Shadow Dancer 5e

The shadow dancer in dnd 5e is a Medium humanoid. It is Neutral.

Armor Class: 15 ( studded leather armor)
Hit Points: 71 (13d8 + 13)

Speed: 30ft.
Saving Throws:
Dex: +6, Cha: +4

Skills

Stealth +6
Damage Resistances: necrotic
Condition Immunities: charmed, exhaustion

Senses: darkvision 60 ft., passive perception 11
Languages: Common, Elvish
Challenge: +7

Traits

Fey Ancestry. The shadow dancer 5e has an advantage on saving throws upon being charmed, and magic can not put it to sleep.

Shadow Jump. As a bonus action, the shadow dancer may teleport up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space it may see. The space it teleports from and the space it teleports to should be in dim light or darkness. The shadow dancer in dnd can use this ability between the weapon attacks of another action it takes.

Actions

Multiattack. The shadow dancer makes three spiked chain attacks.

Spiked Chain. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (2d6 + 3) piercing damage, and the target must succeed on a DC: 14 Dexterity saving throw or suffer one additional effect of the shadow dancer’s choice.

Shadow dancer 5e stat block

Str	12
Dex	16
Con	13
Wis	12
Int	11
Cha	12

Let us Homebrew a Shadow Dancer

Shadow Dancer is a prestige class from 3.5e. Shadow Dancer is a class of prestige that originated in 3.5e. In 5e, the high-end classes are replaced with archetypes of classes (for instance, the Assassin high-end class of 3.5e was replaced with the Assassin archetype of roguish in 5e). I’ve decided to try changing the prestige class Shadowdancer from 3.5e into the 5e roguish archetype.

My goal is to develop an archetype that is balanced when compared to other RAW archetypes. Still, at the same time, it has the same flavor as the Shadowdancer from 3.5e. I’m fine with it being an extremely strong archetype. However, I do not want the archetype to be so powerful that it’s unbalanced or broken even.

Insight into Design

First of all, I picked Rogue as the class that archetype would be since most features of the Shadowdancer’s features present in 3.5e are included in the core Rogue character in the 5th edition, which makes it the perfect match.

In particular, specifically, there’s Evasion, Uncanny Dodge (although in 3.5e, this seems to be associated with flanking, which is not available in 5e), and Defensive roll (which is more similar to what 5e’s Uncanny Dodge is doing) as well as Slippery Mind (also enhanced versions of some of these, including Improved Uncanny Dodge as well as Improved Evasion).

Other features, Hide in Plain Sight Darkvision, Shadow Illusion, Summon Shadow, and Shadow Jump, should constitute the ideal archetype features for my new archetype of roguish. I’ve provided commentaries below that explain my thinking process when I was selecting how to depict these features in 5e.

New Archetype

Here’s the design I’ve created to show these features using 5E.

Roguish Archetype: Shadow dancer

Amid darkness and light, Shadowdancers are skilled performers of deceit. They are mysterious and undiscovered, not to be trusted completely, yet always provoking wonder when they are encountered. Even though they have a connection with shadows and tricks, shadow dancers can be as good as they are evil.

Hide from plain Sight. Starting at the third stage, you can conceal from your adversaries even when being watched. You can take the Hide move even if you are in the direct view of the creature you are trying to escape from as that you are at least 10 feet away from the dim lighting. But, it would be best if you didn’t try to conceal yourself using your own shadow.

I’m aware that this feature has the same name for an element of the ranger’s class. Still, the taste of the feature wasn’t the same as the shadow dancer was trying to achieve to me. It also didn’t seem to be a major characteristic of the shadow dancer for me (hence why I wanted to make it their third-level feature). Therefore, I came to my version of it, even though they share the similar name. The relevant questions and answers inspired certain language (i.e., “dim light”). I worry that this could seem too powerful to be a third-level feature. Suppose this might end up functioning similar to casting invisible at will and so on. Wouldn’t it be better off as a seventeenth-level feature?

Shadow Vision. At the 3rd level, you get darkvision up to 60 feet. If you have already got darkvision in your race, the range is increased by 30 feet.

The information is directly taken straight from Gloom Stalker Ranger’s Umbral Sight feature. That seemed like the best method to use this Darkvision feature, which is a more appropriate choice to me than Eyes of the Dark from the Shadow Sorcerer, which was my second choice. I did not want to include the remainder of the Umbral Sight feature, though, because hidden from enemies in the darkness is the purpose of you’re using the Hide in Plain Sight feature above is intended for. But, taking Umbral Sight as is rather than the Hide In Plain Sight could help solve any issues that I have with it being too strong because if it’s powerful enough to be used by Gloom Stalker rangers of 3rd level, it’ll be sufficient for rangers at 3rd level.

Shadow Jump. At the 9th level, you get the ability to move between shadows. If you’re in darkness or dim light as a bonus move, you can teleport as far as 60 feet to a space that is also dark or dim. Then, you’ll gain an advantage when you make the first attack that you take before the end of your turn.

It’s the exact Shadow Step from the Way of Shadows monk. So 9th level is the most appropriate considering that the Way of Shadows monk would have this skill at the 6th level.

Shadow illusion. At the 13th level, you can make visual illusions by using shadows. It is possible to cast silent images at least once during a long rest.

It seems weak to me. I’m not sure if I could make it more powerful such as having it run only once every short rest or adding additional spells, such as Shadow Arts from the Way of Shadows monk, or should it be changed to an earlier item, or perhaps something you can gain at 3rd level? My solution is to make it a ribbon-like feature along with Shadowy Dodge (below), drawn from The Gloom Stalker Ranger, as it seems to be fitting with the theme of the Shadowdancer.

Shadowy Dodge. Beginning at the 13th level, you can dodge in unexpected ways, using wisps of magical shadows surrounding you. If a creature rolls an attack roll on you and isn’t able to gain in rolling, you may apply your reaction to inflict some disadvantage to it. It would be best if you used this option before knowing the result of your attack roll.

Straight from Gloom Stalker Ranger. As I said, I chose to give the Shadowdancer this as it was thematically appropriate. In addition, Shadow Illusion by itself didn’t appear to be enough. Since Gloom Stalker rangers get it at the 15th level, it was not a problem for Shadowdancers to get it as early as the 13th level. That is especially because it blocks them from using the power of Uncanny Dodge also. I’m aware that it gets more powerful once rogues attain 18th level and receive their Elusive feature. However, I’m not certain if this could affect this in a significant way, and I’m guessing that it won’t?

Summon Shadow. At the 17th level, you can summon a shadow or an undead shade. In this way, you summon shadows, which use the Wraith stats found in the Monster Manual. However, its alignment is similar to yours and doesn’t come with the Create Spectre ability. The shadow remains until it reaches zero hit points, at which point it goes away. If you summon a second shadow while you already have one that was summoned, the original disappears. That feature can be used after you have finished your long break.