THE SHADOW-WEAVER ROGUISH ARCHETYPE OPTION A black scarf trailing down the nape of his neck, a human in shaded leathers skulks through the dusky light of an alleyway strewn with refus eyes drawn upwards, searching. He squints against the bright daylight, yet his sharp dusky eyes still spy his quarry: the second floor of a local lord's sanctum, dark, curtains mostly drawn, With a sound like a hushed, sharp exhale, the human vanishes, leaving the alley ‘empty, and apparates like a breeze within the sanctum, the lord's elaborate defenses entirely circumvented, An ancient gate of dwarven stonework stands at the edge of their subterranean lands, mighty, yet crumbling, unable to keep at bay the forces it was built to defend against. Fortunately, a dwarf in a simple, black tunic serves the same purpose, Jeaning up against the rubble and eyeing the sparse travellers that pass through for any signs of threat. One stands out -a young dwarfing eyes glazed over, clearly a mind-flayer’s thrall, carrying a susp atchel. With a small effort of will the dwarf silently marks the youngling, and begins to casually follow at a distance, wondering where the foreign satchel will lead. A cheerful human girl, basket of flowers crooked in her arm, greets a guardsman leaning against a city wall with disarming charm. The guard smiles appreciatively, and unlocks the city gate, swinging wide to reveal an enormous, col- orful marketplace, a rainbow of banners and cloths adorning every wall and surface. The girl moves into the city, mingles with the crowd, waves to fellow merchants, makes idle chit-chat, before suddenly drawing a dagger from her basket and ruthlessly gutting a passing noble man, She sets off for the wall at a dead sprint, springing off her feet high into the air with an im- possible leap. As she clears the wall, the magical disguise melts off of her face, trailing into fleet ing shadows, revealing the face of an agile female drow, wearing the first earnest smile of her entire day. Manipulating the energy of shadow magic is a dangerous thing, requiring either a careful understanding of its arcane complexities or a willingness to sacrifice whatever is necessary towield it. As a shadow-weaver you have chosen the latter option, and gained your empowerment in the dark arts through the sacrifice of a small portion of your sou! to a realm of shadow. This realm could be such places as the Shadowfell, the Negative Energy or Ethereal planes, or any number of darker underworlds or tainted do- mains such as Tartarus or Barovia. Regard the missing portion of your soul acts as an aperture that allows the realm's inherent dark energy to enter and empower you. ‘Typically shadow-weavers enter their craft through secretive assassin’s guilds, traditions, or cults that pass down the tenets of power and. dark rites that shadow-weavers need to ply their trade. The goals of these organizations may be noble or sinister, and you may create your character's shadowy organization with your DM, or roll one on the Shadowy Organization table, Many stich groups exist, each with their own agendas and reason for employing their shadow power. Secret ORGANIZATION 410 First Word 1 Bloodied Blade Second Word Agenda SPELLCASTING When you reach 3rd level, you gain the ability to cast spells. See chapter 10 in the Player's Hand. book for the general rules of spelicasting. Cantrips. You learn three of the following cantrips: control flames (located on page 16 of the Elemental Evil Player's Companion), message, minor illusion, poison spray, thauma- turgy, or thorn whip. You learn an additional canttip of your choice off this list at 10th level, as noted on the ShadowWeaver Spelleasting table. Spell Siots. The Shadow Weaver Spellcasting table shows how many spell slots you have to cast your spells of 1st level and higher. To cast one of these spells, you must expend a slot of the spells level or higher. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a long rest. Spells Known of Ist-Level and Higher. When you learn additional spells at the levels indicated by the Spells Known column of the Shadow: Weaver Spellcasting table, you may choose any spells off of the Shadow-Weaver Spell List of level for which this archetype grants you slots. Kill major fallowers of one alignment 2 Crimson Cave Gaining money or notoriety 3 Emerald Devourer Spreading fear of a particular god rar 4 Eternal Eye Collecting secrets 5 Misty Hand Conquering challenging targets 6 Obsidian Hunter Removing a rival faction 7 Phantom Scale Containing dangerous artifacts 8 Twilight Specter Preparing for the final ritual ( 9 Velvet. Void killing a specific god Bo 10 Venom Walker Roll again twice, agenda is both y cSuavow-Weaver Spee List Spell Level spells Ist disguise self, dissonant whispers, illusory script, jump, silent