Shadowskin didn't make the NPC experience seem pointless?

[RichardThebbard 0]

Shadowskin can be a two way road, because couldn't you just end up being an NPC with high casting ability like a fiend or evil wizard that just happens to have shadowskin too? You could then totally turn around and trump a bunch of PC's. The issue can be alleviated by NPC's just being more clever when it comes to casting. If the PC casts shadowskin, dissipate, come back ten minutes later and cast it yourself if you have the capability. Let the PC deal with that bull crap for a while.

[ubergeek2012 0]

It's a bit of a different equation for PCs than it is for NPCs. PCs are persistent and have finite resources when it comes to skill points and magic points. They know the threats they may face, and most parties try to cover the bases and have answers ready for situations where they may come up against different DRs. NPCs tend to come from nothing and return to nothing, especially combat encounter NPCs. They don't have carefully calculated character sheets, and they don't have to save any magic points for encounters later in the day.

[Rhaveniel 0]

Rhaveniel is an enchantment master, but I generally only cast shadow skin when I know I'll be out numbered. However, that doesn't mean that an NPC can't get the drop on me. A year ago, an NPC that I helped by loaning him a wraithbaned weapon got the jump on me while I was alone in the bazaar.