Help Develop my Spirit Shaman [Archive] - Wizards Community

Help Develop my Spirit Shaman [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Peter the Hegemon
10-24-04, 04:52 PM Hello everyone,

I'm currently creating a level 1 spirit shaman. The spirit shaman class is from Complete Divine, but I'm not playing this character in a campaign yet (just for fun and for when I do get the chance to play).

The background thus far:
Just one of the boys in the northern tribe of the Laughing Fox, Tem Three-Spears's life changed when old shaman Eagle-Eye selected him, of all the young sons, to be his successor. He can still remember the night well; it was his First Hunt ceremony, when he was to be initiated as a man--and a warrior--of the tribe. Tem took down that ancient elk with only three spears, and barely escaped being gored. The other 13-year-old boys on the First Hunt were awed at his skill, and Tem was so proud when they started whispering "Tem Three-Spears" to each other. But when he entered the House of Warriors, old Eagle-Eye was there and told him, "You will be shaman, not warrior. Follow me," and led him out of the lodgehouse to the small House of Spirits, where the shaman resided.

Tem had mixed feelings on this--he so wanted to be a hunter, a warrior like the other men in the tribe. While he respected the shaman, Tem knew Eagle-Eye had power beyond his comprehension, with his ability to speak with and bargain with the spirits to ensure prosperity for the Laughing Fox tribe. He was intimidated, and uncertain, but he knew what an honor was being placed upon him, and he promised to put every effort into learning the secrets of the shaman (though he was going to show up the hunters someday, too).

Over the next seven years, the shaman drilled him endlessly in the natural world, and with the many kinds of bargains one can do with the spirit. He learned the rites and rituals of dealing with the spirits, though old Eagle-Eye told him that as much as Tem tried, he just didn't have the power yet to use the effects of the rituals--he would gain his power over the spirits as he grew older and wiser.

Tem grew over the years, as well, to over 6 feet tall. He was only a little taller than the rest of the men in his tribe, but the strange southerners who came to trade sometime were so short!

One dawn when Tem went into his trance, he saw an ethereal creature. "Follow me," it said with its eyes, and bounded off. Tem jumped up and followed it as best he could, using his tracking ability to track the creature when he couldn't see it anymore, though the traces it left behind were fading rapidly. Finally, he stopped, panting, out of breath. There the spirit was, waiting for him. "Gather this up," it told him, "and keep it. It will let you use the power within you." Tem bent down and gathered it up into a small talisman bag that old Eagle-Eye had him make a few years ago. As the spirit slowly faded away, Tem pondered the talisman--and chanted, "O Spirits, illuminate my talisman"--and it lit up like a torch. Tem Three-Spears walked back to the House of Spirits from the woods, and when he approached the door, Eagle-Eye came out. "As my eagle spirit has told me, you have a spirit guide now. Now it is time for your journey into the world."

Tem was stunned. He didn't remember this being part of his duties. "But Shaman--" he protested. "Haha, Tem, call me Eagle-Eye. You're a shaman now. But you need to go out and experience the world--test your limits--challenge yourself. The world is not just the trees and the plains and the frost. The world is the people of the south, the cities, the races, the good, the evil, the everything. You will know when to come back... to replace me. Follow your spirit guide, always."

A still-stunned Tem packed his few things, and the old shaman rested his hand on his shoulders. "It's a violent world out there; you may need this" and opened an old, locked chest that he'd never seen open before, filled with some of the items the southerners sometimes wore. "This leather armor and shield should help you, should you find yourself in a fight--as good as you may be with your spears, you need some protection." Tem nodded his head jerkily, stopping by the tribe's eating area to pick up some rations and went to the edge of the tribe's territory. His spirit guide showed up again, and the two of them went south to the renowned cities of the plains.

OK, so I've come up with this so far, but I'm not sure what to do for a few things.

