New Base Class - Shaman

[MAB77]

New Base Class - Shaman

In preparation for the next hak update, here's information on a new base class, the Shaman (taken from 3rd edition Oriental Adventure and updated to 3.5 in Dragon Magazine #318).

Please note that not all icons are finished yet so no need to report missing icons at this point. We will need your help testing it thoroughly. We also appreciate any feedback (bugs, odd VFX, mismatched things, overtly problematic features, etc.)

Some elements are still subject to change so this shouldn't be considered a final version but it should give you an idea of what it will be like on POTM:

Shamans are intermediaries between the mortal world and the realm of spirits - the vast multitude of living beings that infuse the entire world with divine essence. Shamans play a vital role in many communities - communicating with ancestor spirits, demons, nature spirits, and the most powerful of spirits, who might be considered deities. The shaman offers sacrifices, prayers, and services to the spirits, and in return gains the favor of a patron spirit who bestows spells and other magical abilities upon him. Shamans have some power over undead, but not as great as clerics have. All shamans can heal wounds and bring people back from the brink of death, and powerful shamans can even raise the dead. Likewise, powerful shamans have authority over undead creatures, and they can turn away or even destroy these creatures. Shamans are trained in the use of simple weapons and can use light armors without penalty, since armor does not interfere with the casting of divine spells. In addition to his normal complement of spells, every shaman chooses to focus on two domains associated to its patron spirit. These domains grants the shaman special powers, and give him access to spells that he might otherwise never learn.

WARNING: To cast a spell, a shaman must have a Wisdom score of 10 + the spell's level. For example, to cast a 9th-level spell, a shaman must have a Wisdom of 19.

- Base Attack Bonus: +3 / 4 Levels.
- Hit Die: d6.
- Primary Saving Throws: Fortitude, Will.
- Proficiencies: All simple weapons and light armor. Shamans are not proficient with shields.
- Skill Points (*4 at 1st level): 4 + Int Modifier.
- Spellcasting: Divine (Wisdom-based, spell failure from armor is ignored).
- Ex-Shamans: A shaman whose alignment is not within one step of their patron spirit's or otherwise loses its favor loses all shaman spells and abilities until they have atoned.

Class Skills: Concentration, Heal, Influence, Lore, Parry, Spellcraft.
Unavailable Skills: Animal Empathy, Use Magic Device.

ABILITIES:

Level
1: Animal Companion - Summon an animal ally.
    Improved Unarmed Strike - Unarmed attacks no longer incur attacks of opportunity.
2: Spirit Sight - Cast See Invisibility (self only) 3x/day.
3: Turn Undead - Cause undead to flee in terror.
5: Divine Grace (Spirits' Favor) - Add Charisma modifier to all saving throws.

Shamans receive bonus feats at level 4, 8, 12, 16 and 20.

Associated Feat

Spirit Sight

Spoiler: show

Type of Feat: Class
Prerequisite: Shaman level 2.
Specifics: The shaman may use the See Invisibility spell three times per day (self only).
Use: Selected.

Spell list
Same spells per level progression as clerics.
* = New spells

Spoiler: show

Level 0:
Cure Minor Wounds
Detect Poison
Inflict Minor Wounds
Resistance
Virtue

Level 1:
Bane
Bless
Burial Blessing *
Cure Light Wounds
Doom
Endure Elements
Entropic Shield
Inflict Light Wounds
Magic Fang
Protection from Alignment
Shield of Faith
Summon Creature I

Level 2:
Aid
Ancestral Vengeance *
Bull's Strength
Cure Moderate Wounds
Eagle's Splendor
Ghostly Visage
Ghoul Touch
Hold Person
Honorable Weapon *
Inflict Moderate Wounds
Lesser Restoration
Owl's Wisdom
Protection from Curses
Regenerate Light Wounds
Rebuke *
Remove Paralysis
Summon Creature II
Warning *

Level 3:
Bestow Curse
Blindness/Deafness
Castigate *
Contagion
Cure Serious Wounds
Dispel Magic
Greater Magic Fang
Inflict Serious Wounds
Magic Circle against Alignment
Magic Vestment
Mass Aid
Mental Strength *
Mental Weakness *
Prayer
Protection from Elements
Regenerate Moderate Wounds
Remove Blindness/Deafness
Remove Curse
Remove Disease
Substitution *
Summon Creature III

