I love the theme of shadows and darkness so when Sorcerer got a “Shadow” origin I couldn’t wait to take a look. And I was sorely disappointed to find it’s not so much “shadowy” and more about “death” instead. It is less “shadow” like than a Shadow Monk. This should not be! As a sorcerer this would be a direct connection to darkness in your soul! Darkness would be your home, your life, it would flow through you. So, a shadow monk getting things like more dark spells for their ki - bearing in mind they get a lot more ki points than you get sorcery points - and they get shadowstep - a fave of previous editions and second-most iconic shadow power there is in any game, and they get this at level 6 while you have to wait until level 14 which almost half of the campaigns played never get to?! Are you for real?
And a Shadow Sorceror can only see, as darkvision, through darkness it creates with its own sorcery points? Seriously? A level 2 warlock can use Devil’s Sight to see through all darkness, magical or not - why is a Shadow Sorcerer, born with the power of darkness in their veins, so inferior in their shadowness compared to other classes?
So I thought up a revision. I have not tested this and it’s just first draft but I would like some feedback:
Level 1
Dark Soul
You can see normally in darkness, both magical and nonmagical, to a distance of 120 feet. When you reach Level 3 in this class you learn the Darkness but it does not count against the number of maximum known spells. You may cast this spell using 2 Sorcery Points instead of spell slots and without needing any material components.
Shade Form
When you are hit with an attack you may use your reaction to momentarily turn into shadow causing the attack, and any subsequent attacks, to miss you - passing through you as if you were not there. This shade form lasts until the start of your next turn. Once used you cannot use this feature again until you have completed a Long Rest.
Level 6
Shadow Walk
At 6th level you gain the ability to step from one shadow into another. When you are in dim light or darkness, as a bonus action, you can magically teleport up to 120 feet to an unoccupied space you can see that is also in dim light or darkness.
Level 14
Shadow Form
Starting at 14th level you can spend 6 Sorcery Points as a bonus action to assume a form of shadow and darkness. In this form, you have resistance to all damage except force and radiant damage, and you can move through other creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain. You take 5 force damage if you end your turn inside an object. If this form ends while you are in an object to are shunted out to the nearest unoccupied space taking 6D6 force damage and are knocked prone. You also gain vulnerability to radiant damage when in this form.
While in this form when in dim light or darkness movement is half the normal cost; one foot of your speed is two feet of movement. When inside an object you see through the material as though it was dim light - without the benefit of your Dark Soul vision bonuses - out to a range of 30 feet or to the object’s surface, whichever is nearer. Also while in this form when not in an object your vision as granted by Dark Soul has no limit in feet other than your normal eyesight range.
You remain in this form for 1 minute. It ends early if you are incapacitated, if you die, or if you dismiss it as a bonus action. It can also end early if you take too much radiant damage; if you receive radiant damage equal to half or more of your current hit points in a single turn you must succeed on a Charisma saving throw against DC of 10 + half the radiant damage received or the forms ends however you can instead choose to spend 2 sorcery points to automatically succeed on this saving throw - the decision to use this must be taken before you roll.
As a bonus action at any time before the Shadow Form ends or at the moment it would end you can choose to extend the form for another minute using 3 sorcery points. Once a Shadow Form use has been extended in this way it can not be extended this way again - you would need to adopt the Shadow Form again using 6 Sorcery Ponts as normal.
Level 18
Dark Teleport
At 18th level you gain access to the ability to use darkness to travel to anywhere in the world - within some limits - and take your allies with you. To use this you must be in an area of dim light or darkness as must any allies you wish to bring with you, and the allies you wish to bring you - your traveling companions - must be within 5 feet of you and of Large or smaller size.
To begin this Dark Teleport you spend 10 Sorcery Points to send out your mind through the shadows. You must choose a target location that would accommodate you and your travelling companions that is:
~ A place you or a travelling companion has previously been to or seen and can accurately recall.
~ A place that an object you or a travelling companion is holding has spent at least 3 consecutive days in within the last 3 months.
~ A place you can see, if only partially, from where you currently are.
~ A teleport circle whose sigils are known to you or a travelling companion.
The target must be in the same plane of existence and the target location must either be in dim light or darkness or have an area of dim light or darkness close by that would accommodate you and your travelling companions.
If the targeted location does not meet the requirements then nothing happens and you recover 5 of the spent Sorcery Points. Otherwise you are engulfed in darkness and teleported there.
