Beware! This review contains major spoilers.
This is not a playtest review.
The Shaman's Handbook is the first in Green Ronin's Master Class series, introducing new classes (as opposed to prestige classes) for d20.
At $16.95 for 80 pages, and with average layout (in terms of space well used), this is fairly average in terms of amount of content compared to other titles.
The front cover has a nice overall feel to the piece and good use of colour, but lacks the detail and texture to really bring the shaman depicted on the cover to life. The internal art varies dependent on the artist - however, much of it is good and some superb. I was particularly drawn to Toren Atkinson and Mike May's work, both of which reminded me of the art in 'The Hidden Paths: Shamans' for Ars Magica, one of my favourite sourcebooks for any game system. Some of the art is fairly large, sometimes taking up an entire page.
Chapter 1: 'The Way Of The Shaman', begins where it should - with the new Shaman class. The Shaman interacts with the spirit world. They cast divine spells but do not pray for them, instead bargaining for favours from the spirits by observing ritual taboos - behavioural restrictions - in order to maintain their relationship with the spirit world and their status as a shaman. They can never be of lawful alignment.
The section goes on to discuss a shaman's background, race, relationship with other classes (which is best with barbarians). The Shaman class uses a d8 Hit Die, gains 4 skill points per level, and their spells are based on Charisma (and gained in a similar way to the Sorcerer class).
The idea of Totems is then introduced. Totems are powerful spirit guides who are often animal spirits but can be ancestors or elemental forces, etc. Totems grant domains to shamans in the same way they are granted to clerics by deities in return for observing ritual taboos (e.g. never start a fire, never learn to read and write, never slay an elf, etc.). The shaman loses the ability to cast spells for 24 hours if one of his taboos is violated (even unintentionally).
Shamans also have the ability to rebuke spirits in the same way as a neutral or evil cleric can rebuke undead. They can detect spirits at will from 2nd level. They can also gain spirit familiars, and there is a sidebar with rules information for generating spirit familiars. Finally, like Barbarians, Shamans begin with Illiteracy.
Advice is given for ex-Shamans, Multiclass Shamans and integrating the Shaman into standard d20 rules by twisting the Sorcerer, Druid or Cleric classes. Some Shaman starting packages are offered.
No sourcebook would be seen dead without some prestige classes these days, and The Shaman's Handbook is no exception. Six prestige classes are offered here:
* Dreamer - this prestige class interacts with the Dream World (described later in the book) and gains a limited number of divine spells that suit this focus. Additionally, they are resistant to sleep effects, can cast divination spells in their sleep, replicate 'shadow'-type spells with dreamstuff and are finally able to plane shift to the dream world.
* Ghost Guide - the Ghost Guide aims to lay the dead to rest and gains such abilities as detect spirits, gentle repose, deathwatch, and see invisibility as well as a greater chance to destroy incorporeal undead. The stats for the Ghost Guide only go up to 5th level.
* Healer - the Healer gains improved healing abilities and can even revive the dead using the Heal skill at 9th level.
* Skin-changer - Skin-changers focus on the druid's wildshape ability and also gain the full ability to shapechange at 10th level.
* Spirit Hunter - the Spirit Hunter tracks down and destroys evil and dangerous spirits, and gains abilities commensurate with this focus such as Smite Spirit, Ethereal Jaunt and Rebuke Spirits. In addition, the Spirit Hunter's weapons and armour can gain the ghost touch ability from 3rd level onwards.
* Spirit Master - the Spirit Master is more interested in controlling and binding spirits than co-operating with them for power. They also traffic with undead and must be non-good in alignment.
On the whole, I found these prestige classes to be stimulating and appropriate to my perception of the different types of shaman that could exist in different campaign cultures. I thought the Healer and Skin-changer prestige classes were a bit weak compared to the other classes, but this did not negate their aptness.
