[DF] Shaman Profession in DFRPG

[Beriogelir]

I would like to introduce something like the shaman profession from DF9 into my DFRPG game. (Is that redundant? Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game game?)

Here are my general goals:

1. I don't want to introduce too many advantages that would be new to the DFRPG (e.g., Allies, Channeling, Contact Group, Medium, etc.).
2. I don't want to force any of my players to create a whole bunch of spirits.
3. I'd prefer not to have to create a whole bunch of spirits for the players.
4. I don't want to introduce too many spells that aren't in the DFRPG.

I don't know whether this is an essentially impossible task given those goals, but I'd still like to try.

Here are my vague thoughts on this project:

1. All of the professions have new advantages of some sort, and a shaman without Channeling or Medium seems silly, so I suppose that it would be OK to include those advantages. Along that vein, maybe shamanism versions of Oracle, Resistant to Spirit Powers, and See Invisible (Spirits) could be introduced. Maybe even introduce extremely limited forms of Allies or Contact Group, not unlike the druid's Beast Flight ability as an extremely limited form of Shapeshifting.
2. . . . Ooh, what about Clairvoyance with Projection?
3. If I am creating new advantages, how many should there be? How many are too many/too few for a profession?
4. Perhaps the cleric profession could be modified in some ways, with a changed spell list and an increased emphasis on social skills . . . especially influence skills. (Spirit Empathy would be a required advantage for the template.) In a way, isn't a shaman just a coercive cleric with a more direct and equal relationship with the gods?
5. Can I just model the abilities that the spirits grant the shaman with buff spells (e.g., Alterness, Grace, Resist Pain, etc.)? Are there other colleges that lend themselves particularly well to emulating spirit-granted abilities? Some spells from the Animal, Communication and Empathy, Knowledge, Mind Control, Protection and Warning, and Weather colleges, that sort of thing?
6. If I give the shaman spells to replicate spirit-granted abilities, and those include some Animal and Weather spells, is that going to infringe on the druid's niche? Will buff spells infringe on the cleric's niche? How do I prevent that?
7. If I have to create spirits, as opposed to, or in conjunction with, modeling the spirits' abilities with spells, what are the primary spirit archetypes? Maybe I could just create a handful - Animal Spirit, Plant Spirit, War Spirit, Weather Spirit, that sort of thing.
8. If the shaman ends up just summoning spirits all of the time, how do I make sure that a shaman PC has agency, and isn't just a spirit-delivery system?
9. How do I model mana levels/sanctity/Nature's strength for a shaman? Presumably, it would have something to do with the prevalence of spirits in an area, but some kind of system would be nice.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Has anyone already done this, and successfully brought the shaman profession into the DFRPG?

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by Beriogelir

I would like to introduce something like the shaman profession from DF9 into my DFRPG game. (Is that redundant? Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game game?)

[

Nope, not redundant at all.
Spirit Empathy and Medium are key, Channeling is arguably less useful though fitting if you want to use the Spirit Vessal rules from GURPS Thaumatology.
Honestly I would use Contacts but skip Allies as that better fits a Summoner.
Shaman can be replicated without having Ally spirits summoned to battle.
Use spells and Powers as special effects of summoned spirits.

Oracle is a great fit, though perhaps pricey. Good Powerup though.
Clairvoyance is even more pricey and can be a game breaker or steal the Scout and Thiefs niche if your not careful.

I see the Shaman as a mix between Bard, Cleric and Druid and some Bardic abilities might be a good fit. In fact I am thinking use the Bard template in DFRPG as your starting point.
Exorcism and True Faith can be used to counter shaman abilities and spells instead of Dispel Magic.

Originally Posted by Beriogelir

[*]Can I just model the abilities that the spirits grant the shaman with buff spells (e.g., Alterness, Grace, Resist Pain, etc.)? Are there other colleges that lend themselves particularly well to emulating spirit-granted abilities? Some spells from the Animal, Communication and Empathy, Knowledge, Mind Control, Protection and Warning, and Weather colleges, that sort of thing?[*]If I give the shaman spells to replicate spirit-granted abilities, and those include some Animal and Weather spells, is that going to infringe on the druid's niche? Will buff spells infringe on the cleric's niche? How do I prevent that?
[

You can, its the typical way this is handled in most RPGs and a personal disappointment though.
Its workable but loses a lot of the flavor and they can easily become just another caster.
Basing it off the Bard template will help. In my game I use Powers based and requires a Reaction or Influence roll.
Might consider requiring Reaction rolls to cast spells as replacing Sancity or mana levels. It would mean more rolling so thats a drawback but if they have a good enough roll you can skip it in most cases and make it about as limiting as mana levels.
So only roll when its a difficult task or there would be a Reaction penalty to try the spell under those circumstances.

[evileeyore]

Originally Posted by Beriogelir

(Is that redundant? Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game game?)

About as redundant as ATM machine. So... yes, very. ;)