Level 4:
Chaos Hammer *
Circle of Doom I
Cure Critical Wounds
Dismissal
Healing Circle I
Inflict Critical Wounds
Lesser Spirit Ally *
Mass Protection from Curses
Neutralize Poison
Order's Wrath *
Polymorph Self
Restoration
Summon Creature IV

Level 5:
Awaken
Baleful Polymorph
Blood of Fire *
Circle of Doom II
Healing Circle II
Raise Dead
Regenerate Serious Wounds
Slay Living
Stoneskin
Summon Creature V
True Seeing

Level 6:
Banishment
Circle of Doom III
Ethereal Visage
Greater Dispelling
Harm
Heal
Healing Circle III
Mass Bull's Strength
Mass Eagle's Splendor
Mass Owl's Wisdom
Regenerate Critical Wounds
Spirit Ally *
Summon Creature VI
Undeath to Death

Level 7:
Circle of Doom IV
Ethereal Jaunt
Greater Restoration
Greater Stoneskin
Healing Circle IV
Mass Restoration
Regenerate
Resurrection
Summon Creature VII
Sunbeam

Level 8:
Aura versus Alignment
Earthquake
Greater Spirit Ally *
Mass Heal
Summon Creature VIII

Level 9:
Elemental Swarm
Erupt
Gate
Nature's Avatar
Summon Creature IX

[Lexica]

While I understand that there are engine limitations around not being able to properly replicate Shaman’s increasing unarmed damage as it levels, would it not make sense to at least partially replicate it by giving them weapon specialization unarmed, and the greater version as they level up, to at least partially convey the class feature? Possibly you could even add in improved critical in unarmed or other unarmed feats, but weapon specialization seems like the obvious choice to begin with.

[MAB77]

It was considered but no. Consider that this class also receives its fair share of bonus feats which, unlike the source material, are unrestricted. This grants greater flexibility for your builds which is a more than adequate replacement for the unarmed damage bonus loss.

Among the things I'd like the community to test, the spells of course, but more specifically the strength of the spirit ally summons. Let me know if you feel them to be too strong or too weak. Also, I was not necessarily inspired for the names. If you have better ones to propose I'm all ears.

[softdrink]

I fought the highest level neutral spirit summon on the test server earlier. Seemed pretty strong to me, especially with the spells and damage type it had.

On a side note, I think the warning spell for shaman would be amazing as a potion for herbalism. There's a lot of combinations that could be used for it, or perhaps even a few new rarer herbs.

[MAB77]

These few new shaman spells are the sole elements truly unique to the shaman class. I'd rather prefer they keep this specificity. At this time they won't be made available for crafting nor on loot drop items, with the possible exception of scrolls. This stance will be reviewed down the road.

[Lexica]

It was considered but no. Consider that this class also receives its fair share of bonus feats which, unlike the source material, are unrestricted. This grants greater flexibility for your builds which is a more than adequate replacement for the unarmed damage bonus loss.

Among the things I'd like the community to test, the spells of course, but more specifically the strength of the spirit ally summons. Let me know if you feel them to be too strong or too weak. Also, I was not necessarily inspired for the names. If you have better ones to propose I'm all ears.

Having examined the class and it's spell list a little more closely, I strongly feel this is a mistake. As it is, the class has very little going for it to help it stand out from the crowd. It's a d6 HD 3/4 bab class without divine power, or an equivalent way to boost it's AB to relevant heights for on level content. It's buffs are lacking compared to either a cleric or a druid, greater stoneskin as a seventh level spell is painfully bad, especially. It's not going to be frontlining effectively, it's outcompeted as a warder thanks to it's eclectic selection of spells and the levels it gets them, and it's offensive spell list is honestly pitiful.

It has nothing usable offensively in terms of spells until sunbeam, which is a seventh level spell that's situational, and earthquake, which is... Fine, but not fantastic. I just don't really see what the class is meant to contribute, beyond warding worse than any other caster, and having some healing, which... Is fine, I guess. 'Fine' describes the class's peaks, and its valleys are pretty abysmal.

[Spazzer]

Yeah the class is pretty bad.

At least it's good for a level 5 dip. Here I come Hex/rogue/Shaman

[Ryujin]

It was considered but no. Consider that this class also receives its fair share of bonus feats which, unlike the source material, are unrestricted. This grants greater flexibility for your builds which is a more than adequate replacement for the unarmed damage bonus loss.

