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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Steverooo" data-source="post: 833408" data-attributes="member: 9410">Sorry, Seasong, me no like (and I usually like the stuff that you write)!  I have too many quibbles with your version!...For starters, there is no "one entrance" to the plane of shadow, any more than there is only one to the Positive/Negative Material, so you lost my suspension of disbelief, right there.  If the Plane of Shadow was only accessible from one hidden cave, then these powers should only work IN that cave - hence, no Prestige Class.The first test (getting through an enemy and trap-filled maze while blindfolded) seems un-thought-out, to me.  Can you Search for traps while blinded?  Even if you can, is Disarm Traps a requirement for Shadowdancers?  What about Blind-fight?  No?  Then why have to face a situation that calls for them?Next, the whole swimming thing...  NO WAY I can swallow that.  Swimming is not a requirement for the class, and NOT having swimming pretty much makes sure that you can't move around, once you sink to the bottom, so you'll soon drown... and I really don't see the class benefits as worth the risk of PC death.Then there's the problem of Nitrogen Narcosis, which occurs after you've descended 30 or more feet.  This "Rapture of the Deep" will be making you hallucinate while you're down there, looking for the right cave...And do they give you directions to it?  The flavor text doesn't say.  Is the Initiate in the cave prepared to swin out and save you with an air bladder, or do they let you drown?  Is the initiate watching you while you're in the boat, ready to zap you if you decide to kill these knuckleheads who threaten to fill you full of arrows if you come up for a breath?  Is it all just scare tactics, or do they kill the "unworthy"?  We don't know.So, you sink like a rock (with a rock), try to hold your breath (hope you have a good CON!), then try to move around, possibly sans Swim skills, and certainly sans Freedom of Movement.  Depending upon how deep you are, how far you have to move (at what, one-quarter speed?), and whether or not there is any light down there (none of these questions are answered), your chances of dying are pretty doggone good!But let's assume you get lucky, you have some swim, you land right on top of the cave, and you're somehow not hallucinating, yet.  You stumble into the cave, and the Initiate tells you you've passed, hands you the opal and air bladder, and tells you to catch your breath before returning to the surface...  You do, and rise quickly to the surface, test complete!......And then, of course, the bends set in, and you die!Nope, being a Shadowdancer for all of two minutes, while my PC's brain explodes, just aint worth it, to me.  I attack the two knuckleheads in the boat with me, fill their bodies full of arrows, give THEM the rocks, and toss them overboard.  I'll let them go down there, while I row the boat back to shore and get outta this nutty city!Aaagh!So, this doesn't work for me.  I'd need to remove the whole cavern and swimming scenario, and the previous trap-and-enemy-filled maze.  After that, little of the "flava" would be left.It always seemed to me that the Shadowdancer was based upon "The Shadow" (of radio fame), and Zelazny's "Jack of Shadows".  The DMG description always suggested a more Gypsy feel, to me, as did the inclusion of such odd skills as Perform (for the "dancing", I assume).I think the version, here, limits the class too much to Rogues, only, whereas the original did not (although the skill requirements make it hard for anyone else to qualify).  The trap-filled maze, especially.I did like the explanation of the thousand moves, though.  I'm sure there were other good elements, if you could swallow the initial premise.  I just never could, for all of the reasons given above.Good work anyway, though...  Most others seemed to like it!  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />[Edit: Typos!]</blockquote>

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