3.5 Master of shadow prestige class on a shadowcaster

[Quentinas]

I'm will play n a campaign as a shadowcaster 5 /master of shadow 5 , because there was an old player , which is one of my friends ,and him and the DM offered me his place, because he can't play for now (i' m a feytouched so without items I have around 22 of charisma and 16 of intelligence) my DM permitted me to avoid the rule of the paths for a shadowcaster and enabled me to change a mystery like a sorcerer, but i don't have bonus mysteries the DC of my mysteries are based on charisma. I have UoM as a class skill strangely but now i have a problem . What will you do with a shadow elemental if you are a shadowcaster? Because it is fantastic because is incorporeal but in combat he doesn't do so much (actually 1d8+1d6 of cold damage without master's bidding) but because it is incorporeal my DM ruled that he can't use anything not incorporeal so I have to use equipment made of ectoplasm(actually a buckler +1 with speed) or that have ghost touch so basically only armor , shield and weapons for now. I think i will make my shadow elemental take ghostly grasp (from libris mortis) using the ioun stone which boost charisma so i could arrive at the 15 of charisma needed for that.So for the equipment i don't have many problems , but i don't know what do with him , his skill points are not so high (and because he is not a familiar it doesn't take my skill points) only listen and spot as class with 1 skill point for HD . So what do with the shadow elemental? I can retrain my feat for now , the character was focused on metashadow feat but i can change that . I can't use psionic related feats, incarnum related feats, and is better if i avoid 3rd party books . What would you do with this build? I can't modify the classes sadly so noctumancer is not a real choice now because it would be stronger with that prestige class . Ah yes it one feat each odd level not each three level so i have more feat than normal
The best thing i have thinked is to use the mystery like flesh fail and delivering them through the shadow elemental but i don't know if that is good .
Sorry if my English is bad but it is not my native language

[Zaq]

MoS’s primary purpose is to give you something to do with your actions (specifically, bossing around your shadow elemental) on turns when you don’t want to use one of your extremely limited number of mysteries. The loss of a level of progression hurts, but that’s the price demanded.

As you mentioned, the damage isn’t especially high, and it’s not easy to directly buff the shadow elemental with your class-granted abilities other than master’s bidding. It will never be a damage powerhouse, but it’s better than just doing nothing on your turn if you have no relevant mysteries left or if you’re trying to save your power for later.

The shadow elemental doesn’t need much equipment, at least. Being incorporeal but with an incorporeal touch attack that already damages corporeal targets handles a surprising amount. Touch attacks are very accurate, and the fact that it can fly helps a lot.

The fact that it gets feats might be helpful, especially since it gets extra HD based on your level.

Just a few random feat ideas:


Get it Intimidate as a class skill (Martial Study?) and then have it take Intimidating Strike. That just feels thematically appropriate, honestly. And while you can’t use Intimidating Strike to go from shaken to frightened, you can use Intimidating Strike to get them to shaken and use a DIFFERENT source of fear to get them to frightened.
Martial Study isn’t a bad idea in general for something like this.
Shape Soulmeld would be fun, but I see that it’s banned. Too bad.
Improved Natural Attack is boring and not very powerful, but it does exist.
It qualifies for Flyby Attack naturally.
You’re probably on the right track with maybe stuff from Libris Mortis? Don’t have my copy open at the moment so I forget what would be appropriate.
It has incorporeal defenses and can be resummoned one day after being killed. You could give it Constant Guardian and Dutiful Guardian and make it defend you! That would be funny.


Do any of those sound entertaining?

[Quentinas]

The shadow elemental doesn’t need much equipment, at least. Being incorporeal but with an incorporeal touch attack that already damages corporeal targets handles a surprising amount. Touch attacks are very accurate, and the fact that it can fly helps a lot.

Yes it very accurate, and at the same time but it need equipment even only to make his natural attack able to bypass the DR caused by material (the DM ruled that the DR apply even to incorporeal attack , it's strange but that this the rule)



The fact that it gets feats might be helpful, especially since it gets extra HD based on your level.

