Shadowmancer

rom a nearby hillside, the captain eyed the tower. Several small groups had entered this place hoping to bring the Lady Ivy Shadowfare to justice, but none had returned alive. Three days ago, their bodies were returned — at least, what was left of them. The sun rose over the hills in the east, and the remaining militia rallied under their banner. Today they hoped to bring in Lady Shadowfare where the others had failed. As they moved toward the tower, the great doors loomed into view. Standing in front was a woman with flaming red hair toppled down over her shoulders. The mistress of the Dark Tower stood ready for them. Someone shouted an epithet and then the charge began. In the distance, the lone woman began to work her magic. As Lady Shadowfare lifted her hands, dark energies reached out from the long shadows on the ground and twined around her figure. For a moment, some of the attackers hesitated, awed and terrified by the strange magic. Then the cries arose from those in front. Black tentacles leapt up from their own shadows, enveloping them and tearing them limb from limb. Another wave of darkness followed, followed by another, and another. Soon, the militia was nothing more than a field of screaming bodies. The captain had broken off from his troops, racing back to the barracks to warn the townspeople of their failure. But from the shadows still looming in the valley, he could see Lady Shadowfare’s form emerge, cutting him off. They stared at each other for a moment before he found his voice. “Ivy, don’t...” Darkness was the last thing he knew.

The pursuit of magic brings many into contact with other realms of existence. While some remain unaffected by this touch with the unknown, others embrace what they discover. The shadowmancer is one such individual, reaching out to the realms of shadow and drawing power from it. Shunning the material plane, their focus becomes shadow, and slowly they become tainted by the contact. They are creatures of darkness and chaos, and they are viewed with suspicion and fear by both the common folk and other practitioners of magic. Their reputation is not unjustified, as many who delve too deeply into the shadows are driven to madness and chaos by the journey.

Shadowmancers rise from the ranks of any arcane spellcasting class, but wizards who intently study the shadow realm are the most likely converts. Some sorcerers tap into a familiarity of the shadow realms through their bloodlines and spell choices, but this is much less common. It is a rare breed of bard that chooses the path of the shadowmancer, not because of a lack of ability to become so, but because the two classes are in a philosophical opposition.

Hit Dice: d4.

Requirements

To qualify to become a shadowmancer, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.

Concentration: 6 ranks
Knowledge (the planes): 8 ranks
Feats: Iron Will, Skill Focus: Knowledge (the planes)
Spellcasting: Must be able to cast 3rd-level arcane spells.

Class Skills

The shadowmancer’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (the planes) (Int), Spellcraft (Int), and Spot (Wis). See Chapter 4: Skills in the Player’s Handbook for skill descriptions.

Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.

Class Features

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The shadowmancer gains no additional proficiency with any weapon or armor.

Spells per Day: A shadowmancer continues to study standard magic as well as pursuing her other studies. Thus, when the shadowmancer reaches levels 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, and 10, the character gains new spells per day as if she had also gained a level in an arcane spellcasting class she belonged to before becoming a shadowmancer. She does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (improved familiar abilities, bonus metamagic feats, and so on).
     If a character had more than one arcane spellcasting class before she became a shadowmancer, she must decide to which class she adds each level of shadowmancer for purposes of determining spells per day when she adds the new level.

Darkvision (Su): A shadowmancer can see in the dark as though she was permanently under the affect of a darkvision spell.

Shadow Spells (Ex): The shadowmancer’s ability to cast spells is forever changed when she bonds herself to the shadow plane. She begins to tap into the power of the demiplane, using it to fuel her arcane magic rather than using the magic native to the material plane. This manifests itself in several ways.
     Whenever the shadowmancer casts a summon spell, the creature that is summoned is summoned from the demiplane of shadow. It is an exact replica of the creature summoned, but it appears pitch black, and constantly surrounded by wisps of shadow. It also has the hide in plain sight supernatural ability (see the shadowdancer prestige class in the Dungeon Master’s Guide), as well as an inherent +10 bonus to the creature’s hide ability.
     Any conjuration spell creates its effect by drawing matter from the demiplane of shadow and shaping it into the form taken by the spell. Even when the spell description lists the effect as being invisible, it appears as a shape made of shadow when cast by a shadowmancer (though this does not change the spell’s effectiveness). For example, a web spell is made of thick strands of shadow, and a phantom steed or an unseen servant are black creatures formed of the same darkness.
     Finally, all energy spells cast by a shadowmancer are automatically transformed to have the [Darkness] descriptor. This change to her spellcasting is permanent and always in effect, and can only be overcome through the use of a Metamagic Feat that allows the caster to change the energy type.

