PLAYER KITS: Shadow Warrior

Kit: Shadow Warrior
Kit Class: Fighter
Author: Jesse Davis & Mike Mateer

Description:
The shadow warrior is as mysterious as he is powerful. A master of thedim, cloaking shadows from which he takes his name, a shadow warrior isan opponent not often seen. Enshrouded in cloaks of shifting twilight,their blades strike out for good or evil, law or chaos, love or hatred,but for whatever reason, they almost always strike from the shadows. Ashadow warrior, through a strange blood link to the mysterious Demi-planeof Shadow, gains many abilities based upon shadows. He can bend them tohis will, summon them from nothing, or use them as weapons, all with buta thought. No one knows exactly where the shadow warrior acquires his strangelink to the demi-plane; this is mainly because for all taking this kitit is different. Some can trace their links to the plane back to horribleencounters with horrible creatures based upon shadow, such as shadow dragons,shades, or Shadows. Others still hold a small trace of shadowy blood fromancestors of long ago kingdoms where shadow magic was common. A selectfew, sages speculate, are actually Malaugrym, the mysterious Masters ofShadow, abandoned on this plane from birth with little or no knowledgeof their true powers. The vast majority of shadow warriors, however, haveas little idea as the next person of how their link came to be; they simplyexcept and embrace their powers, as the shadows accept and embrace them.

Role:
Shadow warriors are often greatly feared, sometimes justly, sometimes not;either way, you will occasionally hear tell of the mysterious creaturesthat move only under the cloak of protective dusk. In folk tales, theyare often doers of great evil; and, like most folk tales, this containsa grain of truth. It is very easy for a shadow warrior to slip into thelife of an assassin, but their abilities are certainly not used exclusivelyfor evil. Just as often they slip into the role of vigilantes, strikingdown evil from the safety of the shadowy night. It is even whispered thata few have joined the ranks of the Harpers, but these reports are unconfirmed.No matter what their allegiances, however, shadow warriors are always amysterious lot. In general, they keep to themselves and keep their powerssecret; they stay to the shadows, so to speak. A few shadow warriors whoare of good alignment will sometimes reveal their powers to those who theybelieve will benefit from knowing, but those who are evil will never speakdirectly of their abilities. Instead, they would rather remain cloakedin obscurity, like the shadows that spawned them.

Requirements:
To become a shadow warrior and shape the shadows, a decent will-power,as well as a good resilience in body, is needed. Thus, a shadow warriormust have at least a 13 in both Wisdom and Constitution. They may be ofany alignment, though they tend more towards neutral. Conceivably theymay also be of any warrior sub-class, though a Paladin with this kit wouldbe rare indeed!

Weapon Proficiencies:
Bonus: None Required: None Suggested: It is suggested that a shadow warriortake a wide variety of weapon proficiencies, as he can summon up almostany weapon he chooses.

Nonweapon Proficiencies:
Bonus: None Required: None Suggested: Blind Fighting, Ancient History,Endurance, Running, Tracking

Armor/Equipment:
Shadow warriors may buy whatever they wish in the way of equipment, thoughthis rarely tends to include weapons. They can use whatever armor theywish, and often buy this with their starting gold.

Special Benefits:
The shadow warrior receives several special benefits from their link withthe Demi-plane of Shadows. These are as listed below:

A shadow warrior who is within anysort of shadow fights as if he were 2 levels higher, for the purposes ofTHAC0 and number of attacks, as well as for the magical weapons attacktable mentioned below. There must be enough shadow to cover his entireperson; the shadows of himself, opponents, or companions generally do notcount. The shadow warrior may summon up any weapon that he wishes at anytime in but a twinkling from the shifting shadow stuff that he has so easyaccess to. These weapons can include any and all found in all sources,even missile weapons, save those with abilities based upon exceptionalcraftsmanship. Thus, a katana or an exceptional short sword could not becreated. These weapons form in a quick swirl of shadows that clears andsolidifies before most people could even hope to get through a blink ofthe proverbial eye (the forming of them is not an action, and takes notime to speak of). Once they have taken on substance (of a shadowy blackcolor, or occasionally a neutral gray with wispy tints of another grayedcolor), they are considered solid and real for all purposes; even creatureswith magic resistance are not immune. They may stay with the shadow warriorfor as long as he wishes and require no concentration. Then, when the warriorwills it, they are gone into shadows. Weapons may leave the summoner�sperson, as well, and can be dropped, thrown, shot, ect., remaining in existencewithout contact with the shadow warrior for 1 round, plus additional 1round for every 2 levels of the warrior. As mentioned, even shadow bowsand the like can be created, along with shadow arrows; the warrior simplyholds out his hand, wills the arrow into it, notches it, and fires as usual.However, arrows once fired do not last forever, as mentioned above. Asa shadow warrior progresses in levels and gains more control over his linkto the Demi-plane of Shadows, his summoned weapons become more powerful.This is reflected by the following table; read it with the shadow warrior�sadjusted level (thus, a shadow warrior standing in shadows might have amore magical weapon than would be the case if he were standing in light):

4th level: weapons are +1
8th level: weapons are +2
11th level: weapons are +3
14th level: anyone hit by a weapon must save vs. spell or have their visioncloaked in shadows for 1 turn; this gives a -2 penalty to attack rollsand armor class (-1 with blind-fighting).

