Advice on a ShadowDancer (PF/3.5)

[Another_Poet]

I run a Pathfinder game and a PC is going to take levels in the PF version of the Shadowdancer PrC (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/prestige-classes/shadowdancer). Those with experience with the 3.5 version are also welcome to chime in, though I don't know how similar they are.

Most of my questions revolve around Summon Shadow. Essentially the SD gets a shade as a familiar, but this shade uses the SD's base saves and BAB, and has half the total hp as the SD. It can't be turned/rebuked and it gets +4 to saves against positive energy effects.

If it dies, the SD has to save or take a permanent negative level.

I'm a little cautious as a DM about this. Not that it's overpowered--not at all, it's fine. But here are some concerns...
1) Given that there will not ever be an evil cleric in the party, and the sole good cleric is already pretty overtaxed on spell use, how can the SD get his shade healed? It is Iron Kingdoms so there is a distinct lack of available divine magic (real magic items cost 150% the DMG cost, and divine spells can't be made into mechanikal devices). But my understanding is that undead don't heal by resting, so this thing will always be on negative energy shortage. What can the player do to get healing for it?

2) How much of an ass should I be about this thing? By that I mean, if it dies the SD may get a permanent negative level. Should I pull my punches on the thing? Target other combatants first? Or do what most real enemies would do, freak out that there is a Shade attacking them and focus all their magic on taking it out first?

3) Has anyone DMd a SD with one of these before? Does the Shade's incorporeal touch Str drain effect nerf encounters? Should I be adjusting my encounters at all with this in mind?

4) I am thinking about flavouring the Shade as the spirit of one of the villains the SD has vanquished, which must now follow him and seek redemption. For extra fun I am considering giving the Shade some of the abilities of said villain. Maybe sneak damage for a vanquished roque, or some spells from a vanquished caster. Do you think this will complicate things? Will it make the Shade too powerful? How much is too much for decking the Shade with booster abilities?

Okay and the last question I have is on Shadow Jump....
5) How useful is Shadow Jump? :=)

[Person_Man]

Good Clerics can still memorize Cause Wounds. He probably won't want to, but it's possible.
The Shadow can still heal wounds naturally. So if your party is willing to rest between combats, it's a non-issue.
You could houserule a magic item, such as a Wand of Cause Light Wounds.
There are a bunch of other non-positive energy ways to be healed (http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19871786/A_Players_Guide_to_Healing_%28And,_why_you_will_be _Just_Fine_without_a_Cleric_to_heal%29).
You could houserule a varient, where the Shadow Dancer loses their Summon Shadow ability but gains an extra use of Shadow Call, and has their caster level bumped up to their character level instead of their Shadow Dancer level.
A Dread Necromancer or Setting Sun Ninja could heal it infinitively.
Various arcane spells also deal negative energy damage.
Dimension Door is very useful for escaping from combat and for Shadow Pounce, which I doubt your player will get. But in this case it is a standard action, so it will probably be of limited use as anything but a panic button.
While Pathfinder did improve it, the Shadow Dancer is still a very weak PrC. I would go as

[Gametime]

1) Given that there will not ever be an evil cleric in the party, and the sole good cleric is already pretty overtaxed on spell use, how can the SD get his shade healed? It is Iron Kingdoms so there is a distinct lack of available divine magic (real magic items cost 150% the DMG cost, and divine spells can't be made into mechanikal devices).

If he can still get a divine wand, a wand of inflict light wounds is probably still the most cost-efficient way to go about it. The 50% miss chance on incorporeal targets should mean the shadow is reasonably safe as long as he doesn't send it into exceptionally dangerous situations; it's best used as a flanker and aid than as a lone debuffer.


2) How much of an ass should I be about this thing? By that I mean, if it dies the SD may get a permanent negative level. Should I pull my punches on the thing? Target other combatants first? Or do what most real enemies would do, freak out that there is a Shade attacking them and focus all their magic on taking it out first?

Depends on the enemy, but I think they'd usually ignore it if there's something more powerful also attacking them.

If he sends in his shade solo, he deserves the penalties if it gets taken out. He's going to have to play smart with it. Don't pull your punches, but don't focus the shade unnecessarily, either.

