Druidic Wind Shaman

[ExemplarofAvg]

If such a thing as a Druid exists, why is there the Spirit Shaman?

also what are some good spells either RAW or from experience, that have the Air Descriptor. Thinking about putting a wind god in a campaign, or a windgod in training.

[Flickerdart]

The Spirit Shaman has a very strong theme of, as you might gather, spirits, while the Druid is very much about living things (Bone Talisman notwithstanding).

There is a Spell Index (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/lists/spells) on the WotC site. There are not very many [air] spells, but among them are fun ones like Defenestrating Sphere, Wind Wall and Control Winds, which can be used to spam tornadoes.

[Zaq]

If such a thing as a Druid exists, why is there the Spirit Shaman?

also what are some good spells either RAW or from experience, that have the Air Descriptor. Thinking about putting a wind god in a campaign, or a windgod in training.

Not really sure what you mean by the first question. Do you just feel that they overlap in design space? I actually feel like they have a very different flavor to them (the Druid is in tune with the hard, cold, and beautiful aspects of nature as it is, while the Spirit Shaman is in tune with the world just beyond the natural one, to simplify a bit), and they actually feel very different in play. They're much less similar than, say, a Wizard and a Sorcerer. (Speaking of which, if you're going to gripe about class role overlap . . . yeah. Not to mention the Lurk/Psychic Rogue pair, the Fighter/Samurai pair, the Ranger/Scout pair, the Psion/Ardent pair, the Cleric/Favored Soul pair, the Sorcerer/Shugenja pair, the Wizard/Wu Jen pair . . .)

[ExemplarofAvg]

Not really sure what you mean by the first question. Do you just feel that they overlap in design space? I actually feel like they have a very different flavor to them (the Druid is in tune with the hard, cold, and beautiful aspects of nature as it is, while the Spirit Shaman is in tune with the world just beyond the natural one, to simplify a bit), and they actually feel very different in play. They're much less similar than, say, a Wizard and a Sorcerer. (Speaking of which, if you're going to gripe about class role overlap . . . yeah. Not to mention the Lurk/Psychic Rogue pair, the Fighter/Samurai pair, the Ranger/Scout pair, the Psion/Ardent pair, the Cleric/Favored Soul pair, the Sorcerer/Shugenja pair, the Wizard/Wu Jen pair . . .)

I've seen it mostly as Wizard is to Sorceror as Druid is to Spirit Shaman without Wildshape. With a few other features directed towards the incorporeal.

[Zaq]

Not . . . quite. The loss of Wildshape and the AC makes the Spirit Shaman a lot less melee-oriented by default. If they choose to, they can still buff up and crack skulls (just as a Druid can choose to ignore that option), but it's not quite as appealing an option out of the gate as it is for Druids. Their respective focuses are different before you even consider the whole prepped/spontaneous thing. Also, the unique "retrieval" mechanism they use really adds an element to them that makes them feel different from other spontaneous casters. They're an interesting class, and it's entirely possible to have one in a party with a Druid without them treading on each other's toes.

Also, the class features go a long way. Spirit Shamans actually get class features that are worth noticing.