Scissors of Shadow Snipping 5E | Magical Item from Wild Beyond the Witchlight
As expected from a fey journey, Wild Beyond the Witchlight has some magical items with a lot of personality. From magically changing suits to legendary weapons that talk to you, the Witchlight Circus is surely not a boring place! One of the more intriguing magical items are the Scissors of Shadow Snipping. These slashing tools are more than just an arts-and-crafts session; they can be devilishly useful in the right hands! So, learn how to be that right hand in our Scissors of Shadow Snipping 5E Guide!
The Scissors of Shadow Snipping in Dungeons & Dragons 5E
The Scissors of Shadow Snipping require attunement by a Fey or Spellcaster before they start working correctly. While attuned, the user may snip the shadow of a Humanoid creature who is right next to you. If they resist your snipping, they can roll a DC 15 Charisma Save to stop you from stealing it’s shadow. This snipping feature is only used once per dawn.
You have control over the shadow, which is harmless and can’t be harmed. You can spend a bonus action to send it up to 30 feet, as long as it moves over a surface. You have to see it in order for it to move, but it otherwise doesn’t need flight, and it doesn’t eat, drink, or need air.
However, as a bonus action, you can send the shadow to do whatever the DM wants it to do! It becomes a Shadow, capable of stealing Strength, but it is considered to be a Fey. Instead of killing those whose strength it fully drains, the creature falls unconscious.
When the shadow dies, or if the person whose shadow was snipped is cured of any curse, the detached shadow disappears and the creature regains its normal shadow.
How to Use Scissors of Shadow Snipping
This does not really curse the target very appropriately. The most dangerous part of the Scissors of Shadow Snipping occurs when the target moves into a highly superstitious area. They might get jumped by the townsfolk in that situation. However, there is no mechanical downside to losing your shadow.
When you release the Shadow on your enemies, you’ll have a relatively potent ally on your side. Relatively, though; Shadows are CR 1/4th creatures. This won’t be more than a distraction, unless your enemy is a big fan of using Necrotic or Poison damage. It has resistance against most damage, but with 16 HP to work with, it won’t be sticking around for too long. And with a +4 to attack, you’d need a lot of chances before the d4 Strength damage kicks in.
The hilarious part of the Scissors of Shadow Snipping is that you can theoretically create a shadow army; make 1 shadow every day and drag it along with you. It would take a long, long time to bring more than one or two shadows along for a journey, but for the benefit of the Shadow… It might be worth it! While a +4 to attack isn’t much, 5 or 6 shadows jumping someone with +4s to attack might whittle a target down! Consider it against creatures you know can’t handle multiple targets very well.
Otherwise, this is little more than a bad way to deal the tiniest bit of damage and apply a gentle debuff. Unless you can buff nearby fey…
Conclusions
The Scissors of Shadow Snipping is not too impressive in terms of raw power. However, any item that summons meatshields for your party can be handy. This doesn’t debuff allies, it can make your enemies get attacked by superstitious folk… If you snip at the correct time, this can be worth the attunement slot.
Check out our guide to all Witchlight items here!
