Shade Template

[alexthemad]

I am thinking about adding the Shade template to a character I'm making. But I have a couple of questions. The Shade template is from the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting.

1: The template says nothing of a LA. But the CR is 13, does this indicate a LA?

2: If there is a LA, is the template worth it?

The character is supposed to start at level 10. Class will be either Wiz or a gish, still deciding on that. No buyoff allowed.

[AbyssKnight]

The LA can be found in Races of Faerun. I believe it is +4 but am AFB right now.

Is the LA worth it? Most LA's are not, especially as high as +4. But if you are playing in an Underdark campaign, or otherwise confident you will be in darkness most of the time, it could be pretty good.

[arguskos]

The Shade template is pretty good for LA 2 or 3, at MOST. Anything more is excessive and just going to punish you. I had a player play a Shade at LA 3, and he was fairly useless, even in darkness. He was just too far behind the curve.

As a caster of any kind, LA more than 1 is going to be devastating anyways. I'd suggest bargaining it down to LA 2 with your DM (say that it only works in darkness, which is a fairly strong limitation) and play a Rogueish type fellow.

[herrhauptmann]

There are better templates sitting around.
Shadow-walker unapproachable east
edit: And a thread I had a whiles back.
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=114390

So the character you're making, what kind is it? Well base race and stuff. Pretty obvious you're going for a sneaky guy. (I recommend whisper gnome)

[arguskos]

There are better templates sitting around.
Shadow-walker unapproachable east
Dark template ToM
Shadow elemental (meh) Planar handbook I think. Make sure it's updated to 3.5.

Shadow Elementals are from ToM, and aren't a template.

The Dark template is awesomesauceontoast.

The Shadow-Walker template is... eh. I mean, you get some great spell-likes, but you also have to deal with light blindness and Con -2. It's good though, because you can enter Teflammar Shadowlord with it, and that PrC is amazing.

[2xMachina]

Shadow template from LoM. +2 LA. I think it's rather decent

[herrhauptmann]

Shadow Elementals are from ToM, and aren't a template.

I was thinking of a half-elemental. There's a few of them in one book. half earth, air, fire, water, wood, shadow...

[arguskos]

I was thinking of a half-elemental. There's a few of them in one book. half earth, air, fire, water, wood, shadow...

Half-shadow? I don't know that one. Manual of the Planes has half-all those other ones though.

There's the Umbral template in Savage Species, maybe that's the one you're thinking of? Also, yeah, the Shadow Creature from Lords of Madness, maybe that one too?