While using Dark Teleport you can choose, instead, a target location in the Shadowfell in a similar fashion to a Plane Shift spell. If you are on the Shadowfell when using Dark Teleport you are not limited to teleporting to the same plane of existence but the other requirements must still be met.
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Thoughts? Opinions? Advice? Suggestions? Lolcat memes (coz they're nifty)?
I like it, it it feels slightly overpowered. I’d remove the Shade Form at 1st level and grant it at 6th level and I’d alter the Shadow Form so that you Polymorph into a Shadow and can’t cast spells but retain your mental statistics.
Id love to play it the way it’s written. That’s why I feel that it’s slightly over powered.
Thank you for taking the time to provide feedback, I do appreciate it.
It may be overpowered and I would like to consider what can be done to balance it better.
The Shade Form cannot be moved to 6th level as there's already a significant feature for level 6 that I don't want to push back but also cannot bring forward (too powerful for earlier levels). The idea of Shade Form was to be similar to a slightly better Shield and to keep something defensive for 1st level. All sorcerous origins have two abilities at 1st level and one is defensive to protect the character like the previous version of "strength of the grave" which much like other similar things other classes give and even races. It had nothing to do with "shadows" and was a "grave"/"death" thing which is silly for a non-death-theme origin (shadows =/= death).
For example Divine Soul let's you add to failed saving throws you make, draconic bloodline gives you permanent +3 to AC, Storm let's you fly 10 feet without provoking attacks of opportunity to get away, wild magic let's you get advantage on saving throws and the regular shadow can effectively negate a kill/knockout blow. I needed something that can compete with these, while not just being as minor as some standard 1st level spell. I figured protection from attacks for 1 round, like a better Shield, seemed decent and the phasing thing fits with the theme. Should I make this one turn? I don't want to make it just one attack because it'll be useless at higher levels. Or perhaps limit it to weapon attacks only?
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I would disagree with polymorphing into a Shadow because they're weak as hell. You can just use normal polymorph spell to become something far more powerful so what incentive is there in using this? The squeezing through hole thing? A gaseous spell, a low level spell, does that. The Shadow Form is based on the Umbral Form - just tweaked and made level 14 instead of 18 because frankly it's not powerful enough to be 18th level (and I'm not the only one who thinks so - from what I've come across it's the biggest complaint people have about the origin). I just gave it a bit more function and compensated for that by adding some downsides like vulnerability to radiant and the possibilty for an enemy to knock you out of it. I don't feel like preventing spellcasting is the way to go, but I'm open to other ideas on balancing? Maybe restricting the levels of spells or types that can be cast or something?
Casting darkness affects teamates. You won't make any friends and they will frown behind your back everytime you think your doing your team a great service. I don't even think the careful metamagic helps. they will be blind and rolling at disadvantage while at some point the DM will be sending monsters that can counter darkness. Be careful.
Casting darkness affects teamates. You won't make any friends and they will frown behind your back everytime you think your doing your team a great service. I don't even think the careful metamagic helps. they will be blind and rolling at disadvantage while at some point the DM will be sending monsters that can counter darkness. Be careful.
With respect this thread is for discussion on my homebrew variant of the subclass and not about the Darkness spell, which is what you seem to take issue with. Furthermore, it can be cast at range to not affect teammates and can be used in this class for a multitude of purposes like blinding enemies that are at range, covering your escape, or creating pockets of darkness to still make use of other class features in brightly lit areas where they would otherwise be unable to be used.
I'm currently using this in a campaign and it's been an asset, not a hinderance. I would urge you to rethink how you approach the spell as it seems very much like you are using it incorrectly. Happy to discuss the spell further if you disagree but perhaps that should be in a separate thread.
Hmm. Interesting. I agree that the Shadow Magic bloodline is off the mark. It should definitely have more of a shadowy flavor.
I'd say your homebrew is a bit on the powerful side. I'll review:
1st level Dark Soul - pretty much the same as the original and a solid ability.
1st level Shade Form - hmm. Completely ignore all attacks for a round once a day? That's a powerful ability. Too powerful in my opinion and with it resetting on a long rest it's uber limited. I'd change it to provide resistance to all damage except force and radiant instead of negate all attacks. And then you could maybe recover it after a short rest rather than long. Or make it cost a sorcery point. Sort of as a mini shadow form.
