Shadowdancer

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**Shadowdancer Class Changes**

**Design Philosophy:**

I've always felt the Shadowdancer class to be mostly empty space. Usually it was taken as a shortcut to Epic Dodge/Self Concealment and then usually no more than 5 or 10 levels. And even then, a lot of levels did nothing for you and the only scaling ability the class had that benefitted from more empty levels was Shadow Evade, which to me was pretty underwhelming compared to leveling in just about anything else. Especially for typical stealth builds who'd give up Sneak Attack dice for almost nothing in trade by taking more than the bare minimum in this class. This is only exacerbated by the fact that SD is no longer the only source for Hide in Plain Sight (Assassin and Ranger both get it, as well).

With the revamp, I condensed the class down to only 5 levels, with each level giving something meaningful. It looks like a lot of feats, and it is, but many of them are still borderline useless or "fluff" feats.

Shadow Daze is removed, and Self Concealment was added. Yes, they are powerful late game epic feats usually, but in the end I felt that that extra meat really gives this class a reason to exist. And, really, no point being overly precious about 50% concealment. It's powerful, for sure, but there are many ways of getting that in this module. Note that Shadow Evade's concealment now stacks with Self Concealment, making it a useful button for difficult fights.

Note the changed requirements, as well. You now need Evasion to get the class. And you qualify with Dodge/Mobility OR Spell Focus: Illusion/Greater Spell Focus: Illusion, making it a strong option for melee or casters. It adds no caster levels, but for the defensive bonuses, permanent summon that can Sap enemies (and is boosted by all three SF: Illusion feats in addition to the Epic Shadow feat), and potential access to the Shroud of Stealth AA, it's certainly a strong pick for anyone, now.

Note that the Shadowdancer PRC now only has five levels.

**Class Skill Changes:**

* Added: Alchemy
* Added: Leadership

**Requirements:**

* Skills: Hide 10, Move Silently 10, Tumble 10
* Feats: Evasion, Mobility OR Greater Spell Focus: Illusion

**Class Abilities:**

* 1. Self Concealment I, Hide in Plain Sight, Uncanny Dodge
* 2. Self Concealment II, Darkvision, Shadow Evade
* 3. Self Concealment III, Slippery Mind, Uncanny Dodge II
* 4. Self Concealment IV, Defensive Roll, Summon Shadow
* 5. Self Concealment V, Improved Evasion, Uncanny Dodge III

**Spellcasting:**

* Every other SD level now increases your arcane caster level. For Illusion spells, every SD level is counted.
* Shadowdancer does not learn new spells, but every other SD level you gain new spell slots as if you had leveled your highest arcane casting class (if any).

**Feat Changes:**

* Summon Shadow now summons a permanent undead (henchman) that scales with character level, and is improved by Spell Focus: Illusion feats as Epic Shadow feat.
* Epic Shadow now only requires 21+ character levels and Summon Shadow (SD level 4). It can be taken on any class level as long as you meet the requirements.
* Shadow Evade is now a free action (instant cast)
	+ Shadow Evade's duration is 3 rounds, with a cooldown of 20 rounds
	+ Shadow Evade's concealment now stacks with Self Concealment
	+ Shadow Evade now scales thusly:
		- Class Level 4: 5% Concealment, 1 Dodge AC, 5/+1 Damage Reduction
		- Class Level 6: 10% Concealment, 2 Dodge AC, 10/+2 Damage Reduction
		- Class Level 8: 15% Concealment, 3 Dodge AC, 15/+5 Damage Reduction
		- Class Level 10: 20% Concealment, 4 Dodge AC, 20/+8 Damage Reduction
		- Class Level 15: 25% Concealment, 5 Dodge AC, 25/+11 Damage Reduction
		- Class Level 20: 30% Concealment, 6 Dodge AC, 30/+14 Damage Reduction
		- Class Level 25: 35% Concealment, 7 Dodge AC, 35/+17 Damage Reduction
		- Class Level 30: 40% Concealment, 8 Dodge AC, 40/+20 Damage Reduction