ShneekeyTheLost
2011-11-09, 05:01 PM
I suppose SD fixes are so common because while the concept is cool, the execution is execrable. So, here's how I'm going about the 'fix':
1) The role is 'mobile skirmisher', and that's what I'm going to do
2) The flavor is 'shadow-based theme, which I'm also going to do
3) The prerequisites will be appropriate to what the class does
4) Tempted as I am, I will not be using ToB, simply because the Shadow Hand discipline pretty much already does all of this out of the box, without needing a PrC
5) The goal is to make this an actually viable skirmisher with a shadow-based theme with interesting abilities without either enormous feat-tax, or useless abilities.
Shadowdancer
Prerequisites
Skills: Hide 8 ranks, Move Silently 8 ranks, Perform (Dance) 8 ranks, Balance 5 ranks, Knowledge (The Planes) 5 ranks
Feats: Dodge
Other: Evasion class ability
Special: Must have made peaceful contact with a denizen of the Plane of Shadow, or have had close contact with the Plane of Shadow (via Shadow Walk, traveling to the Plane of Shadow, or other close encounters with the GM's permission)
{table=head]Level|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Special
1st|+0|+0|+2|+0| Uncanny Dodge, Darkvision, Lord of the Dance
2nd|+1|+0|+3|+0| Shadowstep, Sudden Strike +1d6
3rd|+2|+1|+3|+1| Hide in Plain Sight, Shadowed Face, Dance of Deception
4th|+3|+1|+4|+1| Cloak of Shadows, Sudden Strike +2d6
5th|+3|+1|+4|+1| Ebon Eyes, Improved Shadowstep, Dance of Mobility
6th|+4|+2|+5|+2| Shadow Feint, Sudden Strike +3d6
7th|+5|+2|+5|+2| Shadowslice, Darkness, Dance of Shadowed Blades
8th|+6/+1|+2|+6|+2| Shadowslip, Sudden Strike +4d6
9th|+6/+1|+3|+6|+3| Shadowpounce, Dance of Darkness
10th|+7/+2|+3|+7|+3| Shadowform, Sudden Strike +5d5[/table]
Class Skills (6+Int mod): Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Disguise (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Hide (Dex), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Search (Int), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Spot (Wis), Tumble (Dex), and Use Rope (Dex).
Class Features
Weapon and Armor Proficencies: Shadowdancers are proficient with all simple weapons, plus the hand crossbow, rapier, sap, shortbow, and short sword. They are also proficient in Light armor, but not shields.
Uncanny Dodge (Ex): A Shadowdancer retains Dex bonus to AC even when flat-footed or attacked by an invisible opponent. He loses this ability when immobilized. If the character already has Uncanny Dodge from another class, then he gains Improved Uncanny Dodge, and the levels from all classes with Uncanny Dodge stack for determining the minimum Rogue level required to flank you.
Darkvision (Ex): A Shadowdancer gains Darkvision 60'. If the Shadowdancer already had Darkvision, then the range increases by 30'.
Lord of the Dance (Ex): A Shadowdancer gains an untyped bonus to Perform (Dance) checks equal to his class level. At 3rd level and every odd level thereafter, he gains access to a new Dance. Only one dance may be active at any given time.
Shadowstep (Su): At 2nd level, the Shadowdancer learns how to dance the line between the Prime and the Plane of Shadow. As a Standard action which does not provoke an attack of opportunity, he may teleport short distances. He has a daily pool of 15'/level, and it must be used in 5' increments.
You may only use this ability if you are wearing light or no armor and have at most Medium encumbrance. This ability may not be used to go from or to a square with greater than Shadowy illumination.
Several other class abilities also draw from this pool. If any ability attempts to use more distance than the pool currently has, the ability automatically fails.
At 5th level, he may use this ability as a Move action
Sudden Strike (Ex): A Shadowdancer also learns how to use concealment to his advantage. At 2nd level, he deals +1d6 damage to an opponent who is denied his dex bonus to AC. This increases by +1d6 at every even level. This ability is otherwise identical to the class feature of the Ninja (CAdv) by the same name.
