When a party is shadow walking via the spell, Shadow Walk, what sorts of things do they encounter?
Obviously tenebrous things like Shadows, Greater Shadows, etc. live in the Shadow Plane. However, assuming the PCs stick to the border of the shadow realm, they are walking through areas that roughly correspond to areas on the PMP.
Do these areas affect encounters on the shadow border? For example, if there is a forest full of elves between Point A and Point B in the PMP and the party uses Shadow Walk to cross from Point A to Point B, at some point it walks through the elven forest. Does the party encounter nothing but shadows, tenebrous worms, etc. or will it encounter some elves? Some sort elves with a "shadow template"?
Is there a shadow template in PF? Was there one in 3.5?
How often do you check for encounters on the shadow plane? Same as usual or more often because the party is traveling a greater distance in a short time?
I don't know if there is a random encounter table for the plane of shadow, but you could make one. In fact I'd be very interested to see what you came up with in the end.
I'd say undead, especially incorporeal, shadow template creatures, shadows, tenebrous worms as you say.
Cool, can you link it?
In terms of actual creatures, I don't believe individual creatures are 'mirrored' on the Shadow Plane as a general rule, so you won't encounter a band of Shadow Elves just because there is such a group in the intervening distance on the PMP. Fetchlings don't have 'PMP Twins' by any canon I know of.
That said, I believe the Shadow Plane IS supposed to vaguely mirror the surroundings/locale of the PMP, so that means there should be shadow analogs of the general terrain features as well as urbanizations or significant buildings. Being smaller than the PMP, obviously EVERYTHING doesn't exist on the Shadow Plane. I don't think it's clear how exactly the Shadow Plane mirrors the PMP: Which features are selected as relevant to mirror, how often changes are 'ported' over (i.e. how recent of changes will show up on the Shadow Plane), or how events on the Shadow Plane modifying the terrain/buildings there can impact on the mirroring process.
Over-all, I would say that crossing an ocean or sea on the PMP would require crossing at least a lake on the Shadow Plane. If you are leaving the PMP from the top of a mountain, there is a large chance you will be on the top of at least a significant hill in the Shadow Plane. If you are leaving the PMP from the middle of the Everglades, there will be some sort of swamp with difficult terrain in the Shadow Plane. So I think that using Shadow Walk, etc, you can't ENTIRELY evade the fundamental terrain characteristics around you in the PMP, they will usually be scaled down and cartoon-ized, but will still be there.
I think this topic is ripe for in-depth exploration if Paizo did a product on the Shadow Plane.
If we go by the Fetchling Racial option for starting languages, there is Aklo, Draconic, Dziriak, and the Elemental Languages.
To me that implies that different types of Elementals may be scurrying around the Shadow Plane. No real idea, though.
Otherwise I would expect a broad array of animals and other some other creatures with the Shadow Template, as is the case for the Outer Planes.
I believe the Shadow Plane IS supposed to vaguely mirror the surroundings/locale of the PMP, so that means there should be shadow analogs of the general terrain features as well as urbanizations or significant buildings.
So, who lives in the shadow planar version of a great elven city? Fetchlings?
I believe the Shadow Plane IS supposed to vaguely mirror the surroundings/locale of the PMP, so that means there should be shadow analogs of the general terrain features as well as urbanizations or significant buildings.So, who lives in the shadow planar version of a great elven city? Fetchlings?
Not "shadow" elves. Maybe (though unlikely) fetchlings. Maybe something, maybe nothing. But usually not things we see on the Prime Material Plane.
The Shadow Plane is a coexistent with the Material Plane and Ethereal Plane. It is a plane where the things born here have their colors, sounds, tastes, and all other forms of perception lessened. Connected to the Material Plane through the Ethereal Plane, much of the Shadow Plane has similar, but distorted, features that can be found in the corresponding place within the Material Plane. Where on the Material where a city might exist, on the Plane of Shadow in it's place may be ruins or some twisted representation of that city's populous.
In many peoples minds the Plane of Shadow has very strong ties with undead and for good reason. At the core of the Plane of Shadow resides the Negative Energy Plane which causes the creation many of undead that exist with in the Shadow.
Thanks, everyone. Good answers all around.
Now, about how often should one check for encounters while on the Shadow Plane? More often than usual? Once per hour?
Seems like traversing such vast distances in such a short amount of time would possibly increase the frequency of encounters.
Another Race that lives on the Shadow Plane is Wayang, although they are "new"(ly developed, in Tian Xia material) and so won't be mentioned in older setting meterial. They're kind of anti-Gnomes in a way, but AFAIK only their PMP representatives are detailed at all (in Tian Xia, Minata especially), not really any remaining Wayang on the Shadow Plane. It would make sense for Shadow/Umbral Dragon derived Kobolds to also live there. Also the types of creatures associated with Zon-Kuthon, and stuff like Negative Energy Elementals would be more common than the PMP.
