Walker in Darkness (3.5e Prestige Class)

Walker in Darkness

All rogues favour the dark, as it conceals their comings and goings and offers a shroud of secrecy under which they may carry out all manner of shady deeds. Some rogues have such an affinity with shadow that they begin to merge with it. The walker in darkness has become a creature of the shadows to such a degree that his body is partly made from shadow-stuff, allowing him to merge into darkness and replenish himself. As the transformation proceeds, he becomes more and more a shadow-being, gaining powers reminiscent of those possessed by undead shades, until finally he may make his body incorporeal for limited times.

Walkers in darkness enter upon this path by making a shadow pact, an obscure and rare ritual that requires them to spend a solid week in complete darkness, steadily bleeding themselves white. This is a punishing procedure and the rogue takes a month to recover from it; he finds light difficult to tolerate ever afterwards and his eyes have a smoky cast to them. Once the ritual is complete, he has begun to walk the shadow road and gain the powers of the dark.

Making a Walker in Darkness

Entry Requirements

Alignment:	Any neutral, or chaotic alignment.
Class/Level:	Rogue level 9+.
Skills:	Hide 10 ranks, Move Silently 10 ranks.
Special:	The rogue must spend one day in completely darkness.

Table: The Walker in Darkness

Hit Die: d6

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Saving Throws			Special	Spellcasting or Manifesting	Spells per Day										Power Points/Day	Powers Known	Maximum Power Level Known
		Fort	Ref	Will			0	1^st	2^nd	3^rd	4^th	5^th	6^th	7^th	8^th	9^th
1st	+0	+0	+2	+2	Light Vulnerability, Shadow Sympathy, Darkvision, Sneak Attack +1d6, Shadow Manipulation		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2nd	+1	+0	+3	+3	Gloom		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
3rd	+2	+1	+3	+3	Sneak Attack +2d6		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
4th	+3	+1	+4	+4	Shadow Recovery		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
5th	+3	+1	+4	+4	Sneak Attack +3d6, Shadow Slide		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
6th	+4	+2	+5	+5	Draining Touch		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
7th	+5	+2	+5	+5	Sneak Attack +4d6		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
8th	+6	+2	+6	+6	Shadow Regeneration		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
9th	+6/+1	+3	+6	+6	Sneak Attack +5d6		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
10th	+7/+2	+3	+7	+7	Body of Shade		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Class Skills (8 + Int modifier per level, ×4 at 1st level) The walker in darkness class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are; Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Disable Device (Int), Disguise (Cha), Gather Information (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (local) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Open Lock (Dex), Search (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Spot (Wis), Tumble (Dex), Use Magic Device (Cha) and Use Rope (Dex).

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the walker in darkness prestige class.

Weapon and Armour Proficiency: The walker in darkness gains no new weapon or armour proficiencies. Note that armour check penalties for armour heavier than leather apply to the skills Balance, Climb, Escape Artist, Hide, Jump, Move Silently, Pick Pocket and Tumble.

Sneak Attack: At the levels indicated, the walker in darkness gains the ability to inflict additional damage when making a sneak attack in the usual manner. This extra damage stacks with any sneak attack damage that the walker in darkness is able to inflict from having levels in rogue and other classes with this ability.

Shadow Sympathy: The walker in darkness has some shadow ichor flowing in his veins instead of mortal blood. Whenever he performs a Hide skill check that involves concealing himself in shadow (as opposed to hiding behind an item of furniture or among brushwood) he may add a +6 circumstance bonus to the check. Undead shadows treat the character as if he were one of their own kind and will not attack him unless provoked. This is a supernatural ability.

Darkvision: The walker in darkness gains darkvision to a distance of 60 feet, if he did not already have this ability.

Shadow Manipulation: The walker in darkness gains ability to control every shadow that is in direct contact with his own shadow. He can materialize and dis-materialize the shadow using a free action. He may use his shadow to make a weapon that deal 1d4 and ignore the target armour.

Gloom: The walker in darkness may steadily dim and extinguish a light source just by focusing his attention on it. As a standard action that provokes attacks of opportunity, he may concentrate upon any natural or artificial light source within one hundred feet. This light source must be within his line of sight. After one round of concentration, the light becomes dim and only sheds light to half the radius it normally would. For example, a torch that had been dimmed would only shed bright light to a distance of 10 feet and shadowy illumination to a distance of 20 feet. A light source affected by the gloom ability does not appear to have anything unusual happening it; it is not draped with a veil of supernatural darkness, it is merely burning more dimly than before. A torch affected in this way is easily mistaken for one that is about to burn out. If a dimmed light source is not then extinguished, it recovers and gives off light normally after 1d6x10 minutes. A further round of concentration extinguishes the light source completely. A walker in darkness may attempt to extinguish magical lights by making an opposed level check against the caster level of the magical light’s creator. The formula is: walker’s level plus Charisma ability score modifier opposed by item caster level plus caster’s spellcasting ability modifier. The walker in darkness receives a +4 insight bonus to this check. Magical lights that have been dimmed or extinguished recover after 1d6+10 minutes. This is a supernatural ability.

