Spirit Shaman

Description

Master of the spirit world, the spirit shaman follows a different divine tradition from that of the cleric or druid. Her world is filled with powerful, living spirits, some helpful and some malign. By bargaining with these spirits, the spirit shaman gains power over the natural world and mighty divine magic with which to aid her comrades or smite her enemies. Creatures that are considered spirits include fey, elementals, and incorporeal undead such as wraiths and shadows.

Class Features

Hit die : d8
Base Attack Bonus progression :	Medium

Saving throws :
	High =	Fortitude & Will
	low =	Reflex

Proficiencies :
	Weapon:	Simple, Spirit Shaman ~ club, dagger, dart, handaxe, spear, quarterstaff, sling, shortbow, shrtspear, throwing axe, and light crossbow.
	Armor:	Light & Shields. (except tower shields)

Skill Points : ( 4 + Int modifier ) ×4 at 1st Character level.

Class Skills : Concentration, Craft (all), Diplomacy, Heal, Lore: Geography, Lore: History, Lore: Local, Lore: Nature, Lore: The Planes, Listen, Spellcraft, Spot, and Survival.

Spellcasting: Divine (Wisdom-based, no need for spell preparation). Must have a Wisdom score of 10 + the spell's level to cast a spell.

Special: Charisma-based for spell DC only. Caster's Charisma ability score, not Wisdom is utilized in determining the DC of attack-based spells.

Additional progressions

Level	Features Gained
1	Spirit Guide
2	Chastise Spirits
3	Detect Spirits
4	Blessing of the Spirits
5	Follow the Guide
6	Ghost Warrior
7	Warding of the Spirits
8
9	Spirit Form 1/day
10	Guide Magic
11	Recall Spirit
12
13	Exorcism
14
15	Spirit Form 2/day
16	Weaken Spirits
17	Spirit Journey
18
19	Favored of the Spirits
20	Spirit Form 3/day, Spirit Who Walks
21	Epic Character: Spirit Shaman Chastise Spirits continues to improve
22
23	Bonus Feat
24
25	Spirit Form 4/day
26	Bonus Feat
27
28
29	Bonus Feat
30	Spirit Form 5/day

Abilities

Warning:

Many of these abilities will not work against some spirits pre-MotB expansion, as these creatures have still not been properly identified as "spirits". Also most Spirit Shaman special abilities such as Spirit Form, Spirit Journey, etc are not instantly activated but must be cast and are subject to the normal Concentration checks and provoke Attacks of Opportunity outside of Defensive Casting Mode.

Spirit Guide

All spirit shamans have a personal spirit guide. This incorporeal entity grants the shaman the Alertness feat automatically.

Chastise Spirits

Spirits (even if incorporeal) within a 30’ radius of you take 1d8 Burst Damage per Class level (Will save for half, DC is Charisma-based). Usable as a standard action, 3 + Charisma modifier times per day. This ability is very similar to the cleric ability Turn Undead but is not considered the same for the purpose of feat prerequisites.

Note: Chastise Spirits now only affects hostile spirits.

Detect Spirits

Usable at will as a spell-like ability. Same as Detect Undead, but applies to spirits (spirits appear as yellow dots in the mini-map).

Blessing of the Spirits

Usable at will as a Spell-Like Ability. As Protection from Alignment (self only), except it applies to spirits and has a duration of permanent (may be dispelled).

Follow the Guide

A spirit shaman’s spirit guide helps her maintain control of her mind. At 5th level, if a spirit shaman is targeted by a mind-affecting spell or effect and fails her saving throw, she can attempt it again immediately at the same DC. She only gets this one extra chance to succeed on each saving throw. This ability does not stack with similar abilities granted by other classes the spirit shaman may have.

Ghost Warrior

The Spirit Shaman ignores any concealment or miss chance effects when fighting enemy spirits. Note that this ability will not work against any other creature with concealment.

Warding of the Spirits

Usable once per day as a spell-like ability. As Magic Circle against Alignment, except it applies to spirits and has a duration of 10 minutes per level. Warding of the Spirits does not stack with Blessing of the Spirits.

Spirit Form

At 9th level, the spirit shaman gains the ability to become temporarily incorporeal once per day, gaining a 50% concealment bonus for 1 round per spirit shaman level. The spirit shaman can use this ability twice per day at 15th level, and gains another use every 5th Spirit Shaman level thereafter.

Guide Magic

Starting at 10th level, a spirit shaman's spirit guide assists them in maintaining their concentration, granting the spirit shaman a +3 bonus on all Concentration checks.

Guide Magic does not stack with Skill Focus Concentration.

Recall Spirit

At 11th level, the spirit shaman gains the ability to restore life to the recently deceased once per day. The effect is similar to the Raise Dead spell.

