WallyNes
2009-04-09, 04:32 AM
I am building a new character. A shaman.
A shaman how I see what a shaman should be. That is to say: Dragon shaman, nope. Spirit shaman, nope
Druid template. Druid base. Druid spell list.
Mostly
I have most of it figured out. But there's some things that still bug me.
Setting: All the gods died. Well, corellon is still supposed to be there. But he only really services the elves of magic. It has been so long since there are no gods that people have started worshipping other things. Initially things like fire, harvest. But now things are getting a bit more nuanced. And several mortals have put themselves forth as avatars/gods.
The shaman is an off-shoot of old style druids. Meaning that while the druid is all nature, shamans go more for ideas(emerged between the death of the god and the initial worshipping of the things like fire etc). They commune with, and are given power by, the spirits. Spirits of nature(tree, river etc), but also spirits of animals(hawk, wolf) and the idea behind animals (The hawk spirit) aswell as the spirit of the elements (fire, air). Therefor, for instance, some spells such as talk with animals will be replaced by talk with spirits. The chastise spirits from the spirit shaman will be implemented (Though severely less powerful). Dominate animal will be removed from my spell list. Things like that.
This is where it gets technical. I don't see myself using wild shape until the elemental phase. As it is simply not in the scope of the character. I will be using the aspects of nature (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/classFeatureVariants.htm#wildShapeVariantAspectOfN ature) instead.
My animal companion got traded in for a spirit guide with very limited combat potential.
Between those two I lose a lot of Umpf of the druid untill his epic caster portion.
Another thing that is part of the druid class that doesn't work for me is: Summon nature's Ally. Now, I can drop this without much problem but that leaves me with nothing for spontanious casting. A druid can drop any spell for a summon nature's ally of the same level. I want to have something for spontanious casting. I can opt for the cleric's option for dropping any spell for a healing spell but I don't want to just be a healbot.
So I need an option on how I can fill in this hole in the character. Preferably so that I make up some of the shortcomings I got from the other things but not too overpowered. (It'll need the DM's seal of approval :P)
The nice thing about Summon Nature's Ally and heal is that you have a new one every level and that you may actually end up using it a lot. I have yet to find something to properly fill that niche.
Any ideas from this forum?
A shaman how I see what a shaman should be. That is to say: Dragon shaman, nope. Spirit shaman, nope
Druid template. Druid base. Druid spell list.
Mostly
I have most of it figured out. But there's some things that still bug me.
Setting: All the gods died. Well, corellon is still supposed to be there. But he only really services the elves of magic. It has been so long since there are no gods that people have started worshipping other things. Initially things like fire, harvest. But now things are getting a bit more nuanced. And several mortals have put themselves forth as avatars/gods.
The shaman is an off-shoot of old style druids. Meaning that while the druid is all nature, shamans go more for ideas(emerged between the death of the god and the initial worshipping of the things like fire etc). They commune with, and are given power by, the spirits. Spirits of nature(tree, river etc), but also spirits of animals(hawk, wolf) and the idea behind animals (The hawk spirit) aswell as the spirit of the elements (fire, air). Therefor, for instance, some spells such as talk with animals will be replaced by talk with spirits. The chastise spirits from the spirit shaman will be implemented (Though severely less powerful). Dominate animal will be removed from my spell list. Things like that.
This is where it gets technical. I don't see myself using wild shape until the elemental phase. As it is simply not in the scope of the character. I will be using the aspects of nature (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/classFeatureVariants.htm#wildShapeVariantAspectOfN ature) instead.
My animal companion got traded in for a spirit guide with very limited combat potential.
Between those two I lose a lot of Umpf of the druid untill his epic caster portion.
Another thing that is part of the druid class that doesn't work for me is: Summon nature's Ally. Now, I can drop this without much problem but that leaves me with nothing for spontanious casting. A druid can drop any spell for a summon nature's ally of the same level. I want to have something for spontanious casting. I can opt for the cleric's option for dropping any spell for a healing spell but I don't want to just be a healbot.
So I need an option on how I can fill in this hole in the character. Preferably so that I make up some of the shortcomings I got from the other things but not too overpowered. (It'll need the DM's seal of approval :P)
The nice thing about Summon Nature's Ally and heal is that you have a new one every level and that you may actually end up using it a lot. I have yet to find something to properly fill that niche.
Any ideas from this forum?