Foundations | |
Required Abilities |
Con, Wis, Per |
Axiom |
Servant |
Affinity |
Primal |
Spell Casting |
Wis |
Spell Attack |
San |
Saving Throws |
Con, Wis, San |
Hit Dice |
D6 |
HP @ Lvl 1 |
Your Con Modifier + 1d6 or 4. |
HP @ Higher Lvls |
Your Con Modifier + 1d6 / Level After 1st |
Introduction
The world is a place of many strange powers, and among those powers are the Spirits of the World, grouped into certain broad types: The Numen, the Jinja, the Oloshe, the Halaso, and the Qira — the Spirits of the World, found in all things and in all places where there is some part of the sacred, some quirk of the supernatural, some element of awe and wonder.
These spirits can play important roles in human lives. Shamans can cooperate with the spirits for the community’s benefit, even though The spirits can be either good or bad. The Numen are the Wee Folk, who dwell among those things made by People, called into being by wonder and awe and family. The Oloshe are a darker spirit, more violent, less kind, and given to the harder edges of life. The Jinja and Halaso and Qira are all yet more kinds of spirits, and all of them have types within them, and all are protean, and half seen, peculiar and particular. They are conduits to those who have been lost to the great cycle, and they are found in all places, in all things, and it is to these spirits of the world that the Shamans are given.
There are other names for some of these kinds of spirits. Dryads, Naiads, Treants, Sylphs, and more. Most people do not see them, do not hear them, and 9only encounter them when they are angered or incredibly pleased. Shamans know them as fiends, as companions, as beings with whom one can share a meal or a conversation or a challenging problem.
There are, of course, also ghosts, to consider. Shamans do, indeed, see dead people.
Often unwelcomed in Cities, treated harshly by those in power, Shamans are those who would know the word as it is, and know the cycles as they are, and would bargain with those things that other mortals fear and dread and seek to banish – even when they should not.
Animistss eschew much of the civilized world’s trappings, though are not above creature comforts. They often adorn themselves with bones and skulls and furs, for even the animals of the world are their domain, spirits of their own sort, and they use those things to call upon the power they gain from the Spirits of the world.
Fetish
The Focal of a Shaman is a fairly simple object, ranging from 3 to 7 feet in length, and composed of a strange and peculiar items gathered and assembled — often tied with hair or sinew – into an object that becomes weighty with the promise and power that it wields. Many will tell you that a fetish must only be made from materials that were once alive, but this isn’t correct; some will fashion it to include bells, small stones, gems, and even bits of glass, all to go along with the shells, feathers, bones, fur, leaves, and other odds and ends that make the ever-important Fetish. Thus, to outsiders, a Shaman’s Fetish is an unnerving, uncivilized, grotesquerie.
And ever important it is, as well; a Fetish is the grimoire of the Shaman, each piece and working of it a bit of themselves forged into the whole, and becoming a repository for how they uti8lize the magic they wield, as well as a repository of their power. Every Shaman has a specific reason for why they opted to do one or the other, but once they have fixed themselves to one or the other, that is what they use forever after.
Fetishes are incredibly important for a Shaman, as they ultimately serve as the grimoire of the particular Shaman, though it might never be in a form that anyone could ever effectively decipher without their aide. They are incredibly personalized things, with fetishes including feathers and shells and bits of bone, stones and bells and glass, each small piece having a deep meaning.
Role
Proficiencies | |
Skills (Pick 2) |
Deftness, Evasion, History, Culture, Medicine, Nature, Discipline, Tracking, Foraging, Navigate, Primalism |
Spell Proficiency |
Simple, Rudimentary, Intermediate, Advanced, Expert |
Armor Training |
Standard, Shield |
Weapon Training |
Simple, Common, Specialist |
Wyrlde is not safe. A merchant traveling to peddle simple wares must hire guards and protectors. A family trying against reason to carve a small holding out of the wilderness may be present one night and slaughtered the next. Rangers patrol the paths to oppose the worst, and Shamans are those who seek to make things either safer, or less safe, as befits their nature, as they wander around collecting the numen and Oloshe and other spirits they partner with.