Exorcism

Starting at 13th level, a spirit shaman can force a possessing creature or spirit out of the body or place that it inhabits. This ability works against all forms of possession, even fiendish possession. Once a creature or spirit has been exorcised, it cannot attempt to possess the same victim for 24 hours.

Exorcisms can be dangerous and are not always successful, and the exact method by which a creature or spirit can be forced out of the body or place it inhabits can vary by creature or spirit. If the exorcism fails, the spirit shaman cannot attempt to exorcise the same target again for 24 hours. Exorcising a possessing creature generally requires supervision by a DM.

If a target spirit is without a body, such as with incorporeal ghosts and elementals, using this ability deals 1d10 points of damage per spirit shaman level instead. The affected spirits get a Will save (DC 10 + Shaman level + Cha modifier) for half damage.

Exorcism has a five-minute cooldown.

Weaken Spirits

At 16th level, the spirit shaman can choose to strip all spirits within 30 feet of herself of their defensive abilities by expending a daily use of her Chastise Spirits ability. When a spirit is weakened, it loses its spell resistance, any damage reduction, and any miss chance or concealment effect it may have. This weakening effect lasts for 1 round plus 1 additional round for every 3 spirit shaman levels. Spirits that make their Will save (DC 10 + spirit shaman level + Charisma modifier) are unaffected by the weakening effect.

Note: Weaken Spirits now only affects hostile spirits.

Spirit Journey

At 17th level, the spirit shaman gains the ability to vanish bodily into the spirit world once per day. This effect lasts for 1 round per spirit shaman level, and during this time the spirit shaman cannot attack or be attacked. The effect is similar to the Ethereal Jaunt spell.

Favored of the Spirits

At lvl 19 you gain a contingency effect that activates a Heal if your hit-points or ability score drop to 0. The effect can only be activated once per day. This ability works against instant death spells which inflict damage, such as Weird, Vampiric Feast, etc.

Spirit Who Walks

At 20th level, the spirit shaman becomes one with the spirit world. She gains damage reduction 5/cold iron, a +3 resistance bonus to saves against enchantments, and the Low-light Vision feat if she doesn’t already have it.

Spellcasting

Key ability	Type	Prepared
Charisma Wisdom	divine	No

• Druid Spells
• Spirit Shaman/Favored Soul Spell Progression

A spirit shaman casts divine spells, which are drawn from the druid spell list.

To learn or cast a spell, a spirit shaman must have a Wisdom score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. Spirit shamans also use their Wisdom ability modifier for determining bonus spells. However, the Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a spirit shaman's spell is 10 + the spell level + the spirit shaman's Charisma modifier + other bonuses. For a more complete explanation, see the wiki page on DC's.

Initial selection

A spirit shaman begins play knowing four 0-level spells and two 1st-level spells of your choice.

Leveling

At each new spirit shaman level, she gains one or more new spells. The number of spells known increase at each new spirit shaman level according to the spirit shaman spell progression. It is not affected by the character's wisdom score. These new spells can be chosen from the druid spell list.

Replacing

Starting at their 6th class level, and every two levels after, spirit shamans can replace one known spell with a new spell of the same level. The spell that can be replaced must be two spell levels below (or lower) than what the spirit shaman can currently cast (1st level spell at 6, 1st or 2nd level spell at 8, 1st or 2nd or 3rd level spell at 10, and so forth, up to 20th level).

Casting

A spirit shaman need not prepare her spells in advance. She can cast any known spell at any time, assuming she has not yet used up her spells per day for that spell level. She does not have to decide ahead of time which spells to cast.

Spirit shamans can also use metamagic feats instantly when choosing spells to cast, much like a Sorcerer.

Metamagic Feats

The spirit shaman enjoys optimum functionality when using metamagic feats. A level 18 spirit shaman with the Silent Spell amd Empower Spell metamagic feats, for example, may use the Ice Storm spell (good damage, no save) a total of 18 times. Metamagic spells also help the shaman deal with high-save opponents, allowing her to "spam" powerful offensive or defensive/support spells.

Epic Spells/Bonuses

• Spirit Shamans may also learn the following Epic Spells (provided they meet the necessary requirements): Entropic Husk, Epic Gate, Hellball, Mass Fowl and Vampiric Feast.
• All casters receive bonuses to spell save DC upon reaching epic caster levels. See DC for more information.

Gameplay Notes

Spirit Shaman-specific feats

There are a number of feats specifically designed to be used with the Spirit Shaman class. The following list covers these feats for convenience.

• Telthor Companion: Gain an animal companion.
• Blood Magic: Sacrifice a number of hitpoints equal to 3+1d8 per spell level to gain a +4 bonus to CL (does not count for purpose of epic spell DC) and +4 bonus to spell DC on each spell you cast.