Spirit Shaman



Spirit Shaman is a base class that was introduced in Mask of the Betrayer.

Description
Master of the spirit world, the spirit shaman follows a different divine tradition from that of the cleric or druid. Her world is filled with powerful, living spirits, some helpful and some malign. By bargaining with these spirits, the spirit shaman gains power over the natural world and mighty divine magic with which to aid her comrades or smite her enemies. Creatures that are considered spirits include fey, elementals, and incorporeal undead such as wraiths and shadows.

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

Special: Charisma-based for spell DC only. Caster's Charisma ability score, not Wisdom is utilized in determining the DC of attack-based spells.

Warning:
Many of these abilities will not work against some spirits pre-MotB expansion, as these creatures have still not been properly identified as "spirits".

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 of you take 1d4 Burst Damage per Class level (Will save for half, DC is Charisma-based). Usable as a standard action, 3 + Charisma modifier times per day. This ability is very similar to the cleric ability Turn Undead but is not considered the same for the purpose of feat prerequisites.

Note: Chastise Spirits does not distinguish between friendly and hostile spirits - a bug, mostly likely.

Detect Spirits
Usable at will as a spell-like ability. Same as Detect Undead, but applies to spirits (spirits appear as yellow dots in the mini-map).

Blessing of the Spirits
Usable at will as a Spell-Like Ability. As Protection from Alignment (self only), except it applies to spirits and has a duration of permanent (may be dispelled).

Follow the Guide
A spirit shaman’s spirit guide helps her maintain control of her mind. At 5th level, if a spirit shaman is targeted by a mind-affecting spell or effect and fails her saving throw, she can attempt it again immediately at the same DC. She only gets this one extra chance to succeed on each saving throw. This ability does not stack with similar abilities granted by other classes the spirit shaman may have.

Ghost Warrior
The Spirit Shaman ignores any concealment or miss chance effects when fighting enemy spirits. This ability will not work against any other creature with concealment. Note that

Warding of the Spirits
Usable once per day as a spell-like ability. As Magic Circle against Alignment, except it applies to spirits and has a duration of 10 minutes per level. Warding of the Spirits does not stack with Blessing of the Spirits.

Spirit Form
At 9th level, the spirit shaman gains the ability to become temporarily incorporeal once per day, gaining a 50% concealment bonus for 5 rounds. The spirit shaman can use this ability twice per day at 15th level, and gains another use every 5th Spirit Shaman level thereafter.

Recall Spirit
At 11th level, the spirit shaman gains the ability to restore life to the recently deceased once per day. The effect is similar to the Raise Dead spell.

Weaken Spirits
At 16th level, the spirit shaman can choose to strip all spirits within 30 feet of herself of their defensive abilities by expending a daily use of her Chastise Spirits ability. When a spirit is weakened, it loses its spell resistance, any damage reduction, and any miss chance or concealment effect it may have. This weakening effect lasts for 1 round plus 1 additional round for every 3 spirit shaman levels. Spirits that make their Will save (DC 10 + spirit shaman level + Charisma modifier) are unaffected by the weakening effect.

Note: Weaken Spirits does not distinguish between friendly and hostile spirits - a bug, mostly likely.

Spirit Journey
At 17th level, the spirit shaman gains the ability to vanish bodily into the spirit world once per day. This effect lasts for 1 round per spirit shaman level, and during this time the spirit shaman cannot attack or be attacked. The effect is similar to the Ethereal Jaunt spell.

Favored of the Spirits
At lvl 19 you gain a contingency effect that activates a Heal if your hit-points or ability score drop to 0. The effect can only be activated once per day. This ability works even against death spells. It is unknown how the ability would function if the Spirit Shaman were to be "killed" by a spell like Disintegrate.

Spirit Who Walks
At 20th level, the spirit shaman becomes one with the spirit world. She gains damage reduction 5/cold iron, a +3 resistance bonus to saves against enchantments, and the Low-light Vision feat if she doesn’t already have it.

Spellcasting

 * Druid spell list
 * Spirit Shaman/Favored Soul Spell Progression

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 chosen from the druid spell list.

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) than 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, up to 20th level).

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

Spirit shamans can also use metamagic feats instantly when choosing spells to cast, much like a Sorcerer.

Animal and Animal Companion-only Spells
The spells Magic Fang; Magic Fang, Greater; Jagged Tooth and Nature's Avatar will work on any animal allied to the caster (including summoned ones), but the spells Awaken and Heal Animal Companion will only work on an animal companion. A spirit shaman should avoid the latter two spells unless she plans on taking druid or ranger levels.

Epic Spells
Spirit Shamans may also learn the following Epic Spells (provided they meet the necessary requirements): Entropic Husk, Epic Gate, Hellball, Mass Fowl and Vampiric Feast.

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