image, sleep, unseen servant 2nd blindness/deafness, blur, cloud of daggers, darkness, mirror image 3rd blink, fear, major image, phantom steed, spirit guardians 4th banishment, blight, Evard’s black tentacles, phantasmal killer Any spells this archetype has granted you knowledge of are considered to be prepared at all times, Shaded Sout. You gain your magic by forsak- ing a small portion of your soul to a dark realm of shadow energy, and its influence is visible in the magic you wield. Illusions you create are either wreathed in shadow, or are fully shadows themselves. Any unseen servants or spirit guard ians you create are invisible but cast horrific, monstrous shadows, and the latter may deal only necrotic damage Spellcasting Ability. Ch casting ability for you owing to the force of will required to draw shadow energy from within your body. You use your Charisma whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use your Charisma modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a shadow-weaver spell you cast. and when making an attack roll with one. is your spell shadowaweaver spells, Spell save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your [STAT] modifier Spell attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + ~ your [STAT] modifier Suapow-Weaver SPELLCASTING —Spell Slots per Spell Leve!— Rogue Cantrips Spells Level Known Known Ist 2nd 3rd th 3rd 3 3 2 = = = 4th 3 4 3 Sea oe Sth 3 4 3 0 - Soe 6th 3 4 3 7th 3 5 (ere aS 8th 3 6 ‘eg Sth B 6 1 10th 4 7 4 Leonel 3 ee Mth 4 8 ae eS zine 8 43 ee ae 1Bth 4 9 \ Bee ae V4th 4 10 4) isth 4 p ia Veth 4 11 ees 3 ith 4 lL. ee ae 1th 4 Te 3 19th 4 12.4 sa 20th 4 1a es Be el SHROUD OF SHADOW Pulling from the well of darkness at your heart, you can subtly taint a foe's life-force with cleathly energy; linking your power to their death and bringing them ever closer to their own certain demise Starting at 3rd level, you ga a to 30 feet, or increase the distance of your exist- ing darkvision by 30 feet. In addition, you a bonus action place a single invisible shroud on a creature you can see within 120 feet of you. This shroud lasts for darkvision 0 nay at the end of your turn astime you always know the general direction and vague emotional state (surprised, angry, joyful, seared, etc) of a creature under your shroud, provided that you are both on the same plane. When you attack a creature under your shroud and miss, you may choose to expend a spell slot of up to 4th level and remove the shroud. If you do, the target takes 2410 ni damage, plus an additional 1410 necrotic damage for each level of the spell slot past Ist level tic GLOOMSTRIDE All darkness streams from the black realm to which you are sanctified, and thus all darkness is connected. Knowledge of this simple fact coupled with your inner umbral power allows you to leap from the very shaciows, even those cast by your enemies. Beginning at 9th level, you may as a bonus action teleport up to 30 feet and appear either in an area of dim light or darkness, or directly adjacent to a creature, in a space occupied by its shadow. Your DM determines where the creature's shadow falls. In rare, very specific instances (such as exactly at high noon or while on the Positive Energy plane), a creature may not have a shadow, and this ability may not be used asf they had one. Ifa creature is under the effect of your shroud, you may use this ability to teleport to any point adjacent to it, as long as itis within range Ifyou attack a creature in the same turn after ‘you have used this ability, your attack has advantage against the creature. This ability may not be used again until you complete a short or long rest, or until an enemy under your shroud is reduced to 0 hit points, Pe FEED THE DARKNESS The hunger of your dark power burns inside you, urging you to claim the life force of your tly rewarding your efforts. At 13th level, when an enemy under your shroud is reduced to O hit points, gain an amount of temporary hit points equal fo your rogue level BLack AGONY You have formed a relationship with the shadow within you, and can use it delicately enough to line your weapons with row upon row of razor sharp ebon spikes, ready to expand on a strike and torturously shred your enemies from within, At 17th level, when you successfully sneak attack an enemy under your shroud, you may choose to make your sneak attack dice d10's in- stead of d6’s. This ability may not be used again until you complete a short or long rest. Crepits: Photoshop & design by /u/the. gu Visit WaLRock HomEpREW for more! http://walrock-homebrevblogspot.com Art by John Avon, Dnys Tsiperko, Julius (exanju), Alyn Spiller, Igor Kieryluk, and Andreas Rocha ‘Thanks to the kind folks of reddit, to /u/Smyris, for their resource pack, and to /u/skybug12 for their Photoshop guide! »