Shaman vs. Spirit Shaman

[GreyWanderer]

Just wanted some opinions - Green Ronins (Masterclass) Shaman is obviously the superior product, but I was wondering what everyone thought of the Spirit Shaman from Complete Divine?

The biggest problem I had with it is lack of a dedicated spell list.

Anyone else?

Grey
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[Silveras]

Just wanted some opinions - Green Ronins (Masterclass) Shaman is obviously the superior product, but I was wondering what everyone thought of the Spirit Shaman from Complete Divine?

Your definition of "obviously" appears a little loose. I think there are as many people who would say the Spirit Shaman is superior as would say the (GR) Shaman is superior.

Having played a Shaman, I can say that the limited spell list is very challenging. Divine casters, though, are presumed to be there in part to provide healing. As such, a Shaman would have to invest 1 of his 2 initial Domains in healing in order to do that effectively. That pretty much locks the Shaman back into the old 1st/2nd Edition Cleric role of being little more than a walking cure dispenser. I had the good fortune to be playing in a large party with a Cleric, a Druid, and a Bard. Healing spells were not an issue for my Shaman -- though I still occasionally regretted not being able to dispense them when times got tough.

I have not had the chance to play a Spirit Shaman yet, but I think the flexible spell list is a tremendous asset to the class. The Druid list is already quite powerful; being able to select a different sub-set of that list for spontaneous casting each day might be a little over-powered in some games.

 

[Laman Stahros]

While I like GR's Shaman class, I think that, in general, it is to heavily limited by the whole domain only mechanic. The Spirit Shaman's ability to shift is, quite possibly, a very powerful ability in the right hands. That said, I am going to use the Spirit Shaman in my next campaign. My players have a tendancy to make sub-optimal choices, so, the ability shouldn't cause to much problem. (Please excuse me while untie my overly crossed fingers!)

 

[Michael Tree]

While I like GR's Shaman's Handbook, I prefer the Ancestral Speaker class in Green Ronin's Corwyl book, which is like the Shaman updated to 3.5 with a few additional minor abilities. It gets more domains upfront, so its spell choice is less limited.

 

[Crothian]

THe Green Ronin classes might not be as powerful but they are a lot more interesting.

 

[Silveras]

While I like GR's Shaman's Handbook, I prefer the Ancestral Speaker class in Green Ronin's Corwyl book, which is like the Shaman updated to 3.5 with a few additional minor abilities. It gets more domains upfront, so its spell choice is less limited.

A similar observation was made on the Green Ronin message boards when Corwyl came out.

I will be curious to see what the 3.5 update to the Shaman, the Witch, and so on look like when the Master Class anthology is published later this year (at least, according to the year ahead message on GR's web site).

 

[BSF]

Interesting, I have a player in my game that is playing a Shaman and I think he considered taking the Healing domain for a couple of nanoseconds before rejecting it. He does lament the spell limitations occassionally. Then again, he also felt limited when he played a Sorceror.

I did encourage him to take at least one healing spell because I know the player tends to play a little reckless and would later lament not having any ability to heal himself despite having the spell on his spell list. But he hardly focuses on providing healing.
At this point, many PCs in the party have healing capabilities, but there is only one player that feels constrained by perceived "party role". I think the rest are all playing PCs with classes they wanted to try out. As a result, we are currently without a "tank" or a rogue. The current party makeup would be a hell of a difficult skirmish group to go against though. I digress.

Back to the Shaman. I have considered adding in the domain abilities for the Shaman just to see how that impacts power levels. I haven't tried to closely compare the Shaman and the Spirit Shaman though. I might have to take a look at it with an eye toward that.

 

[Evilhalfling]

Well my powergamer is playing a spirit shaman in the next game. So I am going to vote for overpowered. His last 2 characters - Druid summoning specialist, and Barbraian/Sorcerer
If he wasn't also good at backstory and RP, I might call him a munchkin.

 

[Sithobi1]

Well, I don't think barbarian/sorcerer is a very powergamer friendly choice, since they contribute nothing to each other.

 

[Evilhalfling]

Well, I don't think barbarian/sorcerer is a very powergamer friendly choice, since they contribute nothing to each other.

really? his spells were shield, and true strike -
in a low lvl campaign the trading a single swing for +20 to hit and power attack for full.
its better until got interirate attacks.