Shadow Recovery: Shadows have a beneficial effect upon the walker in darkness, helping his system to recover more rapidly. If he is ever diseased, then he receives a +4 circumstance bonus to his Fortitude saving throws to throw off the disease if he has spent the previous 24 hours immersed in complete darkness. By spending a round in complete darkness and taking no other action, he may recover completely from the following conditions, so long as their cause is no longer operative: confused, dazzled, nauseated, shaken, sickened or stunned. If the cause is still operational, such as the gas from a stinking cloud being present in the area, he must make a saving throw as usual or immediately suffer the effect as if he had not recovered from it. This is a supernatural ability.

Shadow Slide: The fusion of mortal with shadow within the character’s body takes a dramatic leap forward with this ability. He may become as two-dimensional as a shadow for a few seconds, sliding under doors and along walls. As a move action, the character may move up to 30 feet as if his body were completely flat. He must move along a surface from the start to finish of the move and may not detach himself and move through open space. He may do nothing at all in this state other than move and he may not continue the shadow state at all once the move is taken.

Although he is effectively two-dimensional for the duration of this movement, he is as tall and broad as usual, so although he may fit through the crack under a door, he may not pour himself through a keyhole or slip into a box. During this movement, he appears to be a shadow to all observers.

This ability may be used to slip past a creature without provoking attacks of opportunity, or to cross over a pit by gliding along the wall, as the character is weightless during the shadow slide. If the creature is from the shadow realm he can slide to any shadow directly connected to his own shadow as it is a movement action. The walker in darkness may use this ability a number of times per day equal to his Intelligence ability score modifier.This is a supernatural ability.

Draining Touch: The cold shadows that lurk in the mortal body of the rogue can now be used to drain some of the life and vitality from others. In an attack horribly reminiscent of that practiced by the undead variety of shadow, the walker in darkness can attempt to drain strength from a victim. To do this, he must make an unarmed touch attack against the target. The attack inflicts no hit point damage but drains 1d4 points of temporary Strength. A character who is reduced to 0 Strength by this attack is rendered unconscious rather than killed. The rogue may active this ability three times per day each activation least 6 rounds. If the creature is from the shadow realm he can use a weapon made from the Shadow Maipulation. This is a supernatural ability.

Shadow Regeneration: The process that began with shadow recovery (see above) finds fuller development in this ability. The character is no longer simply resuscitated by shadows, they begin to have a healing effect upon him. If he is able to stand in a shadow and take no other action, the healing process begins. Webs of shadow close like clots upon his wounds and cool wisps of shade drain away the swelling from his bruises.

Every round the walker in darkness spends in shadow allows him to recover one hit point of damage, while every round he spends in complete darkness allows him to recover 1d4 hit points of damage. Alternately, whilst in complete darkness the walker in darkness may heal one point of temporary ability damage per minute. He must give this healing process his full attention. Utilising shadow regeneration is a full-round action that provokes attacks of opportunity; if the rogue is distracted, he must make a successful Concentration skill check or recover no hit points that round. If the darkness surrounding the character is broken by light during any round on which he is attempting to regenerate himself, then his use of this ability is blocked. This is a supernatural ability.

Body of Shade: In the final stage of the character’s transformation, he becomes one with the darkness in which he has walked for so long. He gains the ability to make himself and the items in his possession incorporeal for a limited duration, so that he resembles a roughly humanoid form fashioned from smoky translucent substance. See Core Rulebook II for the rules regarding incorporeal creatures.

This ability may be used up to three times a day, though it may only be used once during the daylight period of any given day. Each use of this ability lasts for one minute for every walker in darkness level the character possesses.

Epic Walker in Darkness

Table: The Epic Walker in Darkness

Level	Special
11th	Darkness’ sneak attack damage increases by 1d6. Shadowslide distance in a single move increases by 10 feet.
12th
13th	Darkness’ sneak attack damage increases by 1d6. Shadowslide distance in a single move increases by 10 feet.
14th
15th	Darkness’ sneak attack damage increases by 1d6. Shadowslide distance in a single move increases by 10 feet.
16th
17th	Darkness’ sneak attack damage increases by 1d6. Shadowslide distance in a single move increases by 10 feet.
18th
19th	Darkness’ sneak attack damage increases by 1d6. Shadowslide distance in a single move increases by 10 feet.
20th
The epic walker in darkness gains a bonus feat every three levels higher than 20th.

Shadow Snuff (Epic) You may attempt a coup de grace against a helpless target without being close enough for a melee attack.

Prerequisite: Walker in darkness class level 10th, base attack +17 or higher.

The walker in darkness may take advantage of his affinity with shadow to transmit a potentially fatal blow to a helpless target. So long as the target is at least partially in shadow or in no brighter light than that of dusk, the walker in darkness may make the coup de grace attempt as if the target were adjacent to him. This ability has a maximum range of 30 feet. The walker in darkness must use a melee weapon to perform this coup de grace; he cannot use a ranged weapon. He must, as usual, take a full-round action to perform the coup de grace. Use of this feat counts as use of a supernatural ability, so it does not function in an antimagic field.

Normal: A coup de grace may only be made against an adjacent target.

Ex-Walkers in Darkness

Playing a Walker in Darkness

Combat:

Advancement:

Resources:

Walkers in Darkness in the World

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NPC Reactions:

Walker in Darkness Lore

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

DC	Result
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Walkers in Darkness in the Game

Adaptation:

Sample Encounter:

EL whatever:

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