Shadow Prestige Class : Shadowblade
"Don't be afraid of the dark. Be afraid of what's in the dark." - Niko Drendol, captain of the Black Dawn
Shadowblades are martial combatants with an innate link to shadow. While some deliberately study the arts of shadow, most develop their abilities instinctively, making them more akin to shadowdancers than shadowcasters. Those who master the arts of the unseen weapon become warriors with few equals. Their ability to manipulate darkness and shadow enhances their martial skills, allowing them to target weak targets, land blows that should not strike true, and even attack foes who are paces away.
Multiclass fighter/rogues are the most common shadowblades, because they possess both the martial ability and the skills necessary. Single-classed fighters or rogues can enter the class, but it takes longer. A rare few paladins and rangers take this path, enhancing their own abilities with a mastery of shadow. Few mystery users or spellcasters become shadowblades, and barbarians tend to prefer brute force and distrust a shadowblade's powers.
Requirements
To qualify to become a Shadowblade, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:
- Skills: Bluff 5 ranks, Hide 5 ranks, Move Silently 5 ranks
- Feats: Blind-fight,
- Base Attack Bonus: +5
- Special: Must have been exposed to shadow at some point prior to taking this class, either through travel on the Plane of Shadow, being subject to a mystery or a spell with the darkness descriptor, or through physical contact with a shadow or dark creature (such as a shadow mastiff or a dark lion)
Class Skills
The shadowblade's class skills are Bluff, Climb, Craft, Handle Animal, Hide, Intimidate, Jump, Move Silently, Profession, Ride, and Swim.
Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.
Class Features
Shadowblades manipulate shadow to strike swiftly and fatally, becoming the ultimate combination of skilled soldier and brutal slayer.
Unseen Weapon (Su): As a standard action, you can wrap any melee weapon you wield in a layer of shifting shadows. This causes the weapon to darken, become less distinct, and leave a trail of shadow behind it as it moves. Your weapon must be in hand and ready to use for you to draw upon this power. You can dismiss the effect with a free action; dropping or sheathing the weapon also ends the effect.
Once per day per shadowblade level, you can activate one of the powers of your unseen weapon as a swift action. At 1st level, you have the power to make an unerring strike (see below). As you gain levels in the class, you acquire additional choices when activating your unseen weapon, as indicated below. When you activate your unseen weapon, choose one of the available abilities. Multiple uses of the same ability do not stack on a single attack.
Unerring Strike: Your next melee attack ignores any miss chance because of concealment or total concealment. You gain this choice at 1st level.
Unexpected Strike: Your opponent is denied its Dexterity bonus against your next melee attack. You gain this ability at 3rd level.
Ephemeral Weapon: Your next melee attack deals an extra 2d6 points of damage, as extraplanar darkness momentarily replaces portions of your opponent's body. You gain this choice at 5th level.
Shadowy Strike: Your next melee attack is resolved as a melee touch attack, ignoring armor and natural armor. You gain this ability at 7th level.
Far Shadow: Your melee reach is increased by 10 feet for 1 round. You gain this choice at 9th level. At 10th level, you can use your unseen weapon abilities as a free action, though you are still limited to one use per day per class level.
Shadow and Stealth (Su): Beginning at 2nd level, the shadows that engulf your unseen weapon cover you as well, granting you a circumstance bonus equal to half your class level (round down) on Hide and Move Silently checks.
Sudden Strike (Ex): Beginning at 2nd level, if you can catch an opponent when she is unable to defend herself effectively from your attack, you can strike a vital spot for extra damage. Whenever your target is denied a dexterity bonus to Armor Class (whether the target actually has a Dexterity bonus or not), you deal an extra 1d6 points of damage with your attack. This extra damage increases by 1d6 for every two levels thereafter. You can't use sudden strike when flanking an opponent unless that opponent is denied its Dexterity bonus to AC. Ranged attacks can count as sudden strike attacks only if the target is within 30 feet.
Sudden strike functions identically to sneak attack in all other respects. The extra damage from sudden strike stacks with the extra damage from sneak attack whenever both would apply to the same target. It also stacks with the ephemeral weapon ability of the unseen weapon class feature.
Shadow Vision (Su): Beginning at 3rd level, you are able to see clearly in shadowy illumination. Thus, you can see up to 40 feet clearly in the illumination provided by a torch (which gives off bright illumination in a 20-foot radius and shadowy illumination for 40 feet beyond that), or twice that if you have low-light vision.
See in Darkness (Su): At 7th level, you can see perfectly in darkness of any kind, even that created by a deeper darkness spell.
| Shadowblade | Hit Die: d8 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CL | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Special |
| 1st | +0 | +2 | +0 | +0 | Unseen weapon (unerring strike) |
| 2nd | +1 | +3 | +0 | +0 | Shadow and stealth, sudden strike +1d6 |
| 3rd | +2 | +3 | +1 | +1 | Shadow vision, unseen weapon (unexpected strike) |
| 4th | +3 | +4 | +1 | +1 | Sudden strike +2d6 |
| 5th | +3 | +4 | +1 | +1 | Unseen weapon (ephemeral strike) |
| 6th | +4 | +5 | +2 | +2 | Sudden strike +3d6 |
| 7th | +5 | +5 | +2 | +2 | See in darkness, unseen weapon (shadowy strike) |
| 8th | +6 | +6 | +2 | +2 | Sudden strike +4d6 |
| 9th | +6 | +6 | +3 | +3 | Unseen weapon (far shadow) |
| 10th | +7 | +7 | +3 | +3 | Sudden strike +5d6, unseen weapon (free action) |
Shadowblade Lore
Characters with the bardic knowledge ability or ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can research shadowblades to learn more about them. When a character makes a check, read or paraphrase the following, including the information from lower DCs.
- DC 10: Shadowblades are warriors who incorporate shadow and stealth into their combat techniques.
- DC 15: Shadowblades are capable of masking their weapons and themselves in shadow, granting them supernatural powers, such as the ability to strike protected targets or to attack from a distance.
- DC 20: Many of the shadowblades' abilities are not functional against nonliving foes, such as undead or constructs. If you can cause them to drop or change their weapons, it takes a moment for them to reactivate their powers, offering a brief window of opportunity.
Source: Tome of Magic