Description

In the half-light between realms, the Shade moves like a thought that wishes it wasn’t there. Born from a mortal who willingly merged with the Spirit Realm, its soul is fractured across dimensions. One piece howls in eternal rage, another whispers to the living, and another drifts quietly watching, waiting for a reason to hate again. The Shade doesn’t feed on life; it feeds on reactions. Fear, panic, chaos: it drinks them all in. Those who glimpse one report the world bending wrong around it: torches dim, sounds dull, and shadows twist toward the thing as if seeking reunion. When a Shade dies, its body leaves only a black stain and a single obsidian crystal—\acondensed fragment of its lost consciousness. Somewhere in the Spirit World, the echo of that same Shade continues to exist, watching from its mirrored realm.

Encounter Hook

The local villagers have gone silent after nightfall. Livestock flee their pens and anyone who leaves their home is found wandering the woods at dawn, terrified and unable to speak. Near the ruined chapel at the edge of the bog, faint lights flicker from within, a pulsing rhythm, like a heartbeat trying to remember how to beat. Inside, the players find a black crystal embedded in a ritual circle, a place where a desperate soul once tried to cross over. The Shade that resulted still guards this spot, believing every trespasser to be its executioner come again.

GM Notes

The Shade should be played with cunning, not brute strength. It thrives on confusion, splitting the party’s focus, isolating stragglers, forcing WIL rolls in sequence rather than all at once. Make its teleport unpredictable, its laughter echoing from wrong directions. If the players recover the Obsidian Crystal and take it to a skilled enchanter, it can be purified into a Spirit Ward talisman (Boon vs. fear effects once per Shift). If they destroy it, the echo of the Shade’s spirit briefly thanks them before fading, a moment of mercy in the dark.

SHADE

As a ghostly undead, it is vulnerable to all spells and magic items as if it were a Ghost.

Resistance: Nonmagical weapons (half damage); immune to poison, disease, charm, sleep.

Ferocity: 2   Size: Medium

Movement: 12  (Ignores Terrain and Obstacles.) Armor: —   HP: 20

MONSTER ATTACKS

1: Terror Pulse (Fear Attack): The Shade emits a wave of psychic horror. All living creatures within 10 meters must roll WIL or roll on the Fear Table. Those who succeed feel cold eyes on their soul until the next dawn.

2: Soul Grip: A single target within 20 meters must roll WIL with a Bane and roll on the Fear Table. The Shade’s laughter echoes from all directions.

3: Shadow Dagger: 1d10 slashing damage + Shadow Poison (Potency 12. See Below.) Successful hit also triggers a Fear Table roll.

4: Shadowstep Backstab: The Shade teleports behind a target within 20 meters Sneak Attack damage (2d6) + Shadow Poison. (See Below.) Armor provides no protection.

5: Shadow Bomb:  Throws a sphere of darkness up to 16 meters (3-meter radius). All creatures in the area must roll CON or become Dazed. If already Dazed, gain a random Condition instead. Each affected character starts their next turn facing a random direction.No actual damage from this attack.

6: Throwing Shade: The Shade throws its dagger up to 10 meters for 1d10 piercing damage + Shadow Poison and the dagger automatically returns to its hand on its next turn.

GM Notes

The Shade always targets the most confident or loudest character first. It wants to break morale, not just deal damage. Killing the Shade doesn’t end its story. The black stain it leaves is permanent, and its Spirit World echo can be sensed by mystics or animists with strong willpower. A Shade created from a PC’s death retains flashes of memory—name, voice, or even the way they move. Seeing this can force an automatic Fear roll for allies who recognize them. Destroying a Shade at its original ritual site weakens the barrier between worlds there for a time, useful, but dangerous.

SIDEBAR: SHADOW POISON

A supernatural toxin bound to the Shade’s weapon. Lethal Shade Poison (12 Potency Opposed Roll is CON. See Dragonbane Core Rulebook.)

Full Effect: You take D6 damage per round, on your turn, until you reach zero HP. If you consume an antidote or are cured with  proper magic (such as Banish or Purge) in time the effect is halted.

Limited Effect: You take D6 damage on your next turn.

If the poison kills the victim, they rise as a Shade within 1d6 hours.