Like Witches, they are looked at askance in public, and sought in private, for should you need guidance from a lost love or seek to make your crops bloom or another’s wither, you can do so by consulting a Shaman. Shamans know a great deal about the worlds beyond our own, and the denizens there, and the spirits of the world and the ills they can cause. They are feared or revered, often in equal measure, and the land on which a Shaman has built a home is a place few would dare to tread.
It is the task of finding that place, and securing enough to settle it, that often leads to Shamans being out in the world, and to becoming adventurers, for how else can one find the wealth to live alone? These homes are often called an Embrace, and there is a great deal about them that can be unnerving or off-putting, for an Embrace can have trees that speak and rocks that move and be filled with things that most people hope they never see at night.
Or at least, that’s what they’ll tell you. When these people who prefer privacy and solitude and good companionship deign to tell you.
Shamans, in truth, are equal parts storyteller, healer, and keepers of history. They are a rough and tumble sort, some serving the old ones. Among those in the northwest, they are legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals, and political advisors. Within the Empire, they are Wardsmen and Husbanders, traveling among the farms and the villages and giving what aid they can to folks who do not seek to presence or comfort of a Cleric.
They are the servants of the World’s Heart, and they are as bound to it as surely and as truly as Chicory is. Their most terrifying ability to many is their Embrace, for those within a Shaman’s Embrace are subject most often to their whims and their wills in a way few can say who are not nobles. Shamans speak and deal with beings and entities who are not wholly of this place, this Plane, this solid foundation. From them they can gain power and through them they can learn things and come to know things that others would have a hard time learning. They are not guardians of nature so much as they are a part of it in a way that perhaps only Rangers can fully understand.
The Two abilities of a Shaman that cause the most concern are their Summonings and their Embrace – for these gifts of the Spirit are what are said to define who they are more than anything else. Merchants will sometimes stake a Shaman to hold a particularly rough area along a well-traveled route. Physics and Alchemists and herbalists will seek them out to locate rare and special plants and ingredients.
The third ability of a Shaman that is of concern is their wandering, for Shamans know the edges of the world, the thin spots within the Tapestry, the smooth spots of the veil, and within the trance, they can move through and within it in a way that no others can. Trances can be different for each, sometimes through chants, or even breathing, perhaps drumming or dancing.
Shamans do have some ability to heal, to cure illness, to defy spirits. It is knowledge that drives them, but it is the knowledge of the world around them, and a seeking of living within its wholeness that defines them, in ways that most mortals can neither understand, nor on paths that many can follow.
All Shamans have a Fetish as their Focal. While a fetish can take many forms, three things are always true about it: It never has metal as part of its construction (though some metal may be part of what empowers it), it is always crafted by the Shaman personally, and it can only be made of that which was once alive. Some fetishes are scepters of feather and bone, others are pouches of hide and reed, still others are garments or ornamentation. Some will hold things of power; others will be things of power – though what that power is will vary from Shaman to Shaman.
Fortes
The Call
A Call is an ululating cry, a sound you can make for up to 30 seconds at a time, a number of times equal to your level. The Call is a key feature of the Shaman – most of their abilities rely on it.
One use of your call can be regained by a Long rest, and three successive Long Rests without using your call can restore all uses.
Your call can be interrupted – if you take damage from an attack while making a call, you must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against the amount of damage you take, or the call is interrupted.
Summoning Spirit
Spiritual Protectors
Starting at 1st Level, spectral warriors appear when you call. While you’re calling, the first creature you hit with an attack on your turn becomes the target of the warriors, which hinder its attacks. Until the start of your next turn, that target has disadvantage on any attack roll that isn’t against you, and when the target hits a creature other than you with an attack, that creature has resistance to the damage dealt by the attack. The effect on the target ends early if your call is interrupted.
Companion
At 5th Level, you gain the ability to Call a spirit that assumes an animal form: as an action, you can expend a use of your Spiritual Protector feature to cast the find familiar spell, without mama.
When you Call in this way, the familiar is a Numen instead of a beast, and the familiar disappears after a number of hours equal to half your Shaman level.
