Editing Shade (section)

===Nentir Vale===
In the [[Nentir Vale]] setting, Shades are [[human]]s who have undergone a dangerous ritual known as the Trail of Five Darknesses that can only be performed either in the [[Shadowfell]] or at Shadow Crossings (those areas which house Shadowfell portals or planar bleed-through); those who survive are granted powerful innate [[Shadow Magic]] abilities, turning them into a kind of artificial [[planetouched]]. Because of this, shades are known for being ruthlessly ambitious and power-hungry, and they don't even like to hang around each other because they know full well just how dangerous they can be! Not helping is that sacrificing a sliver of one's soul for a shard of pure shadow has an emotional stifling affect, causing shades to be emotionally stifled and generally driven by their negative emotions. Shade-centric communities tend to be hellish places full of ruthless byzantine plotting, and most instead live as exiles or near-outcasts, pushed to the fringes of humanoid society.

Ironically, shades and [[shadar-kai]] ''despise'' each other, with an enmity that is compared to the classic hatred of [[elf]] vs. [[drow]], or [[dwarf]] vs. [[orc]]. In contrast, they get on well with [[vryloka]], whose history and origins they respect and see as forming a kinship with their own. They appeared in the [[Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition]] splatbook "Heroes of Shadow".

::Ability Score Modifier: +2 Charisma, +2 Dexterity or +2 Intelligence
::Size: Medium
::Speed: 6 squares
::Vision: Darkvision
::Skill Bonuses: +2 Arcana, +2 Stealth
::Fragile Mortality: Reduce your Healing Surges by -1.
::Practiced Sneak: You automatically have Training in Stealth.
::Shadow Origin: You count as a Shadow creature for any effects that key off of Origin.
::Racial Power: One with Shadow -- At-will, as a standard action gain both the ability to make Stealth checks to become hidden when in cover on concealment, and to gain cover from your allies (this stacks, allowing you to literally hide behind your allies), until the end of your next turn.

Shades can also choose to take any of five racial utility powers, scattered across levels 2, 6, 10, 16 and 22:
* Fleeting Shade: Level 2 Encounter. As a Move Action, become Invisible and gain +5 to Stealth checks until the end of your next turn.
* Twilight Torch: Level 6 At-Will. As a Minor Action, create a Close Burst 1 of Dim Light that lasts either until the end of your next turn or your use this power again, whichever comes first.
* Shadow Monsters: Level 10 Daily. As a Standard Action, summon 4 Shadow Monsters in 4 unoccupied squares in a close burst 3, which remain until the end of the encounter. You can use a Minor Action to move any/all of these shadow monsters up to 4 squares each. Enemies suffer a -2 penalty to attack rolls whilst adjacent to a shadow monster, and take 10 necrotic damage if they end their turn adjacent to or in the square of a shadow monster.
* Shadow Jump: Level 16 Encounter. Teleport up to your speed as a Move Action.
* Five Darknesses: Level 22 Encounter. As a Minor Action, invoke the Five Darknesses; this power up lasts until the end of your next turn, and whilst it lasts you have a Fly speed equal to your speed, are Insubstantial, have Phasing, and inflict a -2 penalty to attack rolls on all creatures adjacent to you. Also, you gain 10 temporary hit points.

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