Overview
Shadow Entities
AX.GHW.13.06
Shadow entities are not supernatural in the way ghosts or cryptids are supernatural. They are visitors — things that exist primarily in darkness, in the consuming spaces between the real and what reaches through it, and are present here because they were sent, summoned, compacted, or forced through. The hidden world's understanding of where they come from is inconsistent and contested: lay communities call them demons and reach for religious frameworks; practitioners who work with the Hollow Pact tradition have alternative frameworks; those who have spoken directly with Shadow entities have collected accounts that don't map cleanly onto any established system. What practitioners agree on is operational: these entities have specific capabilities, specific vulnerabilities, and specific relationships to the compact system that shapes how they are encountered and how they are addressed.
Shadow entities are not uniformly hostile. Some are predatory. Some are operating under compact obligations that produce hostility as a consequence of their assignment rather than as an expression of their nature. Some are in the hidden world because something has gone wrong with the compact structure that was supposed to keep them where they came from. The compact broker who offers deals is not the same kind of threat as the Greater Shadow Entity unleashed without purpose. Distinguishing between these situations shapes what response is appropriate.
Category traits common to most Shadow entities: - Immune to Shadow damage (their own nature; shadow energy that would harm others registers to these entities as simply what they are) - Vulnerable to Radiant damage — Sacred Fire applications deal full damage; blessed weapons deal +2 damage - Consecrated ground functions as hostile territory: Body Save vs Threshold 3 per Turn or take 1D3 Radiant damage and become Hindered - Blessed water deals 1D3 Radiant damage on contact with physical manifestations - Expulsion rituals (Extended Work, Governing Attribute + Occult vs Threshold 3–5 depending on entity power) can forcibly return a Shadow entity to its point of origin without destroying it - The Mark (Hollow Pact Focus): Shadow entities recognize the Mark on Shadow-Bound Marked characters and respond with the wariness appropriate to a compact-affiliated being — not necessarily deference, but awareness of the relationship
Shadow entities and the Marked: Shadow-Bound Marked characters with developed Hollow Pact tradition have a particular relationship with these threats. Shadow entities generally do not attack Shadow-Bound Marked unprovoked — the compact relationship creates a kind of professional recognition. This does not mean safety; a Shadow entity operating under hostile instructions will attack Marked characters if directed to. But the default interaction is different, and GMs should play this distinction consistently.
Variant Rules
Contracted Shadow Entities: Not all Shadow entity threats are uncontrolled. A Shadow entity operating under valid compact terms — perhaps serving a Shadow-Bound Marked practitioner or operating as part of a Hollow Market arrangement — is not automatically a target for intervention. GMs should distinguish between Shadow entities acting outside constraint and those acting within it; the latter creates diplomatic and ethical complications rather than simple threat responses.
The Expulsion Procedure: For campaigns emphasizing the ritual and investigative elements of dealing with Shadow entity threats, expand expulsion into a multi-stage process: identify the entity (Wit + Lore vs Threshold 2–4), acquire appropriate materials (investigation work between sessions), prepare the ritual space (Consecrate Ground application at Threshold 3), and conduct the expulsion (Governing Attribute + Occult + any relevant tradition, Extended Work). Each stage can be complicated by the entity's active resistance, time pressure, or resource constraints.
The Dark Rising: A campaign framework where the boundary between shadow origin and the hidden world has weakened significantly in a specific region — Shadow entities are entering more frequently, the compact system is under stress, and the local hidden world's organizations are responding with varying degrees of effectiveness. Shadow entity threats appear at +1 tier than standard (Minions in Standard numbers, Standards in Elite numbers) and the Veil maintenance burden is severe.
Plot Hooks
- A Crossroads Demon has been operating in a mid-sized city for eighteen months. The Network has identified six deals it's made. Two of those people are now dead. Two more are about to reach the end of their compact terms. The entity is fully aware that hunters are looking for it and has taken steps.
- A Shadow Warden has appeared and its designated target is a Light-Bound Warden of the Order of the Warden's Flame. The Order's position is that this is impossible — Light-Bound Marked cannot have compact obligations with the Hollow. Someone in the hidden world's compact-adjacent community knows why the Warden is there.
- A Greater Shadow Entity has been living as a human in a suburban neighborhood for approximately four years. It has a job, a house, and apparent relationships with its neighbors. It has not, as far as anyone can determine, harmed anyone. The question of what it's waiting for is more urgent than anything it has done.
- The party's investigation has led to the conclusion that something in the hidden world's current situation is a consequence of a Named Shadow power's direct involvement. Finding the evidence that confirms this — and then deciding what to do about it — is the start of the campaign's second act.
Destruction and Banishment Methods Summary
| Shadow Entity | Combat Outcome | Permanent Resolution |
|---|---|---|
| Imp | Destroyable by combat; salt circles contain | Radiant damage or Threshold 2 expulsion |
| Hellhound | Destroyable by combat | Find and address who sent it |
| Crossroads Demon | Vessel survives expulsion; entity returns to origin | Void the specific compact structure it operates under |
| Possessing Demon | Expulsion removes entity; host survives | Threshold 3 expulsion; host requires support |
| Greater Shadow Entity | Banishable; returns if breach persists | Threshold 4 expulsion + close the breach |
| Shadow Warden | Returns within 24 hours if collection order active | Satisfy obligation or void compact structure |
| Demon Lord | Cannot be destroyed by combat | True name + Threshold 5 binding ritual; campaign-level work |