If you gave a shaman a totem, what would it do?
Chronicler
Member Posts: 1,391
So I'm reading up and apparently Shamans often use totems, little animal carvings, in much the same way that clerics use a Holy Symbol.
So if you were to put a Totem anywhere in the series, for a Shaman to use, where would you put it and what would it do?
So if you were to put a Totem anywhere in the series, for a Shaman to use, where would you put it and what would it do?
0
Comments
How so?
One would give your dance spirits an aura that would scale with your charisma. So the more spirits you summon, the more auras they're all stacking on eachother. I hear dancing isn't very useful in ToB so this totem would rectify that. The aura would just be some generic combat bonus that only effects spirits.
The other totem would provide a bonus effect to each of your Shaman Exclusive Spells that scales with wisdom. Like the fireball spell could get an Acid Arrow style Damage Over Time added to it, that goes 1 round for every 5 points of wisdom you have. And the resurrection could have a regeneration effect added in the same style. That sort of stuff.
So this way the shaman would go from having no important stats, to having two potential stats to build for. You're either a Charisma Shaman or a Wisdom Shaman.
Maybe you'd get to choose one after you rescue those dryads in Ironicus's dungeon?
If you have a bear totem for instance then all your spirits could automatically be bears - as opposed to getting a random selection. The power of the summons should also increase with levels.
Ooh! That does sound fun actually! So you could capitalize on their unique effects a bit more!
Spirit Totem
Duration 1 round per level
Summon ethereal totem that connects planes attempting to summon spirit once every round for the duration of the spell. This spell acts and scales in the same way as shamanistic dance.
Totem’s presence is so strong that it stops shaman from dancing, but they can still cast spells and move. Totem will disappear if caster moves away further than 10 yards as the mental link between caster and totem is severed.
Caster gains 1 use per day every 5 levels, starting with 1 use at level 1. Multiple totems don't stack. Totems are not counted as summons but have 2HD.
Awakening Totem
Duration 1 round per level
Summon ethereal totem that enrages all celestial being in 30-yard range granting +1 hit and +1 thac0 for every 8 levels of the caster starting at level 1.
Caster gains 1 use per day every 5 levels, starting with 1 use at level 4. Multiple totems don't stack. Totems are not counted as summons but have 2HD.
(less OP version of spirit totem from my previous post).
Duration 1 turn per level
Summon ethereal shaman spirit which echoes shamanistic dance for 1 round per 7 levels of the caster up to maximum 4 at level 22. Shaman can cast spells and move while shaman spirit will continue to dance. Gain 1 use at level 1. Multiple totems don't stack. Totems are not counted as summons but have 2HD.
TL;DR: Shaman dance linger for X more rounds.
Minor cleric spells to them like Doom or Bless and as long as the Shaman is dancing, that spell is in effect.
You can then increase the totems powers (or have the player select a new totem) when they level.
That's kind of my biggest problem with the Shaman.
For a jack of all trades it's important to be able to smoothly transition from one role to another, but the shaman dance builds momentum the longer you dance, which means if you stop for even an instant to do one of the shaman's other functions you have to start over again from zero.
I suspect it's an intentional design element though. It's so thoroughly baked into how the class works, and they very specifically avoided providing any workarounds even as it was released alongside the same expansion that gave us the bard hat.
I agree it's an intentional design, but that doesn't mean that design can't be revisited in light of further reflection and comments from players. As I said the design doesn't fit particularly comfortably with the way other classes work, so it wouldn't seem unreasonable to do something that eased the restrictions slightly.
Incidentally, there are a couple of work-arounds available at the moment, that do in fact make the class a lot more flexible than many people realize - though they require micro-management. You can still drink potions from your inventory while dancing and you can also move a significant distance without losing the spirits. To do the latter just wait until a dance check takes place, then pause and deactivate the dance button before moving. If you then reactivate the dance button before the once-a-round check on dancing takes place you won't lose any existing spirits.