How to become a Shade unwillingly

[CopperElfCleric]

So my moon elf PC is stranded on the Plane of Shadow. DM wants me to help come up with ways he can become a shade unwillingly. My PC is a 10th level Duskblade/ 5th level Scout. Any help is kindly appreciated.

[animewatcha]

So my moon elf PC is stranded on the Plane of Shadow. DM wants me to help come up with ways he can become a shade unwillingly. My PC is a 10th level Duskblade/ 5th level Scout. Any help is kindly appreciated.

Do you mean for this to be 5th edition or for 3.5e?

[Schwann145]

Ah yes, a *massive* part of FR lore that 5e... just ignored.
Shades.

Carry on, WotC. :salute:

[CopperElfCleric]

Do you mean for this to be 5th edition or for 3.5e?

Either or. We play 3.5 but 5ed is easily translated to 3.5

[Schwann145]

Either or. We play 3.5 but 5ed is easily translated to 3.5

There is a 3.0 Shade template in Races of Faerun, which is easily enough adapted to 3.5. (pg 147; easily googleable).

[CopperElfCleric]

Ah yes, a *massive* part of FR lore that 5e... just ignored.
Shades.

Carry on, WotC. :salute:

Yes. WOtC failed in 5ed. 3 differ Shadar-Kai and none are good. I get off point. Moon elf stranded on the Plane of Shadow.... Not the cheesy shadowfell rendition. What are the ways one can become a Shade unwillingly? 3.5 only mentions a ritual preformed by clerics of Share. But there must be other ways correct?

[CopperElfCleric]

There is a 3.0 Shade template in Races of Faerun, which is easily enough adapted to 3.5. (pg 147; easily googleable).

The 3.0 was in the FR campaign guide. Races of faerun is 3.5. Neither give more than a ritual to Share. I need help or Im out of the game

[Schwann145]

The 3.0 was in the FR campaign guide. Races of faerun is 3.5. Neither give more than a ritual to Share. I need help or Im out of the game

Races of Faerun was "compatible" with 3.5 but released before 3.5... so take that however you will.
But the full template is, indeed, included in the book starting on page 147. I was double-checking it before posting to make sure.
(It comes just after the Lycanthropes and just before Wemics.)

[CopperElfCleric]

I am screwed.i have 2 days to come up with something or Im out of the game and stuck on the plane of shadows. Any advice? The Shade template alone gives nothing besides a ritual to Shar

[Schwann145]

I am screwed.i have 2 days to come up with something or Im out of the game and stuck on the plane of shadows. Any advice? The Shade template alone gives nothing besides a ritual to Shar

What are you reading? The Shade template, for a "+4 Level Adjustment" gives:

Spoiler: Shade Template

Show

Shades look just like normal humanoids, although their skin is gray to inky black, as are their eyes. They are thinner than most humans, and they prefer to dress in dark-hued clothes or armor. Human Shadovars are never made into shades until after they have reached the age of majority. There are no such things as young shades, and shades who marry produce normal offspring.

Shades have extraordinarily long lifespans. By trading some portion of their souls for the stuff of shadow, they extend their lifespan tenfold. Shades created from humans use the following aging effect characteristics instead of the ones in Table 6-5 in the Player's Handbook:

Shade (human) – 300 – 450 – 600 – +6d% years
Region: Anauroch, City of Shade

Combat
Racial Traits
As creatures of the Plane of Shadows, shades are considered to be of the outsider type. Shades must be of a nongood alignment.

All shades have the following powers when within shadows or darkness. In well-lit surroundings (daylight or the radius of a daylight spell) none of these powers function.