From what i can see they seem to suffer a lack of feats. Among other things
They have turn undead. To make proper use of that one has to have like 14-ish cha.
To gain access to their full spell list you need to start at least 15 wis
They do not have heavy armor prof, nor shields, so you cannot dump dex like a cleric can, without investing 3 feats into armor/shield profs.

I suppose you could focus on spells, and increasing their DC's. But they have barely any useful spells for this due to their extremely limited selection outside from wards.

So either you use 3 feats, or you pump your dex some and have horrible AC still. Not to mention your strength would suffer underneath this.

The summons seem alright, but they are still summons which are notoriously... not that good on the server. Their duration is extremely short.
Greater stoneskin on 7th also hurts, as Lexica pointed out.

Making a shaman for melee is also not really a good option due to the aforementioned AC issues. Not to mention their AB will never be good due to the absence of divine power or somesuch.

I also don't really understand why they get improved unarmed fighting, but nothing to compensate for the loss of unarmed damage compared to the source material.

[MAB77]

Yeah the class is pretty bad.

At least it's good for a level 5 dip. Here I come Hex/rogue/Shaman

Ah yes. I was expecting that kind of critics. They can't be avoided. Whenever a new class is revealed its bound to be compared to others. And, as ever, given one's playstyle it will always be either too weak for some, the worst kind of "[whatever]", overpowered in this other aspect, and usually perfectly fine to most players. And that's fine, to each is own. But truly it is in that later category that it belongs. Balancing should never be done with other overpowered classes.

It's "weak" only if you look at it from a combat efficiency angle (and even then). On a roleplay server should not even be important. I reject the notion that it is a bad class.
There is plenty this class can do despite the perceived deficiencies and bring interesting things

Yes... less HP, less buffing or damaging spells, less armor proficiencies than clerics. Undeniable truth. But also, better saves, more skill points, 5 bonus feats more than clerics for metamagic and others things as you see fit, some unique spells with damage types that are difficult to resist again, animal companions for RP and stuff. It remains a full casting class which can contribute a lot. Above all it brings flavor and that's eminently more important than power.

The greater stoneskin at level 7 is a compromise. As per the source material, they should get only Stoneskin at level 6. We decided to give both it and greater stoneskin. With stoneskin at the same level as druids (level 5) and therefore the other 2 levels higher. I am considering granting them premonition too, but I'm really on the fence here.

They get improved unarmed fighting, because they get it in the source material. We have not given up on finding a way to give them the unarmed damage bonus eventually.

//Addendum: it is not excluded that we'll add some more spells to its repertoire or some other unique features. I'll have a look on the Spirit Shaman class's features to see if there is something that could be used.

[Alemax]

I only suggest an improving to the spell list with CC and Harming spells, as a caster class it would have a pet to ward good, turn undead feats and healings. At that point a d6 hit points and no full plate and shield should be fair.

[RedMoney]

All the best healing magic in the game plus jaunt and I don't have to be a Halan. Seems legit to me.

[RedMoney]

Oh is it memorized or spontaneous casting?

[MAB77]

Memorized, but healing spells should be spontaneous like clerics.

[Maverick]

For Deity selection what would be appropriate? Are there plans in the making to add a list of Elements and or Spirits with their aligned domains for enforcement? Shamans cannot take Level 3 without selecting it.

[DoctorLuxo]

In my humble opinion, without touching that mechanically is subpar and that it doesn't have half of its appeal, which is unarmed strikes, I feel that roleplay-wise it's not good either. I can already emulate the same roleplay with a fitting cleric.

I think that the shaman class lacks identity: no unarmed strikes, only 3 spells regarding spirits and despite having access to a decent amount of feats, you can take pretty much the same RP feats as a cleric.

I think it would be great for the class to have special interactions with some undead such as shadows and ghosts and such.

Tldr: I think that the class need something that makes it unique, noticeably, whether it is special RP spells available only to the class that cannot be replicated by others, or some feats that have unique mechanics for the shaman.

[MAB77]

It has unique spells. Will get some more on a subsequent HAK (just didn't had time to do it all). RP wise, sure, you can play a cleric as if he was a shaman. But ultimately the identity does not come from a class's abilities but from a players roleplay. You want any class to have an identity, give it one.

Do not forget. A shaman's patron spirit is not a deity. It can, as voodan loa, manifest in-game (as a DM controlled NPC), that opens a certain caliber of RP you won't ever get with clerics. You can trust DMs will be attentive to that.

[MAB77]

I was reminded that to level beyond level 3 you have to set your patron spirit in the deity field before level 3. This is the intended rules about Patron Spirits. Again, just a draft and not set to stone.

