What is a spirit (Apath)

Unofficial rules compendium

What is a Spirit?

Several of the animists' and shugenja's abilities affect spirits. For purposes of the these abilities, a “spirit” includes all of the following creatures:

• All aberrations
• All constructs except those of the clockwork or robot subtypes.
• All dragons
• All fey
• All magical beasts
• All monstrous humanoids
• Humanoids of the giant or shapechanger subtypes
• All outsiders
• All creatures of the Plant type (not normal plants)
• All undead
• Creatures created by spells, such as animate object.
• Creatures summoned by spells, such as summon nature's ally.
• Creatures in astral, ethereal, or incorporeal form.

Animists see elementals and fey as spirits of nature and undead as spirits of the dead. Magical beasts, constructs, plants, giants, monstrous humanoids, and aberrations are either spirit-possessed or spirits bound in corporeal form. Many animists see the creation of constructs that are not spirits as an abomination, a reduction of the spiritual value of the world to merely physical forces.

A simple way to change the animists' power is to change what creatures are spirits in your game. At the bare minimum, dragons, fey, magical beasts, monstrous humanoids, outsiders, and undead should be spirits. A more generous definition of spirits might include anyone capable of casting 7th level spells, which makes high level spellcasters into spirits, including animists themselves.

Enshrined Spirits

In cultures where animists and shugenja are common, it is normal practice to enshrine spirits. Often, a shrine is built at the spot of an important binding, animists and passers-by alike perform services there to placate the spirit and renew the binding. This uses the seal spirit power, and the sealed spirit is not hidden away. Rather it is made into the focal point of a shrine or temple, venerated, and kept placated. Whole religious orders can be dedicated to keeping a powerful or destructive spirit sealed. Shugenja seek out such shrines because they can learn spells from them, but those guarding such a site often demand some kind of service or fee from a strange shugenja before they let him into the presence of the spirit. A normal fee would be the same as that for casting a spell of the level the spirit can teach.