Darkness said:
So you concede that you don't know how it works and that your theory entirely depends on a dubious technicality that's not supported by the rest of the text.
Hide in Plain Sight (Su): A shadowdancer can use the Hide skill even while being observed. As long as she is within 10 feet of some sort of shadow, a shadowdancer can hide herself from view in the open without anything to actually hide behind. She cannot, however, hide in her own shadow.
The above quote of the SRD/DMG is in no way
dubious - defined as
fraught with uncertainty or doubt.
In spite of your claim that it is not, it is also indeed
supported - and there are many definitions of support; here are three: 1.
To endure; tolerate . . . 2.
to keep from weakening or failing. . . 3.
To act in a secondary or subordinate role.
The statement prior to the key statement says
"As long as she is within 10 feet of some sort of shadow, a shadowdancer can hide herself from view in the open without anything to actually hide behind."
Answer me this: if she
was hiding
IN the shadows (as the very next statement more than suggests), she would logically need to be in relative close proximity to the shadow, correct?
And... To be within 10 feet of something is relative close proximity, yes?
Then clearly this does not contradict the implied fact that the shadowdancer ends up somehow hiding
in a shadow - in accordance with the next sentence - and therefore does not weaken or cause the statement to fail. It may not specifically strengthen, but it certainly does not weaken. Additionally, by not contradicting the following sentence, it both tolerates and endures it. And as the following statement is much stronger than the first, the first is secondary or subordinate in nature. All three signs of support.
Ergo, it is not a
dubious technicality. It is not
fraught with uncertainty or doubt.
Now, if you incorrectly conclude that the shadowdancer does not hide
in a shadow, the very next statement mose certainly
does weaken your incorrect conclusion, and thus casts this incorrect conclusion as dubious.
Unless there is Errata that says otherwise, I honestly don't see how anyone versed in English could logically conclude that the weaker argument overrules the stronger.