FREQUENCY: Very rare
NO. APPEARING: 1-6
ARMOR CLASS: 3
MOVE: 18”
HIT DICE: 4
% IN LAIR: Nil
TREASURE TYPE: Nil
NO. OF ATTACKS: 2
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2-5
SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard
INTELLIGENCE: Non- to semi-
ALIGNMENT: Neutral evil
SIZE: M (4'-6' tall)
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
Attack/Defense Modes:
Nil/Immune to psionic
attacks
Umbrae appear as humanoid-shaped
shadows upon walls, floors, and other
surfaces, wherever they can find light
(the brighter the better). Umbrae are not
undead; their origins and motives are
obscure, though their characteristics
suggest a source on the Negative Material
Plane.
Umbrae “feed” upon humanoids by
striking a victim’s shadow with their
“hands” or with what appear to be the
shadows of weapons. They attack as if
the target had a base armor class of 10,
and only magical or dexterity bonuses
improve this (i.e., Bracers of Defense
would give no benefit, but +2 Armor or
a
Cloak of Displacement would raise the
target’s AC to 8). Each hit upon the victim’s
shadow damages the victim and
causes his or her shadow to fade slightly
(an effect which lasts until the victim
is
healed). Any humanoid whose shadow
(and life) is consumed by an umbra will
become an umbra unless a Remove
Curse
is cast upon the body within one
turn.
Umbrae are unaffected by direct attacks
against their form; only the shadows
of weapon or spells attacks will
harm them. Thus, a warrior would have
to “strike” an umbra with the shadow of
his or her sword, and a mage could ensnare
an umbra with the shadow of a
Web. Weapons do normal damage if
their shadows hit, but no strength bonuses
or magical damage bonuses apply.
Umbrae are immune to any attack
form which does not cast a shadow of
itself.
Opponents facing umbrae for the first
time suffer a penalty of -4 “to hit” due
to
unfamiliarity with the necessary attack
forms, and will inflict only “accidental”
damage until they recognize the proper
approach. Opponents improve by +1 in
each succeeding encounter with umbrae,
until no penalty is incurred on the fifth
and subsequent encounters. (Monks ad-
just more rapidly due to their training;
they suffer only a -2 penalty on their
first
encounter, and no penalty thereafter.)
Umbrae inflict damage only when they
strike, and never simply when the victim’s
shadow overlaps an umbra. Such
contact causes discomfort to the victim;
thus, umbrae cannot hide in the shadow
of a living creature without alerting it.
They have a 100% chance of hiding in the
shadow of an inanimate object, and they
surprise on a 1-5.
Generally, umbrae will not attack unless
distinct shadows are present, and
they are harmless in areas of complete
darkness or diffused light. However, they
can and will follow intended victims until
a well-lit area is reached. An umbra will
continue to attack until it has entirely
consumed a shadow (and slain the victim),
or until it is killed, in which case any
surviving umbrae are 80% likely to flee.
Despite their great affinity for light,
umbrae are never found above ground.
| Dragon magazine | - | Monster Manual III | - | Dragon #61 |
Dear Editor:
I decided to try putting an umbra (from
DRAGON #61 Bestiary) up against the players
in my campaign, and found that it brought
up many problems. Naturally, they at first hit
the umbra itself on the wall with their weapons.
I said it didn’t appear to have any effect.
Then they realized what to do, and one of
them got an idea to wave his sword close to
the light source, in effect making a giant
shadow of a sword. Smart, but how do I handle
it? So, I said that it ran away.
When I told them about the monster, one
(player) pointed out that when the weapons
came in contact with the wall, the shadows
would naturally “follow” the weapons and be
touching them on the wall and therefore striking
the umbra. Also, how can the umbra possibly
have such a low armor class? How hard
can it be to hit a shadow with a shadow? (It
wouldn’t take much physical exertion.) Can
an umbra parry? Does the shadow of a shield
do any good? Ms. Berger had an excellent
idea, but left quite a lot to be desired.
Rob Sylvain
Hampton, N. H.
(Dragon #65)
You’re right, Rob, about the shadow of a
weapon “following” the weapon to the target.
This will happen virtually every time a fleshand-
blood character battles an umbra, because
there’s no way an umbra can be located
between a light source and the character’s
weapon (which would make shadows trail
away from the umbra). As the DM, you could
rule that a weapon attack cannot hit an umbra
if the weapon strikes the surface the monster
is covering. The attack must obviously be an
attempt to hit the umbra with the weapon’s
shadow; the player must specify that his or
her character is purposely missing the surface
with a weapon attack, and then carry out
that attack so that the shadow of the weapon
falls across (through?) the umbra as the weapon
is swung or propelled. Hitting the wall
doesn’t hurt the umbra, just as hitting the umbra
does no damage to the wall it's on.
How do you handle it when somebody
makes a big shadow of his sword? Let him try
to score a hit with the shadow, if he’s figured
out the way to do it. The procedure for doing
that seems to be adequately spelled out in the
article. Can an umbra parry? It probably
wouldn’t think to do that, because it’s not very
smart, but that’s up to you. Does the shadow
of a shield do any good? As indicated in the
text, only if it’s a shield with a magical bonus.
An umbra’s shadow-attack will simply pass
over a normal shield, just like it would move
over any other solid surface it contacts before
reaching the target.
As for the question on the umbra’s armor
class: My idea of an umbra is a shadow with
rough edges, such as might be created in the
light given off by a flickering torch or lantern.
It changes shape almost continually as certain
areas fade and others grow darker, and
maybe it can only be damaged by a shadowstrike
that hits it where its shadow-essence is
strongest (darkest). No matter how you define
the “reason, “if one is necessary, it seems
proper to make this shadowy creature hard to
hit (harder than a shadow or even a wraith),
considering the way it must be hit.
— KM
(Dragon #65)