Shelter In The Storm
At 9th Level, home can be wherever you are. During a short or long rest, you can invoke the shadowy power of the spirits to help guard your respite. At the start of the rest, you touch a point in space, and an invisible, 30-foot-radius sphere of magic appears, centered on that point. Total cover blocks the sphere.
While within the sphere, you and your allies gain a +5 bonus to Dexterity (Stealth) and Wisdom (Perception) checks, and any light from open flames in the sphere (a campfire, torches, or the like) isn’t visible outside it.
The sphere vanishes at the end of the rest or when you leave the sphere.
Vengeful Ancestors
At 13th Level, your ancestral spirits grow powerful enough to retaliate. When you use your Spirit Shield to reduce the damage of an attack, the attacker takes an amount of force damage equal to the damage that your Spirit Shield prevents.
Guiding Spirit
Spirit Lords
Starting at 1st Level, you can call forth nature spirits to influence the world around you. As a bonus action, you can Call an incorporeal spirit to a point you can see within 60 feet of you. The spirit creates an aura in a 30-foot radius around that point. It counts as neither a creature nor an object, though it has the spectral appearance of the creature it represents.
As a bonus action, you can move the spirit up to 60 feet to a point you can see.
The spirit persists for 1 minute or until you’re incapacitated. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest.
The effect of the spirit’s aura depends on the type of spirit you summon from the options below.
- Jinja. Each creature of your choice in the aura when the spirit appears gains temporary hit points equal to 5 + your Shaman level. In addition, you and your allies gain advantage on Strength checks and Strength saving throws while in the aura.
- Halaso. When a creature makes an attack roll against a target in the spirit’s aura, you can use your reaction to grant advantage to that attack roll. In addition, you and your allies have advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks while in the aura.
- Qira. You and your allies gain advantage on all ability checks made to detect creatures in the spirit’s aura. In addition, if you cast a spell using a spell slot that restores hit points to any creature inside or outside the aura, each creature of your choice in the aura also regains hit points equal to your Shaman level.
Mighty Summoner
Starting at 5th Level, spirits that you conjure are more resilient than normal. Any spirit summoned or created by a spell that you cast gains the following benefits:
The creature appears with more hit points than normal: 2 extra hit points per Hit Die it has.
The damage from its natural weapons is considered magical for the purpose of overcoming immunity and resistance to nonmagical attacks and damage.
Guardian Spirit
Beginning at 9th Level, your Spirit Lord safeguards the spirits that you call forth with your magic. When a spirit that you summoned or created with a spell ends its turn in your Spirit Lord aura, that creature regains a number of hit points equal to half your Shaman level.
Consult the Spirits
At 13th Level, you gain the ability to consult with ancestral spirits. When you do so, you cast the augury or clairvoyance spell, without using any mana. Rather than creating a spherical sensor, this use of clairvoyance invisibly summons one of your ancestral spirits to the chosen location. Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for these spells.
After you cast either spell in this way, you can’t use this feature again until you finish a short or long rest.
Wandering Spirit
Spirit Champion
You can empower yourself with the legends—whether true or exaggerated—of spirit’s great deeds. As a bonus action, you gain the following benefits for 1 minute:
- You are blessed with an otherworldly presence, gaining advantage on all Charisma checks.
- Once on each of your turns when you make a weapon attack and miss, you can cause that attack to hit instead.
- If you fail a saving throw, you can use your reaction to reroll it. You must use this new roll.
Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest, unless you expend a 5th-level spell slot to use it again.
Spirit Walker
At 5th Level, you can cast the commune with nature spell, but only as a ritual. When you do so, a spirit appears to you to convey the information you seek.
Hidden Paths
Starting at 9th Level, you can use the hidden, magical pathways that some fey use to traverse space in the blink of an eye. As a bonus action on your turn, you can teleport up to 60 feet to an unoccupied space you can see. Alternatively, you can use your action to teleport one willing creature you touch up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space you can see.
You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum of once), and you regain all expended uses of it when you finish a long rest.
Channel The World
When you reach 13th Level, creatures of the natural world sense your connection to nature and become hesitant to attack you. When a beast or plant creature attacks you, that creature must make a Wisdom saving throw against your Shaman spell save DC. On a failed save, the creature must choose a different target, or the attack automatically misses. On a successful save, the creature is immune to this effect for 24 hours.
