Darkdrawn Priest (3.5e Prestige Class)

Darkdrawn Priest
"In the name of the Mistress of Night, I banish thee!"

Once in a new moon, a deity of great ability (and dark intent) will contact a powerful user of shadow magic, telling them of the dark powers to be had if they simply choose to worship them. Those rare few who accept are often regarded as the most powerful of all shadowcasters.

Becoming a Darkdrawn Priest
While all darkdrawn priests are shadowcasters at heart, a few take levels in cleric to meet the requirements, although such clerics must be worshipers of one of the stealthier or sneakier deities.

Class Skills (2 + Int modifier per level) Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), and Spellcraft (Int)

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the Darkdrawn Priest.

Spellcasting: At each level, you gain new spells per day and an increase in caster level (and spells known, if applicable) as if you had also gained a level in a divine spellcasting class to which you belonged before adding the prestige class level. You do not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained. If you had more than one divine spellcasting class before becoming a darkdrawn priest, you must decide to which class to add each level for the purpose of determining spells per day, caster level, and spells known.

Mysteries: At every level, you gain new mysteries and an increase in caster level as if you had also attained a level in a shadowcasting class to which you belonged before adding the prestige class level. You do not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained.

Turn/Rebuke Undead: The darkdrawn priest's class levels stack with all other classes that grant him the ability to turn or rebuke undead.

Abolish Illumination (Su): The heralds of dark gods, the darkdrawn priests are often sent to excise to sources of light from the land, like a surgeon removing the cancer of a plague-ridden host. At 1st level, the darkdrawn priest may expend a turn attempt to create a 20 foot cone of total darkness that lasts for 3 rounds. This is treated as the deeper darkness spell, except that any light affect within the cone is dispelled. This ability has a caster level equal to the darkdrawn priest's class level.
 * At 5th level, the area of the cone extends out to 40 feet and any light affect within it is instead subject to a greater dispel spell.
 * At 9th level, the cone extends out to 60 feet, and any light affect or item with a light spell used in it's creation within it is subject to a ''mage's disjunction effect.

Spontaneous Shadowcasting: Darkdrawn priests are rightfully feared among their shadowcaster brethren, since unlike many of them, they draw their power not just from the shadows within them, but the shadows of the gods. Beginning at 3rd level, the darkdrawn priest may give up a daily use of one of their prepared divine spells in order to gain an additional use of one of their mysteries, which must be of equal or lower level than the lost spell.

Extra Turning: At 2nd level, the darkdrawn priest gains Extra Turning as a bonus feat.

Beshadowed Prayers (Ex): The darkdrawn priest's divine magic is very different from that of similar casters, a unique blend of deity-granted spells and the strange, powerful magic of the night. At 6th level, the darkdrawn priest may give up a use of one of his mysteries; after which, he may cast a divine spell of equal or lower level, however, that spell is treated in all ways as a mystery instead of a divine spell. This includes the use of metashadow feats. In addition, the spell is treated as the same sort of ability (Spell, spell-like, or supernatural) as the sacrificed mystery.

Playing a Darkdrawn Priest
Combat: While your body has been flooded with shadow magic, your most potent resource is your ability to cast spell granted to you by which ever deity you worship. A darkdrawn priest's best bet is to use spells that conceal them from view or hide in the shadows, casting offensive spells at anyone stupid enough to come near.

Advancement: While of course any class that increases a darkdrawn priest's ability to cast mysteries or divine spells is desired, a few might benefit from the addition of a more martially-inclined class, such as fighter or monk. Feats that increase your casting abilities, such as Practiced Spellcaster CAr are also welcome additions.

Resources: Darkdrawn priests are quite rare, but for some strange reason, many of them, even if they worship different deities, are known to congregate in small groups known as covens. These covens can be found all over the world, meeting in secret places to perform bizarre rituals that extol the shadows, which often involve many live sacrifices.

Darkdrawn Priests in the World
"I always thought Father Yelis was a good man."

A darkdrawn priest is rarely found alone, since they prefer to surround themselves with lackeys and slaves. Those few who are found mostly alone are those who hide among others of the divinely-inclined, often holing up in monasteries and abbeys, where the slowly begin to control all of it's denizens.

NPC Reactions: An NPC may treat the darkdrawn priest with a measure of respect, especially if they believe them to be worshipers of a god that they revere. If the NPC discovers they true nature of the priest, things often end badly, and violently for both parties.

Darkdrawn Priest Lore
Characters with ranks in Knowledge (Religion) can research darkdrawn priests to learn more about them. When a character makes a skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including information from lower DCs.

Darkdrawn Priests in the Game
A darkdrawn priest might be the head of some corrupt church dedicated to the gods of shadow, or he might be a lowly servant of his god, punishing himself for his perceived sins.

Adaptation: In many campaigns, darkdrawn priests can often be seen at the head of great crusades against creatures of light, hunters and witch-finders of their dark gods. A simple adaption would be to remove some of the abilities, replacing them with some that would benefit paladins and rangers, such as a Smite ability or the ability to track such creatures more efficiently.