James Maliszewski
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Dream-Quest: Shadow
🕑 Added 2025-09-11 04:00:04 +0000 UTC
Shadow
Footfalls erased. Faces forgotten. Whisper where the dark gathers.
Origin: Earthborn or Dreamborn
Requirements: None
Prime Requisite: DEX
Hit Dice: 1d4
Maximum Level: 14
Armor: Leather, no shields
Weapons: Any
Languages: Alignment, Common, Dreamspeech
Born of silence and hidden places, the Shadow moves through the Dreamlands as unseen as a half-remembered dream. Cloaked in whispers and moonlit mist, he slips across thresholds where waking eyes cannot follow. His blade strikes from the folds of forgetting and his touch uncovers secrets that even dreamers fear to name.
Combat
A Shadow cannot wear armor heavier than leather and cannot use shields. He can use any weapon.
Shadow Skills
A Shadow can use the following skills, with the chance of success (where applicable) shown on the table below.
Dreamsense (DS)
Perceive cracks in dream’s fabric.
Concentrate for 1 turn to sense a falsehood, hidden catch, or concealed threshold within 30’.Meld into Gloom (MG)
Vanish into half-light and mist.
In dim light, smoke, or fog, roll to disappear. On success, even searchers only find the Shadow on 1-in-6.Night’s Kiss
Dream’s chill made weapon.
Once per day per 3 levels, envenom a light weapon with dream-stuff. On a hit, target must save vs. paralysis or fall into nightmare-sleep for 1 turn. Dream-creature instead suffer damage.Silent Reverie (SR)
Steps hushed by dream itself.
Move silently across any surface. On success, listeners detect the Shadow only on 1-in-6.Step Between (SB)
Slip behind dream’s curtain.
Once per turn, attempt to pass through a door, curtain, mirror, or shadow and reappear up to 10’ away. On failure, that way is blocked to the Shadow.Unreal Guise
Become what dreamers expect to see.
Once per day per 4 levels, assume the guise of a generic figure (guard, priest, merchant, etc.). On doubt, intelligent creatures save vs. spells. Ends if Shadow speaks in his true voice or acts implausibly.Whisper Between
Send words on dream’s current.
Once per day per 2 levels, the Shadow can whisper to someone he can see or imagine clearly. The words arrive in target's mind as if dreamed.
After Reaching 9th Level
A Shadow can establish a mutable Den of Forgotten Places within the Dreamlands — shifting alleys, hidden ruins, or moonlit grottos that exist between dream and waking. Here, he attracts followers drawn from thieves, dream-haunters, and shadow-spirits. The Den may subtly shift its location over time, making it nearly impossible to assault and can sometimes house a portal to the Waking World, allowing the Shadow to admit select allies or spy unseen in places Earthborn call home.
Comments
James Maliszewski
I was trying to be concise in the way I wrote it and probably made it more obscure. The idea behind it is that the Shadow can pass through obstructions, primarily doors and walls, with a successful roll on 1d6, reappearing up to 10' beyond it. This is usable once per turn (10 minutes). Failure means that the Shadow cannot pass through the chosen obstruction at all until he succeeds on a subsequent try (once 10 minutes has elapsed). It's intended as a kind of weaker version of the magic-user spell, dimension door. I definitely need to tweak it a bit.
Sean McCoy
This is what I’d play for sure. Can you elaborate on step between? I’m trying to figure out how it would work in practice. I’d also be drawn to making it something like 10’/level. But I’m not sure I’m understanding the ability correctly.