Ability Scores: A shade's Constitution and Charisma scores increase by +2.
Speed: Increases by 20 ft. (or 15 ft., if the character wears medium or heavy armor).
Armor Class: The shade gains a +4 deflection bonus to AC.
Attacks and Damage: The shade gains a +2 competence bonus on attacks and damage.
Saves: The shade gains a +4 luck bonus on all saving throws.
Skills: The character gains a +4 racial bonus on Listen and Spot checks, and a +8 racial bonus on Hide and Move Silently checks. He does not suffer skill check penalties due to darkness.
Control Light (Sp): The shade can decrease the levels of light within a 100-foot radius ba a factor of 10& per level. For characters and creatures depending on light to see, this decreases the effective range of vision for them by the same percentage. For each 25% decrease in light, anyone within the area gains a +1 circumstance bonus on Hide checks.
Fast Healing 2.
Invisibility (Sp): The shade can use this ability once per round as a sorcerer of his level.
Shadesight (Sp): The shade has 60-foot darkvision. He can see normally through any darkness effects but not through fog, invisibility, obscurement, and so on.
Shadow Image (Sp): Three times per day, the shade can use this spell-like ability (similar to the mirror image spell) as a sorcerer of his level. This creates 1d4 figments of the shade, +1 per three levels.
Shadow Stride (Sp): As often as once every 2 rounds, a shade of 8th level or higher can vanish from his current location and reappear in any shadowy area within 300 feet. This is a move-equivalent action.
Shadow Travel (Sp): If the shade is 12th level or higher, the can use teleport without error to reach a shadowy locale on the same world or plane shift to access the Plane of Shadows. A shade can shadow travel once per day.
Spellcasting Tradition: Shadovar Arcanists have at least two racial spells particular to their people: Handfang and Shadow Canopy.
Spell Resistance: 11 + character level.
Level Adjustment: +4. Shades are more powerful and gain levels more slowly than the common races of Faerûn. Their many bonuses and powers are hindered only by the fact that they do not work in bright light. Shadovars do not create shades from characters who are less than 5th level.

[OldTrees1]

Would being overwhelmed by a particularly bad part of the shadow plane or weather effect on the shadow plane work? I see references to being touched and overwhelmed by the shadowfell. (I found that on a wiki here)

It also reminded me of a BG3 Act 2 spoiler.

Spoiler: BG3 Act 2 spoiler

Show

There is a large area of the material plane that shar cursed with shadowfell magic. The shadow lands can kill and the dead become shadowy undead. I expect the same thing could happen naturally on the shadow plane.

I could see your character getting desperate, wandering where they should not, and being overcome.



Since you are on a time limit, which do you need? A template or a cause/method/explanation for the affliction?

Edit: The Darklands (Manual of the Planes pg 63) are areas of the plane of shadow where the shadows and negative energy of the plane are even stronger than normal. It does not explicitly mention shades, but that is the kind of area on the plane of shadows that is known to overwhelm travelers.

[CopperElfCleric]

Would being overwhelmed by a particularly bad part of the shadow plane or weather effect on the shadow plane work? I see references to being touched and overwhelmed by the shadowfell. (I found that on a wiki here)

It also reminded me of a BG3 Act 2 spoiler.

Spoiler: BG3 Act 2 spoiler

Show

There is a large area of the material plane that shar cursed with shadowfell magic. The shadow lands can kill and the dead become shadowy undead. I expect the same thing could happen naturally on the shadow plane.

I could see your character getting desperate, wandering where they should not, and being overcome.



Since you are on a time limit, which do you need? A template or a cause/method/explanation for the affliction?

Edit: The Darklands (Manual of the Planes pg 63) are areas of the plane of shadow where the shadows and negative energy of the plane are even stronger than normal. It does not explicitly mention shades, but that is the kind of area on the plane of shadows that is known to overwhelm travelers.

All the above. A template preferably as it can be added on and amended to my PCs current CR levels. I need a way out of the Plane of Shadows on my own by DM decree. DM said I must attain the Shade template by any means to plane shift back to Faerun as a Shade to help my companions fighting the Shadovar in Evereska. I have scoured the internet. Nothing on how to become a Shade besides Shar's ritual, which I will not do. I am screwed. Guess my PC is dead.

[CopperElfCleric]

What are you reading? The Shade template, for a "+4 Level Adjustment" gives:

Spoiler: Shade Template

Show

Shades look just like normal humanoids, although their skin is gray to inky black, as are their eyes. They are thinner than most humans, and they prefer to dress in dark-hued clothes or armor. Human Shadovars are never made into shades until after they have reached the age of majority. There are no such things as young shades, and shades who marry produce normal offspring.

Shades have extraordinarily long lifespans. By trading some portion of their souls for the stuff of shadow, they extend their lifespan tenfold. Shades created from humans use the following aging effect characteristics instead of the ones in Table 6-5 in the Player's Handbook:

Shade (human) – 300 – 450 – 600 – +6d% years
Region: Anauroch, City of Shade

Combat
Racial Traits
As creatures of the Plane of Shadows, shades are considered to be of the outsider type. Shades must be of a nongood alignment.

