Shadow Mage prestige class

[Osprey]

Raesene had mentioned a Shadow Mage prestige class for the Atlas. Now while he may or may not have already developed it, I got to thinking about it and did a write-up of my own which folks might be interested in. Raesene, feel free to mine it for ideas, too, if your writeup is still in the works, or use it entirely if it hasn't been developed yet.

Osprey

PS - This is just a nuts and bolts version, lacking the class description, but the concept is pretty simple: an arcane caster who specializes in shadow magics.

Shadow Mage prestige class

Requirements
Skills: K/Shadow World 10 ranks, K/Arcana 5 ranks, Spellcraft 5 ranks
Feats: Shadow Magic (+2 DC for shadow spells) and Skill Focus: K/Shadow World.
Special: Must be able to cast the spells Shadow Conjuration and Shadow Evocation.

Class Features
Hit Die: d4
Base Attack: Low (as wizard)
Saves: Will high, Fort and Ref low
Skills: 2 + Int skill points per level
Class Skills: Bluff, Concentration, Craft (any), Disguise, Hide, Knowledge (any), Move Silently, Spellcraft, and Spot.
Spellcasting: The Shadow Mage advances one arcane caster level per class level in an existing arcane spellcasting class (bard, magician, sorcerer, or wizard).

1st level: Shadow Sense(as the halfling racial ability).
Shadow’s Taint: If not already of chaotic evil alignment, there is a tendency for the taint of the Shadow World to corrupt those who would delve into its essence. Every time the characer advances a level as a Shadow Mage, he must make a Will save to resist corruption (DC 20 + new Shadow Mage level). Failure means the character’s alignment shifts one step toward either evil or chaos (player’s choice). If already chaotic evil, a failed save results in a permanent mental derangement. Typical derangements include delusions, manias, multiple personalities, obsessions, paranoia, phobias, sado-masochism, and schizophrenia. These derangements can never be removed normally or magically so long as the mage continues to practice shadow magic.

2nd level: Attunement: gains the ability to sense illusions, and gains a +1 insight bonus to saves vs. illusions. The save bonus increases by an additional +1 evey 2 class levels after 2nd (+2 at 4th, +3 at 6th, etc.)

3rd level: Shadow Portal 1/day as a spell-like ability.

5th level: Shadow Adept: add +2 to Shadow spell DCs and caster level. Stacks with any other applicable bonuses.

7th level: Walk the Seeming: The Shadow mage gains mastery over travel in the Shadow World. He may teleport and dimension door a total of once per day per class level when traveling within the Shadow World.

9th level: Bonus Magical Feat: Choose any one magical feat as a bonus feat, inclusing metamagic feats, item creation feats, [greater] Spell Focus (illusion), [greater] Spell Penetration, or Master of the Arcane.

10th level: Shadow Mastery: +4 Shadow spell DC’s and caster level. Supercedes the bonuses from Shadow Adept.

[Benjamin]

Now I don't remember what Raesene's version was like, because I deleted it. But at one point, I had it, and read it.

From what my faulty memory pulls up, there are some similarities, but differences, too.

I am not sure I like the forced CE trait, or the psychopath traits. Yes, working with Shadow magic will be considered evil by pretty much everyone, but I don't think it will drive you evil or insane. Non-good, yes, but chaotic? Not sure I buy that.

Also, Walk the Seeming is quite powerful. Being able to teleport 7x a day for free is... overwhelmingly powerful, IMHO. 1x a day for free seems much more realistic.

[Athos69]

A couple of things: I too have reservations of the forced alignment change to CE and madness. Where I differ with Benjamin is that I feel the Shadow world is inherently chaotic, but while it is now suffused with Azrai's taint, that shoud not be enough to force a shift towards an evil alignment, merely a neutral one.

I agree that 7 teleports per day is too powerful. I wiould suggest that it be rewritten to eliminate any chance of getting lost in the Shadow World, negating the need to roll on Table 8-2: Magical Transportation Mishaps, or even put a negative modifier to that die roll, like -5 per level above 6th.

[RaspK_FOG]

My 2 cents: I agree on the alignment thing on one part: a 10 level PrC that starts with a 20 + class level Will save at level No.1 is...... too painful, anyway, for such a shift.
Do something with these two beasts: Walk the Seeming and the +s on DCs and caster level: +4 ON BOTH DCs AND CASTER LEVEL? A little too much, especially taking such feats as Spell Focus/Penetration into account.