Shadow Magic
The Shadowfell is a dark reflection of the material world—a place where color bleeds away, hope grows thin, and the boundaries between the living and the dead feel uncomfortably close. Shadow Magic sorcerers were touched by this plane in some formative moment: born during an eclipse, dragged briefly into shadow by misfortune, or simply marked at birth by a darkness that chose them without explanation. Their magic carries that touch. Darkness bends around them, shadows move at their command, and even death sometimes hesitates when it comes for them.
These sorcerers are often misunderstood. The power they wield looks like necromancy to untrained eyes, but Shadow Magic is something stranger and older than mere undeath magic. It is the power of the in-between—the liminal space between light and dark, life and death, presence and void. Many Shadow Magic sorcerers develop a dry, dark humor about the whole thing. Better to laugh about the shadow hound that follows you than to dwell too long on what it means.
Shadow Magic Table:
| Level | Subclass Features Gained |
|---|---|
| 1st | Eyes of the Dark, Strength of the Grave |
| 6th | Hound of Ill Omen |
| 14th | Shadow Walk |
| 18th | Umbral Form |
Subclass Features
Eyes of the Dark
1st-level Shadow Magic feature
Starting at 1st level, you have darkvision with a range of 120 feet.
When you reach 3rd level in this class, you learn the darkness spell, which doesn't count against your number of sorcerer spells known. In addition, you can cast it by spending 2 sorcery points or by expending a spell slot. If you cast it with sorcery points, you can see through the darkness created by the spell.
Strength of the Grave
1st-level Shadow Magic feature
Starting at 1st level, your existence in a twilight state between life and death makes you difficult to defeat. When damage reduces you to 0 hit points, you can make a Charisma saving throw (DC 5 + the damage taken). On a success, you instead drop to 1 hit point. You can't use this feature if you are reduced to 0 hit points by radiant damage or by a critical hit.
After the saving throw succeeds, you can't use this feature again until you finish a long rest.
Hound of Ill Omen
6th-level Shadow Magic feature
At 6th level, you gain the ability to call forth a howling creature of darkness to harry your foes. As a bonus action, you can spend 3 sorcery points to summon a hound of ill omen to target one creature you can see within 120 feet of you. The hound uses the statistics of a dire wolf, except it has a speed of 50 feet, and it appears with a number of temporary hit points equal to half your sorcerer level. It disappears if it is reduced to 0 hit points, if its target falls to 0 hit points, or after 5 minutes.
The hound appears in an unoccupied space of your choice within 30 feet of the target. Roll initiative for the hound. On its turn, it can move only toward its target, and it takes the most direct route. It ignores difficult terrain and doesn't provoke opportunity attacks. The hound can move through other creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain; it takes \(1d10\) force damage if it ends its turn inside a solid object.
While the hound is within 5 feet of the target, the target has disadvantage on saving throws against any spell you cast. The hound makes attacks against the target on its initiative, using your spell save DC as its attack DC (Dexterity saving throw; on a failure the target takes \(2d6\) piercing damage and is knocked prone).
Shadow Walk
14th-level Shadow Magic feature
At 14th level, you gain the ability to step from one shadow to another. When you are in dim light or darkness, as part of your movement you can teleport up to 120 feet to an unoccupied space you can see that is also in dim light or darkness.
Umbral Form
18th-level Shadow Magic feature
Starting at 18th level, you can spend 6 sorcery points as a bonus action to transform yourself into a shadowy form. In this form, you have resistance to all damage except force and radiant damage, and you can move through other creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain. You take \(1d10\) force damage if you end your turn inside an object.
You remain in this form for 1 minute. It ends early if you are incapacitated, if you die, or if you dismiss it as a bonus action.