Originally, in D&D, shadows were not undead. They came from the Plane of Shadow. They had substance. Clerics could not turn them. In AD&D they were re-imagined as undead, and clerics (priests) are allowed to turn them.
I love shadows, and I like both methods. But I have to admit, I am leaning more heavily towards going back to them NOT being undead - but rather shadowy creatures from the Plane of Shadow - for several reasons.
First, that makes it impossible for the cleric/priest to simply turn them. They therefore become a more viable threat to even higher level parties.
Second, it brings into play the Plane of Shadow, which I really want to explore in more detail some day (never really developed it in any campaign, but I have an idea for it for an area in my Narra campaign featuring a shade-like wizard called the Shadow Lord, who lives in an area named the Shadow Lands).
Third, it offers another type of monster to add to a Plane of Shadow, along with shades, slow shadows, shadow mastiffs, etc.
What do the rest of you think? Are shadows better as monsters from the Plane of Shadow or as Undead?