6th level Shadow Walk - Another strong ability. 120ft teleports at will? This is 14th level in the original bloodline. I see that the shadow monk as a 60ft step but with advantage on attacks afterwards so you are gaining 60ft by loosing the advantage to melee? Not sure that is a even trade. I would reduce the move to 60ft and give it a special ability like a hide as a bonus action or invisibility for a round after moving.
14th level Shadow Form - A very strong ability. I like the alternate form idea and personally I would play with that some. I see that it used to be the 18th level ability and I agree that it was weak in that spot. No problems moving it to 14th. Also, I don't think you need all that clunky wording around sight and cancelling the form with radiant damage. Maybe the form is vulnerable to radiant? So the sorcerer may want to end it early when facing an opponent with that kind of power. And why not call it Umbral form? That's better flavor in my opinion.
18th level Dark Teleport - Nice and flavorful. I think this would work fine.
So your revision is good overall but to me shadow magic means a little more than just changing forms or teleporting. For me the shadows are mysterious and play with your fears. Being alone in the dark can make you see or hear things that are not there. So I would expect more along the lines of illusion and fear abilities rather than what you have here. If I get some time this weekend I may post a couple abilities that would be more in line with my thoughts.
Thank you for the response. You have raised interesting points which I would like to respond to individually.
I would like to start by saying that some features may be on the powerful side but also have to remember that most require dim light/darkness to function so cannot use outside in daytime, cannot use in place with bright light, cannot use places where there is fire, enemies can carry torches, can be negated with a light cantrip.. and so on. I predicted that there will be situations where features are almost entirely nullified and I'm in such a situation in my campaign now - infiltrating a base, too much light would take many turns to damage enough light sources to bring about darkness for my powers and so, I'm currently less powerful than any other sorcerer because the features to give me that advantage are all gone. Sure I can still create darkness but that's a concentration spell and only covers a tiny area so not overly useful at this point as a range-blaster. The reason I went on the more powerful side was to compensate for this.
1st level Dark Soul - pretty much the same as the original and a solid ability.
I did improve it a bit by making the vision aspect the same as the Warlock's "Devil's Sight" invocation. Darkvision is nifty but if you're in full darkness your perception is at disadvantage. Yet a warlock at Level 2 could, if they wanted, see through all darkness clearly even magical darkness? Most races have Darkvision anyway and there are lots of way to get it if you didn't already have it. This all didn't make sense for a Shadow Sorcerer who didn't learn about darkness like a shadow monk and are not simply used to darkness like racial darkvision. A shadow sorcerer is connected to the darkness, they have that power of darkness in their very soul. They should be able to walk through any darkness of any kind without any issue - it should be as natural and normal for them to be total complete darkness, even magic darkness, as it would be for us to see on a bright day. Originally I wasn't going to have any range limit but I figured that might be a bit much, so I settled on 120 ft which is the same as Devil's Sight, too. Of all features this will be the one I will not ever consider changing.
1st level Shade Form - hmm. Completely ignore all attacks for a round once a day? That's a powerful ability. Too powerful in my opinion and with it resetting on a long rest it's uber limited. I'd change it to provide resistance to all damage except force and radiant instead of negate all attacks. And then you could maybe recover it after a short rest rather than long. Or make it cost a sorcery point. Sort of as a mini shadow form.
I was concerned about this being a bit powerful for Level 1. While I do not like the idea of the sorcery point cost (because this is level 1 and sorcs don't get sorc points until level 2) I do like the idea of the resistances and recovering on short rest. I am currently playtesting this in a campaign and will discuss with my DM.
6th level Shadow Walk - Another strong ability. 120ft teleports at will? This is 14th level in the original bloodline. I see that the shadow monk as a 60ft step but with advantage on attacks afterwards so you are gaining 60ft by loosing the advantage to melee? Not sure that is a even trade. I would reduce the move to 60ft and give it a special ability like a hide as a bonus action or invisibility for a round after moving.
I needed to move this forward as it's arguably the second-most iconic power expected of "shadow" mages and beings. Waiting to level 14, which some campaigns don't get to or your character may not reach due to untimely death, for this power seemed silly to me. Why should the Shadow Mage - who had the power of the Shadowfell in their soul and blood, have to wait longer to teleport than a shadow monk who was just an average joe who trained in a monastery to learn it? There are many such shadowy characters in comics (particularly Marvel and DC) and they ALL have "shadow teleporting". Also, this ability, sometimes named Shadow Step and sometimes named Shadow Walk has been in previous editions: 3.5, 4th and was also in Pathfinder and all of them were as or more powerful than this (only 4th Edition was less at 100 ft movement but used as a "move" not bonus/main action) with 3.5 version granting you a duration of 1 hour at a speed of 50 miles an hour, or basically 440 feet a turn. All of them were level 6 or lower. So I did genuinely think losing the advantage for double range was a good trade off - 120 ft is not a big distance. Especially since it requires dim light or darkness in both the place you leave and the place you go to.
