Shade

A shade is easily taken for a human, and most once were. It keeps its old height and features, but its skin is a dusky gray verging on black and its eyes look veiled. Most are tall and lean, dress in somber clothes and wear armor if they like, so long as it does not hamper any spellcasting. They can learn languages up to their Intelligence limit, usually including the one they spoke in life, but have no tongue of their own.

A shade's strength depends entirely on how much shadow surrounds it. It is weak in unbroken light or complete darkness and dangerous in shadow, with four tiers of lighting.

No shadows means bright daylight in the open, multiple light sources, a magical light or darkness spell, or a sealed room with no light at all; here the shade suffers penalties. Weak shadows include dawn or dusk outdoors, woods on a sunny day, normal indoor lighting, or an overcast or moonless night; the shade acts normally, with keen sight and hearing, and imposes -1 on opponents' surprise rolls. Strong shadows, meaning outdoors at night or dim indoor light, grant it advantages. Very shadowy conditions, such as a jungle or forest at twilight, a windowless room lit by one flickering torch, candle or small fire, or the fringe of artificial light outdoors at night, make it stronger still.

In good shadow a shade sees through gloom as a human sees in daylight, and other creatures hiding in shadows are plainly visible to it. Its surprise bonus lowers opponents' rolls by 1 without changing its own. Wherever it gains a bonus, its foes take an equal penalty, so a +1 attack bonus in strong shadows means -1 for its enemies. Reductions never drop its Hit Dice below 1 hit point per die or its damage below 1.

Shades are quiet loners whose favorite home is the Demiplane of Shadow. Many were mages, such as the tribal shadow-mages of remote southern jungles, or thieves or fighters, and a few are priests of shadow deities like a jungle god of shadow. Some still care deeply about their old mortal homes; others changed so long ago that they barely recall being mortal, treat non-shades with detachment, find mortal worries trivial and may even struggle to follow conversations with them. They visit the Prime Material Plane far more than most planar beings, for reasons that may be personal or tied to the wider aims of shade society. Those encountered are often gathering information, fetching powerful items, kidnapping or killing someone, or guarding a place.

Shades never age and die only if slain and kept from regenerating. The change, which surely involves powerful magic though sages argue over the details, swaps the spirit for shadowstuff and leaves them sterile. They eat as they did in life but seem to draw sustenance from shadow, as no captive shade has ever starved. Animals do not shy from them; lesser creatures ignore them as mere shadows. Demihuman shades exist but are rare and keep traces of their race, so a dwarven shade looks very stocky.

Create Shade (9th-level alteration; range special; components V, S, M; duration instantaneous; casting time 1 day; area one being; no save) fills a single subject with shadowstuff. Only a human or demihuman with one class and at least 10 levels qualifies, and only a free-willed wizard can succeed. The long, delicate ritual fails if caster or subject is disturbed, and also requires shadow walk, shadowy transformation, gate and permanency cast on the subject. The subject then makes a system shock roll, at +25% if the work is done in the shadow realm itself. Failure dissolves the subject into shadow forever, beyond even a wish.

Roll 1d10 for alignment: 1, unchanged; 2-4, one step toward true neutral; 5-7, one step toward evil; 8-9, true neutral; 10, neutral evil. A wish prevents any shift. The caster loses 1d6 Constitution, falls unconscious for 1d8 days and ages five years if a wish was used. Components are 10,000 gp of powdered onyx and 10,000 gp of powdered diamond, both consumed, and a chip of a dark god's bloodstone, which draws the needed shadowstuff and dark magic out of the shadow realm.