Recognizing fellow Shadow Mages

[Pakito]

How does a Shadow Mage go about recognizing other Shadow Mages - or Sharrans for that matter?

Asking for a friend.

[Cortex]

Have you tried putting a notice in the newspaper?

[MoreThanThree]

The shadowmage handshake

[Tourmaline]

How does a Shadow Mage go about recognizing other Shadow Mages - or Sharrans for that matter?

Asking for a friend.

Don't assume other shadow mages want to be met or are going to want to bond with you over that...

[Gods_Kill_People]

Try leaving messages at the Sharran place for an arranged meeting?

[Baron Saturday]

Yeah, it basically comes down to: RP with shady people, ask shady questions, and just maybe you'll find someone as shady as you.

[Opustus]

I haven't seen any canon lore about Shadow Weave being distinguishable from regular Weave, except maybe by its practitioners; they don't, for example, pray to Mystra or Azuth, but then again, if you're a clandestine bastard, you'd probably keep up appearances to deceive others. However, one telltale sign is that they can't cast evocation or transmutation spells, so if you spent a considerable amount of time with someone and noticed she doesn't cast spells from those schools, then your character could probably deduct correctly.

[Nitro]

I haven't seen any canon lore about Shadow Weave being distinguishable from regular Weave, except maybe by its practitioners; they don't, for example, pray to Mystra or Azuth, but then again, if you're a clandestine bastard, you'd probably keep up appearances to deceive others. However, one telltale sign is that they can't cast evocation or transmutation spells, so if you spent a considerable amount of time with someone and noticed she doesn't cast spells from those schools, then your character could probably deduct correctly.

They're only restricted from Evocation spells on Arelith, as far as I'm aware.

[Duchess_Says]

They can use transmutation, they just don't get a bonus for it like necromancy, illusion and enchantment. They only cannot use evocation. I do wish they got an extra spell per level for that like specialist mages for giving up a whole spell school.

Having played one (and maybe will again if the changes that were supposed to be on the way eventually arrive) I will throw an opinion out there. I don't think they should be forced to worship Shar. Accessing the Shadow Weave should require a pact like warlocks and you should be able to worship who you please or nobody. Just require Shadow Mages to be non-good (which weirdly isn't the case now, I believe, you can be a LG Shar-worshipping Shadow Mage if you're silly enough to want that.) Shadow Mage is not a divine class after all. If it was it should require piety instead of components to cast spells among other things.

As it stands mine was technically a Shar worshipper but not a devout Sharran, more like a mage who paid the required tributes demanded to access the power. I don't think that is so uncommon. Of course you can be extremely devout as well if you wish but as a non-divine class you may find them arcanists firsts and Shar worshippers as little as possible to still cast spells.

[Nitro]

If you at character creation could pick between either having Shar as a deity, or say taking a -4 WILL save penalty (with non-good as a requirement as well) it would be somewhat canonical, and a big tradeoff as well.

A spellcaster who wants to manipulate the Shadow Weave must either worship Shar, permanently lose a piece of his or her mind, or make some sort of arrangement with Shar and his or her existing patron deity.

[ReverentBlade]

In canon, casting from the Shadow Weave without following Shar gives you a wisdom penalty to represent the insanity that comes from accessing mind-bending secrets about the world without divine guidance.