All shades have the following powers when within shadows or darkness. In well-lit surroundings (daylight or the radius of a daylight spell) none of these powers function.

Ability Scores: A shade's Constitution and Charisma scores increase by +2.
Speed: Increases by 20 ft. (or 15 ft., if the character wears medium or heavy armor).
Armor Class: The shade gains a +4 deflection bonus to AC.
Attacks and Damage: The shade gains a +2 competence bonus on attacks and damage.
Saves: The shade gains a +4 luck bonus on all savindead.yeaYeah, Ive had that infows.
Skills: The character gains a +4 racial bonus on Listen and Spot checks, and a +8 racial bonus on Hide and Move Silently checks. He does not suffer skill check penalties due to darkness.
Control Light (Sp): The shade can decrease the levels of light within a 100-foot radius ba a factor of 10& per level. For characters and creatures depending on light to see, this decreases the effective range of vision for them by the same percentage. For each 25% decrease in light, anyone within the area gains a +1 circumstance bonus on Hide checks.
Fast Healing 2.
Invisibility (Sp): The shade can use this ability once per round as a sorcerer of his level.
Shadesight (Sp): The shade has 60-foot darkvision. He can see normally through any darkness effects but not through fog, invisibility, obscurement, and so on.
Shadow Image (Sp): Three times per day, the shade can use this spell-like ability (similar to the mirror image spell) as a sorcerer of his level. This creates 1d4 figments of the shade, +1 per three levels.
Shadow Stride (Sp): As often as once every 2 rounds, a shade of 8th level or higher can vanish from his current location and reappear in any shadowy area within 300 feet. This is a move-equivalent action.
Shadow Travel (Sp): If the shade is 12th level or higher, the can use teleport without error to reach a shadowy locale on the same world or plane shift to access the Plane of Shadows. A shade can shadow travel once per day.
Spellcasting Tradition: Shadovar Arcanists have at least two racial spells particular to their people: Handfang and Shadow Canopy.
Spell Resistance: 11 + character level.
Level Adjustment: +4. Shades are more powerful and gain levels more slowly than the common races of Faerûn. Their many bonuses and powers are hindered only by the fact that they do not work in bright light. Shadovars do not create shades from characters who are less than 5th level.

Yeah, ive had that info and template for 20 years. You're missing my point. I don't need the template. I have that in 3.5 as a +3 CR outsider. I am desperate to find a way to make my moon elf a Shade without going through the process of a ritual to the goddess Shar.

[Unoriginal]

Yeah, ive had that info and template for 20 years. You're missing my point. I don't need the template. I have that in 3.5 as a +3 CR outsider. I am desperate to find a way to make my moon elf a Shade without going through the process of a ritual to the goddess Shar.

If your PC is that desperate, they should go ask the Raven Queen.

She canonically has the power to transform elves into Shadowfell-linked elves

[Schwann145]

Yeah, ive had that info and template for 20 years. You're missing my point. I don't need the template. I have that in 3.5 as a +3 CR outsider. I am desperate to find a way to make my moon elf a Shade without going through the process of a ritual to the goddess Shar.

Ahh, I see.
In that case... nah, the only lore behind it is the ritual to Shar in order for her Netherese worshipers to survive their long-lasting exile into the plane of Shadow.

Shouldn't this be something your DM works with you on rather than forces you to provide?

[OldTrees1]

All the above. A template preferably as it can be added on and amended to my PCs current CR levels. I need a way out of the Plane of Shadows on my own by DM decree. DM said I must attain the Shade template by any means to plane shift back to Faerun as a Shade to help my companions fighting the Shadovar in Evereska. I have scoured the internet. Nothing on how to become a Shade besides Shar's ritual, which I will not do. I am screwed. Guess my PC is dead.

Unfortunately the only way out of the plane of shadows that I know (besides planar magic) is using the naturally existing astral portals (they exist on both the plane of shadows and the material plane) or walking from the plane of shadow to the material in one of the areas they are strongly linked. I don't expect either will get you back to the fight in time, unless fortune smiles upon you.

The darklands might work to turn you into a shade, but there is nothing saying that definitively.

[CopperElfCleric]

Thanks everyone. Ill keep you posted on what happens

[NecessaryWeevil]

Not sure if you're still looking for input, but...
is the DM saying "find a canonically valid explanation" or simply "come up with a cool story"?
The invitation to "help come up with ways" suggests the latter, to me.