I am in the process of Pathfinderizing CotCT. We rotate DM spots and I know that at least one of my players has read it so I was going to rewrite some of the characters.
I was looking at prestige classes and realized that I had not even considered the Shadowdancer. Then I realized why I had forgotten about this class. What is it for? Most classes/prestige classes have some sort of niche that they fill but I really don't see the point here. They are pretty much weak sauce in every way except flavor. As much as I like flavor, it's no good when you are dead.
Has anyone actually played a shadowdancer? How did it go?
I am in the process of Pathfinderizing CotCT. We rotate DM spots and I know that at least one of my players has read it so I was going to rewrite some of the characters.
I was looking at prestige classes and realized that I had not even considered the Shadowdancer. Then I realized why I had forgotten about this class. What is it for? Most classes/prestige classes have some sort of niche that they fill but I really don't see the point here. They are pretty much weak sauce in every way except flavor. As much as I like flavor, it's no good when you are dead.
Has anyone actually played a shadowdancer? How did it go?
Hi Vaellen,
It was quite some time ago, but I had DM'ed a villain in my (now defunct) Forgotten Realms campaign, and she was a half-drow ranger/shadowdancer. I felt she was very effective against the party at the time. (Granted I had ambushed them, she had her companions/allies, and dice rolls were favorable that night... crippled the rogue, killed the fighter/cleric, and I think I killed or nearly killed the ranger in the party too.) Keep in mind this was 3.0 FR... so that shadowdancer PrC might have been broken. I haven't done anything with the PFRPG shadowdancer at this time. I guess it all depends on the situation you put a shadowdancer in.
That probably wasn't very helpful, in retrospect, mostly fun game memories for my part.
TMW
Hide in plain site plus spring attack plus sneak attack makes for a very annoying ambusher, yes.
Thanks. That helps a bit. With Vital strike and a big two handed weapon, the skirmisher could actually be dangerous enough to be a challenge. I see power attack paying bigger dividends over a few sneak attack dice.
Too bad Shadowdancer doesn't advance sneak attack, even if it was 1 dice/3 levels.
I am in the process of Pathfinderizing CotCT. We rotate DM spots and I know that at least one of my players has read it so I was going to rewrite some of the characters.
I was looking at prestige classes and realized that I had not even considered the Shadowdancer. Then I realized why I had forgotten about this class. What is it for? Most classes/prestige classes have some sort of niche that they fill but I really don't see the point here. They are pretty much weak sauce in every way except flavor. As much as I like flavor, it's no good when you are dead.
Has anyone actually played a shadowdancer? How did it go?
You might also want to check out the Shadow Assasin base class written by Paizo contributor Owen Stephens that we put out a couple of weeks ago. It might fit what you need the NPC to do pretty well. Here's a link if you're interested:
http://paizo.com/store/downloads/otherWorldCreations/pathfinderRPG/v5748btp y8bns
It's basic role is to hide and then beat the snot out of a target and then fade back into the shadows. Repeat.
Hyrum.
My paladin 5/shadowdancer 10/swashbuckler 5 totally rocks. I don't know how anyone could diss the Pathfinder shadowdancer.
My paladin 5/shadowdancer 10/swashbuckler 5 totally rocks. I don't know how anyone could diss the Pathfinder shadowdancer.
Actually I'd love to hear more about this character. What makes it good? It would have a few neat tricks and great mobility but I don't see much damage potential and no tanking ability.
What order did you take the different classes?
The niche is "guy with Hide in Plain Sight" (leaving aside the 8 or 9 levels of padding that come after HIPS and Evasion). It can be amusing or annoying, depending on whether you're the hider or the hidee, and how many creatures with scent/tremorsense/blindsense you encounter, and how your DM interprets the Stealth rules.
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My paladin 5/shadowdancer 10/swashbuckler 5 totally rocks. I don't know how anyone could diss the Pathfinder shadowdancer.Actually I'd love to hear more about this character. What makes it good? It would have a few neat tricks and great mobility but I don't see much damage potential and no tanking ability.
What order did you take the different classes?
Why does it need some extraordinary amount of damage potential or tanking ability? I see that character as an infiltrator. Social skills with some stealth, mobility, and a bit more punch than a Bard or Rogue could muster.
Such a character would be ideal for infiltrating a decadent nobility or royal court who may or may not have an evil draconic, undead, or diabolic cult lurking within itself. The Holy Shadow would be an ideal vampire hunter.
--Dick Clark's Vrockin' New Years Eve!
I have wanted to make a spy shadowdancer, having the shadow do spying work for me through walls and such. Kinda like a bound spirit from "12 Kingdoms" (junikoki).
