Shadow

Shadow is a Power Skill.

You may be looking for Shadow (old).

Rank 1

Traits

• Darkvision (long range)
• True Source: Your magic comes from the Shadow Plane, not any sort of local weave, and is not subject to dead magic. (Still subject to antimagic, disjunction, etc)

Free Powers

• Darkness: At-will, swift, emanation 5/rank, reserve 0; you lower light levels in area by 1 level per rank (daylight -> well-lit -> dimness -> darkness)

Powers

• Darkbolt: At-will, std, medium range; medium shadow damage plus wracked 1 rd (Fort negates).
• Shadowstuff: At-will, swift, must be in dimness or darkness; you create an object out of shadowstuff. Complexity is based on your intellect, "realness" on your Willpower (and Mana). Effects are partially real. Some examples:
  • Shadow Conjuration: something like an astral construct--a simple, vaguely-defined creature with many possibilities.
  • Shadowplay: effectively a figment, but in darkness/dimness, it's entirely real.
  • Armor of Darkness: coat yourself in darkness, gain DR.
  • Shadow Wield: create a normal weapon of shadow; for more mana, imbue it with dark power.
• Shadow Jump: At-will, move, must be in dimness or darkness; you teleport to any location within short range that is also in dimness or darkness.
• Shadow Pin: At-will, swift, medium range, subject must have a shadow; you pin the subject's shadow with a dagger or similar focus. Subject is rooted until the focus is removed (it resists; Strength vs Willpower).

Feats

• Insidious Magic: Your shadow spells are difficult to detect using normal means of detecting magic. This does not mean that any obvious effects are somehow invisible, but they do not produce a normal magical aura. To see the aura of your spells, a practitioner must have knowledge of Shadow Magic (if not already determined for a given character, roll a DC 25 Knowledge (Magic) check). Assuming they have this knowledge, they can specifically modify detection spells to work on shadow auras, but they must pass a Perception check (opposed to your Stealth) or any such auras are fuzzy and misleading.
  • You may apply this effect to non-shadow spells, effectively wrapping them in a cloak of Shadow Magic, by spending 1 Mana per rank of the spell.
• Tenacious Magic: Your shadow spells resist dispelling or any other attempt to affect, diminish, command, or end them prematurely that has any chance to resist (i.e. not antimagic or disjunction). All such attempts treat your DC as 10 points higher, unless the practitioner has knowledge of Shadow Magic (see above) and specifically modifies the dispel attempt to match, requiring a Spellcraft check (DC TBD).
• Pernicious Magic: Your shadow spells can partially bypass resistance. For Resist effects, treat the number as 10% lower per rank of Shadow. For creatures with innate or magical bonuses to saves, treat the bonus as 2 lower per rank of Shadow. Note that this only reduces resistance or save bonuses...it does not confer vulnerability or penalize saving throws after reducing any bonuses to zero.

Rank 2

Traits

• Cloak of Shadows: you are constantly wreathed by a shadowy mass, that may look like a cloak, or tentacles, or however you like. In normal light, it is almost invisible (only seen in your shadow), in dimness, it is prominent. You can suppress it at will if need be. It grants the following abilities:
  • Concealment: no effect in daylight or indoor light. In dimness, you gain +10 to Stealth, and in darkness, +20.
  • Protection: no effect in daylight or indoor light. In dimness, you have a 10% chance for your cloak of shadows to absorb any hostile magical effect (effectively, you avoid it), max once/rd. In darkness, this becomes a 25% chance.
• Darkvision in magical darkness

Powers

• Harm: At-will, std, touch; inflicts shadow damage equal to 100% of target's remaining HP (Fort half). Cannot be empowered.
• Shadowmeld: At-will, swift, must be in dimness or darkness, concentration; you meld into shadows, becoming incorporeal (for better or worse). You cannot phase through walls, but you can flow like an ooze through small openings. Your features cannot be discerned.
• Banish: At-will, swift, medium range, subject must be in dimness or darkness; subject is banished from the material plane, become incorporeal, half-in and half-out of the Shadow Plane. Subject can move (but not out of dimness or darkness), but can take no actions affecting the material plane. Concentration; after 3 rounds, subject is allowed opposed Willpower checks to end 1/rd.

