Class:Shadowmancer

Shadowmancer Background

Three hundred years ago, Doppelganger’s were enslaved to a variety of creatures on the surface world. Their innate ability to shapechange made them extremely popular as spies, assassins, or even consorts. Determined to break free from their society’s oppressors, a Doppelganger by the same of Simile took it upon itself (for Doppelgangers have no true gender—one of their many boons) to reason out a way of breaking free from the oppression that plagued its people for so long.

Simile figured that Doppelganger’s varied greatly in the amount of freedom and education they enjoyed, so It decided to focus on improving Its own natural abilities; something every Doppelganger had access too.

A heretofore unanswered question loomed in its mind; why could they adopt the form of varying creatures, but not gain any of their innate abilities? Doppelgangers were but mere shadows of the creatures they copied… and with that thought, an epiphany dawned upon Simile. Shadows are what they were… and shadows are what they needed.

Simile dove into the forbidden arts of both blood and shadow magic to find a way of synthesizing the abilities of creatures they mimicked. Those Doppelgangers that could tap into the Shadow power source gained access to a new form of mimicry, one that allowed them to gain access to powers they witnessed.

However, as with everything, there was a catch. Initial mimicry of powers was but a shadow of the true thing; through great trial and error, Simile devised a ritual that allowed the Doppelganger to keep the ‘shadow’ of power, and to fuel the shadow with its own reserves of power.

There was a limit to the number of shadows that one could contain at a time, Simile discovered; attempting to possess more than this was found to be fatal, as was found in one unfortunate experiment by one of Simile’s first acolytes. But the shadows they obtained grew in power along with the Doppelganger’s themselves; Simile had found power within his people… albeit it power to copy that of other creatures, but still, power nonetheless. And the flexibility therein more than made up for the lack of originality.

In later years, as Simile through great trial and error realized that it could adopt the form of the shadows that it possessed; while in this form, the Doppelganger had access to the shadows of power linked to that creature type, but was cut off from its other powers.

Ecstatic over such a discovery, Simile went on a killing spree and slaughtered dozens of different creatures, cackling madly while experimenting away with its new discovery. A group of powerful adventurers took it upon themselves to rid the world of this evil creature, and, for the first time since Simile’s discovery, the countryside was at peace. But there are whispers in the dark, people who do not think that Simile was truly destroyed. A folk legend persists to this day: “Be wary of any creature studying you intensely, no matter how innocuous. It may be plotting the moment it will kill you and steal your shadow for all eternity”.

Class Traits

Hitpoints:

Resolve:

Stamina:

Defenses: +1 Reflex, +1 Will

Skill Training

Rank 1 in XXX Class Specific Skill

XXX Skill Points that must be spent in XXX

Philosophy Training

Rank XXX in Shadow

XXX additional ranks spent in XXX, Physical, or Mental

Weapon and Armor Proficiencies

Weapon Proficiencies:

Armor Proficiencies:

Shield Proficiency:

Class Features

Feature (XXX level)

The ability to change shape. Thus, as a primary class, this class is used solely by Doppelgangers. Druids who wish to gain power often multiclass into this class, as do any caster who has the ability to polymorph itself.

Sense Power (XXX level)

Through the character’s link to Shadow magic, they gain access to this power; it allows them to sense when a Mimic-able power is used at close range. Passive abilities are much more difficult to detect; they must make a check with their Awareness stat vs. the Potency of the passive ability to notice such a power. Alternately, a passive power that has no discernable effect most of the time could be sensed when used within the sense radius much as a normal power (i.e. regeneration, many racial traits, etc).

Mimicry (1st level)

Shadowmancer’s gain access to the Shadow Curse Mimicry.

Assume Shadow (10th level, Rank 6)

Shadowmancer’s gain access to the Shadow Curse, Assume Shadow.

Mimicry

1st Level Basic Curse [Shadow, Varies]

Cast Action: Immediate Reaction (Recovery 30) +2 Resolve, +2 Stamina

Components: V, S

Range: Close

Target: Self

Primary Effect: The user of this power, when sensing a power using their class ability, gains the ability to copy it at its base level as long as the power is equal to or less than the character’s level +1. The character gains the ability at the base level, and cannot augment it in any fashion. Only one ability can be mimicked at a time. At the end of the combat—if the Copycat has killed the creature--the character may keep the power if It has any slots open; it may replace an existing power if it so chooses in this fashion, as long as it is of the appropriate tier (Basic, Advanced, Legendary, Ultimate). The character then gains permanent access to the power as if it had the power rank in question equal to its rank in Shadow -2. Thus, Doppelgangers, while versatile, are never as powerful as the creatures they mimic. Please see the example below for details as to how this power would work.

