Shade

Medium undead, chaotic evil

Armor Class 12
Hit Points 16 (3d8 + 3)
Speed 40 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
6 (-2)	14 (+2)	13 (+1)	6 (-2)	10 (+0)	8 (-1)

Damage Vulnerabilities radiant
Damage Resistances acid, cold, fire, lightning, thunder; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks
Damage Immunities necrotic, poison
Condition Immunities exhaustion, frightened, grappled, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone, restrained
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 10
Challenge ½ (100 XP)

SPECIAL TRAITS

• Amorphous. The shade can move through a space as narrow as 1 inch wide without squeezing.
• Shadow Stealth. While in dim light or darkness, the shade can take the Hide action as a bonus action. Its stealth bonus is also improved to +6.
• Sunlight Weakness. While in sunlight, the shade has disadvantage on attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws.

ACTIONS

• Strength Drain. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 2 (1d4) necrotic damage. The target’s strength score is reduced by 1d4. The target dies if this reduces its Strength to 0. Otherwise, the reduction lasts until the target finishes a short or long rest. If a non-evil humanoid dies from this attack, a new shade rises from the corpse 1d4 hours later.
• Cloak of Shadows. The shade can envelop a willing creature. That creature can’t use actions until the end of its next turn. This creature shares the shade’s amorphous, shadow stealth, and sunlight weakness traits until the end of its next turn.

ABOUT

Some dark magics, such as powerful necromantic rituals, expel the animating spirit from a creature’s body. When the body of such a creature dies without its spirit, the spirit is unable to rest and becomes a shade. Shades are made of an ephemeral blackness and resemble a strange shadow of the body they were torn from, with exaggerated and disproportionate features. Unable to comprehend their loss, shades will wander the planes looking for a new body to be laid to rest with.

Hungry Guests. Shades are unaware of their state of being, but have an instinctive drive to seek out a physical body to anchor to. Unable to possess or inhabit new bodies, shades will attempt to meld with willing hosts, turning their host’s body into the same shadow material that constitutes the shade’s form.

Shades that have existed for extended periods of time may be seen shifting between the forms of different creatures they have melded with, each new bond further distorting the shade’s image.