Agent of Shar build advice.

[Reprimand]

I've recently been invited to a game featured in the Forgotton Realms. I'm not super familiar with the setting but I do know a bit about the diety Shar and have found her interesting. The DM is being pretty lenient on feat selection but I generally try to stay out of stuff like Incarnate, ToB, ToM, Psionics etc.

Shar also somewhat reminds me of Vecna so that's a big plus.

I would like to make a Human Cleric / Rogue that worships Shar.

Currently the Flaws I'm looking at are Divine Gestures (Arcane spell failure for divine spells) and probably something like Love of Nature.
Feats I'd like to balance Knowledge Devotion Divine Metamagic Persist and sneaky feats like Darkstalker

My goals are to utilize the Ring of the Darkhidden while creating magical darkness that I can see out of with ebon eyes / darkvision so I can stay hidden while my opponent's suffer penalties to hit me and sneak attack other people.

I already know about the sexiness that is sacred outlaw and darkstalker

The question is does Shar and her shadow weave provide anything that would make this concept work better than with say Vecna with Whispered Secrets?

Though I am not married to the idea of being a cleric for either diety. A self styled "King of Shadows" Sneak attack character that could see in magical darkness while procing sneak attacks is also fine.
Just trying to feel out my options for this concept.

[Crake]

The question is does Shar and her shadow weave provide anything that would make this concept work better than with say Vecna with Whispered Secrets?

Does Vecna even exist in faerun? I was under the impression he was a greyhawk deity

[Reprimand]

Does Vecna even exist in faerun? I was under the impression he was a greyhawk deity

I said this too but the answer according to my DM is yes so that's all that really matters on that front.

[Biggus]

The question is does Shar and her shadow weave provide anything that would make this concept work better than with say Vecna with Whispered Secrets?


The Insidious Magic feat (PGtF) could work well:


a Weave user attempting to reveal the effects of one of your spells via a divination spell (such as see invisibility) must make a caster level check to succeed

Also, the Tenacious Magic feat (PGtF) makes your spells harder to dispel.

[MinimanMidget]

Nightcloak, Shadow Adept, Initiate of Shar are all pretty on point.

[Paragon]

Sacred Outlaw multiclassing feat (Dragon # 357) is probably what you yearn for

[Crake]

Sacred Outlaw multiclassing feat (Dragon # 357) is probably what you yearn for

They already mentioned that one in the OP

[Reprimand]

Sacred Outlaw multiclassing feat (Dragon # 357) is probably what you yearn for

Haha yep I'm already aware of the sexiness of this feat but i'm not even married to the idea of a cleric of shar. Even a half decent sneak attack based martial as long as they can
A) create magicial darkness
B) see through magicial darkness ebon eyes
C) deal sneak attack via being invisible from ring of the dark hidden and probably grab penatrating strike acf.
D) access to any additional utility is a bonus.

[Crake]

Haha yep I'm already aware of the sexiness of this feat but i'm not even married to the idea of a cleric of shar. Even a half decent sneak attack based martial as long as they can
A) create magicial darkness
B) see through magicial darkness ebon eyes
C) deal sneak attack via being invisible from ring of the dark hidden and probably grab penatrating strike acf.
D) access to any additional utility is a bonus.

I think its worth noting that ring of the darkhidden doesnt make you invisible in general, it only prevents people from using darkvision from seeing you, however magical darkness blocks darkvision ANYWAY, so its a bit moot.

Also worth noting that magical darkness doesnt provide you with total concealment, its only 20% miss chance, so you arent treated as hidden for sneak attack. You also cant hide while being observed, so you cant just cast darkness and then hide in it, unless you have hide in plain sight to overcome the hiding in darkness part.

[Reprimand]

I think its worth noting that ring of the darkhidden doesnt make you invisible in general, it only prevents people from using darkvision from seeing you, however magical darkness blocks darkvision ANYWAY, so its a bit moot.

Also worth noting that magical darkness doesnt provide you with total concealment, its only 20% miss chance, so you arent treated as hidden for sneak attack. You also cant hide while being observed, so you cant just cast darkness and then hide in it, unless you have hide in plain sight to overcome the hiding in darkness part.

A darkness spell doesn't create concealment but actual darkness as in a lack of light does with invisibility from ring of the darkhidden does... something like no light prevents mundane sources of light from working while something like a deeper darkness spell turns off magical light rendering me invisible on a budget aka sneak attack city.

