Original Prestige Classes
Child of Night:
SpoilerENTRY REQUIREMENTS
Skills: Knowledge (Arcana) 8 ranks, Knowledge (The Planes) 8 ranks
Shadowcasting Spellcasting: Ability to cast spells with the darkness descriptor or shadow subschool, or ability to cast mysteries.
Special: Must have visited the Plane of Shadow
Class Skills
The Class Name's class skills are Concentration, Craft, Hide, Intimidate, Knowledge (Arcana), Knowledge (The Planes), Move Silently, Profession, Sense Motive, Spellcraft, Spot
Skills Points at Each Level: 4 + int
Hit Dice: d6
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Mysteries/Spellcasting
1st|+0|+0|+0|+2|Cloak of Shadows, Sustaining Shadows, Cold Resistance 5|
2nd|+1|+0|+0|+3|Cloak of Shadows (Blur 1/day)|+1 level of existing casting class
3rd|+1|+1|+1|+3|Swift Shadows 1/day|+1 level of existing casting class
4th|+2|+1|+1|+4|Cloak of Shadows (Blur 2/day)|+1 level of existing casting class
5th|+2|+1|+1|+4|Cold Resistance 15|+1 level of existing casting class
6th|+3|+2|+2|+5|Cloak of Shadows (Blur 3/day, Displacement 1/day)|+1 level of existing casting class
7th|+3|+2|+2|+5|Swift Shadows 2/day|+1 level of existing casting class
8th|+4|+2|+2|+6|Cloak of Shadows (Constant Blur, Displacement 2/day)|+1 level of existing casting class
9th|+4|+3|+3|+6|Immunity to Cold|+1 level of existing casting class
10th|+5|+3|+3|+7|Cloak of Shadows (Shadow Blend), Night Form|+1 level of existing casting class[/table]
Class Features
Mysteries/Spellcasting: At every level after first, you gain new mysteries or spells per day and an increase in caster level (and mysteries or spells known, if applicable) as if you gained a level in a casting class to which you belonged before entering this prestige class. If you had multiple spellcasting classes, choose which class to add each level for the purpose of determining mysteries or spells per day, caster level and mysteries or spells known.
Cloak of Shadows (Su): At first level you gain a bonus to Hide checks equal to your Child of Night level.
At 2nd level, you can once per day gain the effects of the Blur spell as a swift action for a number of minutes equal to your Child of Night level.
At fourth level, you can activate the Blur effect twice per day.
At 6th level, you gain a third daily use of the Blur ability, and additionally you can gain the benefits of Displacement once per day for a number of minutes equal to your Child of Night level, also as a swift action.
At 8th level you permanently gain the benefits of the Blur effect and can use the Displacement ability twice per day.
At 10th level you gain the Shadow Blend ability.
Sustaining Shadows (Ex): You gain the benefits of Sustaining Shadow (see the Shadowcaster class features for details) at a faster rate. You gain the level 5 benefit at first level, and advance to the next stage of the class feature at 4th, 7th and 10th level.
Cold Resistance (Ex): At first level you gain Cold Resistance 5. This increases to 15 at fifth level and becomes Cold Immunity at 9th level.
Swift Shadows (Su): At third level, you can cast a mystery from the Speed of the Night path as a supernatural ability once per day with a caster level equal to your class level plus your levels in any other mystery-casting class.
At seventh level, you can use this ability twice per day.
Night Form (Su): For a number of minutes per day equal to half of your Hit Die (round down), you can become incorporeal as a standard action. You gain all of the benefits of the Incorporeal subtype and a fly speed of 40 feet with perfect maneuverability. You can divide the duration of the ability over multiple uses in a day, though each session counts as a minimum of 1 minute against the duration.
Notes on changes:
SpoilerSo the idea of this class is of someone that attunes to shadow magic for more intensely than other creatures, using abilities that increase stealth and scouting ability to gain a degree of free reign on the battlefield that other people are hard-pressed to gain. It does make an effort to capture this concept, but falls short in ways that make it not necessarily worthwhile.
