Campaign Design - Prestige Class: Penumbral Lord

Penumbral Lord (adapted from Relics & Rituals)

There are those who seek knowledge within darkness rather than candle-lit tomes. The greatest of these shadow magicians are the spellcasters known as penumbral lords. Where the shadowdancer uses borders between light and dark to enhance her fighting prowess, and the shadow adept weaves the substance of shadow to enhance their eldritch endeavors, the penumbral lord draws magical power from transgressing this boundary. His is the face never seen for the shadows that his its features. His is the figure seen only in outline by the light of the moon. These are the powers understood by none who do not embrace the darkness.

Only those versed in the magic of shadows may become penumbral lords. The class draws its recruits almost exclusively from the ranks of wizards and sorcerers, with almost all moving through the shadow adept class on their way to this one. Penumbral lords are highly secretive people who keep their own counsel, in large part because the Collegium and the Leucadian Brotherhood hunt them even more ruthlessly than they hunt the shadow adepts and shadowdancers. Though they seem to be exclusively introverted, many maintain a social facade, all the better to further their plots and intrigues. They might be found in the dark recesses of forgotten caves or in the shadowy halls of criminal guilds, or even in the high courts of the land - they live, in essence, wherever shadows fall.

Hit Die: d4.
Luck Die: d2.

Requirements
To become a penumbral lord, one must meet the following criteria:

• Skills: Hide 10+ ranks.
• Feats: Shadow Magic and Still Spell.
• Special: Must be able to cast three different illusion (shadow) spells, one of which must be shadow conjuration.

Class Skills

• The penumbral lord's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft: Alchemy (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Hide (Dex), Knowledge: Arcana (Int), Knowledge: the Planes (Int), Move Silently (Dex), Profession: Any (all skills taken individually)(Wis), and Spellcraft (Int).
• Note: Because the Three Worlds campaign uses the Skills by Character house rule, the list of class skills given here is only included for the sake of completeness, and is not used by characters in the campaign setting.
• Skill Points at each level: 2 + Intelligence modifier.

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the penumbral lord prestige class.

• Base Attack Bonus: Poor. A penumbral gains +½ base attack bonus per class level.


• Base Fortitude Save Bonus: Poor. A penumbral lord gains +⅓ base Fortitude save bonus per class level.


• Base Reflex Save Bonus: Poor. A penumbral lord gains a +⅓ base Reflex save bonus per class level.


• Base Will Save Bonus: Good. A penumbral lord gains +½ base Will save bonus per class level.


• Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: Penumbral lords gain no new proficiency with any weapons or armor.


• Spells: Beginning at 1^st level, a penumbral lord gains the ability to cast a number of arcane spells. The list of available spells is not as exhaustive as the spell list available to sorcerers and wizards, but the majority of these spells are available to penumbral lords prior to other arcane casters. A penumbral lord gains new spells with each level as reflected on the table below. To cast a spell, the peunumbral lord must have an Intelligence score of at least 10 + the spell's level. Penumbral lord bonus spells are based on Intelligence, and saving throws against these spells have a DC of (10 + spell level + the penumbral lord's Intelligence modifier). The penumbral lord's spell list appears here. A penumbral lord prepares and casts spells just as a wizard does, and adds spells to their spellbook in the same manner that a wizard does, including adding two new spells to their spellbook every time they gain a level in this class (see Arcane Magical Writings), except that the spells a penumbral lord chooses to place in their spellbook must be drawn from the penumbral lord spell list. For the purpose of determining caster level dependent effects of spells he casts, a penumbral lord's caster level is his penumbral lord level plus his caster level in all other arcane spellcasting classes.


• Darkvision (Ex): At 1^st level, a penumbral lord gains darkvision to 60 feet. Additionally, natural light cannot blind or penalize a penumbral lord, regardless of the penumbral lord's racial penalties.


• Shadow Strength (Su): A penumbral lord's magic is often powered by tapping the energies of shadow itself. He slowly becomes adept at making such quasi-real illusions stronger. When casting spells from the shadow subschool of the illusion school that call for the illusion to posses a certain percentage of actual effectiveness, treat the creations of a penumbral lord as if they had a strength of (10% x the penumbral lord's class level) or as described in the spell description, whichever is greater. Because of he nature of shadow, these spells can never reproduce reality, so the maximum percentage strength of these spells is 75%, reached at 8^th level.


• Shadowcat Form (Sp): When a penumbral lord reaches 2^nd level, he can transform himself into a shadowcat, a housecat formed entirely of shadows. The transformation requires a full-round action either to or from shadowcat form. The "cat" appears as a shadow flat upon the ground., in darkness, or within any shadowy area. A penumbral lord in shadowcat form adds +10 any Hide check. additionally, the shadowcat is two-dimensional so the penumbral lord can slip under doors or fit through any opening that is at ground level. Openings above the ground, such as an open window, are inaccessible in this form. Also note that a penumbral lord in this form cannot go up steps or otherwise move upward. He can move down in this manner, and no damage is sustained no matter the extent of the fall. This power may be used twice per day and lasts for (1d6 + the character's penumbral lord level) minutes. Transformation from shadowcat form when the duration has expired is a free action.


