existing mystery-using class 3rd +1 level of existing mystery-using class 4th +1 level of existing mystery-using class 5th +1 level of existing mystery-using class 6th +1 level of existing mystery-using class 7th +1 level of existing mystery-using class 8th +1 level of existing mystery-using class 9th +1 level of existing mystery-using class 10th +1 level of existing mystery-using class Class Skills (4+int modifier per level): Balance, Bluff, Climb, Concentration, Craft, Diplomacy, Disable Device, Disguise, Escape Artist, Gather Information, Hide, Jump, Listen, Move Silently, Open Lock, Perform, Profession, Search, Spellcraft, Spot, Tumble, Use Rope. Check the post containing the new mysteries here (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=776675). Notes If the character didn't take Ordered Chaos among the three required feats options, at 5th or 9th level he/she will become chaotic aligned, because of the two Abyssal Heritor feats he/she will possess. This will prevent the character from taking any new levels in the Monk class, but won't stop any of the sinergies with the Monk class that the Shadow Demon PrC gives. Learning mysteris follows the same rules presented in Tome of Magic. This prevents any character who was previously unable to cast mysteries to learn any mystery beyond 4th level (because he/she will never know two 4th level mysteries in order to access the 5th level and so on). They will still be able to re-learn previous mysteries as normal. Class Features Weapons and Armor Proficiencies: You gain no new weapon, armor or shield proficencies. The Black Code: Those who enter the order of the Shadow Demon already knowing the ways of Shadow Magic must learn at least a number of mysteries equal to half their class level from the two apprentice paths and one initiate path which are exclusive to Shadow Demons. The choice of Fundamentals is free, instead. Those who don't respect this rule instantly become Ex Shadow Demons (see below). Mysteries and Paths: You do not cast spells as other classes do, but instead invoke mystical secrets called mysteries. If you didn't have levels in the Shadowcaster or Shadow Warrior (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=799350) class before (levels in other mystery using Classes or Prestige Classes such as Shadowsmith don't count), you learn 3 Fundamentals at 1st level and start learning Apprentice mysteries from the Shadow Demon mystery-list (see above) at 2nd level, gaining one additional mystery at every level, casting them as spells once per day per mystery. At 8th level you can learn Initiate mysteries and cast Apprentice mysteries as spell-like abilties twice per day per mystery. For the reasons explained in the "Notes" section above, at 9th and 10th level you will only be able to re-learn other mysteries, gaining more uses. At 10th level, all your mysteries gain the Chaotic descriptor and are recoverable by the means of the Chaotic Spell Recall feat (see Fiendish Codex I) for which you now qualify even if you don't meet the prerequisites. However, if you had at least one level in the Shadowcaster or Shadow Warrior (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=799350) class before becoming a Shadow Demon, from 2nd level to 10th you will just increase your mystery casting ability as if you had gained a level in the Shadowcaster class. The only difference is that you will be forced to learn at least 1 mystery every 2 class levels from the Shadow Demon mystery-list. This way you will have access to the most powerful mysteries of the list, since you will have enough lower level mysteries to gain the higher level ones. Note that this could requiere some additional levels in the Shadowcaster or Shadow Warrior (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=799350) class, however. At 10th level you don't gain the Chaotic Transformation class feature if you previously had Shadowcaster or Shadow Warrior (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=799350) levels. In order to cast a mystery from the Shadow Demon list you must have a Wisdom (or Intelligence if you had Shadowcaster levels) score of 10+the mystery's level. The save DC for your mysteries equals 10+the mystery's level+your Cha modifier. All the levels of the Shadow Demon class are considered caster levels and stack with the Shadowcaster's caster level. Ways to Twilight: The "ways" to reach the full power of the Shadow Demon are three, the way of the Stalker (if you had Ki Power), the Ascetic way (if you had Still Mind), the way of the Rogue (if you had +3d6 Sneak Attack) or the Warrior way (if you knew the Assassin's Stance and 2 3rd level Shadow Hand