However, I have not tested this in my campaign as my sorc is only level 5. In another campaign (same DM though) I play a Shadow Monk (I really like shadow theme) and I'm getting a lot of utility from the monk version even without concerning myself with advantage on next attack. However, with 45 ft move speed and being a Tabaxi getting about is not a problem anyway so it's more for flavour than utility at this point.
The option to Hide / Invisible is good, though, but this would be as "part" of the teleport not to take another bonus action as your wording implies - you only get 1 bonus and using that to shadow walk. However, in combat there's not a lot of utility beyond "possibly" getting advantage on next attack. Helps out of combat more if going invisible for getting about. Stealth is more shadowy than attacking. When comparing to shadow monk, have to remember by level 6 they've got a lot more features than a sorcerer has and deal more consistent damage and can cast spells like Pass Without Trace (2 ki for +10 stealth checks), and Silence neither of which a Sorcerer has access to.
I would consider breaking this into two abilities (since other Sorcerous Origins do allow two Level 6 abilities albeit slightly weaker).
Shadow Step : While you are in an area of dim light or darkness you may teleport as a bonus action to another area of dim-light or darkness that you can see within 60 feet from you. When you do you may immediately take the Hide action as part of this bonus action.
Shrouded in Shadow : Whenever you take the Hide action when you are in an area of dim light or darkness you can choose to spend 1 sorcery points to gain advantage on the Dexterity (Stealth]) check and you also become Invisible until the end of your next turn. This invisibility ends if you attack, cast a spell or enter any area of bright light.
I think this allows it to become different enough from the shadow monk, adds some flexibility, and maybe balances a bit better. What do you think?
14th level Shadow Form - A very strong ability. I like the alternate form idea and personally I would play with that some. I see that it used to be the 18th level ability and I agree that it was weak in that spot. No problems moving it to 14th. Also, I don't think you need all that clunky wording around sight and cancelling the form with radiant damage. Maybe the form is vulnerable to radiant? So the sorcerer may want to end it early when facing an opponent with that kind of power. And why not call it Umbral form? That's better flavor in my opinion.
I agree the vision thing should be removed. The form was vulnerable to radiant and perhaps adding a way to be knocked out of it as well was a bit much. I will also consider rewording the movement to just that the shadow step is extended 30 ft, no cost of sorcery point to hide and invisibility can last as long as the form lasts (other "ending" conditions still apply). Perhaps nix the moving through objects/walls thing or limit it.
I also agree I shouldn't have changed the name. I'm practically abusing the term "shadow" by this point. It was spurred on because when I see the word "umbra" or "umbral" I immediately translate to "shade", which is what the word means and I've already used "shade form" as a name. My brain is weird but then I've had "shadow beings" on the brain since I was 3 years old, so not really a surprise.
18th level Dark Teleport - Nice and flavorful. I think this would work fine.
Thank you. Needed something and wanted something useful and that could also involve the Shadowfell since it's literally the plane of shadow, how could I not?
So your revision is good overall but to me shadow magic means a little more than just changing forms or teleporting. For me the shadows are mysterious and play with your fears. Being alone in the dark can make you see or hear things that are not there. So I would expect more along the lines of illusion and fear abilities rather than what you have here. If I get some time this weekend I may post a couple abilities that would be more in line with my thoughts.
I fully agree with you. But, Sorcerers, as usual, get very limited amount of subclass features, and features in general really. I therefore had to focus what I wanted to achieve with the features. There are illusion and fear spells that can immediately fit the thematics while still maintaining usability. Nothing stops you making cosmetic changes to have the spells appear different, either, like when I use shocking grasp the electric is black, or if I conjure acid it's like a black bubbling oil, things like that. Really keeps it fitting. Then there's the option to homebrew spells - I homebrewed a level 3 spell Summon Shadows spell to go with this. It's not that powerful but can be situationally and has proven to be helpful but not overpowered in battles when I've used it (especially since you really need the dim light/darkness). I plan to make more. I would be very interested in your ideas for more illusion/fear based features or spells because, this definitely needs more in that area.
