SHAMAN: The shaman is a tribal priest found in savage, barbaric, or nomadic societies. In his homeland, the shaman serves his tribe in much the same way that a cleric would serve the common people of more civilized lands; he acts as a guide, protector, and advisor, using his magical powers to strengthen and defend the tribe. Shamans often serve as the keepers of knowledge and legend for their people, and lead the tribe in the various rites and ceremonies required by the tribe's belief system. A player character shaman may still be associated with his tribe, or he may be a wanderer or exile who has abandoned his duties.

Shamans may be of any alignment. They are always found in tribal or barbaric cultures—if a player wishes to run a shaman in a more civilized campaign setting, his char-acter is considered to be a barbaric foreigner by most com-mon folk he meets. The shaman's arduous life in uncivilized lands requires a good Constitution, and Wisdom is required for dealing with tribal matters and speaking to the spirits. Shamans also follow the same level advancement as clerics do.

The shaman is an unusual character in the adventuring party. Like the druid, he is not a front-line fighter, but he also lacks the high-powered combat spells that the druid commands. However, his mysterious spirit powers allow him to make use of magic that is usually out of the reach of low-level characters. A shaman who demonstrates intelli-gence and respect in dealing with the spirits can be an extremely effective character in a number of situations. Shamans view themselves as advisors and guides to a party of adventurers and often have an uneducated but insightful view on the more civilized societies they visit.

Shamans may wear any armor normally associated with their tribe. In the absence of more specific information, tribal armor is usually hide, leather, or studded leather with a tough wooden, wicker, or hide-covered shield. Similarly, shamans may use tribal weapons, which usually include the short bow, club, dagger, dart, hand axe, harpoon, javelin, knife, quarterstaff, sling, and spear. Blowguns might be appropriate for shamans of jungle tribes, or light lances and composite bows for shamans of tribal horsemen.

In addition to their priest spells, shamans have a special connection to the spirit world and can call on the spirits for guidance, knowledge, or magical aid. While shamans often function as priests of a tribal deity, their primary concern is the spirit world. To a shaman, the physical world is not the entirety of existence; the spirits of animals, nature, and the tribe's dead are always near, and interacting with these spir-its is the shaman's greatest duty and responsibility.

Stats Required: Wisdom 12, Constitution 12
Alignments Allowed: Any
Race: Human

ADVANTAGES
- May use Spirit Magic
DISADVANTAGES
- May only wear "natural" armor

SPHERE ACCESS
- Major access to the spheres of all, animal, protection, summoning, travelers, and wards - Minor access to the spheres of healing and plant - No access to the spheres of astral, charm, chaos, combat, creation, divination, elemental-air, elemental-earth, elemental-fire, elemental-water, guardian, law, necromantic, numbers, sun, thought, time, war, and weather