Shadow Blade Feat For the Swordsage

[Savith9]

Now I've looked at the Shadow blade feat for a few and I can see the feat working two ways based off how its worded.
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Benefit
While you are in a Shadow Hand stance and attack with one of the discipline's preferred weapons, you can add your Dexterity modifier as a bonus on melee damage for attacks made with the weapon.

Special
Shadow Blade can be used in place of Weapon Finesse to qualify for a feat, prestige class, or other special ability. If this substitution allows you to gain a benefit that normally applies to all finesse weapons (those described in the Weapon Finesse feat description), it instead applies only to the Shadow Hand discipline's preferred weapons.
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Now based off the wording the first way it could be read is add your dex seperate from your Str, now I have looked at a few optimized builds that have it adding this way.

The second way is normally anything where you add a stat it replaces the old one such as Weapon Finesse but that states that it replaces your Str when making attacks.

Any thoughts on this I have seen builds that use it both ways and im thinking it should be the second one and function like Weapon Finesse only for damage but just in case I want to get some ops from others.

[Lord_Gareth]

The wording is crystal clear - Shadow Blade adds your Dex modifier to your damage in addition to your strength, but only when using discipline weapons for the Shadow Hand Discipline. If something has Weapon Finesse as a pre-requisite, Shadow Blade counts as that feat for the purposes of qualifying for that option, and not for any other purpose (such as attack rolls, since Shadow Blade only modifies damage rolls).

Where did any confusion even come in?

[Sception]

If it does not state it replaces your strength, I would not assume it does so.

[Savith9]

The wording is crystal clear - Shadow Blade adds your Dex modifier to your damage in addition to your strength, but only when using discipline weapons for the Shadow Hand Discipline. If something has Weapon Finesse as a pre-requisite, Shadow Blade counts as that feat for the purposes of qualifying for that option, and not for any other purpose (such as attack rolls, since Shadow Blade only modifies damage rolls).

Where did any confusion even come in?

Most of the confusion comes in from the fact that I have seen optimized builds that conflict each other when adding this feat it and the usual way of adding another stat in is replacing the old one like Weapon Finesse does or Brutal Throw, Zen Archery...

So mostly just looking for other ops and go off the most popular agreed choice.

[Lord_Gareth]

Most of the confusion comes in from the fact that I have seen optimized builds that conflict each other when adding this feat it and the usual way of adding another stat in is replacing the old one like Weapon Finesse does or Brutal Throw, Zen Archery...

So mostly just looking for other ops and go off the most popular agreed choice.

RAW doesn't care what other, similar abilities do until or unless it specifically says so. Shadow Blade isn't "based" on Weapon Finesee, Zen Archery, or Brutal Throw. It's Shadow Blade. The wording is clear-cut and without any ambiguity whatsoever; you're creating problems for yourself where they don't exist.

[andromax]

It adds to it. It does not replace it.

[Savith9]

The wording is clear-cut and without any ambiguity whatsoever.

Thank you Gareth, I now have a little bit of ammo behind me when my DM starts asking how I am doing the amount of damage I am doing. :smallsmile:

[Answerer]

Note that the version of the feat in the book and the version of the feat in the excerpt from the book on Wizards' website are different. The one in the book should be taken as the "correct" one.