What should I use as a divine focus? I'm thinking some sort of spirit talisman would be appropriate because while the spirit shaman uses the druid spell list, I don't want to use holly/mistletoe for my Divine Focus.
Any suggestions as to the feats that may benefit this guy? I've only played fighter-type before, and I'm not really sure what to do with regards to spellcasting (in terms of feats), i.e. the Spell Focus, Spell Penetration, any metamagic, etc.
What kind of spirit guide should I get? It doesn't matter game-mechanics wise, but I can't decide on which one, RP-wise. I'd either want to do something he's hunted before, or his tribe's mascot (which I could change to match), or something else.

I was thinking that perhaps I could use some of the Frostburn cold-related spell feats.

Another thing, too--this guy is going to fight with shortspears only--he'll wield a shortspear in his primary hand, and with his shield hand, he'll carry two more shortspears (in case he throws his main shortspear)--hey... THREE shortspears for Tem Three-Spears? What a coincidence.

I'm also going to be concentrating on Concentration (duh), Diplomacy (for people and for spirits, even if the class abilities don't require negotiating with spirits), Knowledge (nature), Spot, and Survival. Is Spellcraft that necessary for a spellcaster, though, by the way?

Tem Three-Spears is also going to be rather shy and uncertain in the cities at first, but as he progresses in level, he'll more and more comfortable with "civilization." :)

Anyway, any advice (on feats or on my background, really) would be greatly appreciated.

Possibly relevant stats: Human Spirit Shaman 1, good Dex, decent Con, good Wis, high Cha.
Lhiannon Sidhe
10-24-04, 06:46 PM (What should I use as a divine focus? I'm thinking some sort of spirit talisman would be appropriate because while the spirit shaman uses the druid spell list, I don't want to use holly/mistletoe for my Divine Focus.)

Prehaps a portion of the antlers of the Elk he took down in his rite of passage has been formed into an amulet, or other bit of jewelry that he could use as a focus.

(What kind of spirit guide should I get? It doesn't matter game-mechanics wise, but I can't decide on which one, RP-wise. I'd either want to do something he's hunted before, or his tribe's mascot (which I could change to match), or something else.)

Keeping with the above theme, prehaps the Elk he killed was not an animal at all, but rather the physical manifestation of a spirit, by defeating it, Tem proved his dominance over the spirit, which would explain why he was selected to succeed the Shaman. Prehaps, now, the Elk Spirit is a sort of servant and guide to Tem.

Also, since you are going to fight solely with spears, even though not a martial class, or prehaps, especially since you arn't a martial class, you might want to take weapon focus with them, to get that extra +1 to attack. Prehaps Point Blank Shot too, if you intend to use them as ranged weapons often. Taking these feats right away could represent his skill with the spear that let him take down the Elk so easily.
Peter the Hegemon
10-25-04, 09:53 PM Prehaps a portion of the antlers of the Elk he took down in his rite of passage has been formed into an amulet, or other bit of jewelry that he could use as a focus.I like this idea a lot, thanks! I had been having trouble thinking of something.
Keeping with the above theme, prehaps the Elk he killed was not an animal at all, but rather the physical manifestation of a spirit, by defeating it, Tem proved his dominance over the spirit, which would explain why he was selected to succeed the Shaman. Prehaps, now, the Elk Spirit is a sort of servant and guide to Tem.

Also, since you are going to fight solely with spears, even though not a martial class, or prehaps, especially since you arn't a martial class, you might want to take weapon focus with them, to get that extra +1 to attack. Prehaps Point Blank Shot too, if you intend to use them as ranged weapons often. Taking these feats right away could represent his skill with the spear that let him take down the Elk so easily.Unfortunately, the spirit shaman has a +0 base attack bonus at first level, so Weapon Focus (shortspear) is out of the picture, at least until the feat at third level. My mention of the elk and the fox (his first kill and his tribe) is purely as a placeholder--I only chose the elk since that seemed a likely animal to hunt. I don't know if you have Complete Divine or not, but the spirit guide description lists over 20 animals, and each animal represents 2 or 3 characteristics. (The spirit guide selection doesn't affect the mechanics at all, just purely a personal preference). The elk represents "pride, power, majesty," which, while the elk would be a cool spirit guide given the background above and your input, I don't think Tem is really a "pride/power/majesty" kind of guy, you know?

