Shamanism, A Core Dragon Storm magic school.

The newly posted Beta Magics need a longer discussion than will fit well on the Beta Page, so here is the first article. If you have not downloaded the new Beta cards, you can do it here.

Shamans use OD to perform their magics, like all of the magics. The difference is that their focus is on the Spirit World and the Dead.

When we wrote the Shaman Anchor we tried to convey the idea that Shamans are unworldly sentients. Their thinking and visions are rooted in the Spirit World even though they exist in the physical world. This mode of thinking makes shamans different. Their concerns are different. They are concerned with the spirit World as much as the physical world. Normal people tend to give shamans a wide berth.

Shamans are also very important in the daily lives of the physical world peoples. They are the conduit between the living and their spirit ancestors. Those ancestors are the primary source of knowledge from the past. They teach their descendants the family skills and carry the families history in their ever slipping memories. It frequently requires a shaman to establish communication between the living and the dead. They are also the ones you turn to if your ancestors go mad and start haunting you. This means that everyday people put up with Shamans and only seek them out if they have a problem with spirits that they are willing to pay a shaman to deal with it.

Shamans in general do not like Necromancers. Those fellas bring forth the dead. The dead should stay at home. Necromancers create warp. Warp crosses the barrier between the Spirit and Physical worlds. It makes mad and warped spirits. Neither of which is good.

There are, of course, Shamans who approve of bringing the creatures of the spirit world over and trying to make the Physical world an extension of the Spirit world. While relatively rare, these seemingly mad shamans ally with the Necromancers. Shamans of warped races, like Wakana Shamans, are of this type.

The core spells available to the Shaman are the foundation of shamanism. We will be adding specialty schools over time, so if you are looking for Classic shaman abilities and they are not in the Core sets, you can expect them to show up in one of the specialty schools. Spirit Walkers, Undead Hunters, Spirit Channelers, and the pinnacle of the Shamans, the Spirit Dancers, are specialties on the drawing Board.

In the past we have toyed with doing a Temple Speaker, but there is a better way. If you want a Temple Speaker you start as a Shaman. In the fullness of time you work up to an Elethay Acolyte and learn the Elethay magics. You have created a Temple speaker. You could do it in reverse as well.

Shaman Backgrounds. Instead of making a multitude of Backgrounds the new Shaman Anchor is pointed low enough that a character could take it in creation. You take a Farmer Background. You envision this character as hearing voices, having trouble making friends, and just not quite right. Then you spend four points for the Shaman anchor. Doing your characters this way is better than being restricted to just the backgrounds we publish.

Shamans and the law. Frequently the leaders of hamlets, militias and sheriffs will have a deal with a Shaman. Shamans can get testimony from the dead about crimes. They may find spirits who witnessed the crime, or even talk to a dead victim. Dead victims testimony is considered very carefully because they can be lying to hurt someone they dislike.

Spirits and memories. Spirits are like the rest of us. They forget things. They remember things the way they wanted them to be, they are not lying, they just got it wrong. In other words, they are not perfect. Spirits may also lie outright, so be careful.

Remember always to Embrace the Chaos and listen to your GM.