This is the wiki and site for the community project Shadow Done Right. Please see the forum thread on Wizards Community Forums.
Shadow Magic
Where the world is life and light, the Shadowfell is death and gloom. Where the world is growth and vitality, the Shadowfell is decay and apathy. The world, being a point of balance, holds these darker elements too. But even the Shadowfell’s lighter side is beset with such sinister components.
The darker aspects of existence embodied in the Shadowfell contain fearsome power. Any magic laced with the essence of the plane of shadow already has dread on its side. Shadow magic is the stuff of fell legends, wielded by terrible villains.
In stories it is the province of the desperate, the vicious, and the reckless. Such tales fall from the lips of the ignorant and the superstitious. Shadow magic is no more evil than any other magic. It is attractive because it can be easier to acquire than other forms of power, but it is also demanding.
Divine power requires, at least initially, devotion to an external source. Arcane magic can entail study and hard work. Martial excellence comes through difficult training and mastery of refined techniques. Psionic power hones the mind in a similar way. Shadow magic, unlike all of the foregoing, requires simple surrender.
From: http://wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4pr/20101206
The goal of this project is to develop a number of full-featured classes for Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition using the Shadow power source. This is a community project, so multiple ideas - and multiple versions of ideas - will be offered up, hammered down, or tossed out. Feel free to contribute wherever you like, whether it be with shared ideas and brainstorming, improved page coding and formatting, or editing and playtesting.
The main ideas for classes right now are:
- The Necromancer
- The Assassin (NEW Hidden Talon and Phantom Sniper builds).
- The Duskblade
- The Fateweaver
All classes ready for Playtesting
For races, there are:
And then of course…
Outdated Class concepts (it seems)…
(Necromancer Alternate #2) (Necromancer Alternate #3)
(Duskblade #2)
Here I was a bit vague about the classes, so you guys can add details.
Page Discussion
Hey- I just joined, and I was wondering if we are still making classes or the four are enough. I'm having ideas about another assassin subclass, styled after Brent Week's Night Angel trilogy. Or a class on it's own. The black ka'kari is an obvious epic artifact, or maybe a ka'karifer ED…
EDIT: I could make it an executioner build. Can Essentials classes have builds?
We never officially decided that four was enough, it just seemed to fizzle after a while, but you're free to add anything you feel like. The only thing I would caution you against is actually using copyrighted names like "Ka'karifer" and such;for legal reasons it would be better to come up with a more original name.
As for builds, technically I believe E-classes do have Builds, but they tend to greatly alter the mechanics of the class (since they typically force you to take specific powers granted by that build), the Fey Pact and Gloom Pact Hexblade, for instance. As such, you're free to add class features and powers as you see fit, with no real reason to stick to the standard AEDU formula.
E-classes, though, do have a strong tendency to either give you a single multi-use encounter power that upgrades as you level, or a choice of one or two powers that trigger off a basic attack (the new dev team loves basic attacks), or are similarly watered down so that newbs and grognards don't get confused.
I was kind of just thinking out loud with a keyboard for the ka'karifer, and I can see your point. I'm gonna get to work now… it's going to take awhile by my guess. I'll post here before I start on the powers.
I added illustrationnns to a few of the pages. They're all I could find with a quick google search, so if you've got better ones, feel free to share.
I posted a more fleshed-out concept for a shadow-based ranged (or melee, if desired) defender over at the Wizards forum here http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/26403757/Players_Option:_Shadow_Done_Right_(community_project_proposal)&post_num=83#478496329
Is this worth pursuing at this point? I'm about to take christmas off, but I'd be more than willing to take some time during my break to work on more powers and mechanics.
What do people think?
…Am I the only one getting that 300 vibe from that last sentence? "All these other power sources demand that you stand. Shadow only asks that you kneel."
Well now that you point it out, no, I totally see that too.
THIS IS SHADOW!!!
Hey All,
I just joined - great idea to make the shadow power source ourselves since WoTC decided they would rather reprint all the material they've already released so that we buy it again rather than make something new.
I like a lot of what I see with the classes so far, but are there any plans to make the Shadowcaster class (I see it is under "Themes," but I wasn't really sure what that meant)? I was always fond of it in 3E, in spite of its always being kind of wonky and underpowered, so I'd be glad to start it if no one has any objections. I am thinking of going with a controller/striker role, making it geared toward disabling one target at a time, and coupling that with evasive/movement abilities. Maybe eventually a paragon path akin to the Master of Shadow?
I think the general consensus so far has been that Shadowcaster and/or Shadowcraft Mage would be more suited to either a 'Theme' a la Dark Sun (an additional layer of character traits that stands beside Class and Race and gives additional feat, power, and PP options) OR it might be easier to work into already existing classes such as the Wizard, Warlock, etc.
…or both. That's why it's listed under Theme right now instead of classes. So far, we've also been roughly sticking to the following priorities:
Classes (in this order):
Necromancer (controller)/Assassin (striker)
Dusk-Blade (defender)
Wyrd/Witch/Medium (leader)
Races:
So far we've tentatively decided to include the Incunabula and the Dark Ones since Shadar-Kai and Revenants are already available. Someone also mentioned Darklings, I think Eisenritter is working on those….
Feats/Themes:
We've thrown a few feats together but are trying to wait until we at least get the classes done before adding feats. So far, themes haven't really been much of a priority.
Hope that helps.
Darklings/Simulacra, depending on what seems better. If you do start on a Shadowcaster class, can you let me know what the ability scores are? It seems like something that a construct made of darkness should excel at. :3
Yo.
Welcome to the project!
(We should come up with an awesome and snappy name for it.)
Hmm… Project Darkness, maybe? But that seems a bit trite, no~? :3
I mentioned it as "The Shadow Project" but that sounds nefarious.
"The Shining Shadows," perhaps?
Here to help:)
Yay, there are even comment boxes at the end of pages. :D