Just a few random feat ideas:


Get it Intimidate as a class skill (Martial Study?) and then have it take Intimidating Strike. That just feels thematically appropriate, honestly. And while you can’t use Intimidating Strike to go from shaken to frightened, you can use Intimidating Strike to get them to shaken and use a DIFFERENT source of fear to get them to frightened.
Martial Study isn’t a bad idea in general for something like this.
Shape Soulmeld would be fun, but I see that it’s banned. Too bad.
Improved Natural Attack is boring and not very powerful, but it does exist.
It qualifies for Flyby Attack naturally.
You’re probably on the right track with maybe stuff from Libris Mortis? Don’t have my copy open at the moment so I forget what would be appropriate.
It has incorporeal defenses and can be resummoned one day after being killed. You could give it Constant Guardian and Dutiful Guardian and make it defend you! That would be funny.


Do any of those sound entertaining?

The first would be interesting except a little problem... he gain 1 skill point for level and he gain a feat at my 3rd level of MoS (before that he uses the shadow elemental feats) so at maximum he will have a 7 + charisma on intimidate by level 10.. Not so high even if we add all of his Bab (so he will have 9 of BAB by level 10 of MOS so 16+charisma maybe it is enough) It is interesting (and better if we combine with the intimidate of the shadowcaster for example to make them more frigthened) but maybe a little difficult
I have think about shape soulmeld but sadly it is banned
Improved natural attack was the feat that my friend gave him in his build (and now i think about that i see that they forgot the size increase in the damage, even in the example build) and it's about a 2.5 more damage for attack with one (with all three feats expended to that he arrives at 3d6 damage for his natural attack)
Now i don't have Libris Mortis with me i think about ghostly grasp because some equipment could be good
Dutiful and constant guardian is a very funny thinb that is entertaining so maybe i will go on that way (I hope that the DM say that i can choose the feats even if i resummon him) . Another thing that i think was about using his combat reflexes feat to improve his combat considering his size but i have to see again the AoO related feats (sadly he can't gain robilar gambit)
For Flyby attack yes but i don't know because there is the problem with the distance if he moves too far from me he could disappear
Rather than intimidating strike i could use daunting presence (which is from LIbris Mortis) to get them shaken is a standard action and it require a will save but it doesn't require intimidate as a class skill and maybe is better (the DC would be the same than intimidating strike but without the hit and it would be a will save rather than a level check .
Thanks for the idea Zaq if someone else have other ideas i will see that, it is my first time using this prestige class

[daremetoidareyo]

Hidden talent? Or lol, spellfire wielder.

[Quentinas]

No psionic stuff (but what would you do with hidden talent? He will have serious problem to be psionic focused for example.... welll he could take a psicrystal and that would be strange ) and i have never heard of spellfire wielder

[StSword]

No psionic stuff (but what would you do with hidden talent? He will have serious problem to be psionic focused for example.... welll he could take a psicrystal and that would be strange ) and i have never heard of spellfire wielder

The spellfire feat is here (https://www.realmshelps.net/charbuild/feat/Spellfire_Wielder).

It also has a prestige class for those who want to develop the ability further which you can peruse here (https://www.realmshelps.net/charbuild/classes/prestige/realms/sfirechanneler.shtml).

[Quentinas]

Thanks StSword, and i think i will go with the Guardian feats proposed by Zaq (maybe with ghostly grasp to use some equipment to boost)
About Spellfire Wielder...welll he is not a character, and even if we say that the first level is the first Hit Dice in his case he would have already taken that feat (we can choose the feat of the sixth HD; of the ninth HD, and of the twelfth HD) Not the first HD or the third HD .

If anyone else have some idea you can put here ,the master of shadow is a strange prestige class at least for me but maybe is stronger than the other one who do is work the bounded summoner from miniatures handbook
Thanks to all