Shadowdancer Character Theme

As you dance, shadows stretch and swell to the rhythm of your footfalls.  As your enemies are mesmerized by the dance, their own shadows will betray them.

The darkest of children's tales tell of shadows that spring to life and kill their owners.  In the narrowest alleys at the latest hours, darkness moves in time with eerie rhythms.  These shadows are moving to the beat of the footsteps of a shadowdancer, an assassin with a strange talent.

Shadowdancers are the outcasts in the assassination underground.  While most assassins take their jobs as serious business, shadowdancers view killing as an art.  Some say that this means they can't commit to a job, but shadowdancers will say that this view makes them even better at it.  Their assassinations are perfectly choreographed, their timing never fails, and they never leave a trace of their presence.

Like assassins, shadowdancers can travel between shadows to sneak up on their targets.  However, shadowdancers have mastered the ability to use their own shadow as a point of entry into the Shadowfell, letting them travel to another shadow from anywhere.  Shadowdancers don't need weapons to kill their targets; they can drain a creature's life through its shadow.

BUILDING A SHADOWDANCER

Shadowdancers usually have an unusual and often dark sense of humor about their ability and job.  Unsurprisingly, assassins make very good shadowdancers.  Monks are also drawn to this theme, for it utilizes their full discipline feature in the form of several dances.  You might also be a rogue with their natural affinity for shadows, or a druid with a dark bend.  Clerics and paladins of dark but artful gods might choose to be a shadowdancer if they want to gain abilities common to strikers.

SHADOWDANCER TRAITS
- Secondary Role: Striker
- Power Source: Shadow
- Granted Power: You add the Stealth skill to your class skills list and gain the shadow rhythm power.

SHADOWDANCER POWERS

The following powers are available to any character who has chosen the shadowdancer theme.

Shadow Rhythm - Shadowdancer Feature
You begin an eerie dance, and suddenly you disappear into your shadow.  Your foe doesn't see that its own shadow has now raised a dagger behind it.
Encounter * Full Discipline, Implement, Shadow
Attack Technique
- Standard Action - Melee touch
- Target: One creature
- Attack: Primary ability vs. Reflex
- Hit: 1d10 + ability modifier damage, and the target grants combat advantage until the end of your next turn.
- - Level 11: 2d10 + ability modifier damage.
- - Level 21: 3d10 + ability modifier damage.
Movement Technique
- Move Action - Personal
- Effect: You teleport your speed to a square adjacent to a creature.

LEVEL 2 UTILITY HEX

Hide in Plain View - Shadowdancer Utility 2
Your enemies' eyes skip right over you asyou blend into a small shadow.
Encounter * Shadow
Minor Action - Personal
Effect: Until the end of your next turn, you gain total concealment against all creatures within 5 squares of you.  In addition, you move up to half your speed.

LEVEL 3 ENCOUNTER HEX

Shadowy Reflection - Shadowdancer Attack 3
You create a shadowy reflection of yourself, allowing you to sneak up on enemies who are focused on your decoy.
Encounter * Conjuration, Full Discipline, Implement, Shadow
Attack Technique
- Standard Action - Melee touch
- Target: One creature
- Attack: Primary ability vs. Will
- Hit: 2d8 + ability modifier damage, and you mark the target.  If you have a shadowy reflection currently active, the target is instead marked by your shadowy reflection.  The mark lasts until the start of your next turn.
- Level 13
- - Hit: As above, but 3d8 + ability modifier damage.
- Level 23
- - Hit: As above, but 4d8 + ability modifier damage.
Movement Technique
- Move Action - Personal
- Effect: You teleport up to half your speed to a square adjacent to a creature.  In the square you left, you conjure a shadowy reflection.  If any creatures are marked by you, they instead become marked by your shadowy reflection.  Your shadowy reflection can be attacked, and disappears after a creature attacks it.  It will also disappear at the start of your next turn.  Any creature marked by the shadowy reflection when it disappears is no longer marked.

LEVEL 5 DAILY HEX

Twirling Shade - Shadowdancer Attack 5
Your body turns into a gray mist that dances around, tearing apart your enemies' souls as you pass them.
Daily * Implement, Necrotic, Shadow
Standard Action - Melee 1
Effect: Until the end of your next turn, you are insubstantial.  In addition, shift up to your speed and make the following attack once against each enemy you move adjacent to during the shift.
- Target: One enemy
- Attack: Primary ability vs. Reflex
- Hit: 2d8 + ability modifier necrotic damage.
- Miss: Half damage.
Level 15
- Hit: 3d8 + ability modifier necrotic damage.
Level 25
- Hit: 4d8 + ability modifier necrotic damage.

LEVEL 6 UTILITY HEX

Treacherous Shadow - Shadowdancer Utility 6
After an enemy hits you, you combine yourself with their shadow to strike from where they least expect it.
Encounter * Shadow
Immediate Reaction - Personal
Trigger: An adjacent enemy hits you with an attack
Target: The triggering enemy
Effect: As a free action, you teleport to another square adjacent to the target.  You gain combat advantage against the target until the end of your next turn.

LEVEL 7 ENCOUNTER HEX

Grappling Shadows - Shadowdancer Attack 7
Your shadow reaches out to grab your foe, dragging it along with you and squeezing it so that it can hardly move.
Encounter * Full Discipline, Implement, Shadow
Attack Technique
- Standard Action - Melee touch
- Target: One creature
- Attack: Primary ability vs. Reflex
- Hit: 2d6 + ability modifier damage, and the target is dazed until the end of your next turn.
- Level 17
- - Hit: As above, but 3d6 + ability modifier damage.
- Level 27
- - Hit: As above, but 4d6 + ability modifier damage.
Movement Technique
- Move Action - Personal
- Effect: You shift 2 squares.  During the shift, if you leave a square adjacent to any enemy that you have hit on this turn, you can slide that enemy 1 square into the space you vacated.

LEVEL 9 DAILY HEX

Summon Shadow - Shadowdancer Attack 9
Your shadow swells into the third dimension.  It then begins tearing apart your enemies as they cower in terror.
Daily * Implement, Shadow, Summoning
Minor Action - Melee 1
Effect: You summon a Medium shadow in an unoccupied space adjacent to you.  The shadow has a speed equal to yours.  It has a +4 bonus to AC and a +4 bonus to Reflex.  You can give the shadow the following special commands.
- Standard Action: Melee 1; targets one creature; primary ability vs. Reflex; 1d4 + ability modifier damage, and the target is grabbed.  The shadow gains a +4 bonus to attack rolls and a +2 bonus to damage rolls against a target is is already grabbing.
- Opportunity Attack: Melee 1; targets one creature; primary ability vs. Reflex; 1d8 + ability modifier damage, and the target is knocked prone.
Level 19
- Effect: As above, but the shadow is Large and has a reach of 2.
- Standard Action: As above, but the reach is 2, and it deals 2d4 + ability modifier damage, and the bonus to damage rolls increases to +4.
Level 29
- Effect: As above, but the shadow is Huge and has a reach of 3.
- Standard Action: As above, but the reach is 3, it deals 3d4 + ability modifier damage, and the bonus to damage rolls increases to +6.

LEVEL 10 UTILITY HEX

Shadow Jump - Shadowdancer Utility 10
You travel immense distances travelling through shadows.
Daily * Shadow, Stance, Teleportation
Minor Action - Personal
Effect: Until the stance ends, you can teleport 20 squares to a square adjacent to a creature as a move action.