I think the Wolf (loyalty, interdependence) might be better, but I don't know. I'm actually really liking your elk idea, hehe. In that train of thought, then--why would Tem Three Spears have a spirit guide who represents pride, power, and majesty?

In terms of feats, I'm thinking of picking up Track and possibly Negotiator (a good Diplomacy bonus never hurts, right?). Of course, this is dependent on the actual party makeup if I ever play Tem since I will probably not take Track if we have a ranger. I'm currently going through the druid spell list to pick out the most likely spells that he will tend to "prepare" (spirit shaman spellcasting is a bit unique), that deal with spirits and such. I'm considering possibly focusing on being a summoner type of shaman (with Augment Summoning (with the required Spell Focus) helping with that), with the rationale that I'm calling the animals/spirits to help me in that particular instance. In terms of the spirit shaman, spirits include all incorporeal undead, fey, and elementals (along with other spirit things) and Summon Nature's Ally II is the first summon spell to conjure an Elemental (Small).

If anyone else has any spellcasting suggestions for Tem, that'd help a lot since I'm unused to using a primary spellcaster.

I also foresee Tem Three Spears being a good "face"/"leader" of the party, despite his naivete to "civilization" (I can't wait for the hijinks).

I got my hands on a copy of Green Ronin's "The Shaman's Handbook," and it's giving me some good background ideas, such a shaman having taboos, i.e.

never eat or drink in the presence of another person
never bathing
never wielding metal weapons (only wood, stone, bone)
never touching the corpse of a humanoid creature (incl. corporeal undead)
never slay a particular type of creature
always wear a particular charm, symbol, or color
never acquire more wealth than you can carry

I rather like the no-metal-weapons thing, and Tem would always have his divine focus (the charm), but I could see him going for the "never acquire more wealth than you can carry" thing (though it may not come into play in a campaign). Additinoally, the tribe's sacred animal is definitely a candidate for "never slaying a particular type of creature."

