doctorbadwolf
Heretic of The Seventh Circle
OK, let's sum up and see where we are here:
Lvl 3 two minor abilities; +5 mv in shadows and proficiency in Performance; and Shadow Dance
Shadow dance has the following rules:
1. may be invoked 2/SR and has a duration of 1 minute, the following rules also apply when in areas of dim light, shadow and darkness
2. The SD may use dodge as a bonus action
3. The SD gets advantage on Athletics and Acrobatics rolls
4. The SD does not provoke attacks of opportunity when she moves (perhaps this needs to be qualified somehow...)
5. The SD may use backstab on her first attack of a combat after beginning her dance without needing to fulfill the normal conditions of the backstab rules
I feel like this is still very beta. I like the rules but it also doesn't really feel that different from the other shadow archetypes. Maybe fluff text could change that. There also might be one component too many, IDK.
At level 9 I think we should do something with a Shadow Teleport or that neat Flickering Shadows rule from upstream.
At level 13 I guess we're still looking at tenebration. This has the potential to very cool, we just need the right parameters and exact rules.
And then we need a capstone for level 17. I had a thought that after two non-dance abilities, it might be cool to go back to shadow dance for the capstone. One idea I had was to build on the shadow dodgy hard to hit feel of the dance. What if we stole some ideas from the Monk's deflect missles power but put it to work on melee attacks. Something like this: on a performance check DC 20 (or 25) a melee attack that misses the SD, or is dodged using either dodge or uncanny dodge, may be redirected to another foe within 5'. If the performance check is successful the attack automatically hits the new target.
The other things we've talked about that could be worked into a capstone are shadow doubles of some kind (either mirror image or clone flavoured) or shadow manipulation of some kind - making items of weapons out of raw shadow (Shadowblade?). If we wanted I feel like the shadow blade thing could be worked into a neat ability earlier in the progression, maybe instead of the tenebration?
For the Dance Sneak Attack ability, I think simplicity is key. If we boost stealth, we get there anyway.
no opportunity attacks is really strong by itself, and I’d say that stealth benefits and cunning action cover enough that we don’t need it.
So so what about hiding while in dim light or darkness, and the ability to dim light sources within 30ft as a bonus action?
For 9: I would want something different from shadow monks. What about the ability to use your movement to teleport, following the same rules as normal movement (can split it up, benefits from Dash, etc), While in Shadow Dance or while in dim light or darkness? If we wanna put teleport at 13, what about a shadow blade style thing here?
13: If we teleport at 9, why not scry here? See and hear through a space of shadow within X distance?
17: I really love a shadow double that fights with you, summoned the first time you get Sneak Attack(steal their shadow), or when you enter shadow dance, lasts until it hits 0hp or shadow dance ends? Another idea is that you become insubstantial while in Shadow Dance, and can use any Cunning Action option as part of activating shadow dance. If shadow teleport is based on speed, this becomes really fun.
Id be fine with a shadow blade at level 3, as part of shadow dance or not, that simply lets you create weapons from shadow, and then gets extra damage later.