Help me understand this ability

[darthkilmor]

Shadow Blend (Su): In any conditions other than full
daylight, a shadow creature can disappear into the
shadows, giving it nine-tenths concealment. Artificial
illumination, even a light or continual flame spell, does
not negate this ability. A daylight spell, however, will.

Is this hiding? If you attack do you lose this concealment? whats the miss chance on 9/10'ths concealment?

 

[Vorput]

No, its not hiding- though that should be a huge circumstance modifer on a hide check.

You don't lose concealment if you attack- the creature is literally partially shadow, its like being attacked by darkness itself.

Presumably the miss chance on 9/10s concealment is 90%- so roll a d10, and if you roll 10- you hit.

 

[justinsluder]

its like being attacked by darkness itself.

So, I could magic missile the darkness?

 

[darthkilmor]

No, its not hiding- though that should be a huge circumstance modifer on a hide check.

You don't lose concealment if you attack- the creature is literally partially shadow, its like being attacked by darkness itself.

Presumably the miss chance on 9/10s concealment is 90%- so roll a d10, and if you roll 10- you hit.

So this would probably be too powerful to put in the hands of a PC...ok.

 

[Unferth]

9/10 concealment was a term used in 3.0. I expect the ability is from a creature not updated to 3.5, right? 3.0 divided cover and concealment into 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, 9/10 and total. 3.5 simplified things - the simplest way to update the ability would just to read it as 'giving it concealment.'. Giving it total concealment would be a power upgrade compared to 3.0 (9/10 was not as good as total) while giving it standard concealment is a power downgrade.

The miss chance for 9/10 concealment in 3.0 was 40%, so if you want to bother with an exact update you could use that.

 

[darthkilmor]

9/10 concealment was a term used in 3.0. I expect the ability is from a creature not updated to 3.5, right? 3.0 divided cover and concealment into 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, 9/10 and total. 3.5 simplified things - the simplest way to update the ability would just to read it as 'giving it concealment.'. Giving it total concealment would be a power upgrade compared to 3.0 (9/10 was not as good as total) while giving it standard concealment is a power downgrade.

The miss chance for 9/10 concealment in 3.0 was 40%, so if you want to bother with an exact update you could use that.

Correct, its the "Shadow" template from manual of the planes, for creatures native to the plane of shadow. So you can slap it on like a bugbear or whatever.
20% miss chance sounds like a fair value.

 

[Wednesday Boy]

Check out page 26 of the 3.5 Update Book (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/files/DnD35_update_booklet.zip), it has a 3.5 update for the shadow creature template from Manual of the Planes. It says "The shadow blend supernatural ability grants total concealment."

 

[Shellman]

The shadow creature template was also reprinted in Lords of Madness. Shadow Blend now has total concealment (50% miss chance), plus it has a couple other nice abilities.

 

[Asmo]

So, I could magic missile the darkness?

Yes, absolutely.

But the concept of Magic Missile hitting the the darkness is - quite frankly - to much for the hobbyist gamer to comprehend.

Asmo

 

[eamon]

You need to be able to see a creature to hit it with magic missile. Total concealment is essentially equivalent to being invisible (though you know where roughly the creature is), and you can't hit a creature having total concealment with a targeted spell effect, unless you're touching the creature.

Reference:
Magic Missile.
Total Concealment.
Aiming a Spell.