Thats what I wanted the summoner to be like
They still get Darkvision at level 2, right? That's a pretty big deal. I don't recall many other classes that give DV.
My paladin 5/shadowdancer 10/swashbuckler 5 totally rocks. I don't know how anyone could diss the Pathfinder shadowdancer.Actually I'd love to hear more about this character. What makes it good? It would have a few neat tricks and great mobility but I don't see much damage potential and no tanking ability.
What order did you take the different classes?
I really wanted to try something different, and Pathfinder's unique skill system allowed me to do just that. I started off with a Paladin, played him for a little while (up to level 5) adding ranks into Perception, Sense Motive, Stealth, and Perform (dance) as I went. The character had an emphasis on Dexterity and Charisma, with decent physical scores (ranging from 12-14).
I then suddenly hopped into Shadowdancer, which gave me an instant +3 to several of my skills (they had suddenly become class skills), completely caught my gaming group off guard, and allowed me to actualize my stealthy sheriff concept (which works much like King of Vrock describes).
I played straight through the ten levels of shadowdancer. Due to my penchant of ambushing villains in the dark, I can tank rather well at this point (Fort +12, Ref +12, Will +12; DR 10/-; auto confirm crits with my 15-20 rapier to blind enemies).
Swashbuckler was really an afterthought (I didn't want to go back into paladin) which I already met most of the prerequisites. It also helps me to capitalize on my Weapon Finesse, rapier-swinging, and skills (which long sense branched out with the added Shadowdancer ranks).
It certainly isn't the most powerful build out there, but it is NOT weak. If anything, it has come off as extremely versatile and perfectly able to stand on its own. The class abilities synergize surprisingly well. One of the few flaws I've found is a certain degree of MAD and that's about it (but that's par for the course as far as versatility builds are concerned).
I also like playing off of the fact that, if conditions are dark enough, the enemy can't tell if it's me, or just a "harmless" shadow.
Anything Batman can do, this build can do.
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Amazing character concept Ravingdork!! love it!
Please stat it out using version 53 of this character sheet:
http://chargen.us.splinder.com/
It has a nice "Paizo Code" stat block builder on the last tab... you can copy paste the codes right into this thread! PLEAAAAAAAAASE?!?!
I'll show you my character if you show me yours! :)
The shadowdancer is just damn cool. (They also make for freaky enemies.)
Hey, Hide in Plain Sight is an amazing ability. And, were it not for the lousy XP loss when the shadow buddy dies, this would be a great anti- spellcaster class. Just hide and drain the target's STR to zero.
Admittedly, that's not so great, but whatevs. Prestige classes are supposed to be highly specialized anyway.
What xp lose? There is a neg level now, if ya fail the DC 15 fort save
It was an xp loss in the last edition. One that increased with level.
Against some level appropriate threats, you're supposed to be better. What, I don't know, but that's the basic idea of the Ranger and Assassin.
Did I say Swashbuckler? I meant Duelist. :P
Yeah, there is nothing in Pathfinder that will cause you to lose XP anymore--which is good as with the monster static XP, you'd never be able to catch up again. Negative levels (even permanent ones) are only a restoration spell away from being fixed.
Okay, I'n not sure this made it past Beta, but if a skill needed for a PrC is not a class skill, don't you need twice as many ranks in it to qualify? The reason I ask is because the Pally build shown above just doesn't seem like it would work(as a palladin5/Shadowdancer1 anyway).
nope. You only need the ranks listed.
Okay, I'n not sure this made it past Beta, but if a skill needed for a PrC is not a class skill, don't you need twice as many ranks in it to qualify? The reason I ask is because the Pally build shown above just doesn't seem like it would work(as a palladin5/Shadowdancer1 anyway).nope. You only need the ranks listed.
That was a change versus the playtest rules (where you needed the double ranks).
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Amazing character concept Ravingdork!! love it!
Please stat it out using version 53 of this character sheet:
http://chargen.us.splinder.com/
It has a nice "Paizo Code" stat block builder on the last tab... you can copy paste the codes right into this thread! PLEAAAAAAAAASE?!?!
I'll show you my character if you show me yours! :)
Any hopes we'll see this character before the end of this year? :)
The shadow magic abilities also improved significantly, so they can help if you want to play a more "magic" rogue, ninja, or what have you. Still, I think it wouldn't break the class if it had, say, 3 or 4 dice of sudden strike, or 2-3 of sneak attack. It would be sufficiently close to the idea, I believe - I might even reduce its magical abilities a bit.