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View Full Version : Shadow creature/darkvision



Epinephrine
2009-08-25, 09:52 AM
I'm a little torn about his. The party I DM have darkvision (all of them), so they are actually hard to surprise (somewhat worse than that, they also have a character with see invisible up at all times, so invisible foes can't get the drop on them either). So often you would like to have enemies skulking in shadows, ready to leap out - and since this normally works, why would enemies try something more devious. The few times I manage to surprise them are in more natural surroundings where there is actual cover/concealment (tree trunks, bushes and foliage, caves with stalagmites/stalactites, etc.)

In the next bit, I plan to have a shadow creature attack them. One neat thing about the shadow creature template is that when in less than bright illumination they can gain total concealment. Of course, this is described as "blending into the shadows", and to darkvision, there are no shadows. So my issue is how this should interact. Is there any point to blending with shadows if the shadows (as far as darkvision is concerned) don't exist? Or does it effectively make them impossible to see with darkvision - they become as shadows are, and thus are simply not visible in the same way that shadows are not visible.

My temptation is to rule that a shadow creature is invisible to darkvision, as they blend with shadows - and darkvision ignores the light level. This will finally allow me an enemy that can be essentially invisible, as neither see invisible nor darkvision will reveal it blended into the shadows.

woodenbandman
2009-08-25, 09:53 AM
Toss magical darkness. Darkvision is beaten by magical darkness.

Cyclocone
2009-08-25, 10:02 AM
Superior Invisibility requires True Seeing to pierce. It's level 8 though.

Anyway, Darkvision states that it "does not allow characters to see anything that they could not see otherwise—invisible objects are still invisible, and illusions are still visible as what they seem to be.", so I imagine shadow blend works against darkvision.
At any rate, it would be a pretty lame ability if it didn't.

Curmudgeon
2009-08-25, 10:29 AM
You want enemies with Supernatural Hide in Plain Sight. They don't need to hide in the shadows; they only need the shadows to exist for them to use the Hide skill. Then darkvision doesn't matter; only a superior Spot check will let your party notice the foes.

Epinephrine
2009-08-25, 10:35 AM
Cool! Finally something will get a drop on them. And I hadn't thought about Supernatural HiPS, that is an odd ability.