Original artwork: http://kaytara.deviantart.com/art/By-the-Spirits-73270945
Master of the spirit world, the spirit shaman follows a different divine tradition than the cleric or the druid. Her world is filled with powerful, living spirits, some helpful and some malign. By bargaining with these spirits, the spirit shaman gains power over the natural world and mighty divine magic with which to aid her comrades or smite her enemies.
Alignment: Any.
Hit Die: d8
Class Skills: Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (Int), Listen (Wis), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Spellcraft (Int), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis), Swim (Str).
Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Int Modifier) x 4.
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier.
| Level | BAB | Fort Save | Reflex Save | Will Save | Special | 0 | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | +0 | +2 | +0 | +2 | Spirit guide, wild empathy | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2nd | +1 | +3 | +0 | +3 | Chastise spirits | 4 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 3rd | +2 | +3 | +1 | +3 | Detect spirits | 5 | 4 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 4th | +3 | +4 | +1 | +4 | Blessing of the spirits | 6 | 5 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 5th | +3 | +4 | +1 | +4 | Follow the guide | 6 | 6 | 4 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 6th | +4 | +5 | +2 | +5 | Ghost warrior | 6 | 6 | 5 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 7th | +5 | +5 | +2 | +5 | Warding of the spirits | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - |
| 8th | +6/+1 | +6 | +2 | +6 | - | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - |
| 9th | +6/+1 | +6 | +3 | +6 | Spirit form 1/day | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 2 | - | - | - | - |
| 10th | +7/+2 | +7 | +3 | +7 | Guide magic | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 3 | - | - | - | - |
| 11th | +8/+3 | +7 | +3 | +7 | Recall spirit | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 2 | - | - | - |
| 12th | +9/+4 | +8 | +4 | +8 | - | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 3 | - | - | - |
| 13th | +9/+4 | +8 | +4 | +8 | Exorcism | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 2 | - | - |
| 14th | +10/+5 | +9 | +4 | +9 | - | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 3 | - | - |
| 15th | +11/+6/+1 | +9 | +5 | +9 | Spirit form 2/day | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 2 | - |
| 16th | +12/+7/+2 | +10 | +5 | +10 | Weaken spirits | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 3 | - |
| 17th | +13/+7/+2 | +10 | +5 | +10 | Spirit journey | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 2 |
| 18th | +13/+8/+3 | +11 | +6 | +11 | - | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 3 |
| 19th | +14/+9/+4 | +11 | +6 | +11 | Favored of the spirits | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 |
| 20th | +15/+10/+5 | +12 | +6 | +12 | Spirit form 3/day, spirit who walks | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 |
Class Features:
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Spirit shamans are proficient with the club, dagger, dart, hand axe, javelin, longspear, quarterstaff, shortspear, spear, sling, shortbow, throwing axe, and with light armor and shields (excluding tower shields). These are the common weapons used by the tribal societies where spirit shamans are found, though spirit shamans are not limited to these weapons by religious practices.
Spells: A spirit shaman casts divine spells from the druid spell list. Spirit shamans can cast any spell they have retrieved. Like sorcerers, spirit shamans only know a certain number of spells per level as listed on the following chart. Spells known are not affected by high charisma - they are set.
| Spells Known | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Level | 0 | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | |||||
| 1st | 4 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | - | - | - | |||||
| 2nd | 5 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | - | - | - | |||||
| 3rd | 6 | 3 | - | — | — | — | — | - | - | - | |||||
| 4th | 6 | 3 | 1 | — | — | — | — | - | - | - | |||||
| 5th | 7 | 4 | 2 | — | — | — | — | - | - | - | |||||
| 6th | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | — | — | — | - | - | - | |||||
| 7th | 8 | 5 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | - | - | - | |||||
| 8th | 8 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | — | — | - | - | - | |||||
| 9th | 9 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | — | — | - | - | - | |||||
| 10th | 9 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | — | - | - | - | |||||
| 11th | 9 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | — | - | - | - | |||||
| 12th | 9 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | |||||
| 13th | 9 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | |||||
| 14th | 9 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | - | - | |||||
| 15th | 9 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | - | - | |||||
| 16th | 9 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | - | |||||
| 17th | 9 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | - | |||||
| 18th | 9 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | |||||
| 19th | 9 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | |||||
| 20th | 9 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | |||||
In addition, spirit shamans gain bonus spells based on their Wisdom score.
Spirit Guide: All spirit shamans have a spirit guide, a personification of the spirit world. Unlike a familiar, a spirit guide is not a separate entity from a spirit shaman. The spirit shaman is the only one who can perceive or interact with her guide. It exists only inside the spirit shaman's mind and soul. The spirit shaman's spirit guide confers greater awareness of surroundings and grants the Alertness feat. The spirit guide grants additional abilities at 5th and 10th level (see Follow the Guide and Guide Magic below).