Feats

• Curse of Mortality: At-will, swift, medium range; subject gains Resist 90% (healing and shielding). Immediately, and on each turn start, subject's Max HP are reduced by 20% (subject to reduction due to Scale). Lasts 5 rounds.
• Dark Star: Encounter, standard, short range; an orb of darkness hovers in place, causes medium shadow damage each round to enemies within 5 squares. Each time it inflicts damage, gains a charge. As long as you remain within short range, you gain +10% damage with shadow spells (including later rounds of Dark Star) per charge in the star. After 3 rounds, or when the star has accumulated 25 charges, it explodes, inflicting light shadow damage per charge to enemies within 5 squares.
• Phantom Hand: At-will, swift, short range, 1 Mana, concentration; you create a hand of shadow that must remain in dimness or darkness. The hand can deliver touch spells or serve as a proxy for ranged spells. It can do anything you could do with your hand. It can hide using your Stealth +12 (for Tiny size) and any modifiers for lighting conditions.
• Wall of Shadows: Recharge 33%, swift, long range, wall 1/level, concentration; opaque wall of blackness blocks line of sight and absorbs 100% of all magical effects passing through it. To physical objects and creatures, the wall inflicts 100% heavy shadow damage per rank on crossing.

Rank 3

Powers

• Disintegrate: At-will, std, medium range; target is wholly disintegrated (Fort partial: heavy shadow damage). Can only disintegrate up to 10 cubic meters or a Large creature; if oversize, or if resistant to shadow damage, primary effect is instead 200% heavy shadow damage.
• Shadow Canopy: Recharge 33%, swift, centered circle up to medium range, concentration; dome of blackness blocks all movement, effects, and sight. Has hp equal to 500% heavy damage (can be empowered); suffers double damage from anything except holy or light-based attacks.
• Shadow Double: You create a shadowy double that can act independently from you, or can serve as a proxy for your senses and spells. You imbue it with Mana, which it consumes continuously as it exists, and can use to cast spells. It suffers rapid Mana loss in well-lit conditions, and disappears when out of Mana. More specific rules TBD.
• Shadow Walk: At-will, std, close burst 1/rank; you shift yourself and any willing (or unwilling, Will negates) subjects into (or out of) the Shadow Plane. The plane is coterminous with the Material, but with applied willpower, you can warp its flexible nature, compressing the distance in Shadow as it corresponds to the Material. In other words, you move much faster in Shadow--twice as fast per rank, in fact (8x at rank 3, 16x at rank 4, etc). The Shadow Plane, where it borders the Material, is a dark, colorless mirror of the prime realm, but it is slow to react to change, so living creatures are not mirrored at all, and recent structural changes are not reflected (or appear hazy and immaterial). There is some danger, however, of encountering the native denizens of Shadow.

Feats

• Shadow Cache: You maintain a small dominion (about the size of a bedroom) in the Shadow Plane. At will, as a move action, for no Mana, you can stow or retrieve a single handheld item from the cache. You may use Shadow Walk to transit bodily into your dominion.
  • Note: The Shadow Plane is populated with many dangerous creatures, but as a rule, they do not value treasure (even magic items) and are unlikely to disturb your cache. Woe betide you if you leave its bounds, however.

Rank 4

• Shadow...?: You use the flexible nature of Shadow to produce...almost any effect you can name. Similar to Limited Wish.

Powers

Feats

• Shadow Domain: Requires Shadow Cache. Your Shadow Cache becomes a full-fledged planar domain. Each entire day you spend there, its boundaries grow by one square in all directions. You do not gain divine dominion over the region, but it does begin to develop a threshold which can provide a measure of protection from Shadow denizens.

Rank 5

Powers

• Shadow Shift: At-will, standard, emanation up to long range; everything in range shifts into (or out of) the Shadow Plane.
• Sphere of Annihilation: Encounter, standard, range 1; tiny ball of pure darkness can fly up to 12 squares/rd. Everyone it touches suffers medium shadow damage, except creatures in the square in which it comes to rest, who suffer heavy shadow damage plus death (Fort negates). Any time the star slays a creature, it absorbs its entire body, growing slightly. For each kill the star has made, it gains +50% damage with its touch. For each 3 kills, it increases in size (from 1x1 square to 2x2 square to 3x3 square, etc) and loses 2 squares of movement. After 10 kills, it implodes, causing a close burst 10: enemies are pulled 10, and those who touch the star are absorbed (Fort partial: 50% max hp in shadow damage). If it lasts 5 rounds without exploding, it disappears.

Feats

• Shadow Realm: Requires Shadow Domain. Your Shadow Domain becomes a proper planar realm, and you begin to gain planar dominion powers within it. TBD.