The abilities on the table above are,of course, not cumulative, save in the case of the 14th level ability (a14th level shadow warrior does summon a +3 weapon with the ability to partiallyblind). Also, in the case of bows and the like, the bow and the arrowsare not magical, only the missile itself. In addition, a shadow warriorreceives no penalties for fighting in shadows, whether they be naturalor of his own creation (they normally incur a -2 penalty). He often fightsfoes at an advantage in them, then, as his enemies are often penalized.Beginning at 3rd level, a shadow warrior may pull shadows, from an alreadyexisting area of dusk, about him like a cloak, masking his form in a smallarea of gloom that gives him a 70% chance to hide in shadows and, incidentally,blurs his true features and build. This shadowy "cloak" may begathered and held together for up to 5 rounds per level of the shadow warrior,and this amount of time may be divided up into 5 minute increments. Ifthe warrior uses a shadow cloak for less than 5 minutes and drops it, however,the remainder of the time in that increment is lost (i.e., a 3rd levelshadow warrior could use this cloak for 8 rounds, drop it and lose thelast 2 rounds of the 10, and then later re-summon it for up to 5 more rounds�the total of that being 15). A shadow warrior must concentrate to maintainthis cloak of shadows--he may move, but cannot fight or use any other ofhis abilities. Because of this concentration, a shadow warrior�s combatlevel will never be effected by his cloak. As mentioned, in order to pulltogether this concealment there must be shadows present to begin with.After it is created, however, the warrior may maintain this shadowy cloakoutside of a shadowed area, though this makes him a rather obvious blobof shadow in direct light. At 5th level, a shadow warrior gains the abilityto create a 10� radius globe of shadows once per day; he may center itanywhere within 10 foot per level away from him. This globe lasts for 1round for each level of the shadow warrior. He can use this ability totemporarily reduce the vision of opponents, or center the sphere upon himselfto guarantee shadowy fighting conditions for its short duration. If theglobe of shadows is centered on a normal Light or Darkness spell it willcancel that spell as it cancels itself; however, against more powerfulspells such as Continual Light or Continual Darkness the globe has no effect,being overridden easily.

Special Hindrances:
In exchange for these abilities, the shadow warrior also acquires someappropriate hindrances (as listed below):

Whenever the shadow warrior is in directlight or full darkness (basically when he is not in shadows), he fightsas if he is 1 level lower for the purposes of his THAC0, number of attacks,and the magical weapons table mentioned above. This is to a minimum oflevel 1; a shadow warrior may not hit level 0 with this hindrance. If itwould put him there, he instead has a -1 to all attack and damage rolls.A shadow warrior may never use a normal weapon; they feel strange in hishands compared to the shadow weapons that he is used to. If he attemptsto use such weapons, he incurs a -5 to both hit and damage. This extendsto weapons with magical powers; furthermore, any enchantments on a weaponwielded by a shadow warrior are temporarily negated by his shadow magic,until it leaves his hands. This means, just as an example, that even ifhe finds a Vorpal sword a shadow warrior can never wield it effectively.This hindrance does not extend to other magical items; only weapons, sooften summoned, are effected. A shadow warrior takes double damage andhas a -2 to any applicable save when faced with the effects of any spells,monster attacks, or other abilities based in any way upon shadow. Thus,a shadow would drain the warrior of twice the normal amount of strength,a shadow dragon would do double damage with its claws, a Shadow Magic spellwould cause double damage and give a -2 to any saves or rolls to disbelieve,ect. This seems strange at first, until you consider the close and readylink that a shadow warrior has with the Demi-plane of Shadow; such a linkapparently strengthens shadow magic and creatures by giving them a directenergy source to draw upon. Furthermore, shadow creatures seem to be drawnto a shadow warrior; they sense his link to the Plane of Shadows. The D.M.must decide what effects, if any, this has on random encounter tables,but it does always mean that the shadow warrior is usually picked out infavor of all others by shadow creatures in combat.

Wealth Options:
Shadow warriors tend to stay out of the mainstream, and thus have a bitles