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Peter the Hegemon 10-24-04, 04:52 PM	Hello everyone, I'm currently creating a level 1 spirit shaman. The spirit shaman class is from Complete Divine, but I'm not playing this character in a campaign yet (just for fun and for when I do get the chance to play). The background thus far: Just one of the boys in the northern tribe of the Laughing Fox, Tem Three-Spears's life changed when old shaman Eagle-Eye selected him, of all the young sons, to be his successor. He can still remember the night well; it was his First Hunt ceremony, when he was to be initiated as a man--and a warrior--of the tribe. Tem took down that ancient elk with only three spears, and barely escaped being gored. The other 13-year-old boys on the First Hunt were awed at his skill, and Tem was so proud when they started whispering "Tem Three-Spears" to each other. But when he entered the House of Warriors, old Eagle-Eye was there and told him, "You will be shaman, not warrior. Follow me," and led him out of the lodgehouse to the small House of Spirits, where the shaman resided. Tem had mixed feelings on this--he so wanted to be a hunter, a warrior like the other men in the tribe. While he respected the shaman, Tem knew Eagle-Eye had power beyond his comprehension, with his ability to speak with and bargain with the spirits to ensure prosperity for the Laughing Fox tribe. He was intimidated, and uncertain, but he knew what an honor was being placed upon him, and he promised to put every effort into learning the secrets of the shaman (though he was going to show up the hunters someday, too). Over the next seven years, the shaman drilled him endlessly in the natural world, and with the many kinds of bargains one can do with the spirit. He learned the rites and rituals of dealing with the spirits, though old Eagle-Eye told him that as much as Tem tried, he just didn't have the power yet to use the effects of the rituals--he would gain his power over the spirits as he grew older and wiser. Tem grew over the years, as well, to over 6 feet tall. He was only a little taller than the rest of the men in his tribe, but the strange southerners who came to trade sometime were so short! One dawn when Tem went into his trance, he saw an ethereal creature. "Follow me," it said with its eyes, and bounded off. Tem jumped up and followed it as best he could, using his tracking ability to track the creature when he couldn't see it anymore, though the traces it left behind were fading rapidly. Finally, he stopped, panting, out of breath. There the spirit was, waiting for him. "Gather this up," it told him, "and keep it. It will let you use the power within you." Tem bent down and gathered it up into a small talisman bag that old Eagle-Eye had him make a few years ago. As the spirit slowly faded away, Tem pondered the talisman--and chanted, "O Spirits, illuminate my talisman"--and it lit up like a torch. Tem Three-Spears walked back to the House of Spirits from the woods, and when he approached the door, Eagle-Eye came out. "As my eagle spirit has told me, you have a spirit guide now. Now it is time for your journey into the world." Tem was stunned. He didn't remember this being part of his duties. "But Shaman--" he protested. "Haha, Tem, call me Eagle-Eye. You're a shaman now. But you need to go out and experience the world--test your limits--challenge yourself. The world is not just the trees and the plains and the frost. The world is the people of the south, the cities, the races, the good, the evil, the everything. You will know when to come back... to replace me. Follow your spirit guide, always." A still-stunned Tem packed his few things, and the old shaman rested his hand on his shoulders. "It's a violent world out there; you may need this" and opened an old, locked chest that he'd never seen open before, filled with some of the items the southerners sometimes wore. "This leather armor and shield should help you, should you find yourself in a fight--as good as you may be with your spears, you need some protection." Tem nodded his head jerkily, stopping by the tribe's eating area to pick up some rations and went to the edge of the tribe's territory. His spirit guide showed up again, and the two of them went south to the renowned cities of the plains. OK, so I've come up with this so far, but I'm not sure what to do for a few things. What should I use as a divine focus? I'm thinking some sort of spirit talisman would be appropriate because while the spirit shaman uses the druid spell list, I don't want to use holly/mistletoe for my Divine Focus. Any suggestions as to the feats that may benefit this guy? I've only played fighter-type before, and I'm not really sure what to do with regards to spellcasting (in terms of feats), i.e. the Spell Focus, Spell Penetration, any metamagic, etc. What kind of spirit guide should I get? It doesn't matter game-mechanics wise, but I can't decide on which one, RP-wise. I'd either want to do something he's hunted before, or his tribe's mascot (which I could change to match), or something else. I was thinking that perhaps I could use some of the Frostburn cold-related spell feats. Another thing, too--this guy is going to fight with shortspears only--he'll wield a shortspear in his primary hand, and with his shield hand, he'll carry two more shortspears (in case he throws his main shortspear)--hey... THREE shortspears for Tem Three-Spears? What a coincidence. I'm also going to be concentrating on Concentration (duh), Diplomacy (for people and for spirits, even if the class abilities don't require negotiating with spirits), Knowledge (nature), Spot, and Survival. Is Spellcraft that necessary for a spellcaster, though, by the way? Tem Three-Spears is also going to be rather shy and uncertain in the cities at first, but as he progresses in level, he'll more and more comfortable with "civilization." :) Anyway, any advice (on feats or on my background, really) would be greatly appreciated. Possibly relevant stats: Human Spirit Shaman 1, good Dex, decent Con, good Wis, high Cha.