The chapter continues with a brief overview of shamanism in real-world cultures, both historical and modern-day including tips for developing ideas from the book for integration into campaign regions based on these cultures. A few items of shamanic magical equipment such as crystals, masks, and musical instruments are also briefly described. The chapter ends with some advice for using the Shaman class in your campaign, and there is a sidebar with advice for introducing shamans to Freeport.
Chapter Two: 'Skills And Feats', begins with four new skills and some new uses for the Perform skill (adding additional synergy bonuses).
* Dreaming enables a dreamer to lucid dream, wake from a nightmare, and change a dreamscape.
* Knowledge (Spirit World) enables identification of spirits and location in the spirit world, as well as facts about that location or spirit.
* Spirit Empathy is similar to Diplomacy for spirits for Shamans only.
* Trance allows a meditative concentration which at higher DCs can enable faster healing rates, and duplication of feign death and delay poison.
I'm a firm believer in using the 'new uses for old skills' option. Whilst Dreaming and Knowledge (Spirit World) seem necessary, Spirit Empathy could have been a new use for Diplomacy, and Trance a variant of Concentration.
The feats offered next include a few 'Spirit Feats', a new category of feats which require the ability to Rebuke Spirits, and use up one of its daily uses/slots each time a spirit feat is used (spirit feats in the following list are asterisked). The feats are Animal Friend, Battle Cry, Craft Charm, Craft Fetish, Enchant Tattoo, Extra Familiar, Larger Familiar, Poweful Rebuke*, Sense Poison, Sense Spirits, Smite Spirit*, Spirit Familiar, Spirit Strike*, Spirit Ward*, Swift Rebuke, Totem, and Spirit Cohorts and Followers (shamanic alternative to Leadership). All the feats seem fairly balanced at first glance.
Chapter Three: 'Shamanic Magic', begins with the spell list for the Shaman class. The lists include a number of new spells detailed over the next few pages, as well as the new Spirit Domain. New spells include many obviously useful shamanic spells such as Detect Taboo, Detect Spirits, Identify Spirit, Magic Circle Against Spirits, Slay Spirit, and Spirit Wall but also includes some more obscure but interesting spells such as Shadow Projection (shaman sends forth his spirit in the form of shadow to the shadow plane) and Materialize (a ray that causes incorporeal creatures to materialize) as well as a couple of duds (e.g. Nature's Bounty, a 3rd level spell that gives a bonus to Wilderness Lore checks for survival purposes only).
The section on Shamanic Magic Items introduces three 'new' types of items - fetishes, charms and tattoos. A Fetish is much like a scroll in that it is a one-use item for releasing a spell. A fetish can come in a variety of forms such as beads, bones or crystals. A Charm is the shamanic equivalent of a potion - again, a one-use item of a similar form as a fetish, with an attached magical effect that only affects the user. Mystic tattoos, either temporarily or permanently, give the tattooed person access to a magical effect on his body (e.g. protection from arrows) where the design is tattooed. The cost and limitations are the same as a magic item (i.e. it counts as a magic item worn and costs time, money for materials, and XP). There is a sidebar offering an alternate ruling that the recipient of a mystic tattoo can donate XP to the cost to the shaman.
Several other magic items are detailed including some shapechanging cloaks, a dream catcher (protects the dreamscapes of dreamers whilst dreaming), a spirit drum (a successful Perform skill check gives access to spell-like powers), a spirit net (captures incorporeal creatures), and a Totem Mask (grants some abilities of the represented animal when worn - e.g. Owl mask gives +2 to Wisdom and ability to detect spirits three times a day).
Chapter Four: 'Shamanic Worlds', is probably the most important chapter in the book, since it redefines the campaign world to a certain extent. Unless the GM is willing to introduce at least some of the concepts contained in the chapter, the Shaman class may not be an appropriate one to introduce. There are some strong links to Manual Of The Planes included, but the MOTP is not necessary to use the material in this sourcebook. Nine planes are described in terms of a six-tiered Great Tree (Material, Ethereal, Astral, Celestial, Shadow and Infernal Planes):
* The Middle World - the Material Plane
* The Spirit World - part of the Ethereal Plane, and the most important plane to Shamans as this is where spirits reside. There is advice on integrating the Shaman concept with a variety of cosmologies via the concept of the Ethereal Plane.
