Shadow Soulknife (Dragon #330)?

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On his site, Chris Adams has a list of substitution levels by source,
and there's a "shadow soulknife" from Dragon #330.

I think this sounds very interesting, but it could be anything. So could
someone who has the Dragon in question please give me a few details?
What's flavour of the substitution levels? are they a fair trade
mechanically?


--
Jasin Zujovic
jzujovic@inet.hr

 

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Jasin Zujovic wrote:
>
> On his site, Chris Adams has a list of substitution levels by source,
> and there's a "shadow soulknife" from Dragon #330.
>
> I think this sounds very interesting, but it could be anything. So could
> someone who has the Dragon in question please give me a few details?
> What's flavour of the substitution levels? are they a fair trade
> mechanically?

Well now.

At first level you get Stealthy instead of Wild Talent; that's because shadow
soulknives aren't actually psionic, drawing not on the power of the mind but
instead on the power of Shadow to which the Umbragen elves of Eberron are bound.
It's an explicitly magical effect; mention is made of concentration to maintain
the blade in an antimagic field, as a normal soulknife must in an antipsionic
field.

At 6th level, instead of Speed of Thought, you can make a "shadow bow" instead
of a mind blade - it replicates a shortbow, with two arrows each round, though
feats applied to the mindblade don't enhance it and you can't make a psychic
strike through it.

At 9th level, instead of bladewind, the shadow bow becomes a composite shortbow
or composite longbow, allowing the soulknife to apply Strength bonus to damage
along with psychic strike (reduced by 1 die).

The focus is on being a reaaaaaal stealthy elf using the classic sword-and-bow
armaments, formed of the power of Shadow. Good flavour for the Umbragen, though
it's pretty specific. They're also strongly associated with the warlock class
for its shadowy darkness and such.

I reckon it's balanced.

--
Christopher Adams - Sydney, Australia
The geek with roots in Hell!
http://www.users.bigpond.net.au/mhacdebhandia/prestigeclasslist.html
http://www.users.bigpond.net.au/mhacdebhandia/templatelist.html

Who do you blame when your kid is a - brat?
Pampered and spoiled like a Siamese - cat?
Blaming the kids is a lie and a - shame!
You know exactly who's - to - blame:
The mother and the father!

 

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In article <%2oUe.28009$FA3.19196@news-server.bigpond.net.au>,
mhacdebhandia@yahoo.invalid says...

> > On his site, Chris Adams has a list of substitution levels by source,
> > and there's a "shadow soulknife" from Dragon #330.
> >
> > I think this sounds very interesting, but it could be anything. So could
> > someone who has the Dragon in question please give me a few details?
> > What's flavour of the substitution levels? are they a fair trade
> > mechanically?
>
> Well now.
>
> [...]
>
> The focus is on being a reaaaaaal stealthy elf using the classic sword-and-bow
> armaments, formed of the power of Shadow. Good flavour for the Umbragen, though
> it's pretty specific. They're also strongly associated with the warlock class
> for its shadowy darkness and such.
>
> I reckon it's balanced.

Nice. Does that Dragon have more about the Umbragen?


--
Jasin Zujovic
jzujovic@inet.hr

 

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Jasin Zujovic wrote:
> mhacdebhandia@yahoo.invalid says...
>
>>> On his site, Chris Adams has a list of substitution levels by source,
>>> and there's a "shadow soulknife" from Dragon #330.
>>>
>>> I think this sounds very interesting, but it could be anything. So
>>> could someone who has the Dragon in question please give me a few
>>> details? What's flavour of the substitution levels? are they a fair
>>> trade mechanically?
>>
>> Well now.

<snip>

> Nice. Does that Dragon have more about the Umbragen?

Yes, indeed. There are two and a half pages of material on the nature and
background of the Umbragen, followed by a discussion of the place in Umbragen
society of their favoured class - warlock. A great deal of this discussion is
just flavoursome description of how the warlock's abilities should be described
in terms of their origins in the shadowy power of the Umbra. Then there's a page
of interesting shadow-themed racial feats.

--
Christopher Adams - Sydney, Australia
The geek with roots in Hell!
http://www.users.bigpond.net.au/mhacdebhandia/prestigeclasslist.html
http://www.users.bigpond.net.au/mhacdebhandia/templatelist.html

Who do you blame when your kid is a - brat?
Pampered and spoiled like a Siamese - cat?
Blaming the kids is a lie and a - shame!
You know exactly who's - to - blame:
The mother and the father!

