The Shadowbane are a subclass of the Fighter who are masters of the perilous balance between the martial prowess of weaponry and the dark art of shadow magic. Often descending from a lineage tinged with necromancy or shaped by the haunting landscapes of the Shadowfell, these warriors have learned to harness and consume the very essence of shadows, turning a force often associated with corruption and decay into a potent weapon.

Shadowbane are masters of a dark dance, weaving shadow magic into their combat techniques. By absorbing ambient shadows or siphoning them from the dark corners of the world, they can imbue themselves or their weapons with this dreadful power. Haunted by this power, its creeping darkness fills their bodies at night while they rest, restoring their dark abilities. In battle, a Shadowbane is both a fearsome warrior and a subtle manipulator of darkness. They can unleash torrents of shadow to overpower their enemies, or cloak themselves in darkness to become living nightmares. Their presence on the battlefield is a paradox, embodying both the terrifying might of the shadows they command and a glimmer of resistance against the encroaching darkness. Through their unique bond with the shadow, the Shadowbane walk a thin line on the edge of the abyss, making them unpredictable and formidable opponents.

Shadow Attunement

Your attunement to the shadows enables you to cloak yourself or an area in the darkness of the Fell by using a bonus action for 1 minute. The amount of shadows you can create and control increases over time. You may only have 1 effect active at a time. Using this ability as a bonus action while the effect is active allows to to extend the duration of the effect for another minute or change the effect. In addition, during this minute, you gain resistance to Necrotic damage and Darkvision up to 60 feet. If you already have Darkvision, this feature increases your Darkvision up to 90 feet.

• At 3rd level you can create small accents of shadows on one piece of armor/item or use the shadows to block out a small lantern or other light source of similar size that you can see.
• At 8th level you can create small billows of shadow on a few pieces of armor/items or use the shadows to block out a campfire or other light source of similar size that you can see.(Up to 3 items or light sources)
• at 13th level you can envelop many pieces of armor/items in shadows or use the shadows to block up sources of major light such as large windows or spell effects like daylight that you can see. (up to 7 items or light sources)
• at 18th level you are able to fully embody the living nightmare that you are by completely engulfing yourself and any items you are in contact with in the shadows of the Fell or block out any # of sources of light you can see of any size (excluding the outdoor light given off by celestial bodies).

You may use this ability up to as many times as your proficiency bonus.

Dark Pressure

Starting at 3rd level, after landing an attack with a weapon, the shadows within you lust to press the attack, granting you advantage on subsequent weapon attack rolls until the beginning of your next turn. These subsequent attacks deal an additional 1d4 necrotic damage. This damage increases to 1d6 at level 8 and 1d8 at level 14 and 1d10 at level 20. This damage ignores resistances and immunities to Necrotic damage against creatures from the Shadowfell. 

If you have damaged any creatures that are killed from the Shadowfell, within a 1 mile range, you restore uses of Dark Pressure (detailed in the tables of further abilities)

You can use this feature 2 + your proficiency bonus times. You regain all expended uses of it when you finish a long rest.

Shadow Walk

Starting at 7th level, your attunement to the Shadowfell increases allowing you to see pathways between the planes. As an action, you can use one of your charges of Dark Pressure to step through the shadows to another place in the shadows that you can see. During combat, you can use this as a reaction to step to an allies defense if they are targeted by an attack in order to grant them bonus AC equal to your strength or dexterity modifier.

Journeying through the Shadowfell for any amount of time is perilous. Horrific monsters and powerful magics lay in wait all over the Fell. When you use the ability, roll a d20 and reference the table below to see the result of your traversal through this dangerous world.

Umbral Slash

Domain: Starting at level 10, as the use of Shadow Magic continues to fuel you more and more, you have learned how to channel these umbral magics into your blades in order to bring the power of the shadow directly to you. Once per day, you can spend a use of Dark Pressure as a bonus action to slice through the planes with your blade(s) in order to create a shadow domain 20 feet in diameter of Darkness. The domain spreads around corners. This domain grows every round by 10 feet. While in the domain, the damage die done by your Dark Pressure ability, is doubled. At the start of your turns, the domain grows by 10 feet in diameter.

At the end of your turns, roll a d4, on a 3 or 4, you restore a use of Dark Pressure. In addition, at the end of each turn roll a d20. Starting at 1 and increasing by 1 each turn, there is a chance that a monstrous creature finds your rift and passes into the domain. If a creature finds the rift, the DM rolls a d10 on the table below to determine which creature appears through the rift. You can close this rift at any point on your turn, using a bonus action. Closing the domain does not send any creatures back to the Shadowfell.

D10	Creatures
1	A meazel appears who remembers you aided them in the past, they serve you as their master for an hour before returning to the Fell. (1 use of Dark Pressure)
2-4	specter (2 uses of Dark Pressure)
5-6	displacer beast (2 uses of Dark Pressure)
7-8	wraith (3 uses of Dark Pressure)
9	nightwalker (All uses of Dark Pressure)
10	An assassin appears through the rift who has been searching for you for quite some time. Suggestion for background story: Seeking an item from the Shadowfell that you keep from their dark lord. Now that they have found their mark, many more may follow in the future. (0 uses of Dark Pressure)

 

Vault: Your time in the Shadowfell allowed you to find spaces that were safe from the horrors. It is in these havens where you found safe refuge to keep your belongings and get some rest. As your connection to and tolerance of the darkness has grown, (Unlimited) as a bonus action. you can reach into these spaces and store or retrieve items and equipment by slicing a small rift into the Fell. restriction: you must be able to lift the item on your own in order store or retrieve it.

Fell Banishment

Starting at 15th level, as you continue to empower your weapon(s) with the magics of the Fell, you learn to mark your enemies with its aura. Each strike marks an enemy with a point of contact with the plane of Shadow. Once per turn, after striking a creature with Dark Pressure, you may expend 1 use of Dark Pressure as a bonus action in an attempt to banish it to the Shadowfell for 1 hour. The creature must succeed on a Constitution Saving Throw of 8 + your proficiency bonus + Constitution modifier. On a success, nothing happens and the creature is immune to this effect for the next 24 hours.

You can expend 3 uses of Dark Pressure instead of 1 to enforce disadvantage on the saving throw.

If the creature is from the Shadowfell, it does not return.

Your weapon(s) become attuned to the Shadowfell due to continued exposure to shadow magic. They may now be used as a tuning fork for spells.

Living Nightmare

Starting at 18th level, your relationship with the Shadowfell takes you ever closer to the Plane of Negative Energy. Here, dark forces call for your soul, seeking payment for your continued use of their power, waiting for your power to grow weak enough for them to claim it. Once per long rest, if you take damage that reduces you to 0 HP, your darkened soul leaves your body. Free of your physical form, it takes the shape of a shadow demon, controlled by the player. Should the creature that freed your soul also be reduced to 0 hitpoints, the demon is satiated and returns to your body, waking you up and restoring whatever hitpoints the Shadow Demon had remaining, to you. If the shadow demon is reduced to 0 hit points, you die, as your soul is pulled in a shadowy burst to a place that no light will ever reach. If at any point your unconscious body is healed while the demon is active, your soul returns to your body. The demon is able to act independent of your body for 1 minute until it returns at which point death saves begin normally.

Additional returns to 0 hitpoints result in regular death saving throws, starting with 1 failure.