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View Full Version : [3/5] Shadow Blend, unbeatable?



jiriku
2010-01-18, 01:00 AM
The shadow mastiff's (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/shadowMastiff.htm) shadow blend ability reads:



Shadow Blend (Su)

In any condition of illumination other than full daylight, a shadow mastiff can disappear into the shadows, giving it total concealment. Artificial illumination, even a light or continual flame spell, does not negate this ability. A daylight spell, however, will.

See invisibility (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/seeInvisibility.htm) and true seeing (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/trueSeeing.htm) do not defeat concealment. Am I correct in interpreting this to mean that shadow blend is functionally a supernatural greater invisibility that can't be beaten by anything but natural sunlight and a daylight spell? On a CR 5 monster, this seems like something that would give an EL 5 party a lot of trouble, especially if encountered on its native plane of Shadow where there is no natural sunlight.

FlamingKobold
2010-01-18, 01:11 AM
If you sent a level 5 party to the plane of shadow, you have other things to worry about...

Anyway, yes. Get one of these insidea building and it's game over for anyone that isn't a cleric that enjoys casting daylight.

jiriku
2010-01-18, 01:23 AM
Total concealment defeats Spot checks as well, correct? This is even better than Hide in Plain Sight.

And, umm, party is EL 9ish, but I'm actually advancing one up to CR 10 to use as a lurker in an upcoming boss fight. With a shadar-kai sorceress as a BBEG, any daylight spell would get dispelled pretty quickly. I am considering if assassin stance + staggering strike + spring attack would be excessive if placed on a 12HD shadow mastiff.

Signmaker
2010-01-18, 01:32 AM
Total concealment defeats Spot checks as well, correct? This is even better than Hide in Plain Sight.

And, umm, party is EL 9ish, but I'm actually advancing one up to CR 10 to use as a lurker in an upcoming boss fight. With a shadar-kai sorceress as a BBEG, any daylight spell would get dispelled pretty quickly. I am considering if assassin stance + staggering strike + spring attack would be excessive if placed on a 12HD shadow mastiff.

Umm...not even close. TC grants you the ability to hide, usually. It doesn't mean you're unseeable right off the bat.

Biffoniacus_Furiou
2010-01-18, 01:44 AM
It still needs to make Hide checks, otherwise they can always pinpoint which square it's in. They'll still suffer a 50% chance to miss it due to total concealment, and they won't have line of sight to it for targeted spells, but any AoE or a spell that requires an attack roll can still be used against one.

I'd designed an encounter a while back that involved the PCs tracking a bugbear assassin back to his lair. I don't really remember the level of the adventure, but I know the bugbear was able to cast Deeper Darkness. There were like 3 or 4 advanced shadow mastiffs guarding the entrance to his lair, and every day he'd cast deeper darkness on a nearby rock so there would be 5 up at any given time. I never actually ran the encounter, but they could figure out where the darkness was cast fairly easily and cover the rocks with mud or leaves to block out the effect. The entire adventure was designed to make the players consider their options rather than just full-attacking everything in sight.

Kelb_Panthera
2010-01-18, 03:56 AM
Arcane Sight. It's a su affect which means it and its bearer have a magical aura which Arcane Sight immediately pinpoints. Now you only need to get around that unfortunate 50/50 miss chance, but that's not hard.

EDIT: crossbow with seeking works nicely, melee types can use blind fight, and casters should have some AoE's.

2xMachina
2010-01-18, 05:58 AM
Shadow template. +2 LA does this also.