 

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In article <ScAUe.28985$FA3.17624@news-server.bigpond.net.au>,
mhacdebhandia@yahoo.invalid says...

> > Nice. Does that Dragon have more about the Umbragen?
>
> Yes, indeed. There are two and a half pages of material on the nature and
> background of the Umbragen, followed by a discussion of the place in Umbragen
> society of their favoured class - warlock. A great deal of this discussion is
> just flavoursome description of how the warlock's abilities should be described
> in terms of their origins in the shadowy power of the Umbra. Then there's a page
> of interesting shadow-themed racial feats.

I just might try and get that issue, then.

I was kind of disappointed when the Eberron drow turned out to be jungle
savages; as neat as that is in it's own right, I was looking forward to
Eberron drow as something that would make drow a cool race to play
again, and the jungle tribsman is not really among my favorite
schticks... But stealthy shadow-warrior very much is!


--
Jasin Zujovic
jzujovic@inet.hr

 

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Jasin Zujovic wrote:
>
> I was kind of disappointed when the Eberron drow turned out to be jungle
> savages; as neat as that is in it's own right, I was looking forward to
> Eberron drow as something that would make drow a cool race to play
> again, and the jungle tribsman is not really among my favorite
> schticks... But stealthy shadow-warrior very much is!

The thing I like very much about Eberron's drow is that they're no more
monolithic than regular elves are - just as there are Aereni, Valenar, and
"Khorvaire" elves in the dragonmarked houses, there are different varieties of
drow. The scorpion-worshipping savages revere the god Vulkoor (the Mockery), but
they are culturally distinct from those drow (possibly the ones Keith Baker
called "firebinders") which, while still living in nomadic tribes, practice
sophisticated elemental binding to a level far above that known on Khorvaire.
The Umbragen are distinct from both - and there are other drow cultures which
are different still.

As a note, a fourth culture of "normal" elves is now extinct - the Qabalrin,
whose power rivaled that of the giant empires until the entire people were
destroyed by some mysterious cataclysm. It was the discovery of mystic Qabalrin
inscriptions in Khyber that allowed the forerunners of the Umbragen to tap into
the Umbra and bind it to the souls of their people. Also, to quote Keith Baker
from the Wizards of the Coast boards, "it's quite possible that the Umbragen are
in fact drawing their power from a similar force that is simply the combined
souls of the Qabalrin elves."

--
Christopher Adams - Sydney, Australia
The geek with roots in Hell!
http://www.users.bigpond.net.au/mhacdebhandia/prestigeclasslist.html
http://www.users.bigpond.net.au/mhacdebhandia/templatelist.html

Who do you blame when your kid is a - brat?
Pampered and spoiled like a Siamese - cat?
Blaming the kids is a lie and a - shame!
You know exactly who's - to - blame:
The mother and the father!

 

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In article <6OCUe.29249$FA3.23032@news-server.bigpond.net.au>,
mhacdebhandia@yahoo.invalid says...

> > I was kind of disappointed when the Eberron drow turned out to be jungle
> > savages; as neat as that is in it's own right, I was looking forward to
> > Eberron drow as something that would make drow a cool race to play
> > again, and the jungle tribsman is not really among my favorite
> > schticks... But stealthy shadow-warrior very much is!
>
> The thing I like very much about Eberron's drow is that they're no more
> monolithic than regular elves are - just as there are Aereni, Valenar, and
> "Khorvaire" elves in the dragonmarked houses, there are different varieties of
> drow. The scorpion-worshipping savages revere the god Vulkoor (the Mockery), but
> they are culturally distinct from those drow (possibly the ones Keith Baker
> called "firebinders") which, while still living in nomadic tribes, practice
> sophisticated elemental binding to a level far above that known on Khorvaire.

OK, I haven't heard of those. Are they also from Dragon #330?

> The Umbragen are distinct from both - and there are other drow cultures which
> are different still.
>
> As a note, a fourth culture of "normal" elves is now extinct - the Qabalrin,
> whose power rivaled that of the giant empires until the entire people were
> destroyed by some mysterious cataclysm. It was the discovery of mystic Qabalrin
> inscriptions in Khyber that allowed the forerunners of the Umbragen to tap into
> the Umbra and bind it to the souls of their people. Also, to quote Keith Baker
> from the Wizards of the Coast boards, "it's quite possible that the Umbragen are
> in fact drawing their power from a similar force that is simply the combined
> souls of the Qabalrin elves."