Maneuvers). Each one grants different benefits. If the charcter possessed more than one requirement, he must choose which way to follow at first (to determine if he/she gets Sneak Attack or Sudden Strike) but may choose a different benefit at 5th and 10th level (a benefit from a different "way"). Stalker: your levels in Shadow Demon stack with your Ninja levels for the purpose of calculating your Ki Power. From now on you get Sudden Strike. Ascetic: your levels in Shadow Demon stack with your Monk levels for the purpose of determining your unarmored speed bonus and Ki Strike class feature. From now on you get Sudden Strike. Rogue: your levels in Shadow Demon stack for the purpose of determining your Uncanny Dodge class feature, if you already had it from a previous class. From now on you get Sneak Attack. Warrior: instead of Sneak Attack or Sudden Attack, Shadow Demon levels count as initiator levels and you gain additional Shadow Hand maneuvers as shown in this table: lv Maneuvers Known Maneuvers Readied Stances Known 1st 1 1 0 2nd 0 0 0 3rd 0 0 0 4th 1 0 1 5th 0 0 0 6th 0 0 0 7th 1 1 0 8th 0 0 0 9th 0 0 0 10th 1 0 1 Silent Soul: The Shadow Demon's mysteries have their DC raised by 1 plus 1 every other 5 levels (maximum of 3) if their target is flat-footed or unaware that it is the target of the mystery. This only applies to the mysteries of the Shadow Demon Paths (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=776675). [I]Shadow Demon Skin: The Shadow Demon Skin is identical to the Shadow Skin mystery but is cast with a bonus on your caster level equal to half your Shadow Demon levels and replaces Silver with Cold Iron, since the nature of the power is now tied to the Abyss. The Shadow Demon can use it as a supernatural ability 1 time per day. At 8th level the Shadow Demon may use it 3 times per day. A Shadow Demon who reaches the Stalker's Way to Shadow is able to get an extra use for this mystery expending 2 Ki points. Ways to Darkness: Stalker: you gain the Ghost Step (ethereal) class feature as a 10th level Ninja, or the Ghost Strike class feature as a 9th level Ninja. Ascetic: you gain the Diamond Soul class feature as a 13th level Monk, or Abundant Step as a 12th level Monk. In both cases your levels of Shadow Demon stack with Monk's to determine the effects. Rogue: you gain a Rogue's Special Ability or an extra die of Sneak Attack Warrior: you gain Insightful Strike (Shadow Hand) or Defensive Stance (Shadow Hand) as described for the Swordsage class in Tome of Battle (page 16) with the excpetion that you may add your Cha modifier to Insghtful Strike if it is higher than your Wis modifier. Shadows and Air: you add your Charisma bonus to your AC as long as you are unencumbered, in light armor and not carrying a shield. Ways to Shadow: Stalker: you can now use your Ki points to gain extra uses of mysteries, expending 1 Ki point for every level of the mystery you want to use beyond daily limits. For example, you could spend 3 Ki points to gain 3 new uses for a 1st level mystery or 1 new use for a 3rd level mystery. Note that you can use this technique only to recover mysteries exclusive to this class, not mysteries from other Shadowcaster's paths, for example. Ascetic: you gain the Quivering Palm class feature as a monk of 15th level, with the exception that you may add your Charisma bonus instead of your Wisdom bonus to the DC if the former is higher. Again, levels in the Monk class and in Shadow Demon stack for the purpose of calculating the DC. Rogue: you gain two Rogue's Special Abilities or 2 extra dies of Sneak Attack. Warrior: you can benefit from two Shadow Hand stances at the same time for a limited number of times per day equal to your Cha modifer, and for a fixed number of rounds each time equal to the number of Abyssal Heritor feats you have (or you "pretend to have" with the Goju's Embrace mystery). EX Shadow Demons: a Shadow Demon who breaks the Black Code or becomes good-aligned (or breaks whatever extra rule the order might have) cannot take any other level in the prestige class and looses all the benefits derived from Silent Soul, Shadows and Air and the use of the Shadow Demon Skin mystery/class feature. Ok, now let's comment please! :D Remember to visit the post containing the mysteries for the PrC, here (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=776675).
Iarmeister 01-23-07, 12:16 PM	Interesting looking class. I will have to read it again more thoroughly when I have more time. Having said that... ...how many HD/level does this class get??
LordArchaon 01-23-07, 08:46 PM	Oops! forgot about it! and even skills! I will correct this now... 1d6 with 4+int skills.