Remember that being incorporeal means that the shade can almost always retreat into the ground or wall if he's taking heavy fire. There's really no reason for it to die unless he's not being careful with it.

Also, consider making the negative level healable through a mildly lengthy process. A sidequest, perhaps.


3) Has anyone DMd a SD with one of these before? Does the Shade's incorporeal touch Str drain effect nerf encounters? Should I be adjusting my encounters at all with this in mind?

Make sure your low-strength enemies are either disposable or can protect themselves from strength drain. Wizards and the like have a few ways to boost their AC against incorporeal attacks; Mage Armor and the like are your friends.


4) I am thinking about flavouring the Shade as the spirit of one of the villains the SD has vanquished, which must now follow him and seek redemption. For extra fun I am considering giving the Shade some of the abilities of said villain. Maybe sneak damage for a vanquished roque, or some spells from a vanquished caster. Do you think this will complicate things? Will it make the Shade too powerful? How much is too much for decking the Shade with booster abilities?

Sneak attack doesn't really make sense if he's making incorporeal touch attacks. There are a lot of flavorful spells that could become spell-like abilities, but some of them would be too strong and some too weak. Tend towards caution.

Other than that, the idea sounds quite cool.


Okay and the last question I have is on Shadow Jump....
5) How useful is Shadow Jump? :=)

Mildly.

[Nero24200]

The shadowdancer can always pour ranks into UMD and take wands of inflict. In fact, given that the shadowdancer is the one who gains it as a class feature, and gains a negative level if it leaves, it's his (or possibly her) responsibility to make sure it's okay.

Though it still heals on it's own. Intellegent undead heal as normal in PF.

[DanReiv]

The shadowdancer can always pour ranks into UMD

Pretty much this. Combat Bard is the logical entry into Shadowmaster (or rogue if you don't mind having evasion twice) in PF.

Human with the CHA from (favored class) bard, max rank and +3 bonus for being a class skill, you should be able to use UMD pretty effectivily by the time you can conjure the shadow.

In fact at Bard6/SM4 with 18 CHA (16+2 item) + Circlet of Persuasion (both great items for bard, and quite affordable by ECL10) you have +21 UMD. Wands awaaaaay.

[Starbuck_II]

Sneak attack doesn't really make sense if he's making incorporeal touch attacks. There are a lot of flavorful spells that could become spell-like abilities, but some of them would be too strong and some too weak. Tend towards caution.


Sneak attack can be used with incorporeal touch attacks. There is no attack restriction (only 2.0 had those).

Also:
Death Ward would be a smart thing to have during combat (to ignore the negative level)
In addition, it is only DC 15 Fort save (not too bad).
Drawback is it takes 30 days to get new one. I'd remove that restriction.

[Gametime]

Sneak attack can be used with incorporeal touch attacks. There is no attack restriction (only 2.0 had those).



No, but if he's adding the abilities for flavorful rather than mechanical reasons, I would personally recommend focusing on abilities that connect really well with the character's backstory, that mesh with the fact that he's now a shade, and that offer interesting interactions instead of a fairly standard damage boost.

[Another_Poet]

No, but if he's adding the abilities for flavorful rather than mechanical reasons, I would personally recommend focusing on abilities that connect really well with the character's backstory, that mesh with the fact that he's now a shade, and that offer interesting interactions instead of a fairly standard damage boost.

How about Recite Tale of Woe 5/day?

And Cautionary Tale to Would-Be Evildoers 1/day.

[Severus]

I played in a group with a 3.0 shadowdancer and thought they were pretty 'meh'. Others have suggested options, but my advice is don't be an ass because shadow dancer just isn't that special.

How I'd run it in your circumstance:
Shadow is an evocation of the self. Shadow dancer calls it forth and takes the HP damage of its hit points, can be healed normally, can be done only at midnight.

If the shadow is killed, the shadow dancer is stunned for some period, no level loss.

[Fax Celestis]

Replace the Shadowdancer's Shadow progression with the Master of Shadow's (ToM) Shadow Elemental progression.