Re: [DL] A small mail on shamans and such.

[Allan Seyberth <darious@darious.com>]

 > Turning
 >into animals at will, creating perfect illutions that's virtually impossible
 >to
 >see through, increasing his strength to ungodly levels and so on. In
 >addition to
 >that he's posing as a mexican and thus get no ill-effects of being an indian
 >in
 >the western society.

Need some more details - like if he has a totem and what are his listed powers.

In general though it is possible to really min/max the Shamans out of 
GD.  The base solution is the same kind of solution to the powerhouse 
Blessed - the roleplaying aspect of it.  A properly configured Blessed is 
one heck of a smokin' character, but they still have to follow the rules of 
the religion.
No less for the Shaman.  They have to keep the spirits happy and improper 
or disrespectful behavior should be a TN penalty to their ritual rolls, at 
least.

The most powerful path open to the Shaman is the use of a Guardian Spirit, 
which takes Edge points to buy.  To be a truly powerful Shaman you have to 
spend 3 points on Arcane Background, and 1-5 more on Guardian Spirit, so 
you can't begrudge 'em the power boost.  (along with the points in Ritual).

The kicker is that each Guardian Spirit comes with an Oath that is usually 
fairly restrictive, so play on it.
For example followers of Eagle can never lie even by omission.  Try 
introducing that into the party as they try and sneak around and gather 
some information.

(Party is in Texas)
         "Where are you boys from?" asks the Ranger
         "Arizona" says the posse
         "Minnasota" says the Eagle shaman.
         "Er. . . he's from Minnasota, we're from Arizona" says the nervous 
posse.
         "No.  I am from Dakota, you are from Montana, and you are from 
Denver, and you are from New York City." says the Eagle shaman.
         "You boys need to come along with me."  says the Ranger. . .

Wolf can never retreat from battle (without penalty), usually granting most 
adventuring Wolf shamans a very short lifespan, etc. etc.

The other aspect of this is the very common Pledge ritual.  That is where 
you can hold the Shaman to higher standards than just what the Oath is.
For ex.  Eagle is a very proud totem, and if the shaman Pledges to him, 
that shaman had better not be slinking around pretending to be a Mexican AS 
IF HE was ashamed to be who his is - an Indian Warrior.    (more on this later)

The main power of the Shaman is the ability to store appeasement into the 
Guardian Spirit and to have that appeasement count double towards favored 
ways.  The trick is that appeasement can only be restored in small amounts 
per day.  If you can get them to drain their pool once, and then keep the 
action hot and heavy, the shaman will be a lot more judicious about 
spending their emergency battery of appeasement. :-)

Another possibility is that Ghost Dancers was written before the 2nd ed. 
rules.  In 1st edition, each ritual had to be purchased individually as a 
separate skill.  While the numbers have stayed the same for the repeated 
rituals, you could stand on adjusting the remaining rituals to be "more 
balanced" for the 2nd ed. rules.
For ex.- Spirit Song, which is the free ritual that allows the Shaman to 
recharge his battery, could be set to no longer being "free" (it now takes 
up a ritual slot), the appeasement is limited to one per day max, require a 
higher target number, or any or all of the above.

Remember - if you give the Shaman time to prep their rituals, they are 
going to be tough.  Get 'em by surprise and they are going to have to use 
their Guardian Spirit. Keep the heat on and they'll be drained.

As for masquarading as a Mexican to avoid the stigma of being an Indian?!?

WTF!?!  Not going to fly.  No way.  The historical prejudice against 
Hispanics is as strong as that against Indians.  But in terms of game 
mechanics, the Deadlands world is one that does not dwell on prejudice, 
unless the person has an Intolerance hindrance.  (Ferner is not necessarily 
to be the target of prejudice, but to be unable to fit into "standard" 
society).


 >I guess my question is.. what are the limits of shamanic powers?

Your best bet is still to take a little time and read the specifics of each 
Ritual and Favor they have.

As for the illusions - big illusions cost a LOT of appeasement.  :-)



-------------------
Allan Seyberth
darious@darious.com

The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that 
English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow 
words;on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to 
beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.
                 -James D. Nicoll