LordArchaon 02-04-07, 01:46 PM	:bump:
LordArchaon 02-12-07, 07:58 PM	PrC updated with an illustration (actually an action figure!) and a paragraph about mystery-casting. PEACH PEACH PEACH!
Alpha_Moose 03-06-07, 04:15 PM	I like it. The different ways make it much more flexible a class, but you still give it something specific. I suggest that you also put under requirements the ability to cast a spell with the darkness discriptor like how most of the PrCs in ToM do, so a sorcerer or warlock could enter and increase spellcasting (hm, a warlock ninja...). Also under the Stalker Ways of Twilight, do you just increase uses of Ki Power, or do you also get other Ki Powers (ghost step, ki dodge, etc)? It's a good follower for my Shadow Warrior in my sig [/shameless promotion].:P I'll get to the new mysteries in a while.
LordArchaon 03-06-07, 04:30 PM	Thank you! Yes, I was thinking about spells with the Darkness descriptor under the requirements, but I don't know... Because I wanted it to be a mystery-user! About the "Stalker Ways to Twilight", yes, it's meant to increase your Ki Pool only. Then you get to choose between two of the Ki abilities and at 10th level you get the wonderful ability to convert Ki into mysteries... I hope we will have chance to work together the new mysteries! They haven't been tested, but well, they are just 3.0 to 3.5 spell conversions...
LordArchaon 03-08-07, 12:06 PM	BONUS: Here's the best build you could do with the Shadow Demon PrC: Shadowcaster 6 / Ninja 1 / Monk 3 / Shadow Demon 10 (BAB: +12, little more than Shadowcaster 20) Taking the above class levels and the Practiced Spellcaster feat is the only way to access the most powerful class features and still have the required caster level to unlock the best bonuses from the highest level PrC-specific mysteries. Note that while Caster Level will be of 20, the character would be forced to learn many class-specific mysteries, so its spellcasting abilities would loose in versatility and variety, apart from never learning 9th level mysteries before epic levels. Another consideration: A typical Shadow Demon without Shadowcaster levels could be: Ninja 6 / Shadow Demon X Monk 6 / Shadow Demon X Rogue 6 / Shadow Demon X A Shadow Demon who wants to take a mix of abilities could be: Ninja 2 / Rogue 5 / Shadow Demon X Monk 3 / Ninja 3 / Shadow Demon X Monk 3 / Rogue 5 / Shadow Demon X Other not so typical Shadow Demons, always without Shadowcaster levels could be: Swordsage 5 / Rogue 1 / Shadow Demon X (must have Assassin's Stance) Lurk 3 / Rogue 3 / Shadow Demon X Lurk 7 / Rogue 1 / Shadow Demon X Lurk 7 / Swordsage 2 / Shadow Demon X (must have Assassin's Stance) Lurk 12 / Shadow Demon X Spellthief 9 / Shadow Demon X However, if you don't have Shadowcaster levels, and besides, take some Shadowcaster levels DURING your Shadow Demon progression, your mystery-casting abilities will be limited to 4th level mysteries and the following uses per day: 1st level mysteries: 2 mysteries known, 2/day each 2nd level mysteries: 2 mysteries known, 2/day each 3rd level mysteries: 2 mysteries known, 2/day each 4th level mysteries: 1 mystery known, 3/day OR: 1st level mysteries: 2 mysteries known, 2/day each 2nd level mysteries: 2 mysteries known, 2/day each 3rd level mysteries: 2 mysteries known, 4/day each 4th level mysteries: 1 mystery known, 1/day OR: 1st level mysteries: 2 mysteries known, 2/day each 2nd level mysteries: 2 mysteries known, 2/day each 3rd level mysteries: 2 mysteries known, one 6/day, the other 2/day 4th level mysteries: 1 mystery known, 1/day If the Shadow Demon previously had Ninja levels and reaches 10th level in the Shadow Demon Prc, he can take the Stalker's Way to Shadow, allowing him/her to burn Ki points for additional uses of his/her mysteries. The maximum exploitation of this ability could allow a Ninja 10/Shadow Demon 10, with a Wis score of 20, the following mystery-casting ability: 1st level mysteries: 2 mysteries known, 2/day each 2nd level mysteries: 2 mysteries known, 2/day each 3rd level mysteries: 2 mysteries known, 2/day each 4th level mysteries: 1 mystery known, 3/day each AND WITH 15 Ki Points: 3 additional uses of the 4th level mystery and 1 additional use of a 3rd level one. 5 additional uses of any 3rd level mystery. 4 additional uses of any 3rd level mystery, 1 additonal 2nd level and 1 additional 1st level. 7 additional 2nd level. 15 additional 1st level. Or any similar combination: 1 spell level for 1 Ki Point. Note that the above example assumes that you won't use the Ki Points for anything else.
