Design Day: The Shadowkin

I HAVE NO EXCUSE FOR THE LACK OF A FLAVOR FRIDAY AND A DESIGN DAY ON TUESDAY.

So the Bestiary 3 is coming out soon, and Paizo has been doing for the last month or so, posting monster stat blocks and previewing pictures of the monsters in the book. I actually collect Paizo art every time something cool comes up on their blog, so I’ve been snatching all of these pictures up as they came. And, well…there was one that inspired me to make something.

Well, as you can see, it’s a masked, shadow-shrouded woman wearing armor and wielding a greatsword. Well, this particular picture inspired me to make something. I’ve always been fascinated by the concept of the Plane of Shadow during the 3.5 era (and the Shadowcaster from the Tome of Magic), and then both the Dark Folk from Pathfinder’s Bestiaries and the Shadar-Kai from D&D 4^th edition’s Monster Manual. They’re all creatures of shadow, devoid of light.

Well, I’ve been working on my own campaign world for a while now, and I thought that I should have my own race of shadowy beings. And…well, this picture gave me just the inspiration I needed. So, I present, the Shadowkin.

Without getting into too much detail, my campaign world, Esperim, has its own version of the Underdark (or Golarion’s Darklands). It’s called the Shadowlands, and like every other game world, it’s located under the crust of the world, deep in the darkness. However, there’s a secondary effect to the Shadowlands—a taint known only as “The Shadow”. For those beings that live in the Shadowlands, it is a constant presence that slowly corrupts the mind and body. Many believe that the Shadowkin, the Drow, the Duergar and most other beings within the shadowlands were once other, surface-dwelling creatures before the taint turned them into the dark creatures they are now.

Shadowkin Traits

+2 Constitution, +2 Intelligence, -2 Charisma: The Shadowkin’s close proximity to The Shadow increases their resistance to its taint and makes them quite clever, but they are unnaturally gruff and unlikeable as a result.

Medium: Shadowkin are medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.

Normal Speed: Shadowkin have a base speed of 30 feet.

Darkvision: Shadowkin can see up to 60 feet in darkness.

Shade (Su): Once per day when a shadowkin is attacked, before he knows whether an attack hit him or not, he can, as an immediate action, make himself incorporeal for the duration of that attack.

Shadow Affinity: Shadowkin have integrated The Shadow into their very being. They gain a +2 racial bonus on all will saves.

Languages: Shadowkin begin play speaking Common and Aklo. Shadowkin with high intelligence scores can choose from the following: Abyssal, Aquan, Auran, Celestial, Draconic, Ignan, Infernal, Terran and Undercommon.

Hope you enjoy!