Guide to Patron Spirits

Spirits form the vast multitude of living beings that infuse the entire world with divine essence. Unlike the gods of the multiverse or even the Loa of voodan, patron spirits are not defined entities and may come in a wide variety of forms and nature. The nature of your patron spirit is left at your discretion but should make sense in the context of your character's background and setting of origin. A patron spirit may be of any creature type, with the spirits of ancestors or of nature being the most common.

What few mortals realize is that the spirit world is as fraught with intrigue as may be the material world. Spirits do compete between themselves to gain preeminence. Your patron spirit is likely to have its own goals and agency, prodding you to indirectly help him through actions in the material world. Your spirit's goals should be defined in your character's background and serve as a roleplay tool to guide your actions.

You are reminded that, beyond its own goals, your patron spirit is not concerned with the material world and knows little of it. You may not gain any knowledge about the in-game world, or perform any action beyond the limits of the game engine, through your patron spirit without DM oversight.

Your chosen alignment at character creation defines your patron spirit's alignment. You bonded because you share a similar philosophy. The spirit's alignment will never change and will thereafter serve as the condition by which a shaman may fall from grace. As with clerics and voodan, your alignment must remain within 1 step of your patron spirit's, or else your actions will have caused your patron spirit to abandon you. Fallen shamans may either seek to atone and redeem their ways in the eyes of the patron spirit or may quest to find a new patron with a philosophy matching the shaman's new outlook on life.

The clerical domains you select should reflect the nature of your patron spirit. A shaman has access to the same clerical domains as clerics but must comply with the following requirements. The first domain must be tied to nature, the cycle of life and death, or its corrupted form, undeath. The second domain can be chosen from all remaining clerical domains, except those restricted to particular faiths.

- First domain selection: Air, Animal, Death, Earth, Fire, Healing, Plant, Repose, Sun, Undeath or Water.
- Second domain selection: Chaos, Darkness, Destruction, Dream, Evil, Good, Knowledge, Law, Luck, Magic, Protection, Strength, Time, Travel, Trickery or War.

Set up your patron deity at character creation, or use the @deity command before reaching level 3. Enter your patron spirit details in the following format: Name (Type of spirit, alignment). Example: Pyropheles (Volcanic spirit, CN).

[Murd]

Yeah the class is pretty bad.

At least it's good for a level 5 dip. Here I come Hex/rogue/Shaman

I would agree in the sense that I feel the class thrives when multiclassed. Especially due to the lack of proficiencies.

As for a pure shaman, it looks to fall short, and as others have mentioned, appears to not have as strong of an identity. My suggestion would be to perhaps add a class ability similar to ranger's hips, or hexblades aura of unluck, that incentives players going for pure shaman. Acquired late into the class progression and add a power boost to the class, while also adding more identity to the class.

[Abear]

Having seen the custom spells, it seems like Cleric and Voodan cover these bases pretty well. I definitely agree that it needs something more to make it feel unique and the idea of regrettably rare DM intervention is a very weak sell for a class that has no unique identity and is starkly weaker than the two classes that overlap with it.

[aliceofthevoid]

Do not forget. A shaman's patron spirit is not a deity. It can, as voodan loa, manifest in-game (as a DM controlled NPC), that opens a certain caliber of RP you won't ever get with clerics. You can trust DMs will be attentive to that.

Even if that is a possibility, counting on a DM to intercede as their patron spirit to add to RP is one of the last things that anyone should be expecting from the class. If the class's identity comes from the players roleplay rather than the mechanics, then what is the purpose of having shamans and clerics be separate classes?

[Bounty]

First off, i am very hyped for Shaman and despite my perception of it and the following criticism i am 100% going to play one when it come out.
I have been wanting to make a shamanistic character for some time, but voodan just does not do it for me.

I do not think shaman is weak, in its current iteration. It is already an A+ in my book, by virtue of being a full caster up to 9th level spells. I know people love their sorcerer vs wizard type discussion but in the grand scheme of things, Shaman scores very high on the 'godtier' - 'borderline unplayable' Scala.

Unfortunately however, in its current iteration, there are just to many features lost in translation and nothing added to compensate for it, which greatly take away form the unique class identity of it.

