Shadow knife, variant (3.5e Class)

shadow knife

because this is based on the other one, I'm not going to use any flavor text because you can just click for that.

Making a shadow knife

Shadow knives tend to stick to the back of the party, mainly relying on guerrilla tactics.

Abilities: dex is the most important for obvious reasons.str is important for damage. and con is for the concentration checks (and hp).

Races: Humans mostly, meeting the high skills necessary, halflings as well find the life of a shadow knife quite comforting.

Alignment: any.

Starting Gold: starting gold; 6d10x10gp, avg 300.

Starting Age: simple

Table: The shadow knife

Hit Die: d8

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Saving Throws			Special
		Fort	Ref	Will
1st	+1	+0	+2	+0	Attune
2nd	+2	+0	+3	+0	Materialize, Attuned Specialty
3rd	+3	+1	+3	+1	Shadow Jump
4th	+4	+1	+4	+1	Enhance +1
5th	+5	+1	+4	+1	Weapon Specialization (Dagger)
6th	+6/+1	+2	+5	+2	Shadow Knife
7th	+7/+2	+2	+5	+2	Shadow Jump 2/day
8th	+8/+3	+2	+6	+2	Enhance +2 Greater Weapon Focus
9th	+9/+4	+3	+6	+3	Greater Shadow Jump
10th	+10/+5	+3	+7	+3	Improved Shadow Knife
11th	+11/+6/+1	+3	+7	+3	Greater Attuning Specialty
12th	+12/+7/+2	+4	+8	+4	Greater Weapon Specialization (Dagger), Greater Shadow Jump 4/day, Enhance +3
13th	+13/+8/+3	+4	+8	+4
14th	+14/+9/+4	+4	+9	+4
15th	+15/+10/+5	+5	+9	+5	Greater Shadow Knife
16th	+16/+11/+6/+1	+5	+10	+5	Master Shadow Jumper,Enhance +4
17th	+17/+12/+7/+2	+5	+10	+5
18th	+18/+13/+8/+3	+6	+11	+6
19th	+19/+14/+9/+4	+6	+11	+6
20th	+20/+15/+10/+5	+6	+12	+6	Enhance +5, Perfect Shadow Knife
Class Skills (6 + Int modifier per level; ×4 at 1st level) Balance, Bluff, Climb, Concentration, Craft (any), Diplomacy, Escape Artist, Gather Information, Hide, Jump, Listen, Move Silently, Perform, Profession, Search, Sense Motive, Sleight of Hand, Spot, Swim, Tumble, Use Rope

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the shadow knife.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Shadow Knives are proficient with light armor, all thrown weapons, the shortsword, longsword and shortbow. -Special- The Shadow Knives abilities only work if wearing light or no armor, and if carrying no more than a medium load.

Attune:(Ex) - At first level, a Shadow Knife is able to attune 2 weapons to themselves, giving the weapons Ghost Touch, as well as giving him the Materialize ability. Attune is a permanent ability that may only be used twice in the Shadow Knives lifetime, once for each weapon. Both weapons must be masterwork, can be made out of any material, but MUST be non-magical. All abilities for the weapons function only in a Shadow Knives hands; does not necessarily need to be the owners, however.

Materialize (Ex) - After the weapons have been attuned, as long the weapons are within 120 feet of the Shadow Knife, the weapons location is automatically known to the Shadow Knife, and he may attempt to Materialize (DC 10 Concentration check) them in his hands as a standard action that doesn't provoke attacks of opportunity. At higher levels, he may use this ability to greater affect (see Attuned Specialty.) Should the attuned weapons ever be broken, destroyed, or lost, the Shadow Knife can, as a full-round action, attempt to Materialize them (DC 25 Concentration check), in his hands and in full repair. This does, however, provoke attacks of opportunity that may disrupt the process (see Concentration rules)

Attuned Specialty - At second level the shadow knife may choose between the ambidextrous feat or two-weapon fighting.

Shadow Jump (Su) - At 3rd level and higher, the Shadow Knife gains the Shadow Jump ability 1x/day. As long as the Shadow Knife is within reaching distance of a shadow, he may "jump" from shadow to shadow, provided he has at least one daily use of his shadow jump. These shadows cannot be any further than his move range apart, and jumping is considered a standard action.

Epic Shadow knife

Table: The Epic Shadow knife

Hit Die: d6

Level	Special
21st
22nd	Bonus Feat
23rd
24th	Enhance +6
25th
26th	Bonus Feat
27th
28th	Enhance +7
29th
30th	Bonus Feat
6 + Int modifier skill points per level.

Human Shadow Knife Starting Package

Weapons: 2x Dagger (1d4 damage, 19-20 critical).

Skill Selection: Pick a number of skills equal to 6 + Int modifier.

Skill	Ranks	Ability	Armor Check Penalty
Concentration	4	Con	—
Escape Artist	4	Dex	-2
Gather Information	4	Cha	—
Hide	4	Dex	-2
Listen	4	Wis	—
Move Silently	4	Dex	-2
Search	4	Int	—
Spot	4	Wis	—
Tumble	4	Dex	-2

Feat: Weapon Finesse (dagger). Bonus Feat Weapon Focus (dagger)

Gear: Chain Shirt, 10 torches, sunrod.

Gold: 150.

Playing a Shadow Knife

Religion: Typically uninterested in religion, as it restricts the actions and infringes on personalities

Other Classes: Gets along well with most other classes except paladins, being as they might see their tactics as sneaky and underhanded.

Combat: Usually stays in the back, throwing knives, daggers, and other objects at opponents. Can get up close and fight, but tends not to due to the lack of armor and hit points.

Shadow Knives in the World

“	First in, last out. Strike from the shadows, and leave your enemies blind to your movements, but not to their fate.	”
—Fell, Elf Shadow Knife to apprentice

Most Shadow Knives serve under kings and lords as assassins, although many have been known to take the mercenary path, to pursue untold riches and adventures.

Daily Life: <-day in the life of a character of this class->.

Notables: Jo-abdul, Master Shadow Knife who is rumored to have fought off a family of red dragons single-handed.

Organizations: Shadow Knives don't usually assemble together, although if done is usually in broad daylight, in a pub or at a marketplace. No known guild, groups or formal associations exist, although is not to uncommon to see one traveling with a bard, as most if not all Shadow Knives love music.

NPC Reactions: Paladins consider non-lawful Shadow Knives to be the same as rogues, while seeing lawfuls as as bit of a mystery, and most other classes see them as glorified assassins.

Shadow Knife Lore

Bards are pretty much the only people who can disassociate Shadow Knives from assassins, and know the differences with a successful bardic knowledge check. When a character makes a skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including information from lower DCs.

Bardic Knowledge Check

DC	Result
15	A rare breed, Shadow Knives aren't well known, even in history, no well-known Shadow Knives exist
20	Shadow Knives of all kinds love music, even go so far as to revere it for it mystical properties.
25	Shadow Knives have the ability to hide in darkness, at times even become invisible.
30	Shadow Knives are one with their weapons, some even go so far as to worship them.

---

Back to Main Page → 3.5e Homebrew → Classes → Base Classes