The creature is aware of this effect before it makes its attack against you.
Walker in Dreams
At 17th Level, your magic grants you the ability to travel mentally or physically through dreamlands.
When you finish a short rest, you can cast one of the following spells, without expending mana or requiring material components:
- dream (with you as the messenger),
- scrying, or
- teleportation circle.
This use of teleportation circle is special. Rather than opening a portal to a permanent teleportation circle, it opens a portal to the last location where you finished a long rest on your current plane of existence. If you haven’t taken a long rest on your current plane, the spell fails but isn’t wasted.
Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.
Embracing Spirit
Disperse Spirit
Starting at 5th Level: Out of all the professions, only Shamans can deal with Ghosts; as an action, you present your Fetish and command the Ghost to Move On.
Each Ghost of a CR equal to or Lower than your Shaman Level that can see or hear you within 30 feet of you must make a Wisdom saving throw. If the creature fails its saving throw, it is turned for 1 minute or until it takes any damage.
A turned creature must spend its turns trying to move as far away from you as it can, and it can’t willingly move to a space within 30 feet of you. It also can’t take reactions. For its action, it can use only the Dash action or try to escape from an effect that prevents it from moving. If there’s nowhere to move, the creature can use the Dodge action.
At 9th Level, when a Ghost that has a CR equal to your Level or less fails its saving throw against your Turn Fell feature, the ghost is instantly banished to the Cycle.
Spirit Shield
Beginning at 5th Level, the guardian spirits that aid you can provide supernatural protection to those you defend. If you are Calling and another creature you can see within 30 feet of you takes damage, you can use your reaction to reduce that damage by 2d6, increasing by 1d6 with each additional degree of mastery.
Embrace
Starting at 13th Level, Shamans can extend their Chi and Embrace an area, using the spirits to create an area of hazard.
Embracing takes an Action, and once Embraced the Shaman cannot leave the Embrace, though you can move around within it. An Embrace cannot be done within a settled area and covers a circle equal to 30 feet plus 5 feet per level of the Shaman. Embracing costs 15 Mana points and can be done a number of times equal to your Mana modifier (minimum of 1) between long rests.
The Embrace is a sphere with the Shaman at the center, and while active, the Shaman’s spirits can grant to allies within that region a number of resistances equal to your wisdom modifier. The resistances can be of any of the following types but must be stated before the embrace takes effect.
Acid |
Air |
Bludgeoning |
Celestial |
Corruption |
Crushing |
Fire/Heat |
Force/Spirit |
Frost/Cold |
Heart |
Infernal |
Lightning |
Manic |
Necrotic |
Nethic |
Pain |
Piercing |
Poisoning |
Psychic |
Radiant |
Sand |
Shadow |
Slashing |
Smoke |
Spectral |
Stone |
Sun |
Thunder |
Water |
Additionally, while within the Embrace, and unwelcome creatures or beings are affected by one of the following specified conditions, also chosen by the Shaman at the time of Embracing.
Allergy |
Choking |
Confused |
Coughing |
Dazed | |
Fatigue |
Intoxicated |
Numbed |
Poisoned | ||
Slowed |
Stunned |
Stupefied | |||
Unbalanced |
Vulnerable |
Each use of the Embrace lasts for 1 minute per level of the caster. You regain all uses after a long rest.
Spirit Form
Starting at 17th Level, you become partially incorporeal, giving you resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage.
Apprenticeship
Starting Gear | |
Gear |
Small Backpack, Tinderbox, Large Sack, 30’ Rope, Waterskin |
Tools or Kit |
Handiwork or Husbandry |
Focus |
Totem or Fetish |
Armor |
None |
Weaponry |
None |
Wealth Bonus |
20 |
Shamans are trained by other Shamans, always on a one-on-one basis, a single pupil and a single master, but the truly glorious quirk to it is that the Shaman teachers will trade pupils. I do not mean in the sense of an exchange, I mean in the sense of a sale of a pupil from one to another, and Shamans will always ask for something when approached, without ever saying what it is they want. One of the stories they will often tell is of the challenge they had trying to find a suitable donative, with the end always being something peculiar, such as the tooth of a wolf or a particular flower.