• Shadowcast (Su): Beginning at 3^rd level, a penumbral lord begins to tap the Shadow Realm for energy with which to power his magic. If the penumbral lord casts a spell within a shadowed area, he may choose not to lose the prepared spell when it is cast, but instead cast a nearly real version of the same spell with shadow magic. Penumbral lord spells up to 3^rd level may be cast this way using Shadowcast I. Instead of losing the prepared spell, he instead loses hit points equal to the level of the spell (minimum 1 hit point). additionally, any saves allowed by a spell that has been shadowcast are made a +2. Spells cast in this way are not illusion (shadow) effects and cannot be disbelieved - they are simply being powered by the Shadow Realm.
  
  
  
  At 5^th level, Shadowcast II allows a penumbral lord to use shadow energy to power any spell of cantrip through 3^rd level, regardless of whether the spell comes from the penumbral lord spell list or is a spell from another class. Like Shadowcast I, saves against such spells gain a +2 bonus, but now the penumbral lord loses twice the spell's level in hit points (minimum 1 hit point).
  
  
  
  When he reaches 7V level, a penumbral lord may use Shadowcast III to power any prepared penumbral lord spell up to 6^th level. The same penalties and expenses that apply to Shadowcast I apply to Shadowcast III.
  
  
  
  At 9^th level, the penumbral lord can now retain any spell up to 6^th level by replacing the casting with shadow energy. The same penalties and expenses that apply to Shadowcast II apply to Shadowcast IV.


• Improved Darkvision (Ex): At 4^th level, a penumbral lord's 1^st-level ability of darkvision is enhanced. Now he may see even in magical darkness, and he cannot be blinded by magical light.


• Shadowraven Form (Sp): The penumbral lord can now become a shadowraven, a form similar to a shadowcat. it requires a full-round action to make the transformation either to or from shadowraven form. The caster can now reach heights above ground level, including "flying" up steps or through an open window. The penumbral lord's raven shaped shadow will always be on some nearby surface, such as the side of a building as he ascends toward an open window. This power may be used twice per day and lasts for (1d6 + the caster's penumbral lord level) minutes. Transformation from shadowraven form when the duration has expired is a free action.


• Shadowstep (Sp): At 8^th level, a penumbral lord gains the ability to step into the shadows and become one with the,. This requires a full-round action. Once completed, the penumbral lord seems to fade away. He actually remains in the same location, but he cannot cast spells, move, or speak (though he can use telepathy if it was in effect prior to the shadowstep). Likewise, he cannot be attacked, magically or physically. He cannot be detected by almost any means as he has essentially left the physical plane and entered the Shadow Realm. Returning from the shadows requires a full-round action, and the penumbral lord is stunned for (1d6 - his Intelligence modifier) rounds. If the area where the penumbral lord stepped should ever fall out of the shadows (as the sun rises and banishes the darkness, for example), the shadowstep is automatically ended and the caster is stunned for (1d10 - his Intelligence modifier) rounds. While within the shadows, a penumbral lord is only faintly aware of his surroundings. He knows how many creatures are nearby, but he cannot hear them speak or otherwise sense them specifically. Within the shadows, a penumbral lord requires no sleep, food, or water. He cannot prepare spells, but the time spent in shadows counts towards the rest requirement for such preparation.


• Shadow Home (Sp): When a penumbral lord reaches 10^th level, he can make a home in the shadows. He enters the shadows as with his shadowstep ability and exists within the gloomy depths in that same fashion, but now he has the ability to move as long as he remains in shadowed areas. additionally, his sense are not diminished - he may see and hear (but not touch, taste, or smell). Finally, rest and spell preparation are now possible within the shadows.

Penumbral Lord

		Spells per Day
Level	Special	0th	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th
1st	Darkvision, Shadow Strength	3	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2nd	Shadowcat Form	4	2	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
3rd	Shadowcast I	4	2	2	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
4th	Improved Darkvision	4	3	2	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
5th	Shadowcast II	4	3	2	1	1	-	-	-	-	-
6th	Shadowraven Form	4	4	2	2	2	1	-	-	-	-
7th	Shadowcast III	4	4	3	2	2	2	1	-	-	-
8th	Shadowstep	5	5	3	3	2	2	2	1	-	-
9th	Shadowcast IV	5	5	4	3	2	2	2	2	1	-
10th	Shadow Home	5	5	4	4	2	2	2	2	1	1

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