Lhiannon Sidhe 10-24-04, 06:46 PM	(What should I use as a divine focus? I'm thinking some sort of spirit talisman would be appropriate because while the spirit shaman uses the druid spell list, I don't want to use holly/mistletoe for my Divine Focus.) Prehaps a portion of the antlers of the Elk he took down in his rite of passage has been formed into an amulet, or other bit of jewelry that he could use as a focus. (What kind of spirit guide should I get? It doesn't matter game-mechanics wise, but I can't decide on which one, RP-wise. I'd either want to do something he's hunted before, or his tribe's mascot (which I could change to match), or something else.) Keeping with the above theme, prehaps the Elk he killed was not an animal at all, but rather the physical manifestation of a spirit, by defeating it, Tem proved his dominance over the spirit, which would explain why he was selected to succeed the Shaman. Prehaps, now, the Elk Spirit is a sort of servant and guide to Tem. Also, since you are going to fight solely with spears, even though not a martial class, or prehaps, especially since you arn't a martial class, you might want to take weapon focus with them, to get that extra +1 to attack. Prehaps Point Blank Shot too, if you intend to use them as ranged weapons often. Taking these feats right away could represent his skill with the spear that let him take down the Elk so easily.
Peter the Hegemon 10-25-04, 09:53 PM	Prehaps a portion of the antlers of the Elk he took down in his rite of passage has been formed into an amulet, or other bit of jewelry that he could use as a focus.I like this idea a lot, thanks! I had been having trouble thinking of something. Keeping with the above theme, prehaps the Elk he killed was not an animal at all, but rather the physical manifestation of a spirit, by defeating it, Tem proved his dominance over the spirit, which would explain why he was selected to succeed the Shaman. Prehaps, now, the Elk Spirit is a sort of servant and guide to Tem. Also, since you are going to fight solely with spears, even though not a martial class, or prehaps, especially since you arn't a martial class, you might want to take weapon focus with them, to get that extra +1 to attack. Prehaps Point Blank Shot too, if you intend to use them as ranged weapons often. Taking these feats right away could represent his skill with the spear that let him take down the Elk so easily.Unfortunately, the spirit shaman has a +0 base attack bonus at first level, so Weapon Focus (shortspear) is out of the picture, at least until the feat at third level. My mention of the elk and the fox (his first kill and his tribe) is purely as a placeholder--I only chose the elk since that seemed a likely animal to hunt. I don't know if you have Complete Divine or not, but the spirit guide description lists over 20 animals, and each animal represents 2 or 3 characteristics. (The spirit guide selection doesn't affect the mechanics at all, just purely a personal preference). The elk represents "pride, power, majesty," which, while the elk would be a cool spirit guide given the background above and your input, I don't think Tem is really a "pride/power/majesty" kind of guy, you know? I think the Wolf (loyalty, interdependence) might be better, but I don't know. I'm actually really liking your elk idea, hehe. In that train of thought, then--why would Tem Three Spears have a spirit guide who represents pride, power, and majesty? In terms of feats, I'm thinking of picking up Track and possibly Negotiator (a good Diplomacy bonus never hurts, right?). Of course, this is dependent on the actual party makeup if I ever play Tem since I will probably not take Track if we have a ranger. I'm currently going through the druid spell list to pick out the most likely spells that he will tend to "prepare" (spirit shaman spellcasting is a bit unique), that deal with spirits and such. I'm considering possibly focusing on being a summoner type of shaman (with Augment Summoning (with the required Spell Focus) helping with that), with the rationale that I'm calling the animals/spirits to help me in that particular instance. In terms of the spirit shaman, spirits include all incorporeal undead, fey, and elementals (along with other spirit things) and Summon Nature's Ally II is the first summon spell to conjure an Elemental (Small). If anyone else has any spellcasting suggestions for Tem, that'd help a lot since I'm unused to using a primary spellcaster. I also foresee Tem Three Spears being a good "face"/"leader" of the party, despite his naivete to "civilization" (I can't wait for the hijinks). I got my hands on a copy of Green Ronin's "The Shaman's Handbook," and it's giving me some good background ideas, such a shaman having taboos, i.e. never eat or drink in the presence of another person never bathing never wielding metal weapons (only wood, stone, bone) never touching the corpse of a humanoid creature (incl. corporeal undead) never slay a particular type of creature always wear a particular charm, symbol, or color never acquire more wealth than you can carry I rather like the no-metal-weapons thing, and Tem would always have his divine focus (the charm), but I could see him going for the "never acquire more wealth than you can carry" thing (though it may not come into play in a campaign). Additinoally, the tribe's sacred animal is definitely a candidate for "never slaying a particular type of creature."