Hide in Plain Sight (Su): A shadowdancer can use the Hide skill even while being observed. As long as he is within 10 feet of some sort of shadow, a shadowdancer can hide himself from view in the open without anything to actually hide behind. He cannot, however, hide in his own shadow.
Shadowed Face (Su): By manipulating the shadows around himself, a Shadowdancer can conceal his identity. To use this ability, the shadowdancer must have some form of headgear or standing in an area of shadowy illumination or darker. The shadowdancer makes a Bluff check vs the opponent's Spot check. If he succeeds, the opponent cannot positively identify the shadowdancer.
This ability also allows the shadowdancer to conceal any Somatic spell components. If the Bluff check vs opponent's Spot check succeeds, the opponent cannot identify the spell being cast, and thus cannot (amoung other things) counterspell it.
This is considered to be a magical shadow effect, so Darkvision and similar effects do not penetrate it.
Dance of Deception While using the Dance of Deception, a Shadowdancer may replace a Bluff check with a Perform (Dance) check to feint. If he does so, then he also may feint as a Move action. In addition, once per round, if you are Fighting Defensively and are hit in combat, you may make a Perform (Dance) check vs an opponent's attack roll. If you succeed, you manage to dance away from the full brunt of his attack, negating any bonus damage from Power Attack.
A Shadowdancer may only use and benefit from one dance per round.
Cloak of Shadows (Su): By reaching into his connection with the Plane of Shadow, he pulls a cloak of shadows around himself. This ability can be used as a Swift action, and grants the Shadowdancer Concealment for 1+ (Cha mod) rounds. Rounds in which he uses an ability that draws from his Shadowstep pool do not count against this total. This is considered to be a magical darkness effect, so Darkvision and similar effects do not penetrate it.
This ability uses up 5' of his Shadowstep pool.
Ebon Eyes (Su): At 5th level, a Shadowdancer may use his Darkvision even in areas of magical darkness.
Dance of Mobility (Ex): A Shadowdancer who uses this dance may use a Perform (Dance) check instead of a Tumble check for bypassing AoO due to movement. If he does so, he also ignores difficult terrain penalties, both in movement and the penalty to the tumble (now Perform(Dance)) check.
A Shadowdancer may only use and benefit from one dance per round.
Shadow Feint (Su): A Shadowdancer learns how to manipulate shadows to conceal his attacks. At 5th level, as a swift action, the Shadowdancer may use this ability. Make a Feint (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/combat/specialAttacks.htm#feint) check. If sucessful, the opponent is considered to be flat-footed against all of your attacks until the end of your turn.
This ability uses up 5' of his Shadowstep pool
Shadowslice (Su): As part of a full attack action, a Shadowdancer may adjust his position around his opponent. Choose an opponent whom the shadowdancer is already adjacent to. You may move to any empty square adjacent to that opponent. This may be done at any point in your full attack, even between attacks, but must be done before the end of your action.
By suddenly changing the angle of your attack, this ability also makes your opponent flat-footed against your attacks until his next turn.
This ability uses up 5'+(distance traveled) of his Shadowstep pool.
Dance of Shadowy Blades (Ex): When a Shadowdancer uses this dance, he may make a Perform (Dance) check when he makes an attack. He gains an untyped bonus on damage against that opponent for the duration of the round. If the result is 15 or less, the bonus is +1. For every additional 5 points beyond that, the damage bonus increases by +1.
This bonus damage is considered to be precision-based damage.
A Shadowdancer may only use and benefit from one dance per round.
Darkness (Sp): As the spell of the same name except as follows, as a spell-like ability, usable at-will, with an effective caster level equal to his character level. Only one area of darkness may be produced at a time. Creating a second area of darkness dismisses any previously made ones.
This ability may be used to snuff out a mundane light source instead of creating an area of darkness. Once a light source has gone out, it will need to be re-lit. This is an Instantaneous effect.
This ability may be used to counter a light-based magical effect. It may be used to Counterspell any light-producing spell if an action is readied to do so, with an effective caster level equal to his character level.
It has an effective spell level equal to 1/2 his class level, for purposes of dispelling light spells already in place.
