A better shadowdancer

[Jack_McSnatch]

One of the antagonists I've had in mind is supposed to be a rogue with shadow powers. Shadowdancer seemed to fit the theme, but... This may not be a surprise to regulars on this forum, but it turns out shadowdancer blows goats. Is there a better option?

I'd like her to have shadow jumping, and the ability to call her shadow to help fight. Just like the shadowdancer, but actually capable of challenging a mid-op party. I know about the shadowcaster, but I've heard bad things about that. Shadow Hand style from ToB has a few moves that fit, but neither of these options give her the summon shadow ability. Ideas?

[DrMotives]

One of the antagonists I've had in mind is supposed to be a rogue with shadow powers. Shadowdancer seemed to fit the theme, but... This may not be a surprise to regulars on this forum, but it turns out shadowdancer blows goats. Is there a better option?

I'd like her to have shadow jumping, and the ability to call her shadow to help fight. Just like the shadowdancer, but actually capable of challenging a mid-op party. I know about the shadowcaster, but I've heard bad things about that. Shadow Hand style from ToB has a few moves that fit, but neither of these options give her the summon shadow ability. Ideas?

The shadowcaster is weak, but the original author posted some fixes that improve it. Plus, while they can't summon the monster shadow from MM1, they can summon shadow elementals from the ToM. If you have your heart set on undead minions, possibly tweak to make them have the necromental template from LM. Or just pick a bunch of shadow-themed spells from a traditional spellcaster class, they're in no short supply. Shadow Adept from Forgotten Realms also might be what you're looking for.

[gorfnab]

There is this build that I have listed in the Shadowcaster handbook in my signature.
Shadowcaster 8/ Swordsage 2/ Telflammar Shadowlord 6/ Arcane Trickster 4 - requires Whisper Gnome or Spell Hand feat for Mage Hand prereq.

[Particle_Man]

Have you looked at the Pathfinder version of the shadowdancer? They can use shadow conjuration and that gets you evard's black tentacles and that makes it far easier for the shadow companion to hit a victim.

https://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/prestige-classes/core-rulebook/shadowdancer/

If you want a weird option, have someone with 2 levels of CE soulborn. They don't have to control any shadows around them, since they are immune to strength damage. So just have someway of this guy releasing a pack of uncontrolled shaodows near the party.

[Rebel7284]

You are probably looking for Telflamar Shadowlord. Shadow Pounce allows you to make a full attack every time you teleport. You can fit a number of ways to teleport into a build using standard/move/swift actions.

One amusing way to do it is to enter Jaunter early using Golden Dancing Pegleg graft (Dr#318) and use that to qualify. Typically PCs have issues with this approach due to wealth by level, but NPC background can be a little more flexible.

Alternatively, if Shadow Hand maneuvers work for Shadow Pounce, you can enter with pure Swordsage and get a more Rogue build.

I have theory-crafted some level 15 Ardent based TSLs builds with customize mantle and dominant ideal which could take something like 12 full attacks per round due to action economy abuse available to psionic characters, but such a build is probably overkill here.

[Aetis]

This is for an NPC, so you could just make up a "shadow rogue" class and write in whatever abilities you think she should have.

[Arkhios]

IIRC, shadow is an undead, right? Wouldn't a necromancer based Arcane Trickster do the trick with Create Undead? I have to admit that I know very little about necromancy spells because, personally, I dislike necromancy.

[mabriss lethe]

I find that Shadowcasters have a perfectly acceptable power level as NPCs. They can bring out all of their big guns without completely overwhelming a party, and have a few nasty tricks that most players won't be expecting. The Master of Shadows PrC gives you a shadow elemental that you can customize to a certain degree round by round. Give them a few ToB maneuvers to taste and you've got a pretty solid chassis for what you want to do without it being totally ridiculous.

[Telonius]

One level of Warlock can get you the "Darkness" invocation. Take the "Blend into Shadows" feat from Drow of the Underdark (it's a General feat, not drow-specific), and you can Hide in Plain Sight as a swift action as long as your invocation is active.

