The Shadow Mage

Minimum Ability Requirements:

Intelligence/Reason 15; Wisdom/Will 14

Races Allowed: Human

Prohibited Kits: Gladiator, pugilist

The places where light and darkness meet have long symbolized opposition and balance, the clash of good and evil, even of chaos and law. The School of Shadow teaches mages to use these contrasts to reach the secret source and union of all shadow and harness its power. Shadow mages tend to be grim sentinels who have exchanged the bright spark of a normal existence for the power of twilight and darkness. Very few shadow mages are of good alignment; a great number are neutral, and some have embraced the darkness completely and turned to ways of evil.

Shadow mages are closely tied to the Demiplane of Shadow. They have discovered that every shadow in the real world has a mystic connection or source in Shadowland. A wizard with skill and a strong heart can use the most mundane shadows as a doorway to this realm of dusk, calling forth its powers for their own purposes. A number of shadow mages eventually become shades, or creatures whose physical forms have been completely replaced by shadow-stuff, although this doesn’t happen to player character shadow mages except in extraordinary circumstances.

In addition to the normal advantages and penalties associated with specializing in a school of magic, a shadow mage’s effectiveness is tied to the lighting condition at the time he casts a spell from this school. Naturally, shadow mages are weakest in broad daylight and progressively stronger in weak daylight or dusk, partial darkness, and finally complete darkness. It’s not the strength of a shadow, but instead the overall absence of light that strengthens the connection to the plane of gloom.

	Modifier to
Condition	Opponent’s Saves
Bright daylight or continual light	+2
Weak daylight, dusk, or light	none
Late twilight, strong moonlight, lantern light	–1
Weak moonlight, torch light	–2
Candlelight, starlight	–3
Total darkness	–4

Due to their intimate connection with shadow, shadow mages gain an ability to see normally in darkness. As a shadow mage advances in level, he becomes more attuned to darkness and ignores changes in visibility that would partially or completely blind other characters.

Condition	Attack	Damage	Saving	AC
	Penalty	Bonus	Throws	Penalty
Moonlight	–1	Normal	–1	0
Starlight	–3	Normal	–3	–2
Total darkness	–4	None	–4	–4

At 4th level, the shadow mage sees as well in moonlight (or equivalent light) as a normal human would see in broad daylight, and he can lessen penalties for more complete darkness by 1 point. In other words, he would only suffer a –2 penalty for attacking in starlight, or a –3 penalty for total darkness. At 7th level, he sees by starlight as well as a normal human sees by day, and he lessens combat penalties for total darkness by 2 points. At 10th level he can see perfectly in total darkness, negating all penalties. However, magical blindness or fog can still hinder a shadow mage’s sight.

The School of Shadow: Many wizard spells derive their energy from extraplanar connections, but spells of the School of Shadow are exclusively tied to the Demiplane of Shadow. The School of Shadow is opposed by the Schools of Invocation/Evocation and Abjuration, both of which rely on more positive energies than the subtle, pervasive power of shadow. The spells of the School of Shadow are listed below; italicized spells can be found in the Tome of Magic, and bold spells can be found in The Complete Wizard’s Handbook.

Chill touch (1st)

Sleep (1st)

Spook (1st)

Blur (2nd)

Continual darkness (2nd)

Darkness 15' radius (2nd)

Ray of enfeeblement (2nd)

Scare (2nd)

Spectral hand (2nd)

Lorloveim’s creeping shadow (3rd)

Phantom steed (3rd)

Spirit armor (3rd)

Wraithform (3rd)

Dimension door (4th)

Enervation (4th)

Evard’s black tentacles (4th)

Fear (4th)

Minor creation (4th)

Shadow monsters (4th)

Demi-shadow monsters (5th)

Major creation (5th)

Mordenkainen’s faithful hound (5th)

Passwall (5th)

Shadow door (5th)

Shadow magic (5th)

Blackmantle (6th)

Bloodstone’s spectral steed (6th)

Demi-shadow magic (6th)

Lorloveim’s shadowy transformation (6th)

Shades (6th)

Duo-dimension (7th)

Phase door (7th)

Shadowcat (7th)

Shadow Walk (7th)

Maze (8th)

Shadowform (8th)

Astral spell (9th)

Energy drain (9th)

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