OA - Shaman vs. Shaman

[Psion]

I am running an OA campaign next week (see this thread for more information) and I am considering which shaman to use. But in truth, I am torn. As I stated earlier, for a run of the mill D&D game, I think sticking with the shaman's handbook is the way to go. But in an oriental setting with rampant spirits, Mongoose's shaman is really compelling.

So I am considering including both the OA shaman and the Mongoose shaman in my next OA campaign. But how do I differentiate between them in the game?

I am thinking of giving the OA shaman a more vedic and buddhist twist, where they seek to emulate an array of enlightened spirits. They draw power from the collective divinity of these spirits, and thus act much like a cleric.

The Mongoose shaman will be more like a traditional chinese Wu, a holy many that bargains with spirits and intecedes on behalf of the people. The wu's relationship with spirits is more personal, and they act much more like a divine sorcerer.

What do you think? Any other ideas or recommendations? What about names for these two shaman types to distinguish them?

 

[Kichwas]

There's 4 Shaman classes at present:


OA
Kalamar player's Guide
Green Ronin
Mongoose


Although the Mongoose one doesn't seem to have made it to the stores yet in San Francisco so I haven't seen it.

Of the three I have seen, none of them are ideal in my opinion. They all seem fairly similar.

OA and Green Ronin seem to base it around the Sorcerer in how it works with spells that are divine. Kalamar's is based around the Druid. No idea for Mongoose.

 

[Psion]

Um, thanks for responding with the background information, but I wasn't asking for a mere opinion survey of which shaman is best. Please read more than the title of the thread.

But now to the point: what do you think of casting both the OA and Mongoose shaman in a Wuxia-esque OA campaign?

 

[Carnifex]

The wu's relationship with spirits is more personal, and they act much more like a divine sorcerer.

The OA Shaman's relationship with spirits is pretty personal, isn't it? - after all, his 'domains' represent particularly strong personal ties to certain spirits.

 

[Psion]

Re: Re: OA - Shaman vs. Shaman

The OA Shaman's relationship with spirits is pretty personal, isn't it? - after all, his 'domains' represent particularly strong personal ties to certain spirits.

True, but are you familiar with the mongoose shaman? The OA shaman gets 3 domains over their career, and like a cleric, they have a considerable list that is not associated with a particular domain/spirit.

Mongoose's shaman, however, doesn't have a spell list per se. Their spells are defined entirely by the spirits they have allied with. A mongoose shaman starts with three+Cha mod spirits/domains, plus a guardian spirit. As they raise levels, that number can be as high as 16 plus modifiers. That is why I said more personal.

It's sorta like the OA shaman has a few friends that can call on the bureacracy to help him out (but he has to fill out the forms ahead of time ), but the Mongoose shaman has a large variety of personal spirit friends he can call any time.