Dread Shadow
Living Shade
At 3rd level, your shadow gains a facsimile of sentience and can exist regardless of light sources. On your turn, you can mentally command your shadow to move up to 30 feet in any direction (no action required). Your shadow must exist along a surface, can move through a space as narrow as 1 inch wide without squeezing, can exist no further than 30 feet away from you, exists as a line originating from you, and follows your movement.
You can cause your shadow to congregate at any unoccupied space along the spaces it occupies, transforming into a Shade of you as a bonus action. This shade is a magical, smoky, shadowy image of you that lasts until it is destroyed, until you manifest another shade or until you're incapacitated. When a shade is destroyed, it sinks into the ground and reverts back to being your shadow. You can transform your shade back into your shadow as a bonus action.
Your shade has AC 12 + your proficiency bonus, 1 hit point, and immunity to all conditions. If it has to make a saving throw, it uses your saving throw bonus for the roll. It is the same size as you, it occupies its space, and it is considered an ally for the purposes of Sneak Attack. On your turn, you can mentally command your shade to move up to 30 feet in any direction (no action required). If your shade is ever more than 30 feet from you at the end of your turn, it turns back into your shadow and retracts to the farthest point it can exist away from you.
You can use the shadow and shade in the following ways:
- As a bonus action, you can command the shadow or shade to manipulate an object, open an unlocked door or container, stow or retrieve an item from an open container, or pour the contents out of a vial.
- As a bonus action, you can command the shade to stow one object it is holding in a container worn or carried by another creature, retrieve an object in a container worn or carried by another creature, use thieves' tools to pick locks and disarm traps at range. You can perform one of these tasks without being noticed by a creature if you succeed on a Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check contested by the creature's Passive Perception.
- As a bonus action, you can teleport, magically appearing at any space occupied by your shadow or magically swapping places with your shade at a cost of 15 feet of your movement, regardless of the distance between the two of you. If you would arrive in a place already occupied by an object or a creature, you take 1d10 force damage, and you do not teleport.
- When you take the Attack action on your turn, any attack you make with that action can originate from your space or your shade's space. You make this choice for each attack.
- When a creature that you can see within 5 feet of your shade moves at least 5 feet away from it, you can use your reaction to make an opportunity attack against that creature as if you were in the shade's space.
Shadowsight
At 3rd level, you gain darkvision out to a range of 60 feet. If you already have darkvision from your race, its range increases by 30 feet. When you reach 9th level, this darkvision allows you to see through magical darkness.
Shadow Manipulation
At 9th level, you have become a master at manipulating your shadow. You can mold your shadow to mimic the appearance of an object or creature when you manifest it. The imitation created can't be larger than the space you can occupy. The imitation can't create sound, light, smell, or any other sensory effect. Physical interaction with the imitation reveals it is made of shadow.
Additionally, you can use your shadow to change your appearance as per the disguise self spell. Your shadow melds with your form to change your appearance and you do not have a shadow for the duration of the spell.
If a creature uses its action to examine your imitations or false appearance, the creature can determine that it is fake with a successful Intelligence (Investigation) check (DC equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Dexterity modifier). If a creature fails this check by 5 or more, it becomes frightened of the imitation for 1 minute, until it is attacked or damaged, or until it witnesses its allies being attacked or damaged.
Cunning Shadow
Starting at 9th level, you are able to manifest your Shade immediately after using your Cunning Action.
Shroud of Darkness
At 13th level, you are able to quickly retreat into the shadows in dire situations. After you reduce damage with your Uncanny Dodge feature, you may immediately swap places with your shade or move to a space occupied by your shadow as a part of that reaction:
In addition, you can choose one of the following effects as a part of that reaction.
- You leave behind a 5-foot cube of magical darkness on the space you left. The magical darkness lasts 1 round.
- You force the creature that attacked you to make a Wisdom saving throw. It is frightened until the end of your next turn.
You can use one of these effects a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.
Cull the Weak
When you reach 17th level, you revel in your enemy's fear. You have advantage on attacks against frightened creatures.