Thank you again for taking the time to provide your feedback and thoughts. It's proving very helpful in thinking more about this and addressing the balancing issues which I do know this suffers from. I really appreciate this.
I have since created an updated variant of this called Dark Soul which has been shared with the community and recently updated. You can view this here: Dark Soul
Shade Form has been removed, and replaced with option for extra spell and cantrip. There are also other changes made based on suggestions received here and elsewhere.
Please take a look, I am very interested in feedback.
So - I'm currently playing this Shadow Sorcerer build in my campaign and I thoroughly enjoy it.
I like the balance of powers especially with the shadow walk. I think it balances out the shade form really well because for 12-14 hours in a day you don't have that ability.
The Shade Form- A bit limited, since it recovers on a long rest, my revision is recovering on a short rest and gaining resistance, and you can use 3 sorcery points to use. Using sorcery points make you completely immune, like the first version.
Shadow Walk- I like it, but I think it should be 60 feet with an ability. My ability would be to leave a shadowy clone in my place for until my next turn. All who get within ten feet are affected by fear. And stop in place.
this is might be overpowered but I like the idea of it.
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I love the theme of shadows and darkness so when Sorcerer got a “Shadow” origin I couldn’t wait to take a look. And I was sorely disappointed to find it’s not so much “shadowy” and more about “death” instead. It is less “shadow” like than a Shadow Monk. This should not be! As a sorcerer this would be a direct connection to darkness in your soul! Darkness would be your home, your life, it would flow through you. So, a shadow monk getting things like more dark spells for their ki - bearing in mind they get a lot more ki points than you get sorcery points - and they get shadowstep - a fave of previous editions and second-most iconic shadow power there is in any game, and they get this at level 6 while you have to wait until level 14 which almost half of the campaigns played never get to?! Are you for real?
And a Shadow Sorceror can only see, as darkvision, through darkness it creates with its own sorcery points? Seriously? A level 2 warlock can use Devil’s Sight to see through all darkness, magical or not - why is a Shadow Sorcerer, born with the power of darkness in their veins, so inferior in their shadowness compared to other classes?
So I thought up a revision. I have not tested this and it’s just first draft but I would like some feedback:
Level 1
Dark Soul
You can see normally in darkness, both magical and nonmagical, to a distance of 120 feet. When you reach Level 3 in this class you learn the Darkness but it does not count against the number of maximum known spells. You may cast this spell using 2 Sorcery Points instead of spell slots and without needing any material components.
Shade Form
When you are hit with an attack you may use your reaction to momentarily turn into shadow causing the attack, and any subsequent attacks, to miss you - passing through you as if you were not there. This shade form lasts until the start of your next turn. Once used you cannot use this feature again until you have completed a Long Rest.
Level 6
Shadow Walk
At 6th level you gain the ability to step from one shadow into another. When you are in dim light or darkness, as a bonus action, you can magically teleport up to 120 feet to an unoccupied space you can see that is also in dim light or darkness.
Level 14
Shadow Form
Starting at 14th level you can spend 6 Sorcery Points as a bonus action to assume a form of shadow and darkness. In this form, you have resistance to all damage except force and radiant damage, and you can move through other creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain. You take 5 force damage if you end your turn inside an object. If this form ends while you are in an object to are shunted out to the nearest unoccupied space taking 6D6 force damage and are knocked prone. You also gain vulnerability to radiant damage when in this form.
While in this form when in dim light or darkness movement is half the normal cost; one foot of your speed is two feet of movement. When inside an object you see through the material as though it was dim light - without the benefit of your Dark Soul vision bonuses - out to a range of 30 feet or to the object’s surface, whichever is nearer. Also while in this form when not in an object your vision as granted by Dark Soul has no limit in feet other than your normal eyesight range.
You remain in this form for 1 minute. It ends early if you are incapacitated, if you die, or if you dismiss it as a bonus action. It can also end early if you take too much radiant damage; if you receive radiant damage equal to half or more of your current hit points in a single turn you must succeed on a Charisma saving throw against DC of 10 + half the radiant damage received or the forms ends however you can instead choose to spend 2 sorcery points to automatically succeed on this saving throw - the decision to use this must be taken before you roll.
As a bonus action at any time before the Shadow Form ends or at the moment it would end you can choose to extend the form for another minute using 3 sorcery points. Once a Shadow Form use has been extended in this way it can not be extended this way again - you would need to adopt the Shadow Form again using 6 Sorcery Ponts as normal.
