Shadowcaster

All things fall into shadow, even light. Shadows do not represent the absence of light; they show the presence of darkness. Thus, shadow and darkness are not death or diminishment; they are the fundamental state of the universe, the constant that existed before, that exists now, and that will exist when all other things are snuffed out. So it is with the Plane of Shadow(Mabar, The Endless Night), that dark mirror to the Material Plane and many other realities. Shadowcasters tap into this most fundamental of forces and planes to work their dark wills. By tying themselves to the Plane of Shadow, they maintain a tenuous link to the ultimate force of existence. The shadowcaster understands the true, primal power of darkness, attunes herself to the Plane of Shadow, and learns great shadow mysteries the equal of any mundane spell. These dark casters are workers of alien magic, possessing an occult understanding of the world and magic that even other spellcasters find disturbing. They are masters of a dark power—and perhaps, as some worry, its servants as well. 

Making a Shadowcaster: The shadowcaster is a potent magic user. Her abilities are tightly focused, making her somewhat less versatile than other spellcasters, but what she lacks in range she makes up for in sheer capability. Shadow magic is unfamiliar to most enemies and, especially at higher levels, far more difficult to counter, disrupt, or dispel. Depending on the shadowcaster’s focus and choice of paths, she might be an exceptional scout, a master of scrying, a commander of shadowy minions, a thief of life, or any combination thereof. Like most spell users, her role depends largely on the magic she chooses. Those who walk the dark road of shadow magic must fortify themselves against the pull of the Plane of Shadow. As the power the plane grants grows, so too does its grip on a shadowcaster’s soul. This constant contest between shadow and soul strengthens a shadowcaster’s will and fortitude. Few shadowcasters are leaders of adventuring groups, being more concerned with expanding their knowledge and understanding of the mystical in general, and of shadow in particular. 

Abilities: Shadowcasters must be both clever and confident, studious and determined; Intelligence and Charisma both impact their mysteries. Wisdom is useful for perception, particularly if they opt for any of the scrying-oriented paths. Because shadowcasters rarely wear armor, a high Dexterity proves helpful.

Alignment: Shadowcasters deal with dark powers, magic often associated with evil, and live with a skewed perception of the world itself. Mastering the paths and mysteries, and learning to comprehend the world through the alien filter of the Plane of Shadow, requires an exceedingly disciplined, organized mind. Thus, while shadowcasters can be of any alignment, those with good or chaotic alignments are exceedingly rare

Playing a Shadowcaster: You are a master of arcane secrets far greater than any other—or at least you will be. You understand what others do not: All power stems from darkness. All reality is a façade, and everything is symbolism; by changing a thing’s reflection—its shadow—you change the thing itself. Other forms of magic, and other religions, aren’t necessarily inferior or worthy of scorn; it’s simply that they see only a part of the whole, the first layer of a deeper truth. You rarely take anything at face value or make snap decisions. You might be inclined to see conspiracies where none exist, so accustomed are you to looking for the shadows behind the obvious. Mostly, you adventure to perfect your understanding and mastery of shadow. You likely prefer endeavors that allow you frequent use of your mysteries and other abilities, or those that promise access to ancient lore. You might have personal goals as well, and it’s not uncommon for shadowcasters to adventure for the sake of riches, to avenge a past wrong, or for any other “standard” adventure motive.

Other Classes: You tend to view other spellcasters, arcane and divine, as both talented and misguided. You respect the abilities of these other classes, and acknowledge that they can perform feats that you cannot. Nevertheless, you usually maintain that darkness is the ultimate power of the multiverse, and those who devote themselves to other magic, and other powers, are deluded. You appreciate fighters and barbarians, who can handle physical threats while you deal with more esoteric matters. You enjoy the company of rogues, as you understand the rogue’s need to hide from the eyes of others. You tend not to get along well with paladins, who are usually mistrustful; with druids, who view mysteries as outside nature; or with bards, who seem flighty and unfocused. 

Combat: You possess fewer overtly damaging powers than spellcasters. Against a single foe, you are quite capable of dealing damage on par with any wizard, assuming you have selected the proper mysteries. Against a larger number of enemies, however, your area-affecting abilities are better suited toward weakening or impeding your foes so that your companions can finish them off—at least until you reach higher levels. If you have selected any of the perception-related mysteries, you are particularly adept in arranging ambushes, flanks, and other tactical maneuvers involving surprise. Your abilities to see the battlefield from all angles, or in the dark, allow you to position your companions for maximum effectiveness. At high levels, you can often call forth weapons and minions of darkness, enabling you to turn many battles through sheer weight of numbers, without putting yourself directly in harm’s way. Consider gaining proficiency in armor and wearing it at this point. Only your master-path mysteries risk spell failure from wearing armor, and magic armor with a low arcane spell failure chance minimizes that. A magic shield is a particularly good option because it can be set aside when casting master-path mysteries but held in all other situations

A Creeping Darkness, Multiclass Shadowcasters: Darkness spreads, and night overcomes the day. Experienced spellcasters who turn their efforts toward shadow might find their connection to primal darkness growing swiftly, at the expense of their previous abilities. When a multiclass sorcerer or wizard gains a new shadowcaster level, she can choose to sacrifice a preexisting level of sorcerer or wizard, in exchange for an additional shadowcaster level. For instance, a 3rd-level wizard/4th-level shadowcaster who attains a new shadowcaster level becomes either a 3rd-level wizard/5thlevel shadowcaster, or a 2nd-level wizard/6th-level shadowcaster. A character can exchange only one such level at a time. When “swapping” levels, make the following changes:

• Add 1 hit point, to represent the average difference between the sorcerer/wizard’s d4 Hit Die and the shadowcaster’s d6. 

