Having read the entry on the Shadows in the recently released Undead Revisited, I was a little dismayed to see the singular focus being on the traditional undead spirit. While most shadows are undead horrors formed from the spirits of dead people I've always had the impression, perhaps misguided, that the shadows hailing from the Plane of Shadow aren't dead people per se, but native spirits; sort of like shadow elementals. Sure, they might possess the undead type and may behave like their undead brethren in most cases, but they're not really undead in the sense that they were never truly alive to begin with. I figured that these shadows, possibly of neutral or even good alignment, were the stock from which Shadowdancers draw their bound companions.
I'm just curious, did I imagine all this or was something like this ever mentioned in older editions?
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Having read the entry on the Shadows in the recently released Undead Revisited, I was a little dismayed to see the singular focus being on the traditional undead spirit. While most shadows are undead horrors formed from the spirits of dead people I've always had the impression, perhaps misguided, that the shadows hailing from the Plane of Shadow aren't dead people per se, but native spirits; sort of like shadow elementals. Sure, they might possess the undead type and may behave like their undead brethren in most cases, but they're not really undead in the sense that they were never truly alive to begin with. I figured that these shadows, possibly of neutral or even good alignment, were the stock from which Shadowdancers draw their bound companions.
I'm just curious, did I imagine all this or was something like this ever mentioned in older editions?
You imagined it. Even the companions that a shadowdancer calls upon are still undead creatures. Shadows, despite their name, have no connection whatsoever with the Plane of Shadow, nor are they outsiders or even 'extraplanar.'
Of course, if you want to swap the creature type to 'outsider' and use the stats just the same otherwise and call it a 'shadow elemental' to reflect denizens from the Plane of Shadow, no one is going to stop you. :) I'm rather fond of shadow demons myself.
If you go back to 3.5 and look at the Tome of Magic, there were some Shadow Elementals in there somewhere. I have been working with some things in my campaign tied heavily to the plane of shadow and I am dismayed that Pathfinder doesn't do more with planes outside of the four traditional elements and the alignment spectrum. But there is another bestiary on the way, so there's still hope.
If you go back to BECMI D&D and its roots, shadows were not undead. I think they became undead in AD&D 1 (and stayed not undead in BECMI).
1983 Basic Edition
The book is called Undead Revisited. That kinda narrows it down to undead creatures, i.e. those who messed up dying.
What you need/what is a new creature. A "shade". I'd say use the normal shadow and replace undead with outsider (with the necessary changes to type and so on, unless you want to wing it, at which case you just use the stats as they are in the book and pretend it's an outsider).
And shadow demons might help, too.
That kinda narrows it down to undead creatures, i.e. those who messed up dying.
O.o
Awesome phrase! THAT got me laughing ^_^
If you go back to BECMI D&D and its roots, shadows were not undead. I think they became undead in AD&D 1 (and stayed not undead in BECMI).
Aha! Glad to see that some of my musings have their basis in reality.
The book is called Undead Revisited. That kinda narrows it down to undead creatures
Yeah, I get that. Though it might have been nice to see an outsider shadow mentioned in the variants section as a nod to the old school shadows. Same with a non-evil shadow variant for Shadowdancers to cozy up with for the sake of completeness.
Thanks for the insight guys. =)
Same with a non-evil shadow variant for Shadowdancers to cozy up with for the sake of completeness.
They're just shadows, but with a different alignment (unless the dancer is CE) and without the spawning ability.
Since they're summoned minions, they're probably mostly the way their master wants them to be, anyway.