Spirit Shaman

Spirit shamans cast divine spells by bargaining with living spirits, gaining power over the natural world.

Alignment restrictions: None

Class features progression
Spellcasting: Divine (Charisma and Wisdom based, no need for spell preparation). Must have a Wisdom score of 10 + the spell's level to cast a spell.

Spirit Guide
All spirit shamans have a personal spirit guide. This incorporeal entity grants the shaman the Alertness feat automatically.

Chastise Spirits
Spirits (even if incorporeal) within a 30’ radius Burst of you take 1d6 per Class level (Will save for half, DC is Charisma-based). Usable as a standard action, 3 + Charisma modifier times per day.

Detect Spirits
Usable at will as a spell-like ability. Same as Detect Undead, but applies to spirits.

Blessing of the Spirits
Activated with a 10 minute ritual. Usable at will as a Spell-Like Ability. As Protection from Evil (self only), except it applies to spirits and has a duration of permanent (may be dispelled or dismissed).

Follow the Guide
If you fail a saving throw vs. an enchantment, you receive a save the next round at the same DC.

Ghost Warrior
Any weapon you hold gains "Ghost Touch". Incorporeal creatures attempting to make a touch attack on you must hit your normal AC instead (i.e., all your bonuses to AC are "Ghost Touch" as well).

Warding of the Spirits
Activated with a 10 minute ritual. Usable once per day as a spell-like ability. As Magic Circle against Evil, except it applies to spirits and has a duration of 10 minutes per level.

Spirit Form
You become incorporeal. This is a supernatural ability which is activated with a standard action and has a duration of 1 minute. In addition to the standard benefits of being incorporeal, you gain a touch attack (attack roll is Dexterity based) that does 1d6 damage and is treated as ‘magic’ for purposes of overcoming damage reduction.

Guide Magic
Your spirit guide (i.e., a second sentience within your mind) can maintain Concentration on spells for you. Conditions affecting your body (such as damage and being entangled) do not apply to it, so it does not normally have to make Concentration checks. If a spell requires a check, it uses your Concentration check bonus.

Recall Spirit
Raise Dead, usable once per week as a spell-like ability. Only usable within 1 round of the target’s death, but does not result in loss of level.

Exorcism
Drive a spirit out of a body it is possessing by making an class level check + charisma modifier vs. DC 10 + possessing creature's HD + possessing creature's Charisma modifier. An exorcized spirit cannot attempt to possess the same victim for 24 hours. Usable as a will as a full round action.

Weaken Spirits
When using the Chastise Spirit class ability, you may forgo damage to remove some of the defenses of every Spirit in the area of effect (Will negates). Each affected spirit has the following suppressed: Spell resistance, damage reduction (except vs. /adamantine or /-), and an incorporeal creature looses its immunity to non-magic attacks, the 50% miss chance of corporeal attacks, & its ability to move through solid objects. The effect lasts for 1 round per 3 HD of damage forgone.

Spirit Journey
Shadow Walk (self only), usable 1/day as a spell-like ability. Travels through the Plane of Spirit (instead of the Plane of Shadow), so does not need to enter through shadows.

Favored of the Spirits
You gain a contingency affect that activates a Heal if your hit-points or ability score drop to 0 (or lower).

Spirit Who Walks
You become a fey being and gain damage reduction 5/cold iron.

Spellcasting

 * Druid spell list
 * Sorcerer spell progression: Spirit shamans have the same spell progression as sorcerers.

A spirit shaman casts divine spells, which are drawn from the druid spell list.

To learn or cast a spell, a spirit shaman must have a Wisdom score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. However, the Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a spirit shaman's spell is 10 + the spell level + the spirit shaman's Charisma modifier.

Initial selection
A spirit shaman begins play knowing four 0-level orisons and two 1st-level spells of your choice.

Leveling
At each new spirit shaman level, she gains one or more new spells. The number of spells known increase at each new spirit shaman level according to the spirit shaman spell progression. It is not affected by the character's wisdom score. These new spells can be common spells chosen from the druid/spirit shaman soul spell list, or they can be unusual spells that the spirit shaman has gained through studying. The spirit shaman can't use this method of spell acquisition to learn spells at a faster rate, however.

Replacing
Starting at their 6th class level, and every two levels after, spirit shamans can replace one known spell with a new spell of the same level. The spell that can be replaced must be two spell levels below (or lower) what the spirit shaman can currently cast (1st level spell at 6, 1st or 2nd level spell at 8, 1st or 2nd or 3rd level spell at 10, and so forth).

Casting
A spirit shaman need not prepare her spells in advance. She can cast any spell he knows at any time, assuming she has not yet used up his spells per day for that spell level. She does not have to decide ahead of time which spells she’ll cast.

Spirit shamans can also use metamagic feats instantly when choosing spells to cast.

NWN comparison

 * This class did not exist in NWN.

DnD 3.5E comparison

 * In 3.5E, spirit shamans may change their known spells each day through spell retrieval. In NWN2, the shamans use the same spell selection as sorcerers, bards, and favored souls.

External resources

 * The Spirit Shaman Handbook