This prestige class screams gaining the Shadow Blend ability, which in its own way acts as a situational constant displacement. Since Dancing Shadows doesn't exist in this version of Shadow Magic, the ability is replaced with being able to golf-bag the new movement-based path to give something useful for scouting. Cold resistance is changed to have stronger scaling ending at outright Immunity and Night Form gets a duration buff. Sustaining Shadow is stronger in this form, but it still gets an early ending from the prestige class, though slightly more spread out.
Master of Shadow:
SpoilerENTRY REQUIREMENTS
Skills: Knowledge (Arcana) 5 ranks, Knowledge (The Planes) 8 ranks
Feats: Shadow Familiar
Mysteries/Spellcasting: Caster level 5th
Class Skills
The Class Name's class skills are.... Concentration, Craft, Intimidate, Knowledge (Arcana), Knowledge (Religion), Knowledge (The Planes), Profession, Sense Motive, Spellcraft, Spot
Skills Points at Each Level: 2 + int
Hit Dice: d8
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Mysteries/Spellcasting
1st|+0|+2|+0|+2|Shadow Servant, Master's Bidding
2nd|+1|+3|+0|+3|Cold Resistance 5|+1 level of existing casting class
3rd|+1|+3|+1|+3|Master's Bidding (Move Action)|+1 level of existing casting class
4th|+2|+4|+1|+4|Rapid Shadow (4 hours)|+1 level of existing casting class
5th|+2|+4|+1|+4|Master's Bidding (Double Augmentation), Cold Resistance 15|+1 level of existing casting class
6th|+3|+5|+2|+5|Rapid Shadow (1 hour)|+1 level of existing casting class
7th|+3|+5|+2|+5|Immune to Cold|+1 level of existing casting class
8th|+4|+6|+2|+6|Master's Bidding (Swift action)|+1 level of existing casting class
9th|+4|+6|+3|+6|Rapid Shadow (10 minutes)|+1 level of existing casting class
10th|+5|+7|+3|+7|Shadow Commander, Master's Bidding (Triple Augmentation)|[/table]
Shadow Servant (Su):
At 1st level, your familiar permanently transforms into a Medium Shadow Elemental. It loses all familiar traits, but gains new abilities as your shadow servant (see Shadow Servant Details). Should your shadow servant die, you can summon a replacement after 24 hours. Your shadow servant cannot travel farther from you than 40 feet + 20 feet per Master of Shadow level (60 ft at 1st level and 240 ft at 10th level). Should your shadow servant be forcibly placed outside of this range, it loses its current augments, the ability to be augmented and takes 15 damage per round until it dies or comes back into range.
Master's Bidding (Su):
As a standard action you can augment your shadow servant, granting it a special ability for 1 round per Master of Shadow level. The abilities available are described in the Shadow Servant Details section. At 3rd level you can perform this augmentation as a move action. At 5th level you can have two augmentations at once on a shadow servant, though you must grant each augment in a separate action. At 8th level you can augment your shadow servant as a swift action (you can still use move actions in order to add multiple augments in the same turn). At 10th level, your shadow servant can have three augmentations at once.
Cold Resistance (Ex):
At 2nd level you gain cold resistance 5.
At 5th level this becomes cold resistance 15.
At 7th level you become completely immune to cold.
Rapid Shadow (Su):
At 4th level you only need to wait 4 hours in order to summon a replacement shadow servant.
At 6th level you only need to wait 1 hour to summon a replacement shadow servant.
At 9th level you only need to wait 10 minutes to summon a replacement shadow servant.
Shadow Commander (Su):
At 10th level your control over the shadows hits its peak. You gain a second second shadow servant. Both shadow servants can be augmented during the same action if they receive the same augmentation. Additionally, once per day your can merge your two shadow servants, turning them into a Shadow Elemental Monolith for one minute. The shadow elemental monolith cannot be augmented and the effect will end early if it ends up entirely outside of your control range.
Shadow Servant Details:
SpoilerThe shadow servant functions as a regular medium shadow elemental at first level. You can command the shadow servant mentally as a free action. Use the base statistics of a medium shadow elemental except as noted below.
