Revision as of 16:49, 9 January 2008

While the new druid concept is tied to planets and environments, the shaman is tied to elements.

This class is part of the general d20 revamp, as well as the Force revamp.

The mechanics for this class are inspired by the bending system developed here.

This class is still under construction.

The Shaman

										Seeds
Level	BAB		Fort	Ref	Will	Special				Known
1	+0		+0	+0	+2	Elemental Initiate		 4
2	+1		+0	+0	+3					 5
3	+2		+1	+1	+3	Elemental Focus			 7
4	+3		+1	+1	+4					 8
5	+3		+1	+1	+4	Elemental Focus			10
6	+4		+2	+2	+5					11
7	+5		+2	+2	+5	Elemental Focus			13
8	+6/+1		+2	+2	+6					14
9	+6/+1		+3	+3	+6	Elemental Focus			16
10	+7/+2		+3	+3	+7					17
11	+8/+3		+3	+3	+7	Elemental Expertise		19
12	+9/+4		+4	+4	+8					20
13	+9/+4		+4	+4	+8	Elemental Expertise		22
14	+10/+5		+4	+4	+9					23
15	+11/+6/+1	+5	+5	+9	Elemental Expertise		25
16	+12/+7/+2	+5	+5	+10					26
17	+12/+7/+2	+5	+5	+10	Elemental Expertise		28
18	+13/+8/+3	+6	+6	+11					30
19	+14/+9/+4	+6	+6	+11					32
20	+15/+10/+5	+6	+6	+12	Elemental Mastery		36

Shaman

A shaman

"In the storm that is the elements, I am the calm in the center."

The druid's province is the environment; he concerns himself with each part of the world in turn, attuning himself to the various natural places of the planet. The shaman takes a much different approach to Nature, however: rather than attune herself to a specific land, she attunes herself to a pair of opposed elements. This universal approach allows her to access the power of Nature wherever she may go, but she requires her chosen elements to work with.

For the shaman, the concept of balance is pantamount. Whereas other Natural classes tend towards variety and versatility, the shaman's abilities are incredibly focused; while a creative shaman can attain versatility, she will always be restricted to her chosen elements. A shaman's choice of elemental pairs speaks a good deal about her personality, as well as the method in which she uses them; oftentimes younger shamans will favor one element over the other in each pair, while older shamans often seek to combine two if not all four of their chosen elements in achieving their goals.

Adventures: Shamans seek challenges that require them to use the elements in different ways, allowing them to experiment with new combinations, as well as challenging them to gain a more thorough understanding of the elements. Some shamans seek to share their beliefs about balance with others, and one of the best ways to show the strength of elemental balance is via adventuring.

Characteristics: The shaman is a powerful Force-user, if her chosen elements are available; while other Force-users are limited in some fashion, a shaman can continue to use her abilities - known as bending - again and again. However, this power comes at a price: a shaman without access to her elements is next to useless. Shamans have a keen understanding of the elements and how they interact, and are often knowledgeable of the other Forces in their Trinity (Divine and Void).

Religion: As part of the Trinity of Philosophy (in which resides Divine), shamans often actively refuse to worship a deity. They acknowledge Nature as the more powerful force in the world, an impartial creator that demands nothing and gives nothing in return. Shamans may choose to follow Eidolons; most choose to follow Drachyus, while others follow an Eidolon that is more in-tune with their own personality.

Background: Shamans often come from more primal backgrounds, as cultures that have developed complex social or technological advances often lose touch with the natural world. Shamans may come from such complicated lands, though these shaman are often distraught and feel a need to return to a simpler time and world. Shamans may be attracted to more civilized lands by the lure of possibly teaching new people about the elements, or simply to reach an understanding with such people.

Races: Any race with a natural connection to Nature is an excellent fit for the shaman, and races that tend towards tribal or loose groupings (such as halflings or orcs), as well as those that dwell in wilderness rather than in cities, may produce shamans. Races and nations that have well-developed or complicated social settings or technological advances may lack the primal understanding necessary to produce shamans.

Other Forces: Shamans get along well with any Natural class, and they tend to detest any Divine or Void class. Shamans also tend towards a dislike of Technology, though there certainly are shamans keenly interested in such gadgets; those who show an interest in Technology often espouse the philosophy that both Nature and Technology seek to reinforce the natural laws of the world. Magic and Psionics, however, are often seen as "cheating" the world. Time, Blue, and Chaos are often left unconsidered by most shaman; some are intrigued by Time's abilities, while others despise it as the worst sort of manipulation of the natural world. Blue is often seen as a useful tool to show that a primal understanding of the elements was once common to most people, while Chaos is often simply ignored due to its nature.

