Shadowmage PrC...please critic

Hey All Just wondering if you could all let me know what you think about this prc. I posted it some time ago on other boards and it was well received. Now, I have updated it to 3.5 and I just want to make sure that it is balanced. So any thoughts would be appreciated. Well its all been edited so take a look at the finished PrC.

Shadowmage

Hit Die: d4

Requirements:
Hide: 5
Move Silently: 5
Knowledge(Arcana): 7
Knowledge(Planes): 7
Feats: Silent Spell, Stealthy
Spellcasting: The ability to cast a 1st, 2nd and 3rd level arcane spell with the dakness/shadow descriptor.

Class Skills: Decipher Script, Hide, Knowlegde(Various), Spellcraft, Concentration, Move Silently, Profession(various), and Bluff.

Skill points per level: 2+Int

......Base
......Attack.Fort..Ref...Will
.............Save..Save..Save...Special Abilities
1st....+0....+0....+0.....+2....Blacksight, Blackened Soul, Spellcasting
2nd....+1....+0....+0.....+3....Shadowcloak(+2), Shadowed Casting
3rd....+1....+1....+1.....+3....Summon Darkness
4th....+2....+1....+1.....+4....Pierce the Darkness
5th....+2....+1....+1.....+4....Shadowcloak(+4), Shadowmeld
6th....+3....+2....+2.....+5....Dark Abode
7th....+3....+2....+2.....+5....Potent Darkness
8th....+4....+2....+2.....+6....Shadowcloak(+6)
9th....+4....+3....+3.....+6....Shadow Walk
10th...+5....+3....+3.....+7....Shadow Soul

Blacksight(Ex): This ability grants darkvision 60'. If the pc already possesses darkvision the range is increased by 60'.

Blackened Soul: Once this prestige class is taken the Shadowmage cannot cast spells with the light descriptor. He also suffers a -2 to his effective caster level when casting spells of the evocation school(though this does not apply to spells with the darkness/shadow descrptor).

Spellcasting: Every level of this prestige class adds a level of
spellcaster, except level one.

Shadowcloak(Su): By wrapping the shadows about himself the pc gains a +2to hide checks. This bonus increases to +4 at 5th level and +6 at 8th level.

Shadowed Casting(Su): By using the surrounding gloom the pc naturally obfuscates his spellcasting. This results in a +4 to the dc of spellcraft checks to discern what spell the character is casting. This functions only so long as the character is in an area of darkness/shadow.

Potent Darkness(Su): When casting spells in darkness or shadow the pc instinctively draws additional power from the surrounding gloom. This causes all spells with the darkness/shadow descriptor to be more potent. The result is a +1 to spell save dc as well as a +1 to caster level.

Pierce the Darkness(Su): This grants the Shadowmage the ability to see through magical darkness with their Blacksight ability.

Dark Abode(Sp): Effectively the same as rope trick but creates a pocket dimension on the plane of Shadow. So long as there is shadow or darkness this ability can be activated. This ability can be used once per day. Dark Abode ends instantly if the area that this ability was used in suddenly is without shadows or darkness. Activating this ability is a standard action.

Summon Darkness(Sp): This allows the character to cast Darkness once a day as per the spell. Using this ability is a standard action.

Shadowmeld(Su): The pcs control over shadow is such that he can seemingly dissappear into them at will. Shadowmeld allows the character to dissappear into shadow as the shadowdancer ability hide in plain sight.

Shadow Walk(Sp): As per the spell once per day.

Shadow Soul(Su): The character, through constant exposure to the planeof shadow, has now become imbued with shadowstuff. The result is the ability to grant the shadowmage himself the "shadowed" template(note that this is not the undead shadow type put the template in Manual of the Planes). This is a week long ritual that requires the expenditure of 750xp. Also not that the pc now is considered an outsider with all advantages and drawbacks thereof.

Edits
1) Added move silently as a requirement.
2) Added Stealthy as a feat requirement.
3) Added Shadowmeld at 5th level.

I would go with the Shadowed Casting rather than Shadowmeld. Otherwise, you could do either way, but I'd probably move it down on the list. Don't want to outshine the Shadowdancer in this area by gaining it a few levels earlier. Not that it's overly unbalancing or anything. I think that shadowdancer ought to be better at this than a spellcaster-oriented PrC. The Shadowmage can replicate the same effects of Hide in Plain Sight through illusion spells such as invisibility etc, that the Shadowdancer doesn't have access to. So it really doesn't need this ability anyways.

