Brainstorming session: Let's come up with a Shaman for 5th edition.

[Corpsetaker]

What exactly makes a Shaman different to where it could have it's own class? Most of what makes a good Shaman has already been split between several classes. Doesn't leave us with a whole lot to work with.

I was kind of thinking of having a Shaman specialize in spirits to the point where he/she can use specific spirits to augment the entire party. I could see a Shaman using Aspect of the Cheetah, yes I know that comes from WoW, and the entire party's movement increases by X. The Shaman could be a mixture of spellcaster, summoner, and using auras. I could see a Shaman summoning the spirit of an animal on the battlefield in order to give the rogue advantage etc....

Let's come up with a good Shaman.

 

[cooperjer]

This is one I've done some brainstorming on. Initially, Mearls released an UA that took features of a sub class and added it to the primary of a different class. I believe, it was a wizards sub class and the cleric primary class. A similar process could be done to create a shaman. Some ideas for a mix:

Barbarian primary class &: Beastmaster sub class, Circle of the Land sub class, College of Valor, Life Domain, Tempest Domain, War Domain, Nature Domain.
Alternatively a cleric or sorcerer primary class &: Path of the Totem warrior, or possibly one of the new paths in the most recent UA.

These combinations would make for a quick mix to get a couple different types of shaman with material that has already ben vetted in play. The DM may not need to put much work into making the combinations work at the appropriate levels.

 

[Zipster]

I initially had no interest in a shaman class, but I ended up purchasing one on DungeonMasters Guild and the one offered there by Michael Wolf and was thoroughly impressed by the thoughtfulness of the product on all fronts and it made me want to play a shaman. If you're actually interested in a balanced homebrew shaman class, this is really the way to go.