Level 18
Dark Teleport
At 18th level you gain access to the ability to use darkness to travel to anywhere in the world - within some limits - and take your allies with you. To use this you must be in an area of dim light or darkness as must any allies you wish to bring with you, and the allies you wish to bring you - your traveling companions - must be within 5 feet of you and of Large or smaller size.
To begin this Dark Teleport you spend 10 Sorcery Points to send out your mind through the shadows. You must choose a target location that would accommodate you and your travelling companions that is:
~ A place you or a travelling companion has previously been to or seen and can accurately recall.
~ A place that an object you or a travelling companion is holding has spent at least 3 consecutive days in within the last 3 months.
~ A place you can see, if only partially, from where you currently are.
~ A teleport circle whose sigils are known to you or a travelling companion.
The target must be in the same plane of existence and the target location must either be in dim light or darkness or have an area of dim light or darkness close by that would accommodate you and your travelling companions.
If the targeted location does not meet the requirements then nothing happens and you recover 5 of the spent Sorcery Points. Otherwise you are engulfed in darkness and teleported there.
While using Dark Teleport you can choose, instead, a target location in the Shadowfell in a similar fashion to a Plane Shift spell. If you are on the Shadowfell when using Dark Teleport you are not limited to teleporting to the same plane of existence but the other requirements must still be met.
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Thoughts? Opinions? Advice? Suggestions? Lolcat memes (coz they're nifty)?
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I like it, it it feels slightly overpowered. I’d remove the Shade Form at 1st level and grant it at 6th level and I’d alter the Shadow Form so that you Polymorph into a Shadow and can’t cast spells but retain your mental statistics.
Id love to play it the way it’s written. That’s why I feel that it’s slightly over powered.
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Thank you for taking the time to provide feedback, I do appreciate it.
It may be overpowered and I would like to consider what can be done to balance it better.
The Shade Form cannot be moved to 6th level as there's already a significant feature for level 6 that I don't want to push back but also cannot bring forward (too powerful for earlier levels). The idea of Shade Form was to be similar to a slightly better Shield and to keep something defensive for 1st level. All sorcerous origins have two abilities at 1st level and one is defensive to protect the character like the previous version of "strength of the grave" which much like other similar things other classes give and even races. It had nothing to do with "shadows" and was a "grave"/"death" thing which is silly for a non-death-theme origin (shadows =/= death).
For example Divine Soul let's you add to failed saving throws you make, draconic bloodline gives you permanent +3 to AC, Storm let's you fly 10 feet without provoking attacks of opportunity to get away, wild magic let's you get advantage on saving throws and the regular shadow can effectively negate a kill/knockout blow. I needed something that can compete with these, while not just being as minor as some standard 1st level spell. I figured protection from attacks for 1 round, like a better Shield, seemed decent and the phasing thing fits with the theme. Should I make this one turn? I don't want to make it just one attack because it'll be useless at higher levels. Or perhaps limit it to weapon attacks only?
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I would disagree with polymorphing into a Shadow because they're weak as hell. You can just use normal polymorph spell to become something far more powerful so what incentive is there in using this? The squeezing through hole thing? A gaseous spell, a low level spell, does that. The Shadow Form is based on the Umbral Form - just tweaked and made level 14 instead of 18 because frankly it's not powerful enough to be 18th level (and I'm not the only one who thinks so - from what I've come across it's the biggest complaint people have about the origin). I just gave it a bit more function and compensated for that by adding some downsides like vulnerability to radiant and the possibilty for an enemy to knock you out of it. I don't feel like preventing spellcasting is the way to go, but I'm open to other ideas on balancing? Maybe restricting the levels of spells or types that can be cast or something?
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I like this class, and would gladly make a character in it!
Casting darkness affects teamates. You won't make any friends and they will frown behind your back everytime you think your doing your team a great service.
I don't even think the careful metamagic helps. they will be blind and rolling at disadvantage while at some point the DM will be sending monsters that can counter darkness. Be careful.
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Hmm. Interesting. I agree that the Shadow Magic bloodline is off the mark. It should definitely have more of a shadowy flavor.
I'd say your homebrew is a bit on the powerful side. I'll review:
1st level Dark Soul - pretty much the same as the original and a solid ability.
1st level Shade Form - hmm. Completely ignore all attacks for a round once a day? That's a powerful ability. Too powerful in my opinion and with it resetting on a long rest it's uber limited. I'd change it to provide resistance to all damage except force and radiant instead of negate all attacks. And then you could maybe recover it after a short rest rather than long. Or make it cost a sorcery point. Sort of as a mini shadow form.
