How does one unsummon the shadow from the summon shadow ability w/o getting drained?
'At 3rd level, a shadowdancer can summon a shadow, an undead shade. Unlike a normal shadow, this shadow's alignment matches that of the shadowdancer, and the creature cannot create spawn. The summoned shadow receives a +4 bonus on Will saves made to halve the damage from positive channeled energy and the shadow cannot be turned or commanded. This shadow serves as a companion to the shadowdancer and can communicate intelligibly with the shadowdancer. This shadow has a number of hit points equal to half the shadowdancer's total. The shadow uses the shadowdancer's base attack bonus and base save bonuses.'
I seems that it would be awfully conspicuous walking around with that thing in town no? Can you tell it to go away? This seemed nicein a dungeon or tomb, but....
How does one unsummon the shadow from the summon shadow ability w/o getting drained?
'At 3rd level, a shadowdancer can summon a shadow, an undead shade. Unlike a normal shadow, this shadow's alignment matches that of the shadowdancer, and the creature cannot create spawn. The summoned shadow receives a +4 bonus on Will saves made to halve the damage from positive channeled energy and the shadow cannot be turned or commanded. This shadow serves as a companion to the shadowdancer and can communicate intelligibly with the shadowdancer. This shadow has a number of hit points equal to half the shadowdancer's total. The shadow uses the shadowdancer's base attack bonus and base save bonuses.'
I seems that it would be awfully conspicuous walking around with that thing in town no? Can you tell it to go away? This seemed nicein a dungeon or tomb, but....
I never had a problem in most towns, given that you can order it to hide places, and it has a great stealth modifyer. Granted, I hardly ever use it since it doesn't advance with the character very well at all, but still.
I would figure the shadow could pretend to be YOUR shadow most of the time, and only a particularly perceptive individual would be able to tell otherwise.
Alter self only works on humanoids IIRC.
I would just have it hide, and/or not follow you all the time.
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Shadows can also move into walls and such. Mine tended to stay underneath me in the ground until I needed it. I believe there is a way to unsummon, just need a fort save though.
Ah yes, here it is.
"If a shadow companion is destroyed, or the shadowdancer chooses to dismiss it, the shadowdancer must attempt a DC 15 Fortitude save. If the saving throw fails, the shadowdancer gains one permanent negative level. A successful saving throw avoids this negative level. A destroyed or dismissed shadow companion cannot be replaced for 30 days."
The spell is personal so the shadow still can't use it.
I was incorrect though.
Shadows are incorporeal, and incorporeal creatures can not support physical items because they themselves are insubstantial.
I always kind of imagined the shadow as being the shadowdancer's shadow so when in towns it just "rides" the shadowdancer like a shadow would, also hiding in the ground as necessary. Being incorporeal means it has plenty of hiding places.
That would be awesome. Give the armor shadow enhancement to increase the stealth check by +5.
That question came up in another thread since incorporeal creature's don't have a strength score. I think the original topic was trying to decide if they could use a strength bow.
I think that one got past the devs. :)
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I always imagined the flavor of the ability is such that the shadow you summon actually IS your own shadow. You literally animate your own shadow. That's why losing it or banishing it requires a Fort save - you're basically ripping out a part of yourself, and you have to wait a month for it to "grow back," as it were, before you can animate it again. It also explains why it can't create shades, why you can communicate with it, and why it uses your saves and hit points - it functions more closely to a wizard's familiar (with whom he shares a part of his soul) than to a typical summoned creature.
I always imagined the flavor of the ability is such that the shadow you summon actually IS your own shadow. You literally animate your own shadow. That's why losing it or banishing it requires a Fort save - you're basically ripping out a part of yourself, and you have to wait a month for it to "grow back," as it were, before you can animate it again. It also explains why it can't create shades, why you can communicate with it, and why it uses your saves and hit points - it functions more closely to a wizard's familiar (with whom he shares a part of his soul) than to a typical summoned creature.
That's also how I imagined it.
One thing that I am unsure about though: Would a protection from <enter your non-neutral alignment here> spell completely prevent your shadow to touch an enemy? It's a pretty basic defense, and unlike the description of the summoner's eidolon there is no statement that it cannot be blocked that way...
I seems that it would be awfully conspicuous walking around with that thing in town no? Can you tell it to go away? This seemed nicein a dungeon or tomb, but....
It's actually less conspicuous than the druid's feral furball companions.
A shadow can hide almost anywhere, that large snarling wolf--not so much.
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The greater hat of disguise has alter self at will.
I was doing some searching and was having trouble finding an answer to this, but can a Shadow even wear/hold/use equipment of any kind other than Ghost Touch items? The Incorporeal special ability states an incorporeal creature "cannot take any physical action that would move or manipulate an opponent or its equipment." Nothing is specifically stated about unattended items, but this statement and a lack of a Strength score would seem to indicate it couldn't even kick up some dust.
Incorporeal undead cannot manipulate physical objects such as corporeal opponents or equipment. Objects with the ghost touch property can be manipulated or wielded by incorporeal undead, however, the lack of a Strength score seems to imply that they cannot actually exert any strength in moving or wielding these objects. If incorporeal undead use Strength for determining their load, then a Shadow could not even drag a ghost touch dagger.
The two standard ways I can see of running this are either;
that you treat incorporeal undead as having a Strength of 10 for the purposes of load and carrying capacity, similar to how constructs are treated as having a Constitution score of 10 for effects that would normally require them or;
that you treat incorporeal undead as having a Strength score equal to that of their Charisma score for the purposes of load and carrying capacity, similar to how undead instead use their Charisma score for the purposes of calculating hit points and Fortitude saves.
I have a suspicion I'm in favor of using the Charisma interpretation so that different incorporeal undead are capable of carrying and wielding different equipment and weaponry.
i had been told that all incorporeal creatures have a strength of 10 if for some reason you needed a strength score. i'm not sure of the truth of that or where it comes from.
incorporeal creatures cannot manipulate objects unless those objects have the ghost touch property, which is usually only on armor and weapons.
to get equipment for an incorporeal creature, i think the closest thing to RAW would be buy a handy haversack, fill it with gear that you want the shadow to have, then cast plane shift on the bag to make it go to the ethereal plane, so the shadow could touch them and use the items in the bag. i cannot think of any other way to do it.
I was considering making it so my character's was like a normal summoned monster. I would summon it with a standard action and it would stick around for 1 round per Shadowdancer level. That way it's not always there and it's a little less powerful.