Shadowcaster

[Cartigan]

Everyone always hears about how great the Binder is or how both awful and terrible the Truenamer is, but no one even looks down on the third class from Tome of Magic - the Shadowcaster. Is it so horrible that people dare not speak its name in hopes it will cease to exist? Or is it just a mediocre class and so mediocre no one ever bothers talking about it?

What's the deal with the Shadowcaster?

[Morty]

From what I've heard, it's a class with nice fluff background that's on the lower end of average power-wise. So definetly playable, but you might fall behind in a more optimized game.

[tyckspoon]

They're on the weaker end, primarily because their use/day limits on the Mysteries is really, really harsh. Switch it to uses/encounter and they're pretty functional.

[Veyr]

It's extremely cool but quite underpowered. Especially as-written at low levels, where you will be reduced to shooting a crossbow very quickly. The author of the Shadow Magic section of Tome of Magic posted an unofficial revision somewhere that helps some, but not enough; it's still probably a Tier 4 class.

Still, it's one of the only Tier 4 caster classes out there, which makes it nice for those who prefer that balance point. Just be prepared to play a caster that will be spending a lot of its day without anything to cast...

[arguskos]

It's great, but needs some help. Here's how to help it.

1. It has NO support outside that book. Give it some with Descent of Shadows (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=74519), a fantastic (and surprisingly well balanced) support system for shadow magic.

2. Use the Mouseferatu Fix (http://www.enworld.org/showpost.php?p=3273239&postcount=2). This is a designer fix that alters the class pretty heavily. It's fantastic.

DoS says to not use the Mouseferatu fix, but personally, I use them both together and the Shadowcaster is quite a useful character to have on hand then. Still probably only Tier 3.

[WinWin]

It's like a Sorcerer, but without bonus spells for high attributes. Low levels are rough, due to the lack of debuff choices or raw damage. If it can get past 5th level a Shadowcaster should have no trouble keeping up with a moderately optimized party (providing they avoid some of the trap choices). There are some decent mysteries unique to the class as well as variants of arcane spells such as Shadow Evocation.

Noctumancer makes for a great arcane theurging match up.

Cityscape web enhancement has a few alternate paths.

Mother Cyst and similar feats from dragon mag effectively grant bonus mysteries, though no other benefits of a path. There may even be a couple of PrCs that expand their base mysteries (much like adding to known spells), but the verbiage has to be very specific. I might look into it if I dig out my 3.x books.

I don't agree that they lack versatility, however I should add that I have only played a 'Creeping Darkness' Illusionist/Shadowcaster/Noctumancer. That skews my evaluation of the class toward a positive bias. One thing I think they do lack is mysteries with the mind effecting tag. Their Charms are ok, but some Fear would have been more thematic IMHO.

[Zaq]

They both tried too hard and not hard enough to make them different from arcane casters. Their limitations are very harsh (the opportunity cost of taking anything of even remotely situational utility is staggering) and they can still be forced into Crossbow Mode even in the 7 to 10 level range.

My favorite (untested) fix is to either let them qualify for reserve feats or just give them reserve feats for free. It greatly increases their stamina and allows for slightly more varied mystery choices (as long as you have the right keyword to power your reserve feat, that new mystery isn't totally useless even if it's situational as hell). Combine that with the unofficial author fix and we have what looks like a reasonably playable class. I'd like to see some play reports from someone who turned mysteries from per-day resources to per-encounter resources and see how that works out.

[Psyren]

I would use Mouse's fix, plus make Metashadow feats 2 or even 3/day.

They have amazing flavor though, just like everything else in that book.

[RaggedAngel]

They have amazing flavor though, just like everything else in that book.

This.

This is why I can't help myself with the Tome of Magic, despite all the horrible, horrible problems with it. I love that book, and I love it way, way more than anyone who had a hand in creating it did.

I feel the most strongly about the Truenamer section; I have almost as much experience as Zaq does with the Truenamer (unless you've played it a lot more since your wonderful thread about it), and I've found that you can play it RAW... sort of. Totally RAW, I mean; I don't even have a competence item to stack with my Amulet of the Silver Tongue (yet; I'm playing a lower level than you were, and the DC's haven't gotten too crazy).

I just can't understand the process that went into making the Tome of Battle. The flavor is so powerful, and yet there was clearly no playtesting put into it.

So my question is this: How can you build an entire class and never once attempt to play it?

[Zaq]

This.

This is why I can't help myself with the Tome of Magic, despite all the horrible, horrible problems with it. I love that book, and I love it way, way more than anyone who had a hand in creating it did.

I feel the most strongly about the Truenamer section; I have almost as much experience as Zaq does with the Truenamer (unless you've played it a lot more since your wonderful thread about it), and I've found that you can play it RAW... sort of. Totally RAW, I mean; I don't even have a competence item to stack with my Amulet of the Silver Tongue (yet; I'm playing a lower level than you were, and the DC's haven't gotten too crazy).

I just can't understand the process that went into making the Tome of Battle. The flavor is so powerful, and yet there was clearly no playtesting put into it.

So my question is this: How can you build an entire class and never once attempt to play it?

This question is everything. I still laugh when I look at the monster section of the Truenamer chapter—those enormous racial bonuses to Truespeak show me that someone playtested the monsters and realized that they couldn't keep up with the DCs necessary to affect themselves and the players. But of course, did this translate back to the main class? Don't be silly.

Naturally, I've said time and again that the DCs are only the first of the Truenamer's problems. I agree that it's possible to reach the DCs playing by-the-book (I only had the one custom item helping me out, and while I was happy to have it, I could have functioned without it). It's very hard, though, to actually earn your share of the XP in any party that actually knows what they're doing. The Law of Sequence, the lackluster nature of the Utterances, the poor editing, and the need to devote such a high percentage of your resources to meeting the DCs in the first place (I said you could do it. I didn't say it was easy) all blend together into a delightful smoothie of fail. Playing it at any level makes this painfully clear. Yes, it's possible to play a Truenamer. It's just very, very hard (far harder than it should be) to make it worthwhile.

Anyway, what were we talking about? Shadowcasters, right? Such good flavor. Such mediocre execution. Give 'em a recharge mechanic and I'd play one.

I wonder how Shadowcasters would be different if they could swap paths every day? Say, they can master four paths of each tier, but they only get to use two of them on any given day. You'd probably have to rebuild their mysteries-known system from the ground up, but it'd be a way to make them feel less like sorcerers on rails and more like their own unique class.