Brainstorming a Power and Template: Shamans

[johntfs]

So I've been reading some of the novels of Kate Griffen which feature semi-schizophrenic urban sorcerer, Mathew Swift.  She's just recently started another series set in the same universe that features a young, blue-haired Asian ex-barista shaman named Sharon Li.  These books have been giving me ideas.  Adding to the brew were bits from Book 11 in which the naagloshi referred to Molly as a young "Caller."  There was also the bit where Listens-to-Wind drew a distinction between himself and followers (presumably shamans) of the Dine'.  So, the question was this:  How do the Shamans of the Dresdenverse fit into it and what distinguishes them from other practitioners of the mystical arts?

Let's think about wizards for a moment.  Wizards are described by the naagloshi, a being one suspects would be familiar with both wizards and shamans, as "callers."  It's an apt description.  Wizards operate by calling for things.  When Harry wants something from Too-toot, he doesn't go to the little fae, he puts together a circle, gets some pizza and calls Toot-toot to come to him.  Harry calls for power to blast out flames.  He calls up further power to create and maintain the spells on his duster or create his blasting rod or summon a being from the Never-never to answer his questions. 

Wizards are also loners.  A rare few might have some kind of bound spirit to aid.  Some might have an apprentice or two.  Except for relatively rare occasions (which seem to involve Harry Dresden) wizards work alone.  They need no one else.  They call power to themselves, shape into the effect they want through the power of their Conviction and then released that power as a spell which is controlled by their Disciplined wills.  Wizards are beings of mind and will.

Shamans, on the other hand, are far more social beings.  To be a shaman is to be very much in the world, experiencing it and understanding it.  If wizards are "Callers" then Shamans are "Listeners."  Where wizards gain their power through acts of will, Shamans "borrow" their powers from the spirits of the world through bargains and acts of service.

To be continued...

[Deadmanwalking]

I agree with you entirely about this distinction. And something ala Ghostspeaker to facilitate communication with the spirits seems like a good call for Shamans as an alternative to The Sight. But aside from that...isn't what you describe basically Sponsored Magic? Plus maybe some True Faith powers?

That's certainly how I'd build a shaman (well, and maybe some shapeshifting for those who do that).

[johntfs]

Actually, my instinct was to build them using a variant of Ghostspeaker along with Marked by Power.  Most of their actual abilities would come from variants of Mimic Power and Item of Power.  A Shamans gets power by going to a spirit.  That's another important distinction between them and wizards.  Wizards summon beings.  Shamans go to those beings with whom they interact.  So, a Shaman goes to an old oak tree and talks to the spirit within it.  The spirit gives the shaman an acorn fetish that contains part of the spirit's essence, in this case Inhuman Strength and Toughness (The Catch being axes or saws).  The Shaman can break the acorn to release the power into himself for a scene or two.  Meanwhile, he has given the oak spirit some of his hair or blood so that it has its own fetish for him.  The oak spirit can then use that fetish to Compel the shaman to keep whatever promise his made (perhaps to prevent loggers from cutting the tree down).

The Fetishes would be +1 Items of Power with the following modifications: They are not indestructible.  Also each Fetish keeps the +1 modifier for being an external Item.  The fetishes would essentially have Mimic Power up to a Shaman's level.  So, a Shaman with six levels of Mimic could put the Oak powers in the Acorn fetish costing two of his six levels (Item discount plus The Catch for Supernatural Toughness).  He could then speak to a Fire spirit in a blast furnace to get  Physical Immunity (Fire) and Breath Weapon (Fire) perhaps in exchange for dropping some high grade metal for it to melt.  That said, a Shaman can only have one fetish active at a time.  So, our oak/fire shaman here couldn't be Strong and Tough while also being Immune to Fire and able to use Breath Weapon.  My overall idea is to make getting (and paying for) power part of the adventure for the Shaman.  That all said, Shaman's mostly can't "borrow" from mortals current or past.  Ghosts are off-limits to them unless they specifically take the Ghostspeaker power.

As I said in my first post, Shamans are social beings.  A Shaman should have a tribe.  This tribe is a group of people with whom he commonly associates and to whom he is a figure of significance.  This tribe can be as small as an RPG gaming group or as large as a company of soldiers.  Generally five to a hundred or so.  The main idea of the tribe is that they share common bonds and interests and that they all personally know the shaman.  I'd like there to be some game advantage in them regarding magic or Contacts.  Most likely the Tribe will be part of the Shaman's Aspects like Girl in Company C or Founder of the Miami Spiderman Fan Club.  The Shaman can tag the Aspect to get aid on a Contacts roll or some other situation ("Oh, what about Steve, in the Fan Club, he works on the Bomb Squad").  And the GM can Compel this aspect to send the Shaman to help out a Tribe member in trouble.

Next post I'll do something with the history of shamans and their place in the supernatural world.

[Sanctaphrax]

I had an idea for a custom Power a while back that might be useful here. Basically, you spend X Refresh and from then on you can have X points of temporary Powers without paying for them.

It'd only be balanced if getting temporary Powers was both easy enough and hard enough, though.

On a semi-related note, I don't think Wizards are really loners. They have a unified government.