Shadowslip (Su): If an area effect is placed, and the shadowdancer is within the area, as an immediate action which may be taken before a saving throw for the effect is needed, he may shadowstep to just outside the area of effect.
This ability uses up 10'+(distance traveled) of his shadowstep pool.
For example, a wizard attempts to cast Stinking Cloud centered on the Shadowdancer. As an immediate action, before he needs to make the Fort save, he can teleport to just outside the Cloud. This will use up 10' + 20' (the distance between him and the edge of the cloud) for a total of 30' of his Shadowstep pool.
Shadowpounce (Su): As a full-round action, a Shadowdancer may use his Shadowstep ability to move, and make a full attack at the end. Since this is a full-round action, you may also use Shadowslice in conjunction with this ability, if you have enough movement left in your Shadowstep pool
This ability uses up an additional 10' of movement from his Shadowstep Pool, and the movement from the shadow step is used up normally.
Dance of Darkness (Su): While this dance is active, once per turn, as an immediate action, the Shadowdancer may make a Perform (Dance) check to teleport a short distance. If the result is 20 or less, he may teleport 5'. If the result is 21-25, he may teleport 10'. For each additional 5 points, the range increases 5', to a maximum of 25'.
If this is done in response to an attack, then that attack has a 50% miss chance.
Unlike Shadowstep, this is considered to be a Dimension Door effect, and when you use this ability, you may take no further actions until your next round.
Shadowform (Su): The shadowdancer becomes one with the shadows, gaining the Incorporeal subtype. While in this form, he may not move into any area greater than shadowy illumination. If the square he is currently in becomes illuminated to greater than shadowy illumination, the effect ends immediately and he is Stunned for 1 round.
While in Shadowform, you may not make normal attacks, however you can make an incorporeal touch as an attack action to inflict one negative level. Every negative level so inflicted uses up 5' from his Shadowstep pool.
This ability uses up 5' from his Shadowstep pool per round it is used. If he empties his Shadowstep pool, and become material while inside a material object (such as a solid wall), you are shunted off to the nearest open space and take 1d6 points of damage per 5 feet that you so travel.
Questions? Comments? Critique?
1) The role is 'mobile skirmisher', and that's what I'm going to do
2) The flavor is 'shadow-based theme, which I'm also going to do
3) The prerequisites will be appropriate to what the class does
4) Tempted as I am, I will not be using ToB, simply because the Shadow Hand discipline pretty much already does all of this out of the box, without needing a PrC
5) The goal is to make this an actually viable skirmisher with a shadow-based theme with interesting abilities without either enormous feat-tax, or useless abilities.
Shadowdancer
Prerequisites
Skills: Hide 8 ranks, Move Silently 8 ranks, Perform (Dance) 8 ranks, Balance 5 ranks, Knowledge (The Planes) 5 ranks
Feats: Dodge
Other: Evasion class ability
Special: Must have made peaceful contact with a denizen of the Plane of Shadow, or have had close contact with the Plane of Shadow (via Shadow Walk, traveling to the Plane of Shadow, or other close encounters with the GM's permission)
{table=head]Level|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Special
1st|+0|+0|+2|+0| Uncanny Dodge, Darkvision, Lord of the Dance
2nd|+1|+0|+3|+0| Shadowstep, Sudden Strike +1d6
3rd|+2|+1|+3|+1| Hide in Plain Sight, Shadowed Face, Dance of Deception
4th|+3|+1|+4|+1| Cloak of Shadows, Sudden Strike +2d6
5th|+3|+1|+4|+1| Ebon Eyes, Improved Shadowstep, Dance of Mobility
6th|+4|+2|+5|+2| Shadow Feint, Sudden Strike +3d6
7th|+5|+2|+5|+2| Shadowslice, Darkness, Dance of Shadowed Blades
8th|+6/+1|+2|+6|+2| Shadowslip, Sudden Strike +4d6
9th|+6/+1|+3|+6|+3| Shadowpounce, Dance of Darkness
10th|+7/+2|+3|+7|+3| Shadowform, Sudden Strike +5d5[/table]
Class Skills (6+Int mod): Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Disguise (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Hide (Dex), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Search (Int), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Spot (Wis), Tumble (Dex), and Use Rope (Dex).
