"The creature is humanoid in shape, but most of the flesh has been burned away from its skull. Its eyes are nothing more than deep pools of shadow, and a fell light seems to emanate from beneath the charred, tattered robes it wears."
The Shadow Reavers are powerful undead warlords in NWN2's official campaign.
Official campaign[]
The Shadow Reavers are the elite thralls of the King of Shadows, serving as his enforcers and heralds. Among the 8 Shadow Reavers encountered in the official campaign, Black Garius is the strongest, who became a Shadow Reaver as a result of a ritual in the Tome of Iltkazar he tried to use. The Reavers pact with the King has granted them immortality, allowing them to be reformed at the Vale of Merdelain when defeated. However, the Arcane Brotherhood had learned that their Truenames can disrupt that pact, permanently preventing them from being restored.
The party first encounters them as they attempt to finish the Ritual of Purification, just in time too see one sabotaging the last statue. The Reaver was overconfident and driven off, but not before revealing someone else did that part of the ritual.
The threat of the Reavers is realized when one launches a sneak attack on Castle Never, and tries to take out Lord Nasher, Nevalle, and the PC as Nasher was about to officially knight him/her. An evacuation is ordered and Crossroad Keep becomes a frontline defense against the Reavers, who eventually take Fort Locke and Highcliff. Sydney Natale extended an offer concerning scrolls containing their Truenames, but soon turned on the player, Qara, and Zhjaeve and was slain.
With the Truename scrolls, both Zhjaeve and Ammon Jerro were able to shatter a Reaver's immortality during a skirmish, retrieving another shard of the Silver Sword of Gith. After repairing the silver sword at the site in West Harbor, another Shadow Reaver arrived, and was similarly destroyed. A third one was battled near Crossroad Keep, and the Tome of Iltkazar was recovered. At the siege of Crossroad Keep, Black Garius had to retreat after a Nightwalker he summoned was destroyed and his true name was read out.
In Merdelain, the remaining Reavers awaited the return of the King. Three of them tried to detain the PC near the Ritual Chamber, and were eventually destroyed after a tense battle. Black Garius remained in the inner chamber, and was ultimately destroyed along with some turncoats he managed to sway against the player.
Traits[]
While individual Reavers fought by player may be customized, there is still the default Shadow Reaver statblock:
- Wizard 17
- Neutral evil
- Abilities: STR 10, DEX 18, CON 10, INT 22, WIS 10, CHA 10
- Hitpoints: 85
- Saves: Fortitude 7, Reflex 11, Will 12
- AC: 20
- AB: +8/+3
- Damage:
- 1d8 slashing/piercing, critical 20/x2, on hit: stun for 3 rounds, Will against mind-affecting, DC 13 (claw)
- 1d8 slashing/piercing, critical 20/x2, on hit: stun for 3 rounds, Will against mind-affecting, DC 13 (claw)
- Skills: Concentration 20, Hide 6, Listen 10, Lore 20, Spellcraft 20, Spot 10, Tumble 10, Craft Armor 20, Craft Weapon 20, Craft Alchemy 20
- Feats: Weapon Proficiency (creature), Combat Casting, Dodge, Empower Spell, Extend Spell, Quicken Spell, Spell Penetration, Greater Spell Penetration, Toughness, Brew Potion, Scribe Scroll, Craft Wand
- Wizard: Weapon Proficiency (wizard), Summon Familiar (bat)
- Damage reduction 10/Good
- Immunity to cold damage, electrical damage, disease, critical hits, death magic, level/ability drain, mind-affecting spells, paralysis, poison, sneak attack
- Turn Resistance 4
- Can use SLAs Greater Invisibility, Meteor Swarm, Cloudkill, Finger of Death, Chain Lightning, Summon Creature IX, Bigby's Grasping Hand, Globe of Invulnerability and Haste at caster level 18 once per day
- Prepared spells: Ray of Frost, Daze, Light, Resistance, Magic Missile, Mage Armor, Identify, Summon Creature I, Color Spray, Sleep, Issac's Greater Missile Storm, Greater Spell Breach, Chain Lightning, Summon Creature VI, Create Undead, Spell Mantle, Mordenkainen's Sword, Prismatic Spray, Premonition, Horrid Wilting, Weird
- CR 17
Notes[]
- Shadow Reaver lacks Darkvision despite being undead
Gameplay Notes[]
Both Zhjaeve and Ammon Jerro can use their copies of the True Name Scroll acquired from Sydney Natale to negate the undead immortality of the Shadow Reavers, allowing them to be destroyed once the recitation of their true names is completed. This recitation takes about 5 rounds to complete and if interrupted for any reason must be re-started. Therefore, it's advisable to have the Shadow Reavers distracted while this relatively lengthy process is underway.
The first Shadow Reaver encountered near the Statue of Purification does not require the use of a True Name Scroll and there is no explicit explanation as to why this is, even though the Shadow Reaver speaks of his immortality.
Mask Of The Betrayer[]
Though the Shadow Reavers don't play a major role in the expansion if the player touches one of the pools in the Wells Of Lurue the player will be taken to a dream version of Okku's Lower Barrow. Near the end of the dream sequence the player will have to fight one Shadow Reaver along with two greater shadows. Unlike the Shadow Reavers in the original campaign the player won't have to use a true name scroll as it's a dream.
Trivia[]
- Most of the Shadow Reavers were voiced by David Pittu, except for Black Garius, who retained his voice from when he was human.