Ravenloft: The Horrors Within wants Sorcerers to embrace their inner (and outer) darkness with the Shadow Sorcery subclass.
One of the most enduring, resonant D&D memes is attached to the phrase, “I’m attacking the darkness.” It comes from an old sketch by the Dead Alewives and aired originally on Dr. Demento. If you’ve never had a listen to the whole thing, don’t worry I’ve got you covered. It’s where you’ll here ‘I’ve got a +9 against ogres’ and various other sundry phrases.
But I mention it, because one of the new subclasses in Ravenloft: The Horrors Within is all about attacking with the darkness. With Shadow Sorcery, you get to play a Sorcerer who has some sort of tie to the darkness. Whether it’s the darkness of the Shadowfell, or some other supernatural dark place, or even just that you have been transformed by shadow magic somehow, you have powers of darkness.
Shadow Sorcery – Embrace Your Darkness
Sorcerer subclasses are an interesting beast in 5.5E. They are where you can directly see the evolution of subclass design the clearest. Looking back at 5E, Sorcerer subclasses were a mix of features, and they sort of worked but by and large the ones that stood out the most were the later subclasses that dared to give Sorcerers extra spells.
One of the big weaknesses of the Sorcerer is that they have a limited selection of spells. They have a small list of spells known, especially for a class meant to be a full spellcaster. But with Bonus spells, suddenly that list expands. Especially since, for a Sorcerer, a lot of their mechanics revolve around what they can do with the spells they know and have prepared.
Which is why in 5.5E every Sorcerer has bonus spells as a feature. It’s honestly hard to picture some of the core subclasses, like Wild Magic or Draconic Sorcery without their extra spells. I say all this to stress just how important a selection of bonus spells is for a Sorcerer subclass. That list, moreso than other spellcasting subclasses, helps give a Sorcerer their identity.
So with all that in mind, let’s take a look at what you get with Shadow Sorcery. Starting with the list of Shadow Spells. You’ll get ten extra spells, all themed around darkness and kind of vague menace. You might debuff your enemies with spells like Bane or Contagion, or cloak yourself in darkness with spells like Nondetection, Greater Invisibility, or Pass Without Trace. Or attack your enemies with dark powers like Inflict Wounds, Hunger of Hadar, and Phantasmal Killer. And of course, you have the Darkness spell always prepared.
Having ready access to Darkness and spells like it is important for Shadow Sorcerers. Because your other level 3 feature, Power of Shadow has two main benefits, one of which is dependent on you being able to create an area of magical darkness. With Eyes of the Dark, you gain 120′ Darkvision, 10′ Blindsight, and the ability to see into an area of Darkness created by a spell you cast. Which is two spells, at present, Darkness and Hunger of Hadar.
You also get Strength of the Grave, which lets you make a Charisma saving throw to not drop to 0 hit points the first time you would be reduced to 0 hit points (and also not die outright, sorry this won’t save you from being disintegrated or turned immediately into an undead or whatever). Nice to have, but hopefully you never have to use it.
Deeper Darkness, Higher Levels
At level 6, ironically enough, you get the iconic feature of the Shadow Sorcerer. Or at least, what I think is the iconic feature of Shadow Sorcery. In 5E it was the “Hound of Ill Omen” but in the new edition it’s Beasts of Ill Omen. This feature lets you spend 3 Sorcery Points (half of your reserve at level 6) to cast Summon Beast (a 2nd level spell) as a Bonus Action without a spell slot, preparing the spell, or any components.
But that’s not all. You can, if you want, modify the spell so it doesn’t take Concentration, in which case it only lasts a minute, instead of an hour. But it means you can still cast this spell and also throw around Darkness or Hunger of Hadar. Especially since your summoned beast, in addition to its normal abilities, gives enemies within five feet of it Disadvantage on saving throws against spells you cast. It’s a potent tool for ensuring your enemies are afflicted by your dark powers.
Shadow Sorcery builds even more upon the darkness. With Shadow Walk you gain the ability to teleport up to 120 feet as a Bonus Action, though you have to be in Dim Light or Darkness and then also teleport to an area of Dim Light or Darkness. Get ready to constantly be asking your DM what the lighting conditions are.
The whole subclass caps off at level 18 with Umbral Form which adds extra effects to your Innate Sorcery. Honestly, it’s the least impressive of the features. It just gives you Resistance to all damage except Force and Radiant, and you can move incorporeally through creatures and solid objects. Which is fine and all, but that doesn’t really feel like a level 18 feature. Still, all in all, a potent subclass, and great for anyone wanting to play a darker character.
Let The Darkness flow!
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Source: Bell of Lost Souls