Class Features
Weapon and Armor Proficencies: Shadowdancers are proficient with all simple weapons, plus the hand crossbow, rapier, sap, shortbow, and short sword. They are also proficient in Light armor, but not shields.
Uncanny Dodge (Ex): A Shadowdancer retains Dex bonus to AC even when flat-footed or attacked by an invisible opponent. He loses this ability when immobilized. If the character already has Uncanny Dodge from another class, then he gains Improved Uncanny Dodge, and the levels from all classes with Uncanny Dodge stack for determining the minimum Rogue level required to flank you.
Darkvision (Ex): A Shadowdancer gains Darkvision 60'. If the Shadowdancer already had Darkvision, then the range increases by 30'.
Lord of the Dance (Ex): A Shadowdancer gains an untyped bonus to Perform (Dance) checks equal to his class level. At 3rd level and every odd level thereafter, he gains access to a new Dance. Only one dance may be active at any given time.
Shadowstep (Su): At 2nd level, the Shadowdancer learns how to dance the line between the Prime and the Plane of Shadow. As a Standard action which does not provoke an attack of opportunity, he may teleport short distances. He has a daily pool of 15'/level, and it must be used in 5' increments.
You may only use this ability if you are wearing light or no armor and have at most Medium encumbrance. This ability may not be used to go from or to a square with greater than Shadowy illumination.
Several other class abilities also draw from this pool. If any ability attempts to use more distance than the pool currently has, the ability automatically fails.
At 5th level, he may use this ability as a Move action
Sudden Strike (Ex): A Shadowdancer also learns how to use concealment to his advantage. At 2nd level, he deals +1d6 damage to an opponent who is denied his dex bonus to AC. This increases by +1d6 at every even level. This ability is otherwise identical to the class feature of the Ninja (CAdv) by the same name.
Hide in Plain Sight (Su): A shadowdancer can use the Hide skill even while being observed. As long as he is within 10 feet of some sort of shadow, a shadowdancer can hide himself from view in the open without anything to actually hide behind. He cannot, however, hide in his own shadow.
Shadowed Face (Su): By manipulating the shadows around himself, a Shadowdancer can conceal his identity. To use this ability, the shadowdancer must have some form of headgear or standing in an area of shadowy illumination or darker. The shadowdancer makes a Bluff check vs the opponent's Spot check. If he succeeds, the opponent cannot positively identify the shadowdancer.
This ability also allows the shadowdancer to conceal any Somatic spell components. If the Bluff check vs opponent's Spot check succeeds, the opponent cannot identify the spell being cast, and thus cannot (amoung other things) counterspell it.
This is considered to be a magical shadow effect, so Darkvision and similar effects do not penetrate it.
Dance of Deception While using the Dance of Deception, a Shadowdancer may replace a Bluff check with a Perform (Dance) check to feint. If he does so, then he also may feint as a Move action. In addition, once per round, if you are Fighting Defensively and are hit in combat, you may make a Perform (Dance) check vs an opponent's attack roll. If you succeed, you manage to dance away from the full brunt of his attack, negating any bonus damage from Power Attack.
A Shadowdancer may only use and benefit from one dance per round.
Cloak of Shadows (Su): By reaching into his connection with the Plane of Shadow, he pulls a cloak of shadows around himself. This ability can be used as a Swift action, and grants the Shadowdancer Concealment for 1+ (Cha mod) rounds. Rounds in which he uses an ability that draws from his Shadowstep pool do not count against this total. This is considered to be a magical darkness effect, so Darkvision and similar effects do not penetrate it.
This ability uses up 5' of his Shadowstep pool.
Ebon Eyes (Su): At 5th level, a Shadowdancer may use his Darkvision even in areas of magical darkness.
Dance of Mobility (Ex): A Shadowdancer who uses this dance may use a Perform (Dance) check instead of a Tumble check for bypassing AoO due to movement. If he does so, he also ignores difficult terrain penalties, both in movement and the penalty to the tumble (now Perform(Dance)) check.
