Animist (Apath)

Unofficial rules compendium

Master of the spirit world, the shaman follows a different divine tradition than the cleric or the druid. Her world is filled with powerful, living spirits, some helpful and some malign. By bargaining with these spirits, the shaman gains power over the natural world and mighty divine magic with which to aid her comrades or smite her enemies.

Adventures: Shamans exist to mediate between the human world and the spirit world and make sure that humans (and dwarves, elves, orcs, and all other humanoid races, of course) respect the spirits as is only right and proper. Shamans adventure to advance the causes of whichever spirits they favor. Those who venerate helpful spirits seek to assist people deserving of the spirits' protection. Those who revere dark and vengeful spirits promote the chaos and suffering in which their patrons delight. Through their actions, shamans prove the power of their patron spirits and earn prestige and status in the spirit world.

Characteristics: Shamans cast divine spells much the same way druids do, though they get their spells from powerful spirits of nature. Their spells, like the druid's, are oriented toward nature and animals. In addition to spells, shamans gain an increasing array of spirit powers as they advance in level.

Alignment: Shamans, in keeping with the indifference of the spirits, tend toward some measure of dispassion. Unlike druids, they are more tribal than solitary, and involve themselves in the affairs of their fellows. Most spirit shamans are neural on at least one alignment axis, but it is not uncommon to find a shaman who has become so caught up in the affairs of the living that she has lost her distance from human concerns.

Religion: A shaman reveres the essence of religion more than the practice. She gains her magical powers from the spirits that inhabit all things, living and dead, animate and inanimate. She combines ancestral worship with animal and nature worship. The typical shaman, like a druid, pursues a mystic spirituality of transcendent union with nature rather than devoting herself to a divine entity. Still, some shamans give honor to deities of nature or elemental forces.

Background: Most shamans are taught by older shamans. When a tribe's shaman feels that the time is right, she chooses a potential successor from among the young folk of the tribe. Taking the youth into her own home, she spends years teaching her student the ways of both the natural world and the spirit realm. A few shamans are picked by the spirits directly; their spirit guide seeks them out and opens their eyes to the wonders of the spirit world.

'Races: Halflings, humans, and half-orcs are the races that more commonly give rise to the tribal cultures in which shamans flourish. While rare groups of barbaric dwarves, elves, or gnomes favor a shamanic tradition instead of a cleric or druid one, these communities are uncommon at best.

Other Classes: Shamans perceive a world that no other class truly understands. As such, they feel it is their duty to advise their comrades and protect them from the wrath of the spirits. Shamans respect druids and get along well with them, but they feel that clerics do not pay sufficient respect to the spirit world, and often form long and bitter rivalries with clerics they meet.

Role: The shaman is only a mediocre melee combatant, but she can hurl spell after spell in a combat situation. No other character matches her ability to study a situation and customize her spell selection for offense, defense, or special purposes. Like the druid, she can serve as a parry's healer, but she is best in settings where she does not need to devote many of her spell choices to healing and can maximize spell choices that provide offense for the party and aid her companions in battle.

Game Rule Information

Shamans have the following games statistics.

Class Skills

The shaman’s class skills (and the key ability for each Skill) are Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (history) (Int), Knowledge (local) (Int), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Spellcraft (Int), Survival (Wis), and Swim (Str).

Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.

Abilities

Wisdom determines how powerful a spell a shaman can cast and how many spells she can cast per day and how hard those spells are to resist (see Spells, below). Many of the Shaman’s abilities key off Charisma, and good physical attributes are always useful.

Alignment

Any.

Hit Dice

d8

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the shaman.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency:

A shaman is proficient with the blowgun, club, dagger, dart, hand axe, javelin, longspear, quarterstaff, shonbow, shortspear, sling, spear, throwing axe, and with light armor and with shields (except tower shields). These are the weapons commonly used by the tribal societies in which shamans are found.

Many shamans are restricted against wearing iron armor or using iron weapons, see taboo below.

Spells

A shaman casts divine spells from the druid spell list. She can cast any spell she has retrieved,. much like a bard or sorcerer can cast any spell she knows without preparing it ahead of time.

To retrieve or cast a spell, a shaman must have a Wisdom score of at least 10 + the spell level (Wisdom 10 for 0-level spells, Wisdom 11 for 1st-level spells, and so on). The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a shaman's spell is 10 + the spell level + the shaman's Wisdom modifier.

