D&D (2024) How should the Shaman be implemented in 1DnD?

[Frozen_Heart]

It's weird how the name 'shaman' is apparently culturally insensitive, while 'druid' isn't?

I guess it's due to druids not really being around anymore after a combination of romans followed by Christianity caused the loss of the native culture.

 

[Yaarel]

I do think, if I were creating a fantasy heartbreaker, I would have a spirit world, which is a part of many (most?) world traditions. In traditional D&D, the closest we get are the Beastlands, which don't serve anything like that traditional role, or the Feywild, which has the whole Faerie thing layered on top of it.

As an addition on top of the existing D&D multiverse, though, it's adding what's probably another plane for the sake of one class, and possibly messing up the existing planar framework. Does it exist alongside the Feywild? Is it an inner plane that steals the schtick of the Outlands? Is it a rewrite of the Near Ethereal?

For my settings, the spirit world is the Ethereal Plane, specificaly the Near Ethereal.

The ether includes both Fey and Shadow, which are like frequencies of ether.

Ether as a substance is the same thing as Force. It is physical yet lacks matter. Ethereal creatures are made out of Force. (Fey and Shadow are likewise made out of Force.)

Gravity is an Ethereal Force.

Telekinesis is an Ethereal Force.

Ultimately, the ether and the fabric of the universe are psionic in nature and responsive to thoughts of a mind.

The Near Ethereal is the part of the ether that is inside the Material Plane. The Deep Ethereal is the Part that is inside the Astral Plane. The Near Ethereal is part of the Material Plane.

 

[Tonguez]

It's weird how the name 'shaman' is apparently culturally insensitive, while 'druid' isn't?

I guess it's due to druids not really being around anymore after a combination of romans followed by Christianity caused the loss of the native culture.

There is occassional rumblings about appropriation of Druid on reddit but since modern Druidry is an 18th Century recreation, it doesnt have too much weight.

 

[Shardstone]

It's too niche to be a complete class.

Druid or cleric subclass, as mentioned by others would be fine.
Maybe even as 1/3rd barbarian subclass, that has more focused/disciplined rage.

Ive never felt more ignored than now.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

To shake things up a little, I'd do it either as an Artificer or Wizard.

Like the Warmage is a mix of Invoker and Abjurer, the Animist Wizard is a mix of Necromancer and Diviner.

The Artificer Animist crafts totems and charms to boost its allies and bind the spirits of creatures to borrow their traits.

 

[Twiggly the Gnome]

The Artificer Animist crafts totems and charms to boost its allies and bind the spirits of creatures to borrow their traits.

This is something I've wanted for a while. Artificers need a better thematic spread.

 

[TwoSix]

Laserllama has an AMAZING 5E Shaman Class for free here The Shaman Class by laserllama

I think this amazing class presents an almost perfect shaman, but would need to be updated to 1D&D standards. That means a Channel Spirit feature, the subclasses rearranged, and that's really it. It's a really great class. I heartily recommend to anyone playing 5E, and for any table.

The Laserllama class is excellent, and it's nice to see another class that uses the (superior, shakes fist at playtest) warlock chassis.

Of course, I'd replace the normal PHB with a Laserllama PHB in a heartbeat.

 

[Gorck]

I also created a shaman cleric subclass for the regular cleric ages ago. For my rebuilt cleric which removes domains as the subclass and instead creates shaman, crusader, mystic, monastic, and cleric as the subclasses. The shaman summons spirits as its subclass abilities but I still need to work on it.

I like to create/tinker with classes quite a lot so it has led to different ways to solve a problem of a missing class.

I also created a Shaman Domain for the Cleric. I put it up on D&D Beyond and tried to make it public, but kept getting an error message. I think it was because I don't own any of the source books on the website, but I listed spell names in the subclass, or something. That's happened a few times when I try to make a subclass public and it seems to only happen when I list spells.

 

[Shardstone]

The Laserllama class is excellent, and it's nice to see another class that uses the (superior, shakes fist at playtest) warlock chassis.

Of course, I'd replace the normal PHB with a Laserllama PHB in a heartbeat.

IMO, he is the most talented 5E content creator when it comes to making stuff that fits in with the broader view of 5E. His classes are all great, and he would have made a great 1D&D if given the opportunity.

I think his "expanded" material is the best of it all though. I loved his Alternate Fighter, but the expanded stuff he made for it was just 10/10. Also, he has the best psion I've ever seen.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

Shaman is derived from the Sanskrit word Sramana, which has spread to Tungusic people in North Asia as Saman, and then to Russian where it became Shaman in English. But most peoples view of what a Shaman is doesn't usually apply to people in India or China or Russia as it's being used to describe almost any sort of Animistic practitioner.

As a generic term that's used to describe a lot of different things, but often with a colonist outsider view in describing certain practices, that's not much different from applying the term "Barbarian" to a lot of things.