Role: The shaman is a Force-user, and that usually means that she will be in the back of an adventuring party, using her Force abilities. Her ability to use her bending at will, with no limits, can be incredibly useful, but the requirement that her elements be present may make her unreliable. A shaman's abilities are also greatly influenced by which elements she chooses.

Game Rule Information

Shamans have the following game statistics.

Force Alignment: Nature.

Force Resistances: DI 5 + level, VI 5 + level.

Abilities: (Uncertain at this time.)

Hit Die: d6 (?).

Class Skills: The Shaman’s class skills are...?

Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int. (?)

Alignment: Any neutral.

Starting Age: Simple.

Starting Gold: 3d4 x 10gp.

Favored By: None.

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the shaman.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Shamans are proficient with all simple weapons and light armor, but not shields.

Elements: Each shaman chooses to focus on two pairs of elements, with each pair consisting of opposed elements. In this manner, the shaman can better achieve balance: by understanding opposing natural elements, she is better able to understand their roles in relation to each other, as well as reach a point at which she understands how to combine the two.

A shaman chooses two element combinations from the list below.

Air and Earth
Water and Fire
Ice and Lightning
Light and Shadow

Once this choice is made, the shaman cannot change it later; in addition, a character cannot multiclass into shaman again and choose a different combination of elements.

Seeds (Na): The shaman's manipulation of her Force is the usage of seeds. A seed is similar to a spell, but requires a (class skill check) to be used; in addition, using a seed usually requires that an amount of the seed's element is available.

In situations when two of the shaman’s known seeds are compatible with each other, they can be executed simultaneously or in conjunction with the shaman’s other abilities; doing so uses the activation time of the longest seed and uses the seeds’ combined (casting) DCs + 4.

Seeds

Seeds are not sorted by level, but are instead sorted by element.

Note: All elements must have at least 18 seeds, and no more than 20.

Air

SEED NAME		 DC	Description
Air Blast		  5	Focus air currents around you into a jetstream, forcefully pushing objects.
Deflect Attack		  5	Deflect ranged attacks with air.
Particles		 10	By kicking up dust and sand, you can obscure vision and blind opponents.
Run as the Wind		 10	Manipulate the air to allow you to run faster or up walls.
Palm Bow		+10	Create a windtunnel in your hands, allowing you to throw projectiles faster. (Template)
Air Burst		+10	A larger amount of air results in a larger affected area. (Template)
Leap			 15	You can use the wind to assist your jumps.
Windsphere		 15	You can compress air into a whirling sphere.
Acoustics		 15	You can manipulate air to muffle or amplify sound.
Aerial Strikes		 15	Manipulate air to cause your attacks to hit faster and harder.
Elemental		 15	You can form an air elemental that you control.
Levitate		 20	Manipulate the air around you to allow you to hover.
Air Scythe		 20	Compress air into a powerful scythe.
Deep Breath		+15	Manipulate the element of air without somatic components. (Template)
Stormwind		 20	Conjure winds of storm-like intensity.
Air Shield		 25	Surround yourself in a shield of air.
Engulfing Wind		 25	Use air to create a windtunnel that makes movement difficult.
Tornado			 30	Manipulate the air into creating a tornado.

Earth

Earth Blast
Deflect Attack
Move Earth
Dust
Earth Wall
Column
Tilt
Armor
Tremorsense
Steady Stance
Create Rubble
Compact
Elemental
Earthstride
Catapult
Excavate
Earthquake
Immobilize
Metalbending (Template)
Rift

Fire

Fire Blast
Deflect Attack
Play with Fire
Fire Kick (Template)
Fire Whip
Explosion (Template)
Blades of Fire
Intensity
Burning Rush
Fire Sweep
Fiery Soul
Elemental
Incandesce
Break Stance (Template)
Breath of the Dragon (Template)
Fire Burst
Wall of Fire
Blue Fire (Template) 
Flamethrower

Water

Water Blast
Deflect Attack
Manipulate
Melt
Mist
Water Whip
Tentacle
Healing Water
Water Shield
Steady Stance
Water Spout
Pressure (Template)
Water Walk
Propel
Armor
Wave
Elemental
Feel the Flow
Bend Plants
Bloodbending

Ice

Ice Blast
Deflect Attack
Chill
Frostbite (Template)
Ice Shards
Icy Soul
Permafrost (Template)
Frost Ward
Shatter (Template)
Piercing Ice (Template)
Frost Armor
Frost Nova
Freeze (Template)
Cone of Cold
Ice Barrier
Ice Block
Elemental
Cold Snap (Template)
Blizzard

Lightning

Lightning Blast
Deflect Attack
Gather Static
Bolt
Lightning Shield
Chain (Template)
Elemental

Light

Light Blast
Deflect Attack
Manipulate
Elemental

Shadow

Shadow Blast
Deflect Attack
Manipulate
Cloak of Shadows
Elemental