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Patreon Backer Exclusive: the Shaman, Early Draft (Patreon)

Published:
2016-09-16 09:07:37
Imported:
2026-06

Content

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B02_m9TCpCJAUGt1bkR6VDNaM3c/view?usp=sharing

Files

the Shaman, Early Draft.pdf

Comments

Zack

The options under the header "Rites of Passage" are bloodletting and skinchanging but the options later on are ecstatic and skinchanging. Also does Shamnic Communion have no cool down? Can I use an action to switch from raging bear to wise owl? Is there no "you can end this effect by using a bonus action" clause?

Outlandish Adventure Productions (OAP)

I really like the flavor and lore of the class. Her are a few of my initial thoughts as I read the document: 1) On first seeing that the mystic trance was a 1st-level feature, I thought "My GOD that's overpowered." However, looking at the distinct dearth of damaging spells, and the distinct glut of concentration-requiring spells, the shaman has, it seems a bit more balanced. 2) My second reaction to the mystic trance was "Well, since that minute-long trance is only really ever worth using in combat except in life-or-death exploration and roleplay scenarios, what exactly will the shaman do when the minute is up?" In this, my concerns were only partially alleviated. While I love the passive bonuses when in Shamanic Communion with the spirits (especially Plotting Spider's Blessing), and I love how the Rites of Passage seem almost entirely roleplay/utility based, I still feel as though the early-level shaman suffers greatly from its only reliable damage source coming from its cantrips, only one of which uses an attack roll. While Chill Touch is a phenomenal cantrip due to its healing prevention, it feels very much like the early-level shaman just gets entirely shut down by anything that resists necrotic damage and has even decent Dexterity and Wisdom saving throws. I think another ranged spell attack cantrip could go a long way here. 3) I think my biggest area of concern, though, is the disconnect between communing with the Raging Bear and what the rest of the class does. The proficiencies with light armor, ranged weapons, and finesse weapons, coupled with a low hit die, implies that the shaman is meant to scale all of its martial potential on Dex, if only to help it stay alive. While Bear's passive bonus of proficiency with martial weapons is nice in theory, the Blessing implies that, in order to make any real use of communing with the Raging Bear, a good Strength score is required because the only two-handed and versatile weapons require Strength. And investing in Strength, in most campaigns, means that you didn't invest as highly in other stats, so you either severely hurt your survivability or worsen your spellcasting. The way things stand with the class as is, the only reason I could ever see myself communing with the Raging Bear would be to cast Enlarge/Reduce on my fighter, and then immediately switching out. 4) Now that the criticism is out of the way, let me tell you a bunch of the things I really like about your Shaman. Intuitive Casting is absolutely wonderful, and feels entirely needed. Even as only one spell per day at 3rd level, it allows the shaman to feel like it can help out with some useful spells when not in combat, and the additional uses feel really good where you've placed them. Spirit Sense is also really cool since most earlier-level parties tend to struggle very badly against invisible enemies. Clever Coyote, Plotting Spider, and Wise Owl are all really cool and have great usage cases. I mentioned this before, but I love Plotting Spider in particular because it gives the shaman something to do in combat if it has run out of mystic trances for the day and its cantrips are ineffectual against the particular enemy. I'm ecstatic about Rite of the Ecstatic. I love the high-cost, high benefit aspect of drinking one's own poison doses, especially since the natural scaling of hit points alleviates the cost as you level up, as well as the idea of using your poison doses to get one over on another creature. It has really cool combat and roleplay usages, and I'd bet the party's rogue would love to have their own personal poison factory. Rite of the Skinchanger getting what is basically Wild Shape feels cool, as the druid already uses it for a variety of exploration and roleplay purposes. I find myself very curious to see this Rite's later features. Disorient and Give Life are both really cool new cantrips, especially Give Life since so many players seem to neglect to use their hit dice, and having a cut-and-dry instant use for them is something I think every player wants. 5) So, overall, I think the class has some serious potential. The biggest obstacle I see in its development is that its biggest strength is also its biggest weakness: the mystic trance. It makes the shaman feel godly during combat, but forces basically every other part of the class to be balanced around it, which takes away from many shaman options out of combat. It also forces the shaman to have as few damage spells as possible, and make all the ones it does have require concentration, which severely limits the class's total damage output compared to other full casters. A lot of that is made up in the shaman's non-spell utility from the Spirit Communions and the Rites of Passage, but I think some extra damage in the form of another attack roll cantrip, or even 1st-level spell (it could even be an intentionally weaker homebrew spell that feels just a little bit stronger than a cantrip at early levels), would be much appreciated. I look forward to seeing how the class develops. (And also to seeing what this Rite of Bloodletting might be, unless it was a beta subclass that transformed into Rite of the Ecstatic.)