6th level Shadow Walk - Another strong ability. 120ft teleports at will? This is 14th level in the original bloodline. I see that the shadow monk as a 60ft step but with advantage on attacks afterwards so you are gaining 60ft by loosing the advantage to melee? Not sure that is a even trade. I would reduce the move to 60ft and give it a special ability like a hide as a bonus action or invisibility for a round after moving.
14th level Shadow Form - A very strong ability. I like the alternate form idea and personally I would play with that some. I see that it used to be the 18th level ability and I agree that it was weak in that spot. No problems moving it to 14th. Also, I don't think you need all that clunky wording around sight and cancelling the form with radiant damage. Maybe the form is vulnerable to radiant? So the sorcerer may want to end it early when facing an opponent with that kind of power. And why not call it Umbral form? That's better flavor in my opinion.
18th level Dark Teleport - Nice and flavorful. I think this would work fine.
So your revision is good overall but to me shadow magic means a little more than just changing forms or teleporting. For me the shadows are mysterious and play with your fears. Being alone in the dark can make you see or hear things that are not there. So I would expect more along the lines of illusion and fear abilities rather than what you have here. If I get some time this weekend I may post a couple abilities that would be more in line with my thoughts.
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Thank you for the response. You have raised interesting points which I would like to respond to individually.
I would like to start by saying that some features may be on the powerful side but also have to remember that most require dim light/darkness to function so cannot use outside in daytime, cannot use in place with bright light, cannot use places where there is fire, enemies can carry torches, can be negated with a light cantrip.. and so on. I predicted that there will be situations where features are almost entirely nullified and I'm in such a situation in my campaign now - infiltrating a base, too much light would take many turns to damage enough light sources to bring about darkness for my powers and so, I'm currently less powerful than any other sorcerer because the features to give me that advantage are all gone. Sure I can still create darkness but that's a concentration spell and only covers a tiny area so not overly useful at this point as a range-blaster. The reason I went on the more powerful side was to compensate for this.
I did improve it a bit by making the vision aspect the same as the Warlock's "Devil's Sight" invocation. Darkvision is nifty but if you're in full darkness your perception is at disadvantage. Yet a warlock at Level 2 could, if they wanted, see through all darkness clearly even magical darkness? Most races have Darkvision anyway and there are lots of way to get it if you didn't already have it. This all didn't make sense for a Shadow Sorcerer who didn't learn about darkness like a shadow monk and are not simply used to darkness like racial darkvision. A shadow sorcerer is connected to the darkness, they have that power of darkness in their very soul. They should be able to walk through any darkness of any kind without any issue - it should be as natural and normal for them to be total complete darkness, even magic darkness, as it would be for us to see on a bright day. Originally I wasn't going to have any range limit but I figured that might be a bit much, so I settled on 120 ft which is the same as Devil's Sight, too. Of all features this will be the one I will not ever consider changing.
I was concerned about this being a bit powerful for Level 1. While I do not like the idea of the sorcery point cost (because this is level 1 and sorcs don't get sorc points until level 2) I do like the idea of the resistances and recovering on short rest. I am currently playtesting this in a campaign and will discuss with my DM.
I needed to move this forward as it's arguably the second-most iconic power expected of "shadow" mages and beings. Waiting to level 14, which some campaigns don't get to or your character may not reach due to untimely death, for this power seemed silly to me. Why should the Shadow Mage - who had the power of the Shadowfell in their soul and blood, have to wait longer to teleport than a shadow monk who was just an average joe who trained in a monastery to learn it? There are many such shadowy characters in comics (particularly Marvel and DC) and they ALL have "shadow teleporting". Also, this ability, sometimes named Shadow Step and sometimes named Shadow Walk has been in previous editions: 3.5, 4th and was also in Pathfinder and all of them were as or more powerful than this (only 4th Edition was less at 100 ft movement but used as a "move" not bonus/main action) with 3.5 version granting you a duration of 1 hour at a speed of 50 miles an hour, or basically 440 feet a turn. All of them were level 6 or lower. So I did genuinely think losing the advantage for double range was a good trade off - 120 ft is not a big distance. Especially since it requires dim light or darkness in both the place you leave and the place you go to.
