Among the first wizards to tap the power of the shadow weave, Dargloth was an albinar living in the underdark paradise of Aranknar. Dargloth learned shadow magic from ancient tomes, hoping to use the knowledge against the accursed drow. Shadow magic came naturally to the talented young wizard and after a while he began to spend more and more time on the Plane of Shadow. While on the Plane of Shadow, Dargloth met the many members of a faerie race, the arak. The arak was an ancient offshoot of the more common fey races that left to live on the Plane of Shadow. A drow army from the city of Ilk Rabbar decided to destroy the albinar homeland once and for all. The fighting was terrible, the drow had the benefit of larger numbers, and the albinar were trapped in a cavern on the edge of Aranknar. As a last resort Dargloth went to the Plane of Shadow and created a portal for his friends, the arak, to use to come to their aid. Shortly afterward the albinar were able to crush the drow offensive, sending the drow back to their city. At this point Dargloth tried to send the arak back to their Plane, but they decided that they preferred to live in Aranknar. An evil faction of the arak destroyed the albinar of Aranknar. Aranknar is now the home of the arak.

Dargloth created a magical tome, Eclipse, that contains many secrets of shadow magic. It contains all spells with the shadow descriptor, and teaches the reader how to use the power of the shadow weave to affect the transformation from humanoid to shade.

A disciple of Dargloth studies the tome (or the information from it) and decides to undergo the infusion of shadowstuff necessary to become a shade.    

Hit Die: d4. 

Requirements:

To qualify to become a Disciple of Dargloth, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.

Class Skills:

The Disciple of Dargloth’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Alchemy (Int), Bluff (Cha), Concentration (Con), Disguise (Cha), Hide (Dex), Knowledge (all skills taken individually)(Int), Move Silently (Dex), Profession (Wis), Scry (Int), Spellcraft (Int). See Chapter 4: Skills in the Player’s Handbook for the skill descriptions.

                 Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.

 Class Features:

All of the following are class features of the disciple of Dargloth prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A disciple of Dargloth gains no additional proficiencies in any weapon or armor.

                Spells per Day: When a new disciple of Dargloth level is gained, the character gains new spells per day as if he had also gained a level in a spellcasting class he belonged to before adding the prestige class. She does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (improved chance of controlling or rebuking undead, metamagic or item creation feats, hit points beyond those he receives from the prestige class, and so on), except for an increased effective level of spellcasting. If a character had more than one spellcasting class before becoming a disciple of Dargloth, she must decide to which class she adds each level of disciple of Dargloth for purposes of determining spells per day.

                Shadow Infusion (Ex): Becoming a disciple of Dargloth requires a careful infusion of shadowstuff. The character must have access to a laboratory and spend 500 gps. for the components necessary for the ritual. The ritual takes three full days and is extremely taxing. During the ritual the character undergoes an amazing transformation. Their skin acquires a gray or black dusky appearance, and the character often becomes gaunt. This initial infusion of shadowstuff increases the disciple’s Constitution and Charisma scores by 2 whenever he is in darkness or shadow.   

                Dancing Shadow (Ex): The disciple can move quicker than normal in an area of darkness or shadow. This ability increases with experience (See table below). These bonuses do not stack.

                Darkfighting (Ex): While in shadows or darkness, a disciple (3^rd level and above) gains a competence bonus to attack and damage rolls. This ability increases with experience (See table below). These bonuses do not stack.

                Dark Caress (Ex): Beginning at 4^th level, darkness itself takes on a protective role regarding the disciple of Dargloth. This gives the disciple a luck bonus to all saving throws and a deflection bonus to AC. This ability increases with experience (See table below). These bonuses do not stack.

Shadow Image (Sp): Beginning at 2^nd level, a disciple of Dargloth gains the use of this ability (similar to the mirror image spell) once per day as a sorcerer of his character level. The ability creates figments of the disciple (1d4, +1 per three levels).

                At 5^th level, the disciple can use this ability twice per day.

                At 7^th level, the disciple can use this ability three times per day.

                Control Light (Sp):  Beginning at 3^rd level, a disciple of Dargloth can decrease the levels of light within a 100-ft. radius of themselves by a factor of 10% per disciple level. This decreases the overall effective range of vision for characters and creatures dependent on light by the same percentage. For example, a human can normally see 20 feet by the light of a torch. If a 5^th level disciple of Dargloth were to diminish the light by 50 %, the human could see only 10 feet. Characters within the affected area gain a +1 bonus to Hide checks for each 25% decrease in light.

                Invisibility (Sp): At 4^th level, the disciple of Dargloth gains the spell-like ability to use invisibility twice per day as a sorcerer of his character level.

                Shadesight (Sp): At 6^th level, a disciple of Dargloth gains 60-foot darkvision. He can see normally through any darkness effects, but not through fog, invisibility, obscurement, and so forth.

                Shadow Stride (Sp): An 8^th level disciple of Dargloth gains the supernatural ability to vanish from its current location and reappear in any shadowy area within 300 feet, as often as once every 2 rounds. Using this ability is a move-equivalent action, so the disciple can use another ability, cast a spell, or attack in the same round.

                Shadow Travel (Sp): At 9^th level, a disciple of Dargloth can use either teleport without error to reach a shadowy locale on the same world or plane shift to access the Plane of Shadow. This ability functions as if cast by a sorcerer of his character level.

                The Darkening: At 10^th level, the disciple’s hard work finally pays off and he fully takes on the shade template. His type changes to “outsider”, which means (among other things) that he is no longer affected by spells that specifically target humanoids, such as charm person, but he can be hedged out by a magic circle spell against his alignment. Additionally, the disciple gains several other new abilities; a +4 racial bonus to Listen and Spot checks, a +8 racial bonus to Hide and Move Silently checks, Fast Healing, and Spell Resistance (see page 314 of the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting for complete details).  

 Table: The Disciple of Dargloth