LordArchaon 03-10-07, 10:52 AM	Some small changes: At 10th level, a Shadow Demon who didn't have previous levels in the Shadowcaster class, doesn't gain another fundamental as before, but undergoes a "casting transformation" that makes him qualify for the Chaotic Spell Recall feat (Abyssal Heritor feat, see Fiendish Codex I) and gives all of his fundamental and mysteries the Chaotic descriptor, in order to make them recoverable by the means of the above feat. This way, non-shadowcasters are more attracted to the PrC, since with this last feature they will be able to re-use mysteries some times a day or even more times a day if they take the Stalker's Way to Shadow class feature, also at 10th level.
LordArchaon 03-10-07, 05:00 PM	Added "support" for the Shadow Warrior (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=799350) class! The only bad thing is that the class still needs at least 1 level of Ninja or Rogue to qualify... Should I make a maneuver enhancing "Way of the Warrior" for the PrC to be compatible with Shadow Hand users even if they don't get Sneak Attack from other sources?? I think it's a little mess, but I will think about it!
Alpha_Moose 03-10-07, 06:06 PM	Added "support" for the Shadow Warrior (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=799350) class! Thanks for that. They do compliment each other well. The only bad thing is that the class still needs at least 1 level of Ninja or Rogue to qualify... Should I make a maneuver enhancing "Way of the Warrior" for the PrC to be compatible with Shadow Hand users even if they don't get Sneak Attack from other sources?? I think it's a little mess, but I will think about it! That does seem like a good idea, not just for my class but for other maneuver users. If it's too much though that's fine. If you are doing it give them extra maneuvers that can only come from the Shadow Hand discipline.
LordArchaon 03-10-07, 09:44 PM	Did it! Now the PrC can also be accessed by Shadow Hand initiators and in this case, it doesn't grant Sneak or Attack nor Sudden Strike, but extra maneuvers and stances known along with maneuvers readied, like every "Martial" PrC. So I added: Warrior's Way to Twilight (the maneuvers progression) Warrior's Way to Darkness (Insightful Strike (eventually Cha based) or Defensive Stance with Shadow Hand maneuvers/stances) Warrior's Way to Shadow (double Shadow Hand stance for times per day equal to Cha modifier and rounds per time equal to number of Abyssal Heritor feats, so you can boost the duration by the means of the new Goju's Embrace mystery*) *Note that to be able to cast Goju's Embrace you must be a Shadowcaster/Swordsage/Shadow Demon or a plain Shadow Warrior (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=799350)/Shadow Demon. EDIT: I reworded the Requirements using the standards for alternative/variable requirements and structuring the paragraph so that the number of requirements becomes more evident.
Alpha_Moose 03-21-07, 07:28 PM	Nice.:ayyyy!: Do you keep changing the pic? If so I like it, or I'm just crazy. I also like how you've put about 5 links to my class in one post.:dancin: It makes me feel, special. Thanks!
041391klr 03-21-07, 09:14 PM	Ooo, how about ya name it something like Umbra Edge... its pretty dark and mysterious, of course if you don't like it its cool....Thesaurus.com is my friend...:P
LordArchaon 04-03-07, 07:01 AM	About Thesaurus.com... I found some possibilities! - Fiendish Slinker (Slinker = Lurker) - Nefarious Slinker - Shadow Nefarite - Eclipse/Eclipsing Fury They all give both the ideas of shadow and infernal heritage... What do you think? I would be for Shadow Nefarite or maybe Umbral Nefarite! :cool:
LordArchaon 04-17-07, 07:22 AM	The PrC has been modified and re-formatted with its new name in this post! SHADOW NEFARITE (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=827336)