Shadow Jump (Sp): At 2nd level, the shadowmancer gains the ability to travel between shadows as if by means of a dimension door spell. The limitation is that the magical transport must begin and end in an area with at least some shadow. The shadowmancer can jump a total of 10 feet per shadowmancer level each day in this way. This amount can be split up among many jumps, but each jump, no matter how small, counts as a 10-foot increment. (For instance, a 4th-level shadowmancer who jumps 32 feet cannot jump again until the next day.)

Shadow Familiar (Su): When she reaches 4th level, a shadowmancer can animate her own natural shadow and give it life as a shadow familiar. This is statistically identical to a shadow, an undead shade (see the Monster Manual for the shadow’s statistics). Unlike the normal creature, however, the shadow familiar’s alignment matches the shadowmancer’s, and the creature cannot create spawn. The shadow familiar cannot be turned, rebuked, or commanded by any third party. This shadow familiar serves as a companion to the shadowmancer and can communicate intelligibly with her. Every other level gained thereafter adds +2 HD (and the requisite base attack bonus and base save bonus increases) to her shadow familiar. For example, an 8th-level shadowmancer can have a shadow familiar with 6 HD.
     When not actively performing a task dictated by the shadowmancer, the shadow familiar is “at rest” next to the her, literally becoming her natural shadow. Inversely, when the shadow familiar is not in the presence of its master, the shadowmancer does not have a physical shadow present. Those observing her can notice this curious anomaly with a DC 15 Spot check. This changes to DC 10 in well-lit environments where shadows can be plainly seen, and increases to DC 20 (or higher) in darker environments.
     Unlike other familiars, the shadow familiar cannot be willfully dismissed. It will simply lie dormant as the shadowmancer’s natural shadow for as long as the shadowmancer does not have commands for it. Also, neither the shadowmancer nor her shadow familiar receive the benefits normally associated with an arcane familiar (as listed for a sorcerer or wizard). They do not share spells, have an empathic link, or provide bonuses of any kind to one another unless otherwise listed in this ability.
     If a shadow familiar is destroyed, the shadowmancer must attempt a DC 15 Fortitude save. If the saving throw fails, the shadowmancer loses 200 experience points per shadowmancer level. A successful saving throw reduces the loss by half, to 100 XP per prestige class level. The shadowmancer’s XP total can never go below 0 as the result of a shadow familiar’s destruction. If a shadow familiar is destroyed, the shadowmancer’s natural shadow returns immediately, but she cannot re-animate it to create another shadow familiar for 30 days.
     If the shadowmancer already possesses another familiar, she can still undergo the ritual to animate a shadow familiar. The other familiar is released from its bond to the shadowmancer without ill effect on either master or familiar. The creature reverts back to a standard creature of its type, and will leave at the earliest possible opportunity.

Power of Darkness (Su): A 5th level shadowmancer learns to more effectively draw upon the chaos of the shadow realm, adding more power to her spells. Any spell cast by the shadowmancer that involves shadows or darkness (including any spell modified by her shadow spells ability) receives a +2 to the DC when others try to Save against her spells. However, as she delves deeper into the chaos of shadow, the shadowmancer also suffers a permanent drain of –2 to her Wisdom score.

Deeper Darkvision (Su): At 7th level, the shadowmancer’s darkvision improves, gaining the ability to penetrate even unnatural or magical darkness.

Shrouded in Shadow (Su): Beginning at 8th level, whenever a shadowmancer is within 10 feet of some sort of shadow, she becomes obscured by a twirling mass of darkness. This shroud of shadows offers the same protection as if the shadowmancer was under the effects of the blur spell.

Shadow Transformation: Through her extensive study of and union with the shadow plane, a 10th level shadowmancer undergoes a transformation and becomes a magical creature made of shadow. Her skin and hair become dusky and dark, and her eyes turn completely black. She is forevermore treated as an outsider with the (native) subtype.
     As an outsider, the shadowmancer becomes immune to certain effects that affect only humanoids. For instance, charm person does not affect her. She is also subject to spells that repels supernatural creatures, such as protection from chaos.
     In addition to becoming an outsider, the shadowmancer suffers a permanent drain of –2 to her Wisdom score (this is in addition to the Wisdom loss from power of darkness). The shadowmancer’s transformation also allows her to effortlessly draw upon the shadow realm, adding even more power to her spells. Any spell cast by the shadowmancer that involves shadows or darkness (or energy spells converted by her shadow spells ability) receives a +4 to the Save DC. This supersedes (does not stack with) the power of darkness ability.

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 This page was last updated on March 01, 2006 .