Dusk

“LET THERE BE LIGHT.”

And so there was light.

But even as the light raced to the most distant reaches of the cosmos, the darkness was already there to meet it.

There would be those who feared the dark, who sought to drive it away with unending radiance. But a brighter light only casts a sharper shadow, for light is nothing until its path ends.

To those who live in the light, the darkness is an ever-shifting foe, one that simultaneously must be vanquished and yet can never be eradicated. But to the abandoned, the lost, and the forsaken, the darkness is an ever-loyal friend.

When the shadows themselves are your ally, you’ll never be alone in the dark.

Blade in the Dark

At 3rd level, you can attempt to enter the shadows of other creatures. As a bonus action, you can make a Stealth check against a creature within 60 feet, contested by the target’s Insight check. On a success, you enter the target’s space, moving with it as it moves. A creature can willingly fail this check, but you automatically fail this check against creatures that lack a shadow, even if they are willing. While hiding in a creature’s shadow, you can use your Sneak Attack against any target even if you don’t have advantage on the attack roll, but not if you have disadvantage on it. In addition, you cease to cast a shadow while hiding inside another creature’s shadow.

A creature aware of your presence can use its action to make an Investigation check contested by your Stealth check. If it succeeds, you are forcibly ejected from its shadow, reappearing in the nearest unoccupied space that you can occupy. You exit a creature’s shadow if you move 5 or more feet away from it, you are incapacitated, you die, or if the creature is no longer capable of projecting a shadow.

You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Liquid Gloom

Also at 3rd level, you learn to merge with the shadows themselves, becoming as liquid. When you are in an area of dim light or darkness, you can use your action to squeeze into a space as narrow as 1 inch wide. When you do so, any objects you are holding or wearing also morph to squeeze with you. If you are exposed to bright light while squeezing in this way, you are immediately shunted to the nearest unoccupied space that you can occupy and take force damage equal to twice the number of feet you are moved.

Umbral Bond

All shadows can join together to be one in the darkness. At 9th level, when you finish a long rest, you can choose to forge a dark bond with a number of willing creatures within 30 feet, up to your proficiency bonus. When those creatures allow you to enter their shadows, you don’t expend a use of your Blade in the Dark feature, and while you are within the shadow of a bonded creature, you can teleport into the shadow of any bonded creature as a bonus action.

Eclipse

At 13th level, when you exit a creature’s shadow, you can bring something more along with yourself. When you exit a creature’s shadow, you can create a 15-foot radius of magical darkness centered on the creature’s location for 1 minute, or until you end it as a bonus action. You can only have one such field of darkness at a time. In addition, you and creatures affected by your Umbral Bond can see normally in darkness, both magical and nonmagical, to a distance of 30 feet.

Overshadow

To struggle against the darkness only makes it stronger. At 17th level, when you enter the shadow of a creature, you can force it to make a Charisma saving throw (DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Dexterity modifier). On a failed save, you drain your target’s energy, giving it a -2 penalty to its attack rolls, AC, saving throws, and the DCs of any saving throws that it imposes. This penalty ends after 1 minute, or when you exit the creature’s shadow.

Once you use this feature, you cannot use it again until you finish a long rest.