Shadow Dancer Variant (3.5e Prestige Class)

Shadow Dancer Variant

“	They came in a traveling circus to entertain the whole village late one evening. All for free. A darkly dressed girl stepped forward, her silk robes flapping as a breeze sped through the village. A melody sang forth, filling all of us with amazement as we watched her begin to dance. She danced as did two others who quickly joined her until all at once, they suddenly disappeared. The circus also vanished into the night - as did our gold. Everything gone! Every house in the village had been robbed. From that day hence, we have always feared traveling entertainers. Ever since the Shadow Dancers came...	”
—Old Root Bill Farmer of Vale

Shadow Dancers are manipulators of the unseen. Using the darkness to gain access to the shadow plane's powers, these exotic entertainers are known for their ability to disappear into shadows and reappear on the opposite side of the room.

The Shadow Dancers first appeared in the Shade Circus made up of the dark skinned shades, masters of Shadow Plane manipulation. These Shades traveled across the land appearing suddenly in the blink of an eye only to disappear just as quick, having stolen a village's entire coffers. It is for this reason most Shadow Dancers are looked down upon as evil, cruel thieves. This could not be further from the truth. In fact most Shadow Dancers enjoy entertaining people, and using their abilities to amaze and awe-struck as well as stealing treasures from the great places of the world.

Becoming a Shadow Dancer

Operating on the borders of the material and shadow plane Shadows Dancers are nimble artists of Shadow Shaping. They are mysterious and unknown, never completely trusted but always inducing wonder when met.

Rogues, bards and monks all make excellent Shadow Dancers. Fighters, barbarians rangers and paladins come to the class to give them a more stealthy approach to combat allowing the to suddenly strike their opponent instead of the normal aggressive attacking style of the classes.

Wizards and Sorcerers often combine illusion magic with the arts of the Shadow Dancers to further immerse themselves in the shadows.

Entry Requirements

Skills:	Perform (dance) 7 Ranks, Move Silently 8 Ranks, Hide 8 Ranks
Feats:	Dodge, Combat Reflexes, Mobility

Table: The Shadow Dancer

Hit Die: d8

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Shadow Jump	Special
1st	+1	+0	+2	+0	10ft. (10ft.)	Hide in plain sight
2nd	+2	+0	+3	+0	10ft. (20ft.)	Evasion, darkvision, uncanny dodge
3rd	+3	+1	+3	+1	20ft (40ft.)	Shadow illusion, summon shadow
4th	+4	+1	+4	+1	20ft. (60ft.)	Shadow jump 20 ft.
5th	+5	+1	+4	+1	40ft. (100ft.)	Defensive roll, improved uncanny dodge
6th	+6	+2	+5	+2	40ft. (140ft.)	Shadow jump 40 ft., summon shadow
7th	+7	+2	+5	+2	80ft. (220ft.)	Slippery mind
8th	+8	+2	+6	+2	80ft. (300ft.)	Shadow jump 80 ft
9th	+9	+3	+6	+3	120ft. (500ft.)	Summon shadow
10th	+10	+3	+7	+3	120ft. (600ft.)	Shadow jump 160 ft., improved evasion
Class Skills (6 + Int modifier per level) Appraise (Int), Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Disable Device (Int), Disguise (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Forgery (Int), Gather Information (Cha), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (local) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Open Lock (Dex), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Search (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Spot (Wis), Swim (Str), Tumble (Dex), Use Magic Device (Cha), Use Rope (Dex).

Table: The Epic Shadow Dancer

Level	Shadow Jump	Special
11th	120 ft. (600 ft)	Bonus Feat
12th	120 ft. (660 ft)
13th	120 ft. (660 ft.)
14th	120 ft. (720 ft.)	Bonus Feat
15th	120 ft. (720 ft.)
16th	120 ft. (780 ft.)
17th	120 ft. (780 ft.)	Bonus Feat
18th	120 ft. (840 ft.)
19th	120 ft. (840 ft.)
20th	120 ft. (900 ft.)	Bonus Feat

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the Shadowdancer prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Shadowdancers are proficient with the club, crossbow (hand, light, or heavy), dagger (any type), dart, heavy mace, morningstar, quarterstaff, rapier, sap, shortbow (normal and composite), and short sword. Shadowdancers are proficient with light armor but not with shields.

