WotBS Shadowdancer Class Issues?

[lykkenthrope]

So I have a PC that is a Shadowdancer. Super cool class...though currently at level 3 this class is broken. Absolutely broken. I didn't realize that, on paper, the shadow could be summoned and then basically the PC is controlling two people who can telepathically communicate. I gather the shadow has lower HP, but still. 2d6+2 necrotic damage at level 3 seems to be alot. My other PCs are noticing this imbalance. My PC has even gotten around the "summon shadow with an action" by taking to just summoning their shadow all the time. Level 3 with two attacks and the ability to use their shadow to flank giving their main character sneak attack...I have a one man army.

Has anyone workshoped this class for WoTB? Or any advice to make it more balanced or to scale for growth rather than being OP right now and weak in later levels?

 

[hirou]

"Giving their main character sneak attack" is not as overpowered as you think. Rogue's party is expected to position for his sneak attack each turn; this only helps him to do it by himself, somewhat lessening potential teamwork. Are there any social disadvantages for walking around with spooky shadow creature in tow? Spellcasters are already frowned upon by a part of population.

I have a limited experience with 5e (I assume you're playing 5e version of the campaign), so take the following with a grain of salt. Reading through the subclass, it's a weird combination of echo knight and shadow sorcerer with a touch of warlock.

The main problem is with Shadow's attack, +4 to hit, 2d6+2 necrotic, with no scaling at all. The author probably intended raising its Dex score to increase to-hit modifier, but it's not written anywhere, and it lacks scaling proficiency in either case. So it's above expected DPR at lvl 3 and then progressively gets weaker and weaker with each level, and other subclass features do nothing to remedy that.

If I were to fix it... First of all, talk with the player. What's his expectation of this subclass?

• Is the shadow his equal, the main source of his menace (summoner fantasy, your companion attacks enemies)? Beast master Ranger could be a template for this, with scaling stats. Probably allow the shadow to sneak attack in place of the rogue himself once a round, or add some limited "shadow smite"-like damage burst options at later levels.
• Or is it a spooky guest from the Shadowfell, who grants rogue a portion of his power (somewhat like a patron to warlock)? High level features (teleport and invisibility) fit this well. Not sure how the shadow companion would work in this case tbh; maybe look at warlock invocations and grant some every 4 levels? But there's not much synergy with base rogue abilities there, I'm afraid.
• Or maybe it's not powerful by itself at all, like a weird pet, which is useful, but not threatening (like a wizard's familiar). Echo knight's "shadow" would be a good template for this variant: it's vulnerable (1 hp) but resummonable, provides great mobility and area control, but a limited increase in damage.

In all cases, take notice that this subclass functions extremely poorly at bright light (or maybe only in sunlight, a bit unclear). This can be remedied with a granted cast of darkness (once a day?), but I'm not sure how to power budget it.

 

[hirou]

Checking other rogue subclasses, soulknife has very similar high-level features, but unconditionally and 4 levels earlier. Oof, poor shadowdancer.

 

[Tormyr]

If I remember correctly, I wrote this trying to get it to be a fun subclass that was slightly better than the beastmaster. It uses the Shadow monster as its "beast" with the Strength Drain portion of its attack removed. The shadow is meant to be used as a sneak attack helper/tank.

At PC level 3, the shadow's average damage is 1 higher than a land beast (before Charge is taken into effect), while its attack bonus is possibly 1 lower, which means it does roughly the same or less damage on average.

There are two spots I see as the shadow being quite a bit better. The first is that it has resistance to basic damage. The second is that you do not have to spend a bonus action to have it attack.

As for always having the shadow "on", the intention was for that to be an option, but once it is dismissed/destroyed, you need to complete a short or long rest before you can summon it again. If it helps make things clearer, you could have it disappear when the shadowdancer completes a short or long rest. Then the shadowdancer has to use their action to summon it again, risking losing it for a while if it is destroyed.

The shadow's attack bonus and damage are meant to increase at certain levels by increasing Dex, but you can increase Con instead to add hit points. Even then, its CR will never pass 4, and will not get a proficiency bonus higher than 2.

If it feels like the shadow is falling too far behind, you can have the Shadowdancer use the PC's proficiency bonus instead.

 

[hirou]

If you're comparing to Primal Companion and not the basic beast companion... Beast of the land has 5+(ranger_level x 5) hit points (20 hp at lvl 3, 125 hp at lvl 20), you have to either spend a bonus action to command it or forgo one of your own attacks, and you have to spend a spell slots to revive it (3 slots a day at 3rd level, and Ranger wants them for Hunter's mark).

Shadow has 27 hp and resistant to almost everything you can meet at 3rd level, so effectively 54 hp. With 3 Con ASI (after 3 Dex ASI) you'll have 51 hp at lvl 20, now significantly lower than primal beast of the land even with resistances... But you can resummon it without cost and it doesn't eat your actions at all.

 

[Tormyr]

It's free to summon, but it can only be done once until you take a short or long rest. It has elements that are better, and elements that are worse.

I plan to revisit these next year once we have all the new D&D books.

 

[lykkenthrope]

Wanted to check back in, I went to my PC and offered him a choice. To either modify the shadow to being more like the ranger summon (which is would grow in strength as they leveled up, in my proposal, I offered an animal analogue that would be the shadows damage dice attack) or keeping it as is, and understanding when they got to higher level it might not be the most viable fighting asset, (beyond being able to more safely be within 5ft of the enemy and allow for sneak attack damage).

And my PC chose to keep it as written! They explained they wanted the shadow more for flavor text and role playing aspects of espionage, thieving, and the flavor text of terrorizing baddies.

but thank you everyone for your replies, it made me have a few options to take to my PC!