It is possible for Copycats to Mimic a power that they cannot technically access yet; in such a case, the power’s ‘potential’ is Mimicked. The Doppelganger can Master the Shadow, and, once it has gained enough power (i.e., ranks in Shadow) it may then use the ability.

When mimicking passive abilities, the Copycat suffers permanent Burn to BOTH Resolve and Stamina equal to the level of the power minus their Shadow rank. Thus, a

Copycat with Shadow Rank 6 mimicking a Troll’s ability to Regenerate 3 hp per round (which has a Potency of 12) suffers a PERMANENT BURN of 6 to both Resolve and Stamina; this is to reflect the difficulties in mastering a power that is both constant and Powerful.

However, the same Copycat (Rank 6 Shadow) mimicking a Dwarf’s Resistance to Poison (Level 1 Power) has no Burn cost; other than taking up one of its few power slots, the power works the same as a Dwarf of level 4 (Rank -2).

Example:

The 1st Level Copycat Yilu is in combat against an evil Sorcerer. The Sorcerer gains first initiative, and fires off an Augmented Unerring Magic Missile, striking poor Yilu. As an Immediate Reaction, Yilu utilizes Its Mimicry power, and gains Magic Missile at the base level, where Yilu must roll to hit with the attack, and cannot augment it to Unerring or Improved Missiles.

Later, after Yilu narrowly defeated the evil Sorcerer, It decides to keep the Magic Missile power, as it does not have a ranged attack power at the moment. Yilu passes its ritual check and adopts the Magic Missile Shadow as its own, gaining it permanently (or until Yilu decides to replace it with a perhaps better power). Once adopted as Yilu’s own, the power is now considered mastered (for effects that relate to such). Yilu, with Its Shadow Rank 4, may now augment the Magic Missile Spell as if it had Rank 2 Arcane; at this Rank, Yilu has no augments available.

Assume Shadow

10th Level Legendary Curse [Shadow, Varies] Shadow Rank 6

Cast Action [CT 20, Recovery 30] +2 Recovery, +2 Stamina

Components: S

Range: Personal

Duration: 100 Segments

Upkeep: Free Action; spend 1 Resolve, 1 Stamina to extend the duration by another 100.

Effect:The Copycat has mastered a shadow to the degree that it may now adopt the form of a creature that it gained the power from. The creature is an ephemeral, diaphanous outline over the Copycat (or vice versa if the Copycat is larger than the creature it is adopting, like a mouse). Despite the form being a ‘shadow’ around the Copycat, the caster must still have sufficient room to utilize this ability. While in this new form, a Copycat has access to the basic abilities of the creature (that are non-extraordinary in nature) and has access to the powers of the creature that it has shadows of. If the creature is a spellcaster, it has access to any shadow spells still; otherwise, all other powers are cut off.

Master Augment, True Shadow

Cost: +10 CT, +2 Resolve, +2 Stamina; Rank 7 Shadow Required

Effect:The Copycat’s mastery of his shadow improves to the point where it can adopt the form of a shadow it possessed and augment the abilities possessed by the natural form. It still does not have access to any special or magical attacks, however.

Master Augment, Ultimate Shadow

Cost: +10 CT, +2 Resolve, +2 Stamina; Rank 9 Shadow Required

Effect:The caster’s master of the Shadow is such that they now gain access to all of the creature’s abilities when they use Assume Shadow; note that if the creatures are spellcasters, they do not immediately gain extra spells. Only innate abilities are copied automatically.

Example:

Yilu is now a 12th level Copycat. In a fight with some brigands, he decides to adopt the form of a Troll, since he has the Troll’s passive ability of regeneration. He spends the action to Cast, and ‘becomes’ a Troll, keeping his Regeneration, and gaining access to any basic abilities a Troll does; i.e., claw attacks, bite attacks, etc, at the unaugmented level. Yilu no longer has access to any other power, as a Troll is NOT a spellcaster.