A Shadowdancer may only use and benefit from one dance per round.
Shadow Feint (Su): A Shadowdancer learns how to manipulate shadows to conceal his attacks. At 5th level, as a swift action, the Shadowdancer may use this ability. Make a Feint (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/combat/specialAttacks.htm#feint) check. If sucessful, the opponent is considered to be flat-footed against all of your attacks until the end of your turn.
This ability uses up 5' of his Shadowstep pool
Shadowslice (Su): As part of a full attack action, a Shadowdancer may adjust his position around his opponent. Choose an opponent whom the shadowdancer is already adjacent to. You may move to any empty square adjacent to that opponent. This may be done at any point in your full attack, even between attacks, but must be done before the end of your action.
By suddenly changing the angle of your attack, this ability also makes your opponent flat-footed against your attacks until his next turn.
This ability uses up 5'+(distance traveled) of his Shadowstep pool.
Dance of Shadowy Blades (Ex): When a Shadowdancer uses this dance, he may make a Perform (Dance) check when he makes an attack. He gains an untyped bonus on damage against that opponent for the duration of the round. If the result is 15 or less, the bonus is +1. For every additional 5 points beyond that, the damage bonus increases by +1.
This bonus damage is considered to be precision-based damage.
A Shadowdancer may only use and benefit from one dance per round.
Darkness (Sp): As the spell of the same name except as follows, as a spell-like ability, usable at-will, with an effective caster level equal to his character level. Only one area of darkness may be produced at a time. Creating a second area of darkness dismisses any previously made ones.
This ability may be used to snuff out a mundane light source instead of creating an area of darkness. Once a light source has gone out, it will need to be re-lit. This is an Instantaneous effect.
This ability may be used to counter a light-based magical effect. It may be used to Counterspell any light-producing spell if an action is readied to do so, with an effective caster level equal to his character level.
It has an effective spell level equal to 1/2 his class level, for purposes of dispelling light spells already in place.
Shadowslip (Su): If an area effect is placed, and the shadowdancer is within the area, as an immediate action which may be taken before a saving throw for the effect is needed, he may shadowstep to just outside the area of effect.
This ability uses up 10'+(distance traveled) of his shadowstep pool.
For example, a wizard attempts to cast Stinking Cloud centered on the Shadowdancer. As an immediate action, before he needs to make the Fort save, he can teleport to just outside the Cloud. This will use up 10' + 20' (the distance between him and the edge of the cloud) for a total of 30' of his Shadowstep pool.
Shadowpounce (Su): As a full-round action, a Shadowdancer may use his Shadowstep ability to move, and make a full attack at the end. Since this is a full-round action, you may also use Shadowslice in conjunction with this ability, if you have enough movement left in your Shadowstep pool
This ability uses up an additional 10' of movement from his Shadowstep Pool, and the movement from the shadow step is used up normally.
Dance of Darkness (Su): While this dance is active, once per turn, as an immediate action, the Shadowdancer may make a Perform (Dance) check to teleport a short distance. If the result is 20 or less, he may teleport 5'. If the result is 21-25, he may teleport 10'. For each additional 5 points, the range increases 5', to a maximum of 25'.
If this is done in response to an attack, then that attack has a 50% miss chance.
Unlike Shadowstep, this is considered to be a Dimension Door effect, and when you use this ability, you may take no further actions until your next round.
Shadowform (Su): The shadowdancer becomes one with the shadows, gaining the Incorporeal subtype. While in this form, he may not move into any area greater than shadowy illumination. If the square he is currently in becomes illuminated to greater than shadowy illumination, the effect ends immediately and he is Stunned for 1 round.
While in Shadowform, you may not make normal attacks, however you can make an incorporeal touch as an attack action to inflict one negative level. Every negative level so inflicted uses up 5' from his Shadowstep pool.
This ability uses up 5' from his Shadowstep pool per round it is used. If he empties his Shadowstep pool, and become material while inside a material object (such as a solid wall), you are shunted off to the nearest open space and take 1d6 points of damage per 5 feet that you so travel.
Questions? Comments? Critique?