Like other spellcasters, a shaman can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. Her base daily spell allotment is given on Table: The Shaman. In addition, she receives bonus spells perday if she has a high Wisdom score.

Like a sorcerer, a shaman knows only a small number of spells. However, each day a shaman may cha nge the spells she knows. When a shaman meditates to regain her daily allotment of spells (see below), she sends forth her spirit guide to bargain with the spirits and retrieve knowledge of the specific druid spells she will be able to use thai day. She can cast any spell she has retrieved at any time, assuming she has not yet used up her spells per day for that spell level. For example, a 3rd-level shaman can retrieve three 0-level, two 1st-level, and one 2nd-level druid spells. She can cast 0-level spells five limes, 1st-level spells four times, and her 2nd-level spell two times in the course of the day. She might end up using the same 0-level spell five times, or one 0-level spell two times and another 0-level spell three times, or any combination thai adds up to five uses of any of her 0-level spells.

Each shaman must choose a time of day when she must spend 1 hour in quiet meditation to regain her daily allotment of spells and bargain with the spirits for the specific spells she knows on that day.

Metamagic

If a shaman knows any metamagic feats, she applies them to her spells when she retrieves herspells for the day. for example, a shaman might choose to retrieve an empowered flame strike by using a 6th-level spell retrieved slot. Any time she uses flame strike during the ensuing day, she must use a 6th-level spell slot to cast it, and it is always empowered. A shaman could use a 4th-level spell slot and a 6th-level spell slot to retrieve flame strike and empowered flame strike if she wanted to have both spells available to her in a day. A shaman cannot choose to alter her spells with metamagic feats on the fly, as other spontaneous casters do. Shamans using metamagic feats do not have an increased casting time as sorcerers do.

Chaotic, Evil, Good, and Lawful Spells

A shaman can’t cast spells of an alignment opposed to her own or her deity’s (if she has one). Spells associated with particular alignments are indicated by the chaos, evil, good, and law descriptors in their spell descriptions.

Shaman Taboos

Each shaman has a taboo, an act that is prohibited and disrupts their link to the spirit world. A shaman who breaks their taboo is unable to cast druid spells or use any of her supernatural or spell-like class abilities while doing so and for 24 hours thereafter. Select one taboo from this list.

1. Taboo of Iron: Iron is the manifestation of man’s dominion over nature and at odds with the natural order of the spirits. Ths shaman may not wear iron armor (all armor except cloth, leather and hide) or use iron weapons. Among the weapons shamans are proficient with, these work normally when not made of metal: blowgun, club, dart, javelin, quarterstaff, and shortbow. This is the most common taboo. Wooden weapons and armor affected by the ironwood spell are allowed.
2. Taboo of Death: Death is a barrier to the spirit world, one the shaman dares not come near. Touching or healing a wound or infection breaks this taboo. The shaman can safely use the Heal skill and spells on himself. Others can still be healed, but doing so breaks the taboo after the healing spell or ability has been used. The shaman can deal freely with undead.
3. Taboo of Tribe: The shaman cannot talk to outsiders without losing power. He can never use Charisma-based skills, speak to, or otherwise communicate with those not in his tribal group, tough listening to them is allowed. Adopted members of the tribe can be communicated with. Adventuring shamans can communicate with their fellow party members, but not with strangers. The shaman can communicate with spirits of all kinds without breaking this taboo.
4. Taboo of Sex: The shaman must not touch, heal, or communicate with members of one gender, as in Taboo of tribe and taboo of death, above. This taboo also extends to spirits of this gender. Fighting against members of the forbidden gender is allowed.

Spirit Guide

All shamans have a spirit guide, a personification of the spirit world. In some sense a spirit shaman and her guide are one being, both knowing and seeing and experiencing the same things. Unlike a familiar, a spirit guide is not a separalte enltty from the shaman. She is the only one who can perceive or interact with her guide. exists only inside her own mind and soul.

