View source for Umbral Cat (3.5e Monster)

=== Combat ===

Umbral Cats are not fighters. They cannot harm anything while in their intangible state, but even when manifesting they are fairly weak creatures.  When faced with foes that actually possess magical means of striking at them, an Umbral Cat will seek the nearest shadow and use their shadow step ability to escape. A tactic with more clever Umbral Cats is to jump into the shadow of their attacker and hide somewhere out of sight on the body of their attacker, and slink away unnoticed later.

'''Hide in Plain Sight {{Su}}:''' An Umbral Cat can use the Hide skill even while being observed. In any lighting except direct sunlight, as long as it is within 10 feet of some sort of shadow, an Umbral Cat can hide itself from view in the open without anything to actually hide behind.

'''Intangibility {{Su}}:''' At will, an Umbral Cat may take physical form by making itself into a solid shadow in order to manipulate objects for its master or just to cause mischief. It can suppress this ability as a free action and become incorporeal again.  While in solid form, the Umbral Cat loses its incorporeal traits, cannot shadow meld or hide in plain sight, and is vulnerable to physical attacks.

'''Manifest Fatigue {{Ex}}:''' Taking solid shape is tiring work. For every minute the Umbral Cat spends in solid form, it takes one point of non-lethal damage due to exhaustion. If its non-lethal damage reaches its current hit points, it becomes staggered and must immediately become incorporeal once again. A staggered Umbral Cat can still use its shadow step and shape changing abilities, but using them requires a standard action. Umbral Cats regain one hit point per full hour they remain incorporeal. 

'''Shadow Meld {{Su}}''': As a swift action, an Umbral cat can become part of any shadow larger than a square foot, disappearing completely.  It can even disappear into a moving shadow, such as one cast by a walking person.  If the shadow occupied by the Umbral Cat vanishes due to a new light source or some other reason, the Umbral Cat is expelled from the shadow, suffering no ill effects other than annoyance.

'''Shadow Step {{Su}}:''' At will, an Umbral Cat can travel between shadows as if by means of a dimension door spell. The limitation is that the magical transport must begin and end in an area with at least some shadow, and the shadows must be within line of sight of each other.

'''Shape Change {{Su}}:''' As a free action, an incorporeal Umbral Cat can change its shape to whatever it wishes, though its size remains tiny. It is still just a shadow, and gains no special abilities from any form it takes.

'''Spell Resistance:''' An Umbral Cat has spell resistance equal to 12 plus the number of hit dice it possesses.

'''Skills:''' In any illumination except full daylight, an Umbral Cat receives a +10 racial bonus to hide checks. This bonus increases to +20 when within another shadow.  Umbral cats also receive a +4 racial bonus on Listen and Spot checks.
Alignment	Usually True Neutral +
Author	Eiji-kun + and Spanambula +
Benefit	None. +
Challenge Rating	1/2 +
Environment	Plane of Shadow +
Identifier	3.5e Monster +
Level Adjustment	— +
Prerequisite	Improved Familiar, 7th-level or higher arcane spellcaster +
Rated By	Havvy +
Rating	Rating Pending +
Size	Tiny +
Subtype	Extraplanar + and Incorporeal +
Title	Umbral Cat +
Type	Magical Beast +