However, I have not tested this in my campaign as my sorc is only level 5. In another campaign (same DM though) I play a Shadow Monk (I really like shadow theme) and I'm getting a lot of utility from the monk version even without concerning myself with advantage on next attack. However, with 45 ft move speed and being a Tabaxi getting about is not a problem anyway so it's more for flavour than utility at this point.
The option to Hide / Invisible is good, though, but this would be as "part" of the teleport not to take another bonus action as your wording implies - you only get 1 bonus and using that to shadow walk. However, in combat there's not a lot of utility beyond "possibly" getting advantage on next attack. Helps out of combat more if going invisible for getting about. Stealth is more shadowy than attacking. When comparing to shadow monk, have to remember by level 6 they've got a lot more features than a sorcerer has and deal more consistent damage and can cast spells like Pass Without Trace (2 ki for +10 stealth checks), and Silence neither of which a Sorcerer has access to.
I would consider breaking this into two abilities (since other Sorcerous Origins do allow two Level 6 abilities albeit slightly weaker).
Shadow Step : While you are in an area of dim light or darkness you may teleport as a bonus action to another area of dim-light or darkness that you can see within 60 feet from you. When you do you may immediately take the Hide action as part of this bonus action.
Shrouded in Shadow : Whenever you take the Hide action when you are in an area of dim light or darkness you can choose to spend 1 sorcery points to gain advantage on the Dexterity (Stealth]) check and you also become Invisible until the end of your next turn. This invisibility ends if you attack, cast a spell or enter any area of bright light.
I think this allows it to become different enough from the shadow monk, adds some flexibility, and maybe balances a bit better. What do you think?
I agree the vision thing should be removed. The form was vulnerable to radiant and perhaps adding a way to be knocked out of it as well was a bit much. I will also consider rewording the movement to just that the shadow step is extended 30 ft, no cost of sorcery point to hide and invisibility can last as long as the form lasts (other "ending" conditions still apply). Perhaps nix the moving through objects/walls thing or limit it.
I also agree I shouldn't have changed the name. I'm practically abusing the term "shadow" by this point. It was spurred on because when I see the word "umbra" or "umbral" I immediately translate to "shade", which is what the word means and I've already used "shade form" as a name. My brain is weird but then I've had "shadow beings" on the brain since I was 3 years old, so not really a surprise.
Thank you. Needed something and wanted something useful and that could also involve the Shadowfell since it's literally the plane of shadow, how could I not?
I fully agree with you. But, Sorcerers, as usual, get very limited amount of subclass features, and features in general really. I therefore had to focus what I wanted to achieve with the features. There are illusion and fear spells that can immediately fit the thematics while still maintaining usability. Nothing stops you making cosmetic changes to have the spells appear different, either, like when I use shocking grasp the electric is black, or if I conjure acid it's like a black bubbling oil, things like that. Really keeps it fitting. Then there's the option to homebrew spells - I homebrewed a level 3 spell Summon Shadows spell to go with this. It's not that powerful but can be situationally and has proven to be helpful but not overpowered in battles when I've used it (especially since you really need the dim light/darkness). I plan to make more. I would be very interested in your ideas for more illusion/fear based features or spells because, this definitely needs more in that area.
Thank you again for taking the time to provide your feedback and thoughts. It's proving very helpful in thinking more about this and addressing the balancing issues which I do know this suffers from. I really appreciate this.
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I think this is interesting but I say change shade form make it immunity to slashing,piercing and bludgeoning as well as cold.
resistance to fire,Lightning,thunder and force
but a weakness to radiant damage.
I have since created an updated variant of this called Dark Soul which has been shared with the community and recently updated. You can view this here: Dark Soul
Shade Form has been removed, and replaced with option for extra spell and cantrip. There are also other changes made based on suggestions received here and elsewhere.
Please take a look, I am very interested in feedback.
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What are your results of play testing this? Would love to see how this has evolved.
So - I'm currently playing this Shadow Sorcerer build in my campaign and I thoroughly enjoy it.
I like the balance of powers especially with the shadow walk. I think it balances out the shade form really well because for 12-14 hours in a day you don't have that ability.
The Shade Form- A bit limited, since it recovers on a long rest, my revision is recovering on a short rest and gaining resistance, and you can use 3 sorcery points to use. Using sorcery points make you completely immune, like the first version.
Shadow Walk- I like it, but I think it should be 60 feet with an ability. My ability would be to leave a shadowy clone in my place for until my next turn. All who get within ten feet are affected by fear. And stop in place.
this is might be overpowered but I like the idea of it.