* The Dream World - also an aspect of the Ethereal Plane, the Dream World contains infinite shimmering orbs, each containing the dreamscape of an individual dreamer. A traveller to this realm can view the dreamscapes within.
* The Land Of The Dead - also an aspect of the Ethereal Plane, a version of purgatory, where the spirits of the dead wait to move to the Celestial or Infernal Plane. The spirits of the dead can possess living beings.
* The Elemental Worlds - Earth, Air, Fire, Water. Some advice for ethereal travellers wishing to materialize in these realms is given.
* The Sky Realm - the Astral Plane, with some discussion of silver cords that connect astral travellers to their bodies.
* The Upperworld - the Celestial Planes, also the home of totems and spirits.
* The Dark Realm - Plane of Shadow
* The Underworld - the Infernal Planes, with some information on the types of spirits which may be found there.
Most realms have information on entering it and some of the dangers to be found there.
The chapter concludes with some brief advice for adventuring in the Otherworlds, including Vision Quests, solo adventures for shamans in these environments.
Although this chapter covered the areas I would have expected, I felt it needed more detail. This would have been the place to have had a string of adventure ideas linked to the various worlds, or perhaps a mini-adventure in the Spirit World. I would have personally preferred to have seen a 96-page book with the additional 16 pages dedicated to adventure and campaign ideas related to these concepts or a mini-adventure.
Chapter Five: 'Spirits And Monsters', details three templates:
The Spirit template gives options for special attacks and abilities that give the GM something of a 'create your own' kit. Spirits gain the GMs choice of 1d3 special attacks, from Manifestation (allowing touch attacks), Materialization (allowing physical attacks), possession (similar to magic jar, resisted by a Will save), spell-like abilities (choice of several, such as animate objects, cause fear, dream, sleep,and suggestion), and Spirit Touch (allows incorporeal beings to attack physical beings). They also have the special qualities of Incorporeal, Rejuvenation (spirit returns after 2d4 days unless cause of existence destroyed), and Turn Resistance. Six examples of Spirits are given - Dire Spirit Bear, Spirit Ogre Mage, Cannibal Spirit, Disease Spirit, Fetch (a bit like a spirit doppelganger), and possessing fiend.
The Exalted Beast template enables the base creature to gain the ability to dominate other beasts and can speak Common and with creatures of its base type. There is some advice on using Exalted Creatures as PCs. An example of an Exalted Wolf is given.
The Beast Lord template is designed to reflect the ultimate animal spirit, and requires both the Spirit and Exalted template before progressing to a Beast Lord, upon which it gains the complete loyalty of all beasts of the same type, spells as if a 20th level shaman, an alternate humanoid or dire animal form, damage reduction 20/+3, greater scrying on beasts of its type, and spell resistance 20. Two sample Beast Lords are given - Sneer (Lord Of Rats), and Meerahr (Lady Of Cats).
The last few pages contain accumulated tables of stats for the Shaman class and the prestige classes, an index, and a character sheet addendum for the Shaman class.
Conclusion: This is an excellent book if, like me, you would have loved to see the Shaman as a class in the Players Handbook. The class (and much of the rest of the rules) seems well-balanced and adds a universal archetype as an addition to the basic classes. I would have liked to see more adventure ideas or an actual mini-adventure in the Shamanic Worlds chapter, but the cosmology as presented is workable, if not that well-detailed (it probably would benefit from the additional information from the MOTP). I found the (limited) introduction of a 'design your own' creature template compelling, and hope to see this idea developed further in future products to give templates a broader scope, with a number of options to help GMs design creatures suited to their own campaign worlds using the guidelines given.
