Shadow Prestige Class : Shadowsmith
"You think me unarmed. You think me helpless. So long as there is night and day, I am neither" - Hrogar Ilgenson, shadowsmith and First Mate of the Fourth Dragon.
Shadowcasters draw power from darkness, and masters of shadow command it, but no one truly manipulates the darkness as does the shadowsmith. Combining martial and mystical skills, and possessed of a driving will, the shadowsmith forms his tools and weapons from shadowstuff itself drawing forth matter from empty night.
Almost anyone can become a shadowsmith under the proper circumstances. Rangers, paladins, and clerics are most likely to meet the requirements first, though some rogues follow this path as well. Although they could have the proper skills, few mystery users or spellcasters pursue this class, since its casting progression is far slower than their own.
Requirements
To qualify to become a Shadowsmith, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:
- Skills: Craft (armorsmithing, blacksmithing, or weaponsmithing) 5 ranks, Knowledge (arcana) 3 ranks, Knowledge (the planes) 3 ranks
- 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 physical contact with a shadow or dark creature (such as a shadow mastiff or a dark lion)
Class Skills
The shadowsmith's class skills are Climb, Concentration, Craft, Hide, Jump, Knowledge (arcana), Knowledge (the planes), Move Silently, and Profession.
Skill Points at Each Level: 6 + Int modifier.
Class Features
Your abilities allow you to create tools and weapons out of darkness itself.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: You are proficient with simple and martial weapons, with light armor, and with shields (except tower shields).
Mysteries Known: You have the ability to cast a small number of mysteries. To cast a mystery, you must have an Intelligence score of at least 10 + the mystery level, so if you have an Intelligence of 10 or lower, you cannot cast mysteries. High ability scores do not provide bonus mysteries. Saving throws against your mysteries have a DC of 10 + mystery level + your Int modifier.
Your selection of mysteries is extremely limited. You begin in this class knowing only a single 1st-level mystery. Every four levels thereafter (at 5th and 9th), you gain an additional mystery known. As with the shadowcaster class, you may not skip ahead in a given path. Your mysteries must all be drawn from an apprentice path, and you cast them all as arcane spells. You can use each mystery you know once per day. You do not gain fundamentals.
Touch of Shadow (Su): At 1st level, your ability to manipulate shadow is undeveloped. You cannot yet create actual items, but you can surround your hands and feet in a layer of shadow. This ability grants you a bonus on Climb checks equal to your class level. Further, it distributes your weight more re evenly, so you cannot be tracked. Touch of shadow lasts for 1 minute per class level and is usable a number of times per day equal to your class level.
Shroud of Shadow (Su): Starting at 2nd level, you can surround your body in a thin layer of shadow. You gain a bonus on Hide checks and Move Silently checks equal to your class level. Shroud of shadow lasts for 1 minute per class level and is usable a number of times per day equal to your class level.
Shadow Craft (Su): As of 3rd level, you can create small items, such as tools or weapons, from shadow. You need merely place your hands into any shadow and draw forth the desired item. It cannot possess moving or flexible parts, so you could not create a crossbow, a rope, a flail, or a cabinet. You can create nearly any other weapon, simple tool, or small item however.
You can create one item weighing a number of pounds up to twice your class level, or two items whose combined weight does not exceed that limit. Using shadow craft is a standard action. If the item leaves your possession, it fades away in 1d4 rounds. Otherwise, it lasts for 1 hour per class level. Shadow craft is usable a number of times per day equal to one-half your class level. Items created by shadow craft cannot be employed as material components or foci in spellcasting. If you want to create an item that mimics a specific item you have seen, you must succeed on a DC 20 Craft check of the appropriate sort (weaponsmithing, for instance).
At 6th level, you can enhance your creations. You can imbue a shadow-crafted weapon or shield with an enhancement bonus equal to your class level minus 5. For instance, if you are an 8th-level shadowsmith, you can create a +3 battleaxe. If you create two enhanced items at one time (which becomes possible when you attain 7th level), you must divide the total enhancement bonus between those items. (For instance, at 8th level, you could create a +1 battleaxe and a +2 large shield.)
To succeed at this enhanced crafting, you must make an appropriate Craft check for each item (usually weaponsmithing or armorsmithing) against a DC of 20 + the desired enhancement bonus. if you fail, the item is nonmagical. You can only have one enhanced shadow-crafted item (or two, if they were created in the same round) at a time. If you create new enhanced items, the old ones immediately become nonmagical. Attempting to create an enhanced item (or two, if so desired) with shadow craft is a full-round action.
At 8th level, you can use shadow craft to create light armor for yourself (which you can give an enhancement bonus 10). The armor you craft automatically has the improved shadow special ability.
At 9th level, you can quicken your shadow crafting. You need only a standard action to create enhanced items and only a swift action to create nonmagical ones.
At 10th level, you can apply the shadow striking ability to any magic weapon you create through shadow craft. (If you create two weapons at once, only one can be shadow striking.) Further, you do not need to craft the item on the Plane of Shadow as is normally the case with shadow striking weapons.
Armor of Shadow (Su): Starting at 4th level, you can take a standard action to surround yourself in hardened shadow. This ability grants you a +2 deflection bonus to AC. Armor of shadow lasts for 10 minutes per class level, and is usable a number of times per day equal to one-half your class level.
At 7th level, the deflection bonus increases to +4.
At 10th level, you quicken your armor of shadow, activating it as a swift action.
Widen Shroud (Su): Starting at 5th level, you can widen your touch of shadow ability to include a number of companions equal to one-half your class level, if they move more than 10 feet from you, the effect ends for them; coming closer to you again does not restore it. Widen shroud lasts for 1 minute per class level; each use counts as a daily use of your touch of shadow ability.
| Shadowsmith | Hit Die: d8 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CL | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Special | Mysteries |
| 1st | +1 | +0 | +2 | +0 | Touch of shadow | 1 |
| 2nd | +2 | +0 | +3 | +0 | Shroud of shadow | 1 |
| 3rd | +3 | +1 | +3 | +1 | Shadow craft (basic) | 1 |
| 4th | +4 | +1 | +4 | +1 | Armor of shadow +2 | 1 |
| 5th | +5 | +4 | +4 | +1 | Widen shroud | 2 |
| 6th | +6 | +2 | +5 | +2 | Shadow craft (enchanted) | 2 |
| 7th | +7 | +2 | +5 | +2 | Armor of shadow +4 | 2 |
| 8th | +8 | +2 | +6 | +2 | Shadow craft (armor) | 2 |
| 9th | +9 | +3 | +7 | +3 | Shadowcraft (quickened) | 3 |
| 10th | +10 | +3 | +7 | +3 | Shadow craft (shadow striking), armor of shadow (quickened) | 3 |
Shadowsmith Lore
Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can research shadowsmiths to learn more about them. When a character makes a skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including the information from lower DCs.
- DC 10: Shadowsmiths can create items out of nothingness.
- DC 15: As they advance, shadowsmiths can create more potent items and armor, and can cloak themselves in shadow to hide. They also have access to a few mysteries.
- DC 20: The items created by a shadowsmith have a limited life span, although some last many hours. If you can wait one out and strike at the right time, she might be vulnerable.
A bardic knowledge check or a Gather Information check (in a community that has a shadowsmith guild) can reveal the same information as these skill checks, but in each case the DC is 5 higher than the given value.
Source: Tome of Magic