Shadow Adept
Description
Some spellcasters who discover the existence of the Shadow Weave are cautious, altering their magic slowly. Others are more reckless, and hurl themselves into the abyss of the Shadow Weave, immediately acquiring all the gifts available to the casual student and discovering secrets unavailable to all but the most dedicated. These spellcasters are the shadow adepts, who make great sacrifices in some aspects of the Art in order to reap greater benefits elsewhere.
Most shadow adepts are sorcerers or wizards, and they gain the greatest power from this path. However, any spellcaster can tap the Shadow Weave, and a few bards, clerics, and rangers have been known to make this choice. Any user of the Shadow Weave must follow Shar, and even among them the number of those who know the secret are few. Shar jealously guards knowledge of the Shadow Weave; she curses or kills those who discover it and try to use it without her approval.
Requirements
Race: Any
Deity: Shar
Alignment: Any non-good
Skills: Lore: Arcana 8, Spellcraft 8 ranks
Feats: Any one Metamagic Feat, True Believer
Spellcasting: Ability to cast 3rd-level arcane or divine spells.
Class Features
- Hit Die: d4
- Base Attack Bonus: Low
- High Saves: Will
- Weapon Proficiencies: A Shadow Adept gains no weapon proficiencies.
- Armor Proficiencies: A Shadow Adept gains no armor proficiencies.
- Skill Points: 2 + Int Modifier.
- Class Skills: Bluff, Concentration, Disguise, Hide, Lore (all), Spellcraft
- Spells per Day/Spells Known: A shadow adept’s training focuses on magic. Thus, when a new shadow adept level is gained, the character gains new spells per day as if she had also gained a level in whatever spellcasting class he belonged to before she added the prestige class. She does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained. If a character had more than one spellcasting class before she became a shadow adept, she must decide to which class to add the levels of shadow adept to for the purpose of determining spells per day.
- Class Feats
1: Shadow Weave User
2: Shadow Defense +1
3: Spellpower + 1
4: Shield of Shadows
5: Shadow Defense + 2
6: Darkvision
7: Spellpower + 2
8: Shadow Defense + 3
9: Shadow Walk
10: Spellpower + 3
- Bonus Feats: No bonus feats.
Abilities
Shadow Weave User
Type of Feat: Spellcasting
Prerequisites: Magical Discovery or Shadow Adept 1
Specifics: From now on, your spells tap the Shadow Weave instead of the Weave. You can also activate magic items that use the Shadow Weave without taking damage. Add a +2 bonus to the DC for all saving throws of spells you cast from the schools of Enchantment, Illusion, and Necromancy, and spells with the darkness descriptor. You also get a +4 bonus on caster level checks for spells from these schools. The Shadow Weave proves less than optimal for effects involving energy or matter. Your effective caster level for spells you cast from the schools of Evocation or Transmutation (except spells with the darkness descriptor) is reduced by four. The reduced caster level affects the spell's range, duration, damage, and any other level-dependent variables the spell might have, including dispel checks against you. The DC's for spells from the negatively affected schools are reduced by two but the casterlevel decrease does not affect the DC of these spells just as the casterlevel increase from other schools does not boost the DC. You can no longer cast spells with the light descriptor, no matter what your level is although you can still use items that produce this effect. Spells with the Light descriptor automatically fail and from now on, any magic item you create is a Shadow Magic item. You are not affected by Wild or Dead Magic zones (Clarification: during the Time of Troubles, when Shar is also forced to "walk upon the Material Plane," Wild Magic does apply to Shadow Adepts).
Use: Automatic
Shadow Defense
Type of Feat: Class
Prerequisites: Shadow Adept 2
Specifics: The shadow adept’s saving throws against spells from the schools of Enchantment, Illusion, and Necromancy, as well spells with the darkness descriptor are increased. At level 2 the bonus is +1, at level 5 its + 2 and at level 8 it is + 3.
Use: Automatic
Spell Power
Type of Feat: Class
Prerequisites: Shadow Adept 3
Specifics: Shadow Weave spells from the schools of Enchantment, Illusion, and Necromancy are empowered by + 1 at level 3, + 2 at level 7 and + 3 at level 10. Casterlevels gained in this manner can also increase the spell save DC and stack with casterlevel bonuses from other feats or classes.
Use: Automatic
Shield of Shadows
Type of Feat: Class
Prerequisites: Shadow Adept 4
Specifics: A shadow adept can surround herself with mobile disk of purple-black force as a standard action. The shield of shadows has the effects of a shield spell and also provides three-quarters concealment (30% miss chance). The shield of shadows lasts 1 round per caster level and may be used twice per day. At 8th level, the shield also grants spell resistance of 12 + the character’s shadow adept level, as if the shadow adept were under the effect of a spell resistance spell.
Use: Selected
Shadow Walk
Type of Feat: Class
Prerequisites: Shadow Adept 9
Specifics: The Shadow Adept is able to Shadow Walk as per the spell. She still needs to have linked a rune to the desired destination. The shadow realm is less dangerous to a Shadow adept, though it is certainly not safe by any measure. Shadow Adepts no longer need to have 850gp to cast Shadow Walk.
Use: Selected
Class courtesy of Rasael, thorough testing by the Quality Control Team. Implementation on the server by Luna.