Spirit Guide	Chancteristics
Badger	Orderliness, tenacity
Bear	Strength, endurance
Buffalo	Abundance, good fortune
Cougar	Balance, leadership
Coyote	Humor, trickiness
Crane	Balance, majesty
Crow	Intelligence, resourcefulness
Eagle	Perception, illumination
Elk	Pride, power, majesty
Fox	Cleverness, disc retion
Hawk	Awareness, truth
Lizard	Elusiveness
Otter	Joy, laughter
Owl	Wisdom, night
Rabbit	Conquering fear. safety
Raccoon	Curiosity
Scorpion	Defense, self-protection
Snake	Power, life force, potency
Spider	Interconnectedness, industry
Turtle	Love, protection
Vulture	Vigilance, death
Wolf	loyalty, interdependence

The exact form of the spirit guide is chosen by the spirit shaman at 1:st level, usually for the qualities it represents, as shown above. The exact form of a spirit guide is purely personal preference, and confers no special advantages or disadvantages.

Spirit Channel (su): A shaman can release a wave of energy by channeling the power of the spirit world. This energy can be used to cause or heal damage to spirits, as decided when the power is used. This is similar to the cleric ability channel energy, but there is no positiveor negative spirit energy; the shaman hurts or heals spirits on his own whim. Spirit channel causes a burst that affects all spirits of one in a 30-foot radius centered on the shaman. The damage dealt is 1d6, plus 1d6 points of damage for every two shaman levels beyond 1st (2d6 at 3rd, 3d6 at 5th, and so on). When casuing damage, the shaman can choose to cause normal or subdual damage. This is spiritual damage and not subject to damage reduction or miss chance due to incorporaleness. Creatures that take damage from channeled energy receive a Will save to halve the damage. The DC of this save is equal to 10 + 1/2 the shaman's level + the shaman's Charisma modifier. Creatures healed by spirit chanel cannot exceed their maximum hit point total—all excess healing is lost. A shaman can choose to spirit chanel by touch instead of in an area. In this case, the channeling requires a touch attack, but there is no saving throw allowed. Only a single spirit can be touched in this way with each use of the ability. A shaman may spirit chanel a number of times per day equal to 3 + her Charisma modifier. This is a standard action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity. A shaman can choose whether or not to include herself in this effect.

This ability works with channeling feats. Channeling feats that specifically mention undead or living creatures as options instead work against spirits. A shaman cannot use channeling as a touch attack when using channeling feats.