It seems I'll have to start reading the WotC Eberron boards more
regularly!


--
Jasin Zujovic
jzujovic@inet.hr

 

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Jasin Zujovic wrote:
> mhacdebhandia@yahoo.invalid says...
>
>> (possibly the ones Keith Baker called "firebinders") which, while still
>> living in nomadic tribes, practice sophisticated elemental binding to a
>> level far above that known on Khorvaire.
>
> OK, I haven't heard of those. Are they also from Dragon #330?

No. In fact, the post in the "Ask Keith Baker FAQ" thread where I found the name
"firebinders" (they had been mentioned as "elemental binders" earlier)
specifically mentioned that nothing has been printed about them yet. They won't
be in Magic of Eberron, as I understand it, since Keith thinks (not having
worked on it himself) that product is going to detail elemental binding more
fully but not the cultures which practice it.

>> As a note, a fourth culture of "normal" elves is now extinct - the
>> Qabalrin, whose power rivaled that of the giant empires until the
>> entire people were destroyed by some mysterious cataclysm. It was the
>> discovery of mystic Qabalrin inscriptions in Khyber that allowed the
>> forerunners of the Umbragen to tap into the Umbra and bind it to the
>> souls of their people. Also, to quote Keith Baker from the Wizards of
>> the Coast boards, "it's quite possible that the Umbragen are in fact
>> drawing their power from a similar force that is simply the combined
>> souls of the Qabalrin elves."
>
> It seems I'll have to start reading the WotC Eberron boards more
> regularly!

It's a very good resource - if you can handle the noise of people getting whiny
about errors and perceived errors of canon in supplements like Five Nations,
it's worth it. Keith Baker spends an insane amount of time answering fan
questions and talking about the setting.

--
Christopher Adams - Sydney, Australia
The geek with roots in Hell!
http://www.users.bigpond.net.au/mhacdebhandia/prestigeclasslist.html
http://www.users.bigpond.net.au/mhacdebhandia/templatelist.html

Who do you blame when your kid is a - brat?
Pampered and spoiled like a Siamese - cat?
Blaming the kids is a lie and a - shame!
You know exactly who's - to - blame:
The mother and the father!

 

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Archived from groups: rec.games.frp.dnd (More info?)

Jasin Zujovic wrote:
> I was kind of disappointed when the Eberron drow turned out to be
> jungle savages; as neat as that is in it's own right, I was looking
> forward to Eberron drow as something that would make drow a cool race
> to play again, and the jungle tribsman is not really among my favorite
> schticks... But stealthy shadow-warrior very much is!

Speaking of drow: In my Falling Empire setting, the drow are longtime
allies of the imperial dwarves. However, even though they live under the
same mountains, the drow (mostly) manage to retain independence from
the dwarves. They have a reputation as formidable merchants and
excellent craftsmen. The dwarves are good engineers and inventors, but
if you want a fine sword, your best bet is a drow swordsmith.

Our PCs recently witnessed a minor drow rebellion. A bunch of them had
been working in a dwarven research lab, trying to develop warforged. So
far, no problem. The dwarven chief scientist was not-too-secretly
worshiping illithid. Minor problem -- drow don't like mind flayers■ --
but still not too bad so long as the work is good and the squids keep
their distance. However, when barbarians raided the lab and upset the
balance, the mind flayers went into panic mode and started preying on
the workers. Big problem, but the drow couldn't do anything until it was
too late.

The PCs show up, start cleaning out the flayers, and free some drow
who'd been trapped in small suite of rooms for a couple months. (No,
they didn't have sufficient food stores.) Some of the drow were
favorably impressed, even if they didn't show it plainly. Later, when
the PCs walked into a major ambush (drow, duergar, skeletons, driders,
and a mind flayer), the rescued drow turned to the PCs side.

Only one of the drow actually survived the fight. With nothing much
better to do -- she's a dancer, not a businesswoman -- she tagged along
with the PCs. Tomorrow, she joins the PCs as a cohort.

■ Drow don't like mind flayers messing with their minds or trying to
eat their brains, but their main objection is that mind flayers make
driders.
--
Bradd W. Szonye
http://www.szonye.com/bradd