Umbral Mark
At 17th level, you melt into the shadows and mark a creature for death. When you take the Attack action, you can teleport up to 30 feet to unoccupied space you can see within 5 feet of a creature before making the attack. You leave behind a Shade in the space you left and this Shade does not count towards your normal limit. You have advantage on attack rolls against the creature. At the end of your turn, the creature takes necrotic or psychic damage (your choice) equal to your Sneak Attack damage. If the creature is frightened, the Sneak Attack damage die for this roll increase to d10s.
Once you use this feature, you can't do so again until you finish a short or long rest
Dread Shadow Exploits
You learn certain Exploits at the Rogue levels noted in the table below. These don't count against your total number of Exploits Known and can't be switched upon gaining a level. This is for use with Laserllama's Alternate Rogue.
| Rogue Level | Exploit |
|---|---|
| 3rd | feint, operative's cunning |
| 5th | grasp of night, suppressing strike |
| 9th | bewildering blow |
Art Credit
Zed - by Michal Ivan
Hym - by Bryan Sola
Magic Items
Belt of Razors
Wondrous Item, Rare
This belt is made of pure shadow and generates an infinite amount of special thrown weapons. A weapon taken from this belt deals 1d6 necrotic or psychic damage (your choice when throwing the blade) on a hit and has the finesse and thrown properties (range 20/60). The blade vanishes immediately after it hits or misses its target. Immediately after you use your Cunning Action, you can throw one of these weapons.
Claws of the Master
Wondrous Item, Artifact (Requires Attunment by a Dread Shadow Rogue)
These bracers each house a pair of extendable blades. Crafted in a forgotten epoch and suffused with shadow magic, these blades are rumored to have been created by the first Dread Shadow. Their name has long been forgotten but these blades remain as a testament to their skill as the Master of Shadows.
Order of Shadows. You can now extend your shadow out in two seperate lines and their maximum range is now 30 feet. Additionally, you can manifest a Shade from each shadow as a bonus action.
Axiom of Darkness. You can use your Umbral Mark an additional time before needing to take a short or long rest.
Blades of Shadow. Whenever you take the Attack action, you can unsheathe a blade and make the attack with that blade. It deals 1d8 slashing damage on a hit, has the finesse property, and gains a +3 bonus to attack and damage rolls.
After you attack with the blade, you can make a melee attack with a second blade as a bonus action on the same turn, provided your other hand is free. You may choose to sheathe either blade after making the attack (no action required).
Cull the Weak. When you attack a creature and roll a 20 on the attack roll, you rend the creature's vitals. The creature dies if it can't survive without its vitals. A creature is immune to this effect if it is immune to slashing damage, doesn't have or need vitals, has legendary actions, or the DM decides that the creature is too big for its vitals to be destroyed with this weapon. Such a creature instead takes an extra 6d8 slashing damage from the hit.
Tenebrous Blade
Weapon (any sword or dagger), Rare(+1), Very Rare(+2), Legendary(+3) (Requires Attunement by a Rogue)
This weapon appears as shadowstuff that envelops your arms and body. You can use a bonus action to transform the shadows into a blade of darkness. The weapon can be transformed into any sword or dagger. While the blade is formed, this magic weapon has the finesse property if it didn't have it already.
You gain a bonus to attack and damage rolls made using the weapon, which deals necrotic or psychic damage (your choice when transforming the blade) instead of its normal damage type. The bonus is determined by the weapon's rarity. When you deal Sneak Attack damage to a creature with this weapon, your Sneak Attack damage increases by a number of die equal to this weapon's enhancement bonus.
If the form is dagger, it returns to your hand immediately after it is used to make a ranged weapon attack.
Notes
The shadow concept may be a bit confusing. If you stand at point A and your shadow extends out to point B, you may teleport to any point on the line created by your shadow. Referring to that point as Point C, your shadow would then extend from Point C to Point B. If you teleport to point B then your shadow would be directly under you. If you were to move one square to the left of Point A, your shadow would then exist one square away from Point B. Now say you are standing at Point A and choose to create your shade at point B. You then move one square left of Point A. At the end of your turn, your shade would then revert back to a shadow and move one square left of Point B.