Shadow Jump (Ex): At 1st level as a swift action the Shadowdancer gains the ablity to travel between two points as if by means of a dimension door spell (except that you can take action after using this ability). She can travel up to the number of feet shown in the “Shadow Jump” column of Table: The Shadowdancer and a maximum total number per day equal to the value in parenthesis. The only limitation is that this magical transport must begin and end in an area with in at least 10ft of shadow or darkness.

Shadow Jump (Epic) (Ex): To work out the distance a Shadowdancer can Shadow Jump add 60 ft to the number in the parenthesis every other level eg; at level 22 a Shadowdancer could jump 960ft a day.

Darkvision (Su): At 1st level, a Shadowdancer gains Darkvision 60ft. If the Shadowdancer already has Dark Vision increase it by 60ft.

Evasion:At 2nd level, a Shadowdancer gains Evasion. If exposed to any effect that normally allows a character to attempt a Reflex saving throw for half damage (such as fireball) she takes no damage with a successful saving throw. Evasion can only be used if the Shadowdancer is wearing light armor or no armor.

Hide in Plain Sight (Su): At 3rd level a Shadowdancer can use the Hide skill even while being observed. As long as she is within 10 feet of some sort of shadow, a Shadowdancer can hide herself from view in the open without anything to actually hide behind. She cannot, however, hide in her own shadow.

Uncanny Dodge (Ex): Starting at 3rd level, a Shadowdancer retains her Dexterity bonus to AC (if any) regardless of being caught flat-footed or struck by an invisible attacker. (She still loses any Dexterity bonus to AC if immobilized.)

Defensive Roll (Ex): Starting at 5th level, once per day, when a Shadowdancer would be reduced to 0 hit points or less by damage in combat (from a weapon or other blow, not a spell or special ability), she can attempt to roll with the damage. She makes a Reflex saving throw (DC = damage dealt) and, if successful, takes only half damage from the blow. She must be aware of the attack and able to react to it in order to execute her defensive roll. If she is in a situation that would deny her any Dexterity bonus to AC, she can’t attempt a defensive roll.

Improved Uncanny Dodge (Ex): At 7th level, a Shadowdancer can no longer be flanked. This defense denies rogues the ability to use flank attacks to sneak attack the Shadowdancer. The exception to this defense is that a rogue at least four levels higher than the Shadowdancer can flank her (and thus sneak attack her).

Jumper of the Light(Su): At 9th level a Shadowdancer becomes so adept at manipulating shadow stuff that she can create it out of nothing allowing her to at double the normal cost Shadow Jump with out shade or darkness. For example a Shadowdancer who wishes to jump 50ft in daylight would use up 100ft of her daily allotment of shadow jump.

Shadow Replication ((Su)): A 10th level Shadowdancer is in tune with the plane of shadow and manipulating shadow stuff that when ever she shadow jumps it leave a image of her behind. This image is similar to a Minor Image spell cast by a wizard whose caster level is equal to the Shadowdancers Shadow Dancer levels.

Bonus Feats:

Epic Bonus Feat List:

Ex-Shadow Dancers

Playing a Shadow Dancer

Combat:

Advancement:

Resources:

Shadow Dancers in the World

“		”

NPC Reactions:

Shadow Dancers in the Forgotten Realms

“

They came from the city of shade elegant and deadly they dance through the night disappearing and reappearing only to cut down their foe with a deadly strike. That it the power of the Shadow Dancers and the teaching of the Shadow plane. Elminster on Shadow Dancers

”

NPC Reactions:

Shadow Dancer Lore

Characters with ranks in can research Shadow Dancers to learn more about them. When a character makes a skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including information from lower DCs.

DC	Result
11	.
16	.
21	.
26	.

Shadow Dancers in the Game

Adaptation:

Sample Encounter:

EL whatever:

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