One of the shamans main themes is summoning spirit s int battle. Alas summoning in general is heavily nerved on the server, making this a lackluster option. Not only do summons last a incredible short time, you also have to buff them to the teeth if you intend to use them effectively in level appropriate content and there are not a great many wards a shaman could buff their spirits with.
It could be an idea to make an exception to the summon nerf for Shamans, giving them long lasting powerful summons to stand out from other classes.

Another gripe is the missing third domain, combined with the rather minimalist spell list.
If the third domain was present in the implementation, the spell list would be fine. There are a great many domains which give access to powerful spells, such as time or trickery.
Without the third domain the Shaman lacks a lot of versatility that it should have. If not at all possible to implement the third domain, i would suggest expending upon the spell list with a few useful and thematic spells from the cleric and druid list.
Here a couple of suggestions (i am not suggestion to implement the entire list, just a hand full of them to make up for the lost domain):

Wards:
-Sanctuary
-(mass)Cats, bears etc. (access to all animal wards would make sense imo)
-Owls insight
-Ultravision
-Ray of Hope
-Negative Protection
-Death Ward
-(greater) Magic Weapon
-Protection from Elements
-Energy Buffer
-Savage Claws
-Water Breathing
-Freedom of Movement
-(mass)Barkskin
-Lions Roar
-Undeaths Eternal Foe
-Aura of Vitality
-Rams Might
-Big Sky

Offensive Spells:
-Stop Heart
-Harm
-Destruction
-Implosion
-Frost Breath
-Gust of Wind
-Creeping Cold
-Flame Lash
-Thunder Stroke
-Call Lightning
-Flame Strike
-Boreal Wind
-Ice Storm
-Ice Flower
-Inferno
-Wall of Flame
-Call Lightning Storm
-Stone Hold
-Fire Storm
-Creeping Doom
-Flesh to Stone
-Cast in Stone
-Storm of Vengeance


Lastly the unarmed progression. I would really really like to see this work, its gives the Shaman a unique feel and very competitive option for melee combat.
I know this has been brought up before, but a workaround of a self buff similar to eldritch claws seems to me in the realm of possibilities.

All the best healing magic in the game plus jaunt and I don't have to be a Halan. Seems legit to me.

Clerics, Voodans, Favoured Souls all have ethereal jaunt on their spell list, this is not unique to Shaman.

[Abear]

All the best healing magic in the game plus jaunt and I don't have to be a Halan. Seems legit to me.

Clerics, Voodans, Favoured Souls all have ethereal jaunt on their spell list, this is not unique to Shaman.

Beguilers, Wizards and Sorcerers, too.

And yeah, I don't really suggest that we buff this class to high heaven to make it compete with what are realistically two of the strongest classes in the module, but rather that it needs something unique to make it stand out. Right now, it just kinda seems like Voodan but weaker.

[Murd]

I think if their spirit summons were taken out of their spell lists and be given as a class feature in addition to their spells, such as how a BG gets his summons, that would go a long way.

[Trebehol]

Is it not possible to replicate increasing melee damage by giving shaman warlock eldrich claws but with proper changes for example making it do physical instead of untyped and making the damage in line with the source ?

[Ryujin]

I feel like that would change nothing, to be honest.

To me currently it seems like either a dip class, or something that throws out buffs and mostly just tugs along invisibly with an occasional heal if needed.

There is little to no combat viability for the class due to the lack of offensive spells, self buffing spells, spells to improve combat efficiency.

They don’t get cat’s, fox, and bears wards. They dont get divine power (unless you go strength domain i guess). They get a few more feats for metamagic but there are barely any spells that would benefit from them.

It is a supportive/buffing class that has little of that available. The extra feats for build diversity is a nice idea but their spell list lacks the things to make use of spellcasting feats.

Mechanically it simply doesn’t look like a good class. Sure it can be useful i suppose, but a cleric simply does everything it does but better. The saves are the only things i see setting it apart somewhat, apart from some of the unique spells which are few and not too impactful to make it stand out.

It was good to hear they’re looking into trying to implement the unarmed damage still, but the pro-class arguments offered earlier do not really make me reconsider my opinion on it.

Adding some more spells to it’s list would go a -long- wat to allleviating most if the concerns. Creeping doom, animal wards, petrifying stuff… some of the things from Bounty’s list. Rp comes first sure. But most people also quite enjoy being mechanically viable beyond what shaman currently offers.


Also an argument that you can have a dm pop in to rp your chosen spirit is almost a non-argument. It would make good RP if it happens, yes. But DM workload is already a lot, and the chance they’ll do such for you is next to none due to it. Unless you are very lucky i suppose.