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

[Gorck]

If they're someone who works with the spirit world, 1) you need to graft a spirit world onto D&D, which traditionally hasn't had one, or 2) you need to radically redefine what a "spirit" is, in which case, you could end up reinventing the necromancer (and really make it problematic to call the resulting class a "shaman") or an elementalist.

Here's how I handled the Spirit Form:

Spoiler: Spirit Form

Spirit Form
Also at 2nd level, you can use your action to magically assume the form of a spirit animal. You can use this feature twice, and you regain expended uses on a long rest.

You mimic the effects of the polymorph spell with the following changes: the range is “Self” and you require no material components. While in this form, you also gain advantage in a specific skill related to the animal you chose.

Your shaman level determines the animals you can transform into, as shown in the Spirit Shapes table. This table also shows the base animal that determines your statistics while transformed (see appendix D in the Player’s Handbook), as well as the skill you have advantage with.

Spirit Shapes
Level​	Spirit Animal	Base Animal	Advantage
2nd​	Ghost Wolf	Dire Wolf	Stealth
5th​	Phantom Crocodile	Crocodile	Athletics
10th​	Spectral Eagle	Giant Eagle	Perception

 

[MGibster]

The name aside -- and the name is a problem -- I think one needs to be very specific about what they think a shaman is.

The World of Warcraft shaman, flavor-aside, mechanically is wildly different than any real world traditions of the name. (Even more different than the D&D druid and real life druid are.)

If they're someone who works with the spirit world, 1) you need to graft a spirit world onto D&D, which traditionally hasn't had one, or 2) you need to radically redefine what a "spirit" is, in which case, you could end up reinventing the necromancer (and really make it problematic to call the resulting class a "shaman") or an elementalist.

This is what I'm thinking. What is the shaman (I'm fine with the name) bringing to the table that I can't get from a druid or a cleric? If it's a spirit type thing, how does that work within the context of D&D? It's something I don't think we've really seen in the past.

 

[Shardstone]

This is what I'm thinking. What is the shaman (I'm fine with the name) bringing to the table that I can't get from a druid or a cleric? If it's a spirit type thing, how does that work within the context of D&D? It's something I don't think we've really seen in the past.

Can bring a lot, going by the laserllama class. How that class explores spirits, invocation of spirits, totems, etc, felt fresh and standalone, not just like a druid. It would def be a Primal spellcaster, but more like a primal warlock, but still it's own thing.

Really I think Warlock, both 2014 and 1D&D, should be its own genre of class. Hyper-customizable uniqueness that flexes into different niches, like how warlock could flex into "arcane caster," "arcane gish," "arcane summoner" (though with different rates of success for each). In this case, the Shaman has "primal caster," "witch," and "vessel of mystical spirits/powers" niches. These are less popular, but still IMO interesting and deserving of creation.

But I think if WotC brought the Mystic class back, made a Psionic spell list, and made the Shaman a subclass, that'd be 10/10.

 

[cbwjm]

I've created a wow style shaman, I haven't looked at it in a while, I think I dropped the totems. They get elemental themed "domains" and subclasses were elemental, enhancement, and the healing one. I also had ideas for other subclasses like the warden. Full caster, and I switched it to the primal spell list rather than use the shaman spell list I had originally created.

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.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

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?

 

[Mecheon]

Shaman's a tricky one. Firstly the name's.... Yeah, not going to go well.

Whatever you do is inevitably going to be compared to WoW's shaman simply because, WoW be WoW, but it doesn't necessarily fit with how D&D's presented things. I can see options for maybe taking a few ideas from Binder of all things in addition, to represent the calling on things for aid. Basically the weird hybrid kid of a warlock, a binder, and a druid, with a bit of a spirit focus in dealing with certain things. I'd almost say just go 'yeah ethereal plane is the spirit world' given that's already the ghosts and whatever plane, and its not like the ethereal has ever been presented as anything more than 'the ghosts plane'

In my thinking I'd like a bit of a summon focus as an option. Not a mass number of things summon like a necromancer, but, a singular big summon you can call on. Mind this may be my Final Fantasy history. Or just thinking the elemental summons in WoW are neat for shaman, compared to the other pet classes.

 

[Tonguez]

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?

Or you make Anima-Spirits natives of the Material Plane, that exists as a natural part of the world despite being largely ethereal in form.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Or you make Anima-Spirits natives of the Material Plane, that exists as a natural part of the world despite being largely ethereal in form.

Would that make them residents of the Border Ethereal, in conventional Great Wheel terms?

 

[Tonguez]

Would that make them residents of the Border Ethereal, in conventional Great Wheel terms?

It would certainly make sense that they move across the Border Ethereal though possibly not the Deep Ethereal

 

[Horwath]

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.