Within their own strange world, Shaman’s place value according to their own ideas, and will bargain with it around others – sometimes a student has been traded for a dried and pressed dandelion from Kahokian lands, or a silver chased flask willed with a rare wine. What mattes, always, is what the value that the individual Shamans place on such things is, and that neither leaves unhappy with the exchange.
This is important to know because training as a Shaman is often seen as haphazard
Aspects
Orders
Shamans can specialize in a single weapon from both the Melee and Ranged types (2 total).
They do not learn any Orders.
Precepts
At 3rd Level, you can choose one aspect from the Postulant list.
At 7th Level, you can choose one aspect from the Initiate list, or one aspect from the Postulant list.
At 11th Level you can choose one aspect from the Member list, or one aspect from the Initiate list, or one aspect from the Postulant list.
At 15th Level you can choose one aspect from the Hieros list, or one aspect from the Member list, or one aspect from the Initiate list, or one aspect from the Postulant list.
At 19th Level you can choose one aspect from the Alumni list, or one aspect from the Hieros list, or one aspect from the Member list, or one aspect from the Initiate list, or one aspect from the Postulant list.
Maxims
At 4th Level, you can choose one Dedicated Maxim.
At 8th Level you can choose one Persistent Maxim or one Dedicated Maxim.
At 12th Level you can choose one Zealous Maxim or one Persistent Maxim or one Dedicated Maxim.
At 16th Level you can choose one Unyielding Maxim or one Zealous Maxim or one Persistent Maxim or one Dedicated Maxim.
At 20th Level you can choose one Absolutist Maxim or one Unyielding Maxim or one Zealous Maxim or one Persistent Maxim or one Dedicated Maxim.
Esoterica
Shamans can exchange an Esoterica for a Mystery for up to three of their Esoterica slots, total. This does include Core Mysteries, as well, enabling them to learn greater complexity spells.
At 2nd Level, you can choose one aspect from the Postulant list.
At 6th Level, you can choose one aspect from the Initiate list, or one aspect from the Postulant list.
At 10th Level, you can choose one aspect from the Member list, or one aspect from the Initiate list, or one aspect from the Postulant list.
At 14th Level, you can choose one aspect from the Hieros list, or one aspect from the Member list, or one aspect from the Initiate list, or one aspect from the Postulant list.
At 18th Level, you can choose one aspect from the Alumni list, or one aspect from the Hieros list, or one aspect from the Member list, or one aspect from the Initiate list, or one aspect from the Postulant list.
Mysteries
Affinity |
Axiom |
Cipher |
Manifestation |
Orgone |
Primal |
Servant |
Shine |
Chi | |
Affinity Score |
Axiom Score |
Spell |
Spell Book |
Focal |
San |
Wis |
Hex |
Occultaire |
Totem or Fetish |
Spell Level |
Spell Point Cost |
Actions to Cast |
Cantrips / 0 |
1 |
1 |
1 Level Spells |
3 |
1 |
2 Level Spells |
5 |
2 |
3 Level Spells |
8 |
2 |
4 Level Spells |
12 |
3 |
5 Level Spells |
14 |
3 |
6 Level Spells |
17 |
4 |
7 Level Spells |
19 |
4 |
8 Level Spells |
21 |
5 |
9 Level Spells |
25 |
5 |
Much to the surprise of many, Shamans are able to employ and use the higher complexity Mysteries, even though they are not usually able to use spells of that sort.
Also of import is an extremely rare capability that is often only whispered about with disbelief: Shamans can store Mana equal to three times their Mana score in their Fetish. To do so requires spending 5 points of mana to enable the particular primal capacity, then storing up to a total of their Mana score each day, then sealing it with another 5 points of mana. This can only be done once between long rests and takes two hours to do during which they can do nothing else. The end result is that it enables a Shaman to avoid collapsing when they run out oof Mana, as they are able to draw from it. It is said that this is possible because of how much of themselves the Shaman puts into their Fetish.