"In areas of darkness, creatures without darkvision are effectively blinded. In addition to the obvious effects, a blinded creature has a 50% miss chance in combat (all opponents have total concealment), loses any Dexterity bonus to AC, takes a –2 penalty to AC, moves at half speed, and takes a –4 penalty on Search checks and most Strength and Dexterity-based skill checks."

And so even if I'm not invisible creatures with normal sight theyre also still blinded.

[MinimanMidget]

I guess it's worth mentioning at this point that Warlock 1 + Blend Into Shadows gets you unlimited swift action Hide in Plain Sight.

[Crake]

A darkness spell doesn't create concealment but actual darkness as in a lack of light does with invisibility from ring of the darkhidden does... something like no light prevents mundane sources of light from working while something like a deeper darkness spell turns off magical light rendering me invisible on a budget aka sneak attack city.

It doesnt actually create an area of darkness though, it creates an area of shadowy illumination:


This spell causes an object to radiate shadowy illumination out to a 20-foot radius. All creatures in the area gain concealment (20% miss chance). Even creatures that can normally see in such conditions (such as with darkvision or low-light vision) have the miss chance in an area shrouded in magical darkness.

It doesnt actually make an area of pitch black darkness like you think it does, you can still see into it with mundane vision, but its treated as shadowy illumination, which is the step between normal light level and pitch black darkness that cannot be seen into. This was a nerf from the 3.0 darkness which did in fact create essentially a sphere of pure pitch black darkness.

Deeper darkness functions exactly the same, except that its a bigger area and lasts days/level.


I guess it's worth mentioning at this point that Warlock 1 + Blend Into Shadows gets you unlimited swift action Hide in Plain Sight.

Thats a pretty good solution for a level and a feat, though it wont create complete immunity to being seen, and will still require hide checks every round. Will also reveal yourself as soon as you attack, so only 1 sneak attack per on average, 2 at best if you begin the round hidden. Can probably fix that by getting something like greater manyshot, and just doing one sneak attack volley each round.

If you stick with warlock for a second level, you can also get devil’s sight, to be able to see through the darkness permanently.

As a solution that probably better matches your desires, in frostburn, theres a spell called obscuring snow, which is effectively fog cloud, however, theres another spell called snowvision, which lets you see through snow, including that of the obscuring snow spell, so you could stand in the obscuring snow and see out of it perfectly fine, while being completely unseeable from outside, exactly how you wanted darkness/ebon eyes to work. If you want to stick with the darkness theme, you could pick up spell thematics, and make the snow black like ebony ice. Obscuring snow is a cleric spell, but snowvision is a part of the winter domain, so might need to convince your DM to include that as part of Shar’s portfolio. Makes sense, shes all about darkness, and winter is when the days are shortest and nights are longest. Alternatively, theyre both druid spells, so you could just get a few druid levels

[PoeticallyPsyco]

Hmm, if Dragon Magazine is on the table (and honestly maybe even if it isn't), then I think your best bet for a sneaky Shar sneak attacker is actually Monk.

First, Invisible Fist lets you turn invisible every third round at Monk 2. If you stick it out to Monk 9, you get at-will blink.

Sidewinder Monk (this is the Dragon Magazine option) gives you Sneak Attack. It only increases every three levels, instead of every two like a rogue, but given how weak the class features you trade away for it are, this almost getting something for nothing.

Dark Moon Disciple (sect that worships Shar). Now this is absolute gold for a stealthy character. At 7th level, in anything other than daylight you have total concealment. This works in perfectly lit interior rooms, moonlight, you name it; as long as it's not actual daylight or daylight spell you can't be seen. If they can't see you, they are flat-footed against your attacks. Because it's total concealment instead of invisibility, see invisibility and even true seeing don't help against this ability.

Halfling Monk is also worth considering. It trades your Flurry of Blows for Skirmish like a Scout (but like with SA, with a weaker progression). Especially nice if you're multiclassing Rogue, because it qualifies you for Swift Ambusher, letting all of your Rogue levels count as Scout levels for Skirmish.

One of my favorite builds actually uses most of these. (It didn't use Sidewinder because no Dragon Magazine, but could easily include it. I'd be sad to see Wall Walker go, but 3d6 SA is probably worth it). A Halfling Rogue/Monk, it uses Dark Moon Disciple to benefit from Sneak Attack, Skirmish, and Iaijutsu Focus (a skill that gives you extra damage when you quick-draw a weapon) on all its attacks. He's a dual-sai-flinging angel of stealthy death. Good social skills and defenses, too. Build link (http://bit.ly/2kfZ3rs).