Shadow Dancer

A rogue’s focus is often split with so many things demanding their attention at once; whether it’s fiddling with the tumblers of a tricky lock, keeping a watchful eye on an entrance or disarming a magical trap. However, as a Shadow Dancer you have an extra set of hands and eyes to make sure your skills and focus never fail you.

Despite their names, Shadow Dancers are a far cry from any stage performer. Using ancient and dark magic originating in the gloomy Shadowfell, these rogues split their consciousness into their own shadow, creating a magical clone of themselves through which they gain powerful magical abilities.

Shadow Twin

Beginning when you choose this archetype at 3rd level, part of your consciousness has merged with the darkness that makes up your shadow. You have a Shadow Twin; a magical copy of yourself made up of misty wisps of darkness that hides within your shadow. While your Shadow Twin is by your side, you have advantage on initiative rolls. You can also choose to temporarily expend your Shadow Twin to produce special magical effects. After expending it, you regain it at the start of your next turn, unless otherwise stated.

Gloom Stride

Also at 3rd level, your Shadow Twin can grant you otherworldly speed. You gain the following features:

After Image. Whenever you move you can expend your Shadow Twin to gain an additional 10 feet of movement. Your Shadow Twin then runs behind you, mirroring your movements.

Gloom Step. As a bonus action, you can expend your Shadow Twin and reduce your movement speed to 0 until the beginning of your next turn to teleport up to 15 feet to an unoccupied space you can see. Your Shadow Twin then appears in the space you left, and counts as an adjacent ally for the purpose of activating your Sneak Attack feature. To use this feature, you cannot have spent any movement on your current turn.

Independent Shadow

At 9th level, you can temporarily grant your shadow twin a heightened consciousness, allowing it to do things with autonomy. You gain the following features:

Umbral Substitute. As an action, you expend your Shadow Twin and teleport 30 feet to an unoccupied space you can either see or accurately envision. Your Shadow Twin then appears in the space you left, taking on your exact appearance using illusory magic. When it appears, you can order your Shadow Twin to perform a simple task, such as to eat, follow an ally or pretend to read a book. It remains in place for 10 minutes, or until you use your bonus action to dismiss it, and you do not regain your Shadow Twin for the duration that it is active. After your Shadow Twin disappears, you teleport to the last space it occupied, no matter the distance.

Shadow Scout. As a bonus action, you can expend your Shadow Twin to manifest it in an unoccupied space within 5 feet of you. As part of that same bonus action, you can order it to take the Search action or [Tooltip Not Found] action. After finishing the action, your Shadow Twin then disappears and relays any information it learned to you telepathically.

Umbral Evasion

At 13th level, you can use your shadow twin to absorb damage, allowing you to evade even the mightiest of blows unscathed. Whenever you use your Uncanny Dodge feature, you can expend your Shadow Twin to further reduce the damage you take from the attack by an amount equal to your rogue level plus your Intelligence modifier.

Troupe of Darkness

At 17th level, your shadow twin has split into two, granting you a second shadow twin and more potent abilities. You now have two shadow twins, allowing you to use two Shadow Dancer abilities in between turns. However, your second Shadow Twin does not return at the beginning of your next turn; you must instead finish a short rest before it can be utilized again. All other rules for the Shadow Twin feature still apply. Additionally, you gain the following features:

Shade Strike. Whenever you use your Sneak Attack feature, you can expend your Shadow Twin to deal an extra 2d6 damage.

Second Thought. You can expend your Shadow Twin to gain an additional reaction.