Take note that having Knowledge (the Planes) at 7 ranks makes it a lot harder for a Sorcerer to gain levels in the Shadowmage. But perhaps that's your intention with the PrC? I would also remove Move Silently from the list of skills and perhaps add Disguise instead. Skulking in darkness is more rogue-like to me rather than something a spellcaster would be good at. It already has Hide which makes sense (and is included in the requirements, unlike Move Silently).

As to feat requirements ... Spell Focus (illusion) or Skill Focus (hide) could work. You might want to check out the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting. It has a Prestige Class similar to yours and a few shadow-related feats as well.

I don't like the Blackened Soul ability because of the -2 penalty to effective caster levels with evocation spells. I can see why they are unable to cast spells with light descriptor, but why would they suddenly become less adapt at hurling evocation spells? Personally, I would just remove it.

Otherwise, I find the PrC quite balanced. And by the way ... do you have any flavor text for the PrC? It really helps to judge what abilities are appropriate etc. Hope any of this is helpful!

Shadowmage PrC

Hi Sertimon thanks for the feedback now on to your responses...

1) I would go with the Shadowed Casting rather than Shadowmeld. Otherwise, you could do either way, but I'd probably move it down on the list........

Yup thats exactly what I was thinking. So I will replace Shadowmeld with Shadowed Casting. Actually do you think it would be alright to add the shadowmeld at a later level or would this be to overpowered or should I just remove it completely?

2) Take note that having Knowledge (the Planes) at 7 ranks makes it a lot harder for a Sorcerer to gain levels in the Shadowmage. But perhaps that's your intention with the PrC?......

You are correct this is on purpose though if someone wanted to make the prc more accessible to a sor than it would be easy to lower that requirement in order to allow them to take it as well. Also as for the move silently I will be adding that in as a requirement I somehow cut it out of my original post. My original concept(that involves my world and where the shadowmages originated) is that of a skulking mage that would was used for scouting, spying, and info gathering. Somewhat like the arcane trickster but a little more refined. Actually I'll most likely add in disguise as a class skill becuase it makes sense.

3) As to feat requirements ... Spell Focus (illusion) or Skill Focus (hide) could work.....

Yeah those are the ones that I was thinking about as well I just wanted to come with something more favourful. I'll check out the FR book. If I find something in there I'll post it.

4) I don't like the Blackened Soul ability because of the -2 penalty to effective caster levels....

I know that not everyone would like that but this is somewhat of a specialist wizard so instead of making the pc choose a barred school I instead imposed a negative to the school that makes the most sense. If someone does not like it they could simply remove it.

5) As for flavour text I will be adding it I just wanted to see if the prc would float or not before I put the effort into creating it. I should have it up by tonight.

Let me know what you think of the above. Thanks

No, I don't think it would be unbalanced to move Shadowmeld down on the list of Class Features. If this PrC was going to be used for scouting, spying, gathering information etc it does make sense. In that case, you should keep Move Silently and probably add to the requirements. Since you mention info gathering, you could add Gather Information as well, but that might be going overboard actually. At least if you’re not going to up the skill points per level. Now that I think about it, I suggest that you increase it to 4 + Int modifier instead.

I agree that neither Spell Focus (illusion) or Skill Focus (hide) are particularly flavorful. I think there is a feat in 3.5 PHB called 'Stealthy' that gives +2 to Hide and Move Silently. It’s detailed in the FR core book as well. Could use that as a requirement feat instead of my other suggestions.

Just some more random thoughts!

Shadowmage....

Hey Sertimon great suggestions all Would it be overpowered if I added the shadowmeld ability at lets say level 5? Let me know what you think. Also I have edited a few things and have chosen Stealthy as the other feat requirement. Thanks

No, I don't think it would be overpowered to put Shadowmeld around 5th level or higher. This ability does make sense since these guys were used for spying, scouting etc.

It looks great now, korasukage! Keep up the good work! Might even use it for my homebrew if it’s okay with you? But I'd have to tone it down (since I use heavily modified d20 Modern basic classes and Advanced Classes).

Shadowmage....

Thanks Sertimon for all the input! BTW please feel free to use the prc if ya want. I guess I might add Shadowmeld at 5th level. But we'll see because I think it might unbalance the class.

This looks great! Can you post an updated version with all of the changes discussed?

Shadowmage...

Hey beverson thanks, glad ya like it! Well its done and edited(see original post above for edits which are listed at the bottom). There is only one thing that might be changed and that would be the removal of shadowmeld at 5th level. I will be using this in an upcoming adventure so I'll let you guys know how it worked. Well thanks again for all the help!

A most excellent PrC, and one that fills a niche in my campaign, actually (a bevy of NPC's with links to the Shadow). Thanks a bunch.