New Concept/Template: Shaman of the Land

[narphoenix]

A shaman of the land tunes himself or herself to the surrounding land, gaining powers thematically in line with his or her environment. A sufficiently powerful Shaman can also shapeshift into his or her "spirit animal", a mundane animal that reflects the inner character of the Shaman somehow. Shamans grow more powerful the more lands the they visit and tune themselves to, making them able to gain more powers from the lands they visit as well as bolstering their spirit animal form. A shaman who has grown sufficiently powerful is singularly terrifying, able to improvise and adapt the power they get from a land to suit their circumstances.

Musts:

A shaman of the land must have a High Concept reflecting the fact that they're a shaman, such as DEFIANT SHAMAN OF THE LAND or SHAMAN AND PSYCHO. They also must take:

Mimic Land (as Mimic Abilities, but the Shaman must take abilities based off of the themes of the environment. This can include anything that fits in with the surroundings. Players are expected to get creative.) [-4]
Moderate Limitation (shamans can only hold onto the abilities they get from a land as long as they are in said land.) [+1]

The Land Sustains (reskinned Wizard's Constitution) [+0]


Additional Options:

A shaman may increase the number of his or her Mimic Abilities up to as many times as he or she can afford (adjusting Limitation accordingly). If a shaman has done this at least once, he or she becomes eligible to be able to shapeshift into his or her spirit animal and may therefore take:

Echoes of the Beast (Varies) [-1]
Beast Change [-1]

In addition, the shaman may take permanent physical powers and Creature Features, but they must be attached to Human Form [+1]. Given that a shaman derives his or her power from growth, any toughness powers carry an up to a +2 Catch of Necromancy and Outsider Magic.

Important Skills:

Depends. Many Shamans can shapeshift, so they can switch skills around. But nearly all of them have high Alertness and Lore.

Criticism welcome. I want to refine this enough that I can get it onto the Templates Section of the Wiki.

[g33k]

Love the concept...   

Don't feel qualified to comment on the mechanics/balance issues, though...    Sorry!

[Sanctaphrax]

Themes are fine, but Mimic Land is pretty iffy. How is that even supposed to work?

That aside, feel free to put this up on the wiki. There's worse stuff there already.

[narphoenix]

Themes are fine, but Mimic Land is pretty iffy. How is that even supposed to work?

I think that's something best explained by example.

For instance, let's say Jacob, DEFIANT SHAMAN OF THE LAND, is in an area known to be pest infested. Mimic Land would allow him to grab Incite Insect Control (self indulgence? Never.) with upgrades. However, if he was in, say, Arctis Tor, he couldn't use Incite Insect Control because that's not in line with his environment...but grabbing Unseelie Magic using Mimic would absolutely be within his grasp.

Is that understandable?

And I want this to be of sufficent quality before I put it up.

[Sanctaphrax]

I think that's something best explained by example.

For instance, let's say Jacob, DEFIANT SHAMAN OF THE LAND, is in an area known to be pest infested. Mimic Land would allow him to grab Incite Insect Control (self indulgence? Never.) with upgrades. However, if he was in, say, Arctis Tor, he couldn't use Incite Insect Control because that's not in line with his environment...but grabbing Unseelie Magic using Mimic would absolutely be within his grasp.

Is that understandable?

Yes, but not in a good way.

Theoretically this Power is based off of Mimic Abilities. But Mimic Abilities has well-defined rules for what abilities you can mimic. This doesn't. That's a problem.

Especially since getting abilities with Mimic Abilities is hard, and using this seems to be quite easy.

[narphoenix]

Yes, but not in a good way.

Theoretically this Power is based off of Mimic Abilities. But Mimic Abilities has well-defined rules for what abilities you can mimic. This doesn't. That's a problem.

Especially since getting abilities with Mimic Abilities is hard, and using this seems to be quite easy.

So what do you suggest?

[blackstaff67]

This Shaman concept sounds more in line with a person that's--well--bound or tied to a particular region or area; perhaps the size of a county or two, depending on size?  Is that the concept you're aiming at?  Otherwise it sounds like someoen that can mimic or pick up the Aspect of any region he travels to willy-nilly. 

[narphoenix]

This Shaman concept sounds more in line with a person that's--well--bound or tied to a particular region or area; perhaps the size of a county or two, depending on size?  Is that the concept you're aiming at?  Otherwise it sounds like someoen that can mimic or pick up the Aspect of any region he travels to willy-nilly.

Essentially, the latter. The Shamans are supposed to be travelers with a fair amount of power behind them. It's just that the kind of power changes based on location.

[Sanctaphrax]

So what do you suggest?

Do a full power writeup, with a description and trappings and skills affected section and everything. Don't say "it works like X, except Y". The power you have in mind here is too novel and too complex for a brief note like the one you have there.

A full writeup will make it easier to see how the power works, what's right/wrong with it, and what needs to be changed.

Or if that sounds like too much work, you could kludge it with Variable Abilities and Limitation.

PS: It occurs to me that this "variable powers, no set list but not totally under your control" set-up is kind of Eidolon-esque. If this goes well, it might be possible to expand Mimic Land to cover his power.

[narphoenix]

Do a full power writeup, with a description and trappings and skills affected section and everything. Don't say "it works like X, except Y". The power you have in mind here is too novel and too complex for a brief note like the one you have there.

A full writeup will make it easier to see how the power works, what's right/wrong with it, and what needs to be changed.

Or if that sounds like too much work, you could kludge it with Variable Abilities and Limitation.

Ok. I'll see what I can do.

PS: It occurs to me that this "variable powers, no set list but not totally under your control" set-up is kind of Eidolon-esque. If this goes well, it might be possible to expand Mimic Land to cover his power.

SQUEE!

I mean–*ahem*–that sounds cool.

[Hick Jr]

I was wondering how we were going to model Eidolon. I would have just kludged the Discount Omnipotence and General Shapeshifter Variable Abilities lists together, and let Incite Effect do most of the heavy lifting.


I like the idea, but the actual power lists either requires that you make a bunch of them before play even starts, or that the GM is pretty good about making new lists up for each environment.

[Sanctaphrax]

Any progress on this?

[narphoenix]

Any progress on this?

A little. I've been really busy lately. I'll probably something crap by this weekend, in the hopes that we can refine it later.

[narphoenix]

Ok. So I don't have any exact write up. But my basic idea is to term this "Situational Abilities" and tamper with the head cost of Variable Abilities between the lists that are usable and lower it based on how voluntarily you can change your powers, up to giving a [-0] headway for it.

It's what I've got. Not good, but refinable.

[easl]

So what do you suggest?

1. Make it somewhat difficult to gain powers.  Since this is a shaman, how about they must perform a 24-hour "commune with the land" ritual to get them?

2. You don't keep them if you move far from the source.  So, that unseelie magic you got from Arctis Tor doesn't stick with you when you come back to Chicago.  This would also prevent Shamans from becoming grab-bags of powers from different areas.

3. Personally I like the idea of shamans acquiring other groups' sponsored magic...because I'd see it as an opportunity to have them owe favors to lots of other supernatural entities.  I'd have the sponsor insist on a favor for pretty much every use.  And hey, who knows - if the shaman does a good job paying them back and impresses the entity, they could end up with a lot of supernatural friends, too.  That would also be very much in line with the concept, I think.

Just a few suggestions.