Yucca
2009-03-22, 06:08 PM
So I've been looking at the Shadow Monster template from Lords of Madness and I'm having a hard time figuring out exactly how the Shadow Blend ability works.
The ability says that as long as the creature in not in sunlight (or a sunlight-ish light) the creature can disappear into the shadows to get total concealment. How exactly does this work?
Assume you have a "shadow creature" in a cave. Assume that the entire room is brightly lit with mundane light sources so that there are no shadowy areas anywhere. Assume it takes a standard action to activate Shadow Blend.
Possibilities that I have come up with:
1)The creature activates Shadow Blend which allows it to fade away. The creature now has total concealment and is effectively invisible. If it spends its standard action maintaining this effect, it can stay invisible as long as it wants.
2)The Shadow Blend ability creates shadows around the creature. These shadows block line of sight, but are plainly visible in the room. Therefore PCs would know which square to target but would still have the 50% miss chance. If it spends its standard action maintaining this effect, it can stay keep the cloud of shadows in its space, but if it moves it loses the effect.
3)Same as #2 but the shadow moves with the creature.
4)Change the ability so that you need shadowy illumination to begin with. The ability upgrades the concealment from shadows to total concealment.
Right now I'm leaning towards option 2, since option 1 seems overpowered and option 4 seems like it guts the power too much.
What exactly is the difference between total concealment and invisibility? Does invisibility simply give you total concealment re: everyone or is it a different effect?
Any and all advice is appreciated. Thanks
The ability says that as long as the creature in not in sunlight (or a sunlight-ish light) the creature can disappear into the shadows to get total concealment. How exactly does this work?
Assume you have a "shadow creature" in a cave. Assume that the entire room is brightly lit with mundane light sources so that there are no shadowy areas anywhere. Assume it takes a standard action to activate Shadow Blend.
Possibilities that I have come up with:
1)The creature activates Shadow Blend which allows it to fade away. The creature now has total concealment and is effectively invisible. If it spends its standard action maintaining this effect, it can stay invisible as long as it wants.
2)The Shadow Blend ability creates shadows around the creature. These shadows block line of sight, but are plainly visible in the room. Therefore PCs would know which square to target but would still have the 50% miss chance. If it spends its standard action maintaining this effect, it can stay keep the cloud of shadows in its space, but if it moves it loses the effect.
3)Same as #2 but the shadow moves with the creature.
4)Change the ability so that you need shadowy illumination to begin with. The ability upgrades the concealment from shadows to total concealment.
Right now I'm leaning towards option 2, since option 1 seems overpowered and option 4 seems like it guts the power too much.
What exactly is the difference between total concealment and invisibility? Does invisibility simply give you total concealment re: everyone or is it a different effect?
Any and all advice is appreciated. Thanks