Shadow Blood [Feat]

[Shiny, Bearer of the Pokystick]

Shadow Blood Feats

Shadow Awakening
You feel the touch of shadow stirring within you, and grasp it to enhance your own abilities.
Prerequisites:Native to Plane of Shadow or extraplanar subtype from a Shadow-based source; or, exposed to the Plane of Shadow via Plane Shift/Portal travel.
Benefit: You gain a +4 bonus to hide and move silently checks. If you have a shadow jump ability, the maximum distance you can travel using it is increased by 10ft.; all spells you cast with the descriptor are at +1 caster level. These abilities do not function in daylight conditions.
Special:Creatures with the dark or shadow template cannot gain this feat- their heritage is already active.

Shadow Wings
You gain insubstantial, misty wings formed of diaphanous black shadowstuff.
Prerequisites:Extra-planar subtype from a shadow-based source or Shadow Awakening, and Grasp Shadow's Line.
Benefit: You gain wings and a fly speed equal to your base land speed (good maneuverability). These wings function normally in areas where illumination is less than normal daylight; in daylight, however, your maneuverability drops to poor, and your speed is reduced by half. A medium or heavy load that would reduce your land speed reduces your fly speed a proportionate amount.

[S]Gloaming Wings
You gain soft, fur-feathered wings like those of a Gloaming.
Prerequisites: Shadow Awakening.
Benefit:You sprout dark, furry wings and gain a fly speed of 20ft. (poor maneuverability). Your skin glows faintly, and can provide illumination up to torch-level, should you so choose.

Swyft-blooded
Your ancestry among the shadowswyfts grants you certain benefits.
Prerequisites: Shadow Awakening.
Benefit: You gain 120ft. darkvision, a +4 bonus to hide and move silently checks, and a +2 bonus to initiative. These abilities do not function in daylight conditions.

Grasp Shadow's Line
You enhance your shadow ancestry to deal death swiftly from the shadows.
Prerequisites:Extraplanar subtype from a shadow-based source.
Benefit:In any area of shadow (anything less than full daylight), you gain a +2 bonus to Hide and Move Silently checks. In addition, you gain +1d6 sneak attack damage when you strike from hiding (but not when simply flanking); this benefit does not grant the sneak attack ability if you do not already possess it.

These are an attempt at minor, but more universal, bloodline/heritage feats; not just for sorcerers anymore. They're mostly for my own use, but I'd like your opinion, folks- so lemme have it.

Submissions of non-caster-focused heritage feats dealing with shadow to expand the concept are also appreciated.

[Thexare Blademoon]

Shadow Awakening
You feel the touch of shadow stirring within you, and grasp it to enhance your own abilities.
Prerequisites:Native to Plane of Shadow or exposed to shadow.
Benefit: You gain a +6 bonus to hide and move silently checks. If you have a shadow jump ability, the maximum distance you can travel using it is increased by 10ft.; all spells you cast with the [Shadow] descriptor are at +1 caster level.
Special:Creatures with the dark or shadow template cannot gain this feat- their heritage is already active.


No wonder I move so quietly, I've stood in shadows before and taken this feat!

You really should specify more what "exposed to shadow" means.

[Korias]

Exposure to Shadow...

Hmm.. thats pretty vague. Might want to specify, or a lazy GM might not be able to catch his munchkin player kill a dragon from within the shadows, Qualifying him for these feats.

[DracoDei]

Seem pretty high powered for feats... maybe I am not fully understanding the requirements...
The first one gives +6 to 2 different skills AND other benefits. Compare this to the skill feats that give +2 to 2 different skills.
Up and sprouting wings spontaniously seems pretty high powered. Also glowing seems counterproductive (although that is a good thing as a balancing factor).

[Shiny, Bearer of the Pokystick]

Changed requirement to shadow-based extraplanar subtype; it's meant to be big-S Shadow, as in 'Plane Of', since these are heritage/bloodline feats. My apologies for not taking into account the natural tendency of players to misinterpret to their benefit.

The original was based on the qualifying requirements for Shadowblade, ToM.

Draco, gaining this feat requires you to have an extraplanar subtype; that usually requires templates for a player character, which is at least LA +1. That's not a small requirement.
The majority of races which qualify for this feat early already have some/all of these benefits; the feat would enhance the natural bonuses of a Shadowswyft, the facility with [Shadow] spells of a Gloaming, etc., in much the same way certain psionic feats expand the utility of, say, a Maenad's psi-likes. Not terribly over-powerful.

In addition, the feats that grant +2 to certain skills are a singularly poor investment; their opportunity cost is extremely high compared to their benefit, especially as continual skill-boosting items are available for a pittance; for instance, a +5 bonus to Hide and Move Silently would cost me only 5,000 gp.

That being said; I'm reducing it to +4 to both. Hope that helps.


Outsider Wings (http://realmshelps.dandello.net/cgi-bin/feats.pl?Outsider_Wings,all) is a functionally near-identical feat with similar requirements.

Is the Fly spell or Boots of Flying overpowered? Admittedly, these are unlimited use, but as the warlock proves, that's no indicator of power.

[DracoDei]

That explains it. They may or may not be well designed feats, but I am now officially out of my depth.

[Shiny, Bearer of the Pokystick]

That explains it. They may or may not be well designed feats, but I am now officially out of my depth.
Wah? Your suggestions were helpful, so I wouldn't really suggest your giving up on advising me now.

On multiple sources of advice, I've cut down some of the ability lists, and removed Gloaming Wings, cuz' they're lame.

[SurlySeraph]

Aww, all the good suggestions have already been made. All that I can do now is say that "Shadow Blood" is a really awesome-sounding and really intimidating name.

[Shiny, Bearer of the Pokystick]

Aww, all the good suggestions have already been made. All that I can do now is say that "Shadow Blood" is a really awesome-sounding and really intimidating name.

Thanks; glad you liked it.

Fiddled the prereqs for Shadow Awakening; added a shadowy conditions requirement to all.

New feat, Grasp Shadow's Line; essentially, Shadow Awakening for Dark/Shadow templated creatures.