[Falontani]

A binder that has bound tenebrous is able to use flicker for an immediate action teleport each round, and can rebuke/command undead as a cleric of his binder level. Allowing you to command a single shadow at least, who controls more and more shadows.

[Cosi]

Since this is an antagonist, why not just Gestalt Rogue with whatever shadow-based class you think is appropriate? Even Rogue 10//Shadowdancer 10 would make a reasonable antagonist around 10th level.

[Dr_Dinosaur]

The shadowcaster is weak, but the original author posted some fixes that improve it.

Could you provide a link?

[Telonius]

Link is here (http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?184955-Shadowcaster-fixes-by-Mouseferatu). Mouseferatu is the author's handle.


I'll do you one better. I'll post the latest version, which has a few further tweaks from the one I posted a while back. It still needs playtesting, so I can't swear it's all going to work as written, but this where it stands now.

1) Charisma determines the DC to save against your mysteries. Intelligence determines the highest level mystery you can cast.

2) Grant bonus mysteries per day based on Charisma. These would work just like bonus spells. For instance, if your Cha is 14, you can cast one extra mystery of 1st-level equivalent and one of 2nd-level equivalent per day. (Note that each mystery does give an equivalent level, even though you don't learn them by level.)

3) Eliminate the rule that says you have to take mysteries in a given Path in order. If you want to jump around, so as to broaden your versatility, you can.

4) Within a category—Apprentice, Initiate, Master—you must have at least two mysteries of any given level before you can take any mysteries of the next higher level. For instance, you must have two 1st-level mysteries before you can take any 2nds, and at least two 2nds before you can take any 3rds.

5) Eliminate the rule that says you get a bonus feat equal to half the number of paths you have access to. Instead, you get a bonus feat equal to the total number of Paths you complete. Thus, while you are no longer required to take the entirety of a given Path, there's still encouragement to do so.

6) You may “swap out” mysteries, just as a sorcerer does spells known. If you “un-complete” a Path in this way, however, you lose access to the bonus feat you gained from completing that Path. (You can regain access by re-completing the Path, completing a different Path and choosing that feat as your new bonus, or selecting that feat as a normal feat at your next opportunity.)

7) Once your Apprentice Mysteries become supernatural abilities, change the save DC from 10 + equivalent spell level + Cha to 10 + 1/2 caster level + Cha. This makes them useful even against high-HD opponents, and follows the pattern for other supernatural abilities.

[SangoProduction]

If you are OK with homebrew, Tome is a good series of relatively good quality homebrew, including a Tome Shadowdancer. (https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Shadowdancer,_Tome_(3.5e_Prestige_Class)) (Granted, this one is one of the less well-written of the Tome classes, but it has interesting enough powers, and is reasonably dense without being an out-and-out spell caster.) I once ran an entire game with players only using Tome classes. It was pretty....interesting. Quite fun.

[ericgrau]

One of the antagonists I've had in mind is supposed to be a rogue with shadow powers. Shadowdancer seemed to fit the theme, but... This may not be a surprise to regulars on this forum, but it turns out shadowdancer blows goats. Is there a better option?

I'd like her to have shadow jumping, and the ability to call her shadow to help fight. Just like the shadowdancer, but actually capable of challenging a mid-op party. I know about the shadowcaster, but I've heard bad things about that. Shadow Hand style from ToB has a few moves that fit, but neither of these options give her the summon shadow ability. Ideas?

This confused me too at first. Shadowdancer is actually great for non-rogue skillmonkeys like rangers and bards. The added stealth and the summoned shadow are extremely good. For rogues who need their sneak attack advancement OTOH it is a 1 level dip. So... for your goals and many people who fell into the same trap, yes it blows goats. In particular PCs have more answers to shadows than most monsters do.

I agree make another shadow based build or, for exactly what you want, make something up. The simplest way would be to to base the NPC off of shadowdancer. But tweak it and give him a higher level but not higher xp to make up for all the counters PCs have to shadowdancer abilities. You may want to likewise give him a greater shadow instead of a shadow, whose spring attack and CR in general makes him much more appropriate to challenge PCs. Lose evasion, uncanny dodge, slippery mind and improved evasion (but keep the rest). Gain +1d6 sneak attack every 3rd level. There, job done.