At 1st Level, you gain 1 Simple Mystery.
At 5th Level, you gain 1 Rudimentary Mystery, or 1 Simple Mystery.
At 9th Level, you gain 1 Intermediate Mystery, or 1 Rudimentary Mystery, or 2 Simple Mysteries.
At 13th Level, you gain 1 Advanced Mystery, or 1 Intermediate Mystery, or 2 Rudimentary Mysteries, or 2 Simple Mysteries.
At 17th Level, you gain 1 Expert Mystery, or 1 Advanced Mystery, or 2 Intermediate Mysteries, or 2 Rudimentary Mysteries, or 3 Simple Mysteries.
Mana Stored & Spells Per Level
Complexity -> |
Mana Stored |
Simple |
Rudimentary |
Intermediate | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mastery |
Level |
Cantrip |
1st Level |
2nd Level |
3rd Level |
4th Level |
5th Level | |
Novice |
1 |
10 |
3 | |||||
2 |
20 |
4 |
1 | |||||
3 |
30 |
4 |
1 | |||||
4 |
40 |
4 |
2 |
1 | ||||
Yeoman |
5 |
50 |
5 |
2 |
1 | |||
6 |
60 |
5 |
3 |
2 |
1 | |||
7 |
70 |
5 |
3 |
2 |
1 | |||
8 |
80 |
6 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 | ||
Adept |
9 |
90 |
6 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 | |
10 |
100 |
6 |
5 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 | |
11 |
110 |
7 |
5 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 | |
12 |
120 |
7 |
6 |
5 |
4 |
3 |
2 | |
Master |
13 |
130 |
7 |
6 |
5 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
14 |
140 |
8 |
7 |
6 |
5 |
4 |
3 | |
15 |
150 |
8 |
7 |
6 |
5 |
4 |
3 | |
16 |
160 |
8 |
8 |
7 |
6 |
5 |
4 | |
Grand Master |
17 |
170 |
9 |
8 |
7 |
6 |
5 |
4 |
18 |
180 |
9 |
9 |
8 |
7 |
6 |
5 | |
19 |
190 |
10 |
9 |
8 |
7 |
6 |
5 | |
20 |
200 |
10 |
10 |
9 |
8 |
7 |
6 |
Proficiencies
At 2nd Level, you gain 2 proficiency slots.
At 6th Level, you gain 2 proficiency slots.
At 10th Level, you gain 3 proficiency slots.
At 14th Level, you gain 2 proficiency slots.
At 18th Level, you gain 2 proficiency slots.
Ability Score Increases
At 3rd Level, You gain 2 points.
At 7th Level, You gain 2 points.
At 11th Level, You gain 3 points.
At 15th Level, You gain 2 points.
At 19th Level, You gain 1 point.
Leveling Table
Level |
Mastery |
Prof Bonus |
Skill |
Forte |
ASI |
Maxims |
Precepts |
Mysteries |
Orders |
Esoterica |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Novice |
0 |
Yes |
Simple |
First | |||||
2 |
0 |
Yes |
Yes | |||||||
3 |
0 |
Yes |
Yes | |||||||
4 |
+1 |
Yes |
Rudiments | |||||||
5 |
Yeoman / Doyen |
+1 |
Yes |
Second | ||||||
6 |
+1 |
Yes |
Yes | |||||||
7 |
+1 |
Yes |
Yes | |||||||
8 |
+2 |
Yes |
Medial | |||||||
9 |
Adept |
+2 |
Yes |
Third | ||||||
10 |
+2 |
Yes |
Yes | |||||||
11 |
+2 |
Yes |
Yes | |||||||
12 |
+3 |
Yes |
Advanced | |||||||
13 |
Master |
+3 |
Yes |
Fourth | ||||||
14 |
+3 |
Yes |
Yes | |||||||
15 |
+3 |
Yes |
Yes | |||||||
16 |
+4 |
Yes |
Expert | |||||||
17 |
Grand Master |
+4 |
Yes |
Fifth | ||||||
18 |
+4 |
Yes |
Yes | |||||||
19 |
+4 |
Yes |
Yes | |||||||
20 |
+5 |
Yes |