Shadow Servant Progression
{table=head]Level|Bonus HD|Dexterity Adj.|Special|Master's Bidding
1st|+0|||Interact with Corporeal, Fast Healing 1, Extra Attack, Cold Damage, Reach, Damage Reduction, Speed
2nd|+1|+2|Cold Immunity|
3rd|+2|+2|Increase size to Large|Cold Damage +2d8
4th|+3|+2||Speed +40 feet
5th|+4|+4|Deliver Touch Spells|Fast Healing 2
6th|+5|+4||Extra Attack (2)
7th|+6|+4||Cold Damage +3d8, Reach +10 feet
8th|+7|+6|Increase size to Huge|Speed +60 feet
9th|+8|+6||Damage Reduction 10/-
10th|+9|+8|Spell Resistance|Fast Healing 4, Cold Damage +4d8[/table]
Level: The character's Master of Shadow level.
Bonus HD: Extra eight-sided hit dice (d8), each of which gains a constitution modifier as normal. Remember that the extra HD improves the shadow servant's base attack bonus and base save bonuses as appropriate for an elemental (3/4 BAB and good reflex saves). The shadow servant gains skill points and feats for bonus HD as normal for advancing a monster's hit dice.
Dex Adj: Add this value to the shadow servant's base Dexterity score. The value represents the total adjustment, not how much adjustment is added at each level.
Immunity to Cold (Ex): The shadow servant of a second level Master of Shadow gains an immunity to cold
Size Increase (Ex): At third level the shadow servant grows to large size, and at 8th level grows to huge size. It never increases beyond Huge, regardless of its HD.
Deliver Touch Spells (Su): A Master of Shadow of 5th level or higher can have their shadow servant deliver touch spells or mysteries for them. This functions as a familiar's ability to deliver touch spells.
Master's Bidding Augmentations:
Any single ability can only be granted once at a time, and attempting to apply an already active augmentation merely resets its duration but does not stack.
Interact with Corporeal: The shadow servant can perform tasks as the spell Unseen Servant, except that it retains its own hitpoints.
Fast Healing: The shadow servant regains hitpoints at 1 hitpoint per round. At 5th level this increases to 2 hitpoints per round and at 10th level this increases to 4 hit points per round.
Extra Attack: When making a full-attack the shadow servant can make an extra attack at its full base attack bonus with any modifiers appropriate to the siutaiton. At 6th level the shadow servant gains two extra attacks in this manner instead of one.
Cold Damage: On a successful hit the shadow servant deals an additional 1d8 cold damage. At 3rd level this increases to 2d8 cold damage, 3d8 at 7th and 4d8 at 10th.
Reach: The shadow servant gains 5 feet of reach. At 7th level this increases to 10 feet of reach.
Damage Reduction: The shadow servant gains damage reduction 5/-. At 9th level this increases to DR 10/-.
Speed: The shadow servant's movement speeds increase by 20 feet. At 4th level this bonus increases to 40 feet, and 60 feet at 8th level.
Notes on changes:
SpoilerThis class is a neat idea, a shadowcaster that straight up bosses around his own personal shadow elemental that he can augment in different ways. Unfortunately the original version doesn't let you have much until much farther in, even having a progression just to unlock all of the augments.
The new version makes all augments available, scaling most of them over the course of the PrC to maintain progression incentive. Everything is buffed to be earlier and/or better, including the shadow servant's statistical progression, and the capstone is modified to be more functional and worth it. This should make the prestige class more useful without necessarily reducing the Master of Shadow to an armchair combatant.
Noctumancer:
No change (it was bad because shadow magic was bad, there's really no need to buff a dual-casting prestige class).
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2013-11-14, 09:37 AM (ISO 8601)Ogre in the Playground
- Join Date
- Oct 2012
Re: Shadow magic redux
Last edited by Aldurin; 2014-01-23 at 09:28 PM.
Homebrew list. Latest Homebrew: Deep Cold, Expanded Frostfell temperature Bands.
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