• When exchanging sorcerer levels, you must also remove an appropriate number of spells from the sorcerer’s list of spells known. A wizard who exchanges a level does not lose spells from his spellbook, though some spells might no longer be available. 

• Leave skills gained at that level as they are; these classes have the same number of skill points, and many skills in common. 

• When replacing any wizard level at which you gained a bonus feat, you lose that feat. 

• When replacing any level at which you gained one of the following feats as a normal feat (not a class-related bonus feat), swap it out as follows: Trade metamagic feats for similar metashadow feats, Spell Focus for Path Focus, and Greater Spell Focus for Greater Path Focus. 

• You can’t lose a feat or class ability that would make you ineligible for any other feat or prestige class you already have, even if this means you can no longer take advantage of the creeping darkness feature. This notion of creeping darkness does more than add an alien element to shadow magic. DMs who introduce shadow magic into an ongoing campaign can use this as a way of allowing players to embrace the new material without having to abandon their existing characters. 

Hit Die: d6 

Class Skills (2 + Int modifier per level, ×4 at 1st level): Concentration, Craft, Hide, Intimidate, Knowledge (arcana), Knowledge (the planes), Move Silently, Profession, Spellcraft, Spot

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: You are proficient with all simple weapons. You are not proficient with any type of armor or shield. Armor of any type interferes with your gestures, which can cause your mysteries to fail when they function as spells. 

Mysteries represent thought patterns and formulae so alien that other spells seem simple in comparison. As you progress, however, your connection to the Plane of Shadow grows stronger, and your mysteries become more ingrained in your essence. When you are capable of casting only apprentice mysteries, you cast them as though they were arcane spells. They all have somatic components, armor-based spell failure chance, and are subject to interruption (but they do not require material components, foci, or verbal components). Whenever you cast a mystery as an arcane spell, observers can make a DC 15 Spot check to note that your shadow is making different gestures from the ones you make when you cast the mystery. At 7th level, when you become capable of casting initiate mysteries (whether or not you choose to learn any), your apprentice mysteries become so much a part of you that they now function as spell-like abilities, and they no longer require somatic components. Your new initiate mysteries (when you learn them) function as arcane spells and follow the rules described above. When you reach 13th level and become capable of casting master mysteries, another change occurs. Your master mysteries now function as arcane spells, and your initiate mysteries function as spell-like abilities. Your apprentice  mysteries become supernatural abilities. You can learn a mystery more than once. Each time you relearn a mystery, you gain another set of uses of that mystery per day. You can use each mystery you know a certain number of times per day depending on whether it is cast as a spell (once), a spell-like ability (two times), or a supernatural ability (three times). The allotments per level are given above, but only apply if you are able to cast mysteries of the level indicated. For example, if you choose breadth over depth and know no 4th-level mysteries as a 7th-level shadowcaster, you cannot take advantage of the one use per mystery per day detailed in the table. Unlike spellcasters, you don’t get bonus mysteries for a high ability score. Although you do not prepare spells, you must rest for 8 hours and meditate for 15 minutes each day to regain your use of mysteries just as a sorcerer or bard must rest and meditate to regain use of spell slots. In order to cast a mystery, you must have an Intelligence score of at least 10 + the mystery’s level. The save DC for your mysteries equals 10 + mystery level + your Cha modifier. Even though as a shadowcaster you do not “cast spells” in the traditional sense, your levels in this class count for the purpose of determining your overall caster level

Bonus Feats: Beginning at 2nd level, you gain bonus feats equal to half the total number of paths you have access to, rounded down. For instance, most shadowcasters know the first mystery of two different paths at 2nd level, so they gain one bonus feat. If you learn the first mystery of a third path at 3rd level, you still have only one bonus feat, but if you learn the first mystery of yet another path at 4th level, you know four paths, and therefore gain a second bonus feat. Thus, you have a choice: fully master fewer paths and gain access to more high-level mysteries, or branch out into more paths and gain more feats but fewer high-level mysteries. You do not gain a new bonus feat for repeating a path you already know, and fundamentals do not apply for the purpose of bonus feats. You must meet the prerequisite (if any) in order to select a feat as a bonus feat. The list of feats you can select includes any metamagic feat, Favored Mystery, Greater Path Focus, Nocturnal Caster, Path Focus, Shadow Vision, and any metashadow feat. 

Umbral Sight (Su): When you reach 3rd level, your vision extends slightly into the Plane of Shadow. You gain darkvision out to 30 feet. If you already have darkvision, or gain it from some other source, the effective distance of that vision is increased by 30 feet. At 11th level, you become able to see perfectly in complete darkness, even magical darkness, out to 60 feet. 

Sustaining Shadow (Ex): When you reach 5th level, your bond to the Plane of Shadow allows you to absorb dark energies, mitigating certain biological needs. You need eat only a single meal per week to maintain health. At 10th level, you only need 1 hour of sleep per night (but you must still rest for 8 hours to regain your mysteries for the next day). At 15th level, you gain immunity to nonmagical diseases and poisons. Finally, at 20th level, you no longer need to breathe, and need never eat or sleep