shadowdancer lore

LordLeviathan

I was planning to do a shadowdancer in my next run of baldur's gate.

But I could not find too much information about it on the net.

I wanted to know if the shadowdancer had to learn his ability or it is innate like the sorcerer?

Is it tied to mask or shar? Or can you become one on your own?

This is roleplayer question, just to flesh out my character.

So if @LadyRhian or anyone else who know about shadowdancer can help me that will be great.

LadyRhian

I believe Shadowdancers were based on the Shadow Walker kit from the 2e Wizards and Rogues of the Realms book. They are sort of a mashup of Wizard and Rogue and were supposedly started by the "Living Shadow", a man sired by a creature from the Demi-Plane of Shadow. They use their powers over darkness and shade to become avengers of the wronged. They tend towards good alignment, and chaos or neutrality.

LordLeviathan

Ok, thank you LadyRhian.

ShadowDust

The shadow dancer kit is not based on the shadow walker kit from 2e, it is based on the shadow dancer pre-Stege class from 3e. The shadow dancer abilities are not magical in nature so to speak, as they are physical illusions. The shadow dancers only two spell like abilities are shadow step and summon shadow. These abilities, from the dancers sheer force of will taking control of the plane of shadow. Shadow dancers These abilities, from the dancers sheer force of will taking control of the plane of shadow. Shadow dancers have no moral code such a shadow walkers and can be anything from a spy to a stealthy hero to a back alley murder. In essence shadow dancers are rogues or Rangers that have taken stealth to the next level.

Jarrakul

I don't have my DMG in front of me, so I can't check the flavor text, but all of the 3E shadowdancer's unique abilities (that is, abilities that a normal rogue doesn't already get) are supernatural or spell-like, both of which mean "magical". Stick a shadowdancer in an antimagic field, and she's pretty much a weaker version of a normal rogue. Now, I have no idea if the shadowdancer was based on the shadow walker, but it's definitely not just being super good at mundane hiding.

Yannir

http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Shadowdancer

Not much but some info. Their abilities are magical but they're not learned. Rather, they are innate like that of a sorcerer's abilities.

Jarrakul

Huh. That's... interesting. But if their abilities are innate, why does the class have prerequisites? Methinks someone did not properly integrate their gameplay with their story.

Yannir

I think someone should outline the class better. Shadowdancer is one of the more popular classes yet there is barely any info on it. Some less popular classes such as Invoker (or Favored Soul, whichever is preferred) have huge walls of text about them but there's barely any publicity. Or game-exposure.

Archaos

Here's some info.

http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Shadowdancer

Also the Shadowdancer's abilities are Supernatural. Which means in 3.5E terms, it's not a trick done through training. It's some kind of magic or innate magical ability.

"Hide in Plain Sight (Su): A shadowdancer can use the Hide skill even while being observed."

"Supernatural
By default, supernatural abilities are magical and go away in an antimagic field."

Jarrakul said:

Huh. That's... interesting. But if their abilities are innate, why does the class have prerequisites? Methinks someone did not properly integrate their gameplay with their story.

It has requirements because it's a Prestige Class or special/specialized class.
If you want to be a Shadowdancer, you must be unseen, unheard and evasive like a shadow.
Innate doesn't mean that you are born with them, it means that they're like second nature to you.

And this is what I found which explains things even more than the 3.5E Player's Handbook.



Tome of Magic 3.5E, page 110.