Talk:Shade, Variant (5e Race)

Feel free to use this page to discuss this race and what changes should be made. --Nuke The Earth (talk) 17:01, 20 October 2021 (MDT)

Shades can be killed definitively if I remember correctly. Eragon and Arya did it. Just needs a strike to the heart. So why the undying trait?--Yanied (talk) 20:59, 20 October 2021 (MDT)

The undying bit is conditional - if a critical hit is the one that offs them, they die instantly, no ifs, ands, or buts. I'll probably rework it to be less weird and more intuitive some time in the near future. --Nuke The Earth (talk) 22:10, 20 October 2021 (MDT)

That does leave a lot of room for non-crits so I guess the disclaimer isn't wrong. But not all crits kill either so this could be mitigated further at higher levels.--Yanied (talk) 11:39, 29 October 2021 (MDT)

Alternate immortality clause

I'm considering changing the 'immortality clause' to scrap the stasis thing (given that it's not thematic) and instead allow the shade to act as normal when they drop to 0 hit points, though they would still need to make death saving throws, and if they 'died' without taking a critical hit they would then reform as already stated. Any ideas on how to implement this, does it break balance, are there any special considerations linked to it, or are there ways to do it better? --Nuke The Earth (talk) 09:20, 29 October 2021 (MDT)

The wait time is one of the deterrents on the race, I think, though the invulnerability certainly takes away from that. Taking away the wait time and allowing them to reform immediately (if I read you correctly) wouldn't do worse or better I think. I think the killability of the race could be increased to acceptable standards if after the minute of waiting was up the shade actually died instead of being resurrected like a darn revenant.--Yanied (talk) 11:39, 29 October 2021 (MDT)

I'm not talking about the after-death wait time thing, I'm talking about the weird stasis-period minute before dissolving and then hitting the one-week limbo period. I don't know what I was thinking when I wrote that, it's not representative of the actual lore at all. --Nuke The Earth (talk) 21:13, 29 October 2021 (MDT)

If that's the plan, it could be more balanced sure. Basically the shade has death saves as normal if not killed by a crit, and if they died failing their saves, they get reformed, right? The previous possible problem about the condition of crits still applies but at least you aren't an invulnerable corpse I guess?--Yanied (talk) 22:20, 29 October 2021 (MDT)

Yeah, that's the general gist of it. --Nuke The Earth (talk) 22:29, 29 October 2021 (MDT)

So something like:

"If you are reduced to 0 hit points by any means other than a critical hit and you fail your saving throws, your body withers and turns to ash, leaving all your belongings and equipment behind. You remain incorporeal for 1 week, after which you regenerate in a secure location of your choosing on the same plane of existence, as though affected by raise dead. If, however, you are reduced to 0 hit points by means of a critical hit, you die instantly. Your body dissolves into ash and smoke, and you cannot be resurrected by any means short of a wish spell."

Still keeps the immortality pretty much.--Yanied (talk) 12:56, 30 October 2021 (MDT)