1. Detect Spirits (Sp): The shaman perceives nearby spirits. At will, the shaman can use detect spirits as a spell-like ability. It functions just like detect undead, except it detects spirits. 2. Placate Spirit (Su): The shaman has devoted his life to the spirits, and knows how to plead and cajole with them. The shaman can communicate with any type of spirit that understands a language. Add half the shaman’s level to any Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate, or Sense Motive checks against spirits. 3. Blessing of the Spirits (Sp): A shaman can perform a special rite to gain protection from spirits. The shaman goes into a meditative state. Performing the rite requires 10 minutes; the shaman can only ward herself with this ability and cannot perform the rite for anyone else. The blessing functions just like protection from evil, except it lasts until dispelled or negated. If this ability is dispelled, the shaman can recreate it simply by taking 10 minutes to do so. 4. Ghost Body (Su): The shaman’s natural attacks benefit form the ghost touch special ability. 5. Exorcism (Su): As a full-round action, a shaman can force a possessing creature or spirit out of the body or object it inhabits (for example, a ghost with the malevolence ability). To exorcise a possessing creature, she makes a roll of d20 + class level + Charisma modifier against a DC of 10 + the possessing creature’s HD + its Charisma modifier. If her result equals or exceeds the DC, she succeeds in forcing the possessor from the body, with the normal results based on its method of possession. A spirit so exorcised cannot attempt to possess a victim for 24 hours. 6. Warding of the Spirits (Sp): A shaman can perform a special rite once per day to ward herself and her companions against hostile spirits. Performing the rite requires 1 minute. The warding lasts for 10 minutes per level and otherwise functions like magic circle against evil, except that it protects against spirits. 7. Seal Spirit (Sp): The shaman can attempt to bind a spirit once per day. This works like the binding spell, with a save DC of 10 + half the shaman’s level + shaman’s Charisma modifier. It can only affect spirits. Each assisting shaman adds one-third their level to user’s level for the purpose of the ability. As long as any shaman holds a ceremony at the binding spot or object before the current binding ends, the effect is extended automatically, but the duration is now based on the renewing shaman’s level. Often, a shrine is built at the spot of an important binding, and shaman and passers-by alike perform services there to placate the spirit and renew the binding. 8. See the Unseen (Su): The shaman can constantly see invisible. 9. Level 10: Spirit Quest (Sp); A shaman knows how to vanish bodily into the spirit world at will. This ability functions like the spell plane shift but takes 10 minutes to activate. 10. Ghost Warrior (Su): The shaman confers the ghost touch special ability to any weapon she holds for as long as she holds it. She also becomes resistant to the touch attacks of incorporeal creatures, and may use her normal Armor Class (not her touch AC) against any touch attack delivered by an incorporeal creature. 11. Banish Spirit (sp): The shaman can use banishment once per day. 12. Greater Blessing of the Spirits (Su): Blessing of the Spirits now becomes a supernatural ability that is constantly active. The blessing functions just like protection from evil. 13. Guide Concentration (Su): As a free action, a shaman can assign her spirit guide the task of concentraling on a spell or spell-like ability that is maintained through concentration. The shaman can act normally while her spirit guide concentrates on the spell. A spirit guide can concentrate on only one spell at a time. If necessary to maintain the spell, the spirit guide makes concentration checks for the shaman, using the shaman's normal concentration modifier. A spirit guide does not have to make concentration checks for circumstances such as the spirit shamm laking damage. The spirit itself is not present for anyone to interrupt or otherwise interact with. 14. Spirit Journey (Sp); A shaman knows how to travel trough the borders of the spirit world. This ability functions like the spell shadow walk. A shaman can use this ability once per day. 15. Guide Walk: When the shaman is incapacitated, slept, held or unconscious after having failed a Will saving throw, the spirit guide takes over control of the body. The shaman is not considered helpless, and may perform one move action each round. 16. Level 13 Weaken Spirits (Sp): A shaman can choose to strip spirits of their defenses instead of damaging them with her spirit channel ability. When a spirit is weakened, it loses its spell resistance and any damage reduction overcome by magic weapons, silver or cold iron weapons, and aligned weapons (but not damage reduction overcome by adamantine weapons or not overcome by anything). In addition, an incorporeal spirit loses its immunity to nonmagical attack, its 50% chance to ignore damage from corporeal sources, and its ability to move into or through objects. A weakened spirit takes a -5 modifier on any save or spell resistance check against any shaman’s spells and abilities. To weaken spirits, a shaman uses her spirit channel ability but chooses to do less damage in exchange for weakening the spirits for a short time. For each 1d6 of chastise spirit damage the shaman foregoes, the affected spirits are weakened for 1 round. For example, a 15th-level shaman chastising two dread wraiths deals 8d6 points of damage to each dread wraith, but she could choose to deal 5d6 points of damage to each wraith and weaken them for 3 rounds. Spirits that make their Will save against the spirit channel damage are unaffected by the weakening effect (but still take half the damage, after subtracting for damage lost due to this ability). 17. Spirit Destination (Sp); When using plane shift, the shaman now arrives within 1 to six miles of her final destination. 18. Higher Loyalty (Su): A shaman learns the mental discipline to maintain control of her mind. If a shaman is affected by an enchantment spell or effect and fails her saving throw, she can attempt it again 1 round later at the same DC. She only gets this one extra chance to succeed on her saving throw. 19. Ghost General (Su): As a standard action, the shaman can confer the ghost touch special ability to any weapon or armor worn by her allies within 30 ft. when she uses this ability. This can be used at will and lasts one minute per level of the shaman. 20. Spirit Audience (Sp); As gate, but it can only be used to travel; you cannot use it to call extraplanar creatures and it does not grant you any control over them. You can still create the gate next to a named extraplanar being.

Notes: What is a Spirit?

Several of the shaman’s abilities affect spirits. For purposes of the shaman’s ability, a “spirit” includes any of the following creatures:

• All undead
• All fey
• All magical beasts
• All aberration
• All outsiders
• Creatures in astral or ethereal form – but only as long as the shaman is in material form and on her home plane
• Creatures created by spells such as animate object.

In the shaman’s worldview, elementals and fey are simply spirits of nature, and undead are the spirits of the dead. Magical beasts and aberrations are either spirit-possessed creatures or spirits bound in corporeal form.

A very simple way to change the balance of the shaman class and adjust it to different settings and cosmologies is by varying which creatures count as spirits.