The exact form of the spirit guide is chosen by the spirit shaman at 1st level, usually for its representative qualities as shown in the table below. The exact form confers no benefits, and is purely personal preference. The following are example spirit guides. Others are possible.
| Spirit Guide | Characteristics |
| Badger | Orderliness, tenacity |
| Bear | Strength, endurance |
| Bison | Abundance, good fortune |
| Cougar | Balance, leadership |
| Coyote | Humor, trickiness |
| Crane | Balance, majesty |
| Crow | Intelligence, resourcefulness |
| Eagle | Perception, illumination |
| Elk | Pride, power, majesty |
| Fox | Cleverness, discretion |
| Hawk | Awareness, truth |
| Lizard | Elusiveness |
| Otter | Joy, laughter |
| Owl | Wisdom, night |
| Rabbit | Conquering fear, safety |
| Raccoon | Curiosity |
| Scorpion | Defense, self-protection |
| Snake | Power, life force, potency |
| Spider | Interconnectedness, industry |
| Turtle | Love, protection |
| Vulture | Vigilance, death |
| Wolf | Loyalty, interdependence |
Wild Empathy (Ex): Guided by insight into animal spirits, a spirit shaman can use body language, vocalizations, and demeanor to improve the attitude of an creature of the animal type. This functions like a Diplomacy check to improve a person's attitude. The spirit shaman rolls 1d20 and adds her spirit shaman level and her Charisma modifier to determine the wild empathy check result. Typical domestic animals start as indifferent, and typical wild animals start as unfriendly.
To use wild empathy, the spirit shaman and the animal must be within 30' of each other and able to study one another. A typical check takes 1 minute. This ability cannot be used to influence magical beasts.
Chastise Spirits (Su): Beginning at 2nd level, a spirit shaman can use divine energy granted by her patrons in the spirit world to damage hostile spirits. For purposes of this and other spirit shaman abilities, a spirit includes any of the following creatures: all incorporeal undead; all fey; all elementals; all outsiders; all creatures in astral form or with astral bodies (though not creatures physically present on the Astral Plane); all creatures with the spirit subtype; spirit folk and telthors; spirit creatures created by spells such as dream sight or wood wose. To spirit shamans, fey and elementals are nature spirits, while incorporeal undead are the spirits of the dead, and other outsiders are somewhere in between.
Chastising spirits is a standard action that deals 1d6 damage/spirit shaman level to all spirits within 30 feet of the spirit shaman. Affected spirits get a Will save (DC 10 + shaman level + Charisma modifier) for half damage.
When using this ability against incorporeal creatures, a spirit shaman does not have to roll the normal 50% miss chance - the effect hits the spirits automatically. A spirit shaman can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + Charisma modifer.
Detect Spirits (Sp): The spirit shaman's guide perceives nearby spirits. At will, the spirit shaman can use detect spirits as a spell-like ability. It functions just like detect undead, except it detects creatures that are considered spirits.
Blessing of the Spirits (Sp): Starting at 4th level, a spirit shaman can perform a special rite to gain a special blessing. The shaman goes into a meditative state in which the shaman travels to the spirit world. This rite requires 10 minutes; this ability wards only the spirit shaman, and cannot be performed for others. The blessing functions just like protection from evil, except it protects against spirits and lasts until it is dismissed or dispelled. If this ability is dispelled, the spirit shaman can recreate it simply by taking 10 minutes to do so.
Follow the Guide (Su): At 5th level and higher, a spirit shaman's spirit guide helps her maintain control of her mind. If a spirit shaman is affected by an enchantment spell or effect and fails the saving throw, the shaman can attempt it again 1 round later at the same DC. Only one extra chance is allowed.
Ghost Warrior (Su): Beginning at 6th level, a spirit shaman, confers the ghost touch special ability to any weapon she holds for as long as she holds it. She also becomes resistant to the touch attacks of incorporeal creatures, and may use her normal Armor Class rather than touch AC against any touch attack delivered by an incorporeal creature.
Warding of the Spirits (Sp): Starting at 7th level, a spirit shaman can perform a special rite once per day to ward herself and her companions against hostile spirits. Performing the rite requires 1 minute. The warding lasts for 10 minutes per level and otherwise functions like magic circle against evil, except against spirits.
Spirit Form (Su): At 9th level and higher, a spirit shaman learns how to temporarily transform into a spirit. Once per day, as a standard action, the shaman can become incorporeal for up to 1 minute. While incorporeal, the spirit shaman gains all the advantages of the incorporeal subtype, including immunity to all nonmagical attack forms, a 50% chance to ignore damage from any corporeal source, and the ability to enter or pass through solid objects. The spirit shaman loses any armor or natural armor bonus to AC, but gains a deflection bonus equal to the shaman's Charisma modifier (minimum +1). The shaman also has no Strength score against corporeal creatures or objects and cannot make physical attacks against them, but gains the ability to make a melee touch attach (adding the Dexterity modifier to the roll) that deals 1d6 points of damage to a corporeal target. This effect is treated as a magical weapon for purposes of overcoming damage resistance.
At 15th level and higher, spirit shamans can use spirit form twice per day. At 20th level, this increases to three times per day.
Guide Magic (Su): Starting at 10th level, as a free action, a spirit shaman can assign a spirit guide the task of concentrating on a spell or spell-like ability that is maintained through concentration. The spirit shaman can act normally while the spirit guide concentrates on the spell. A spirit guide can concentrate on only one spell at a time. If necessary to maintain the spell, the spirit guide makes Concentration checks for the spirit shaman, using the spirit shaman's normal Concentration modifier. A spirit guide does not have to make Concentration checks for circumstances such as the spirit shaman taking damage. The spirit itself is not present for anyone to interrupt or otherwise interact with.
Recall Spirit (Sp): At 11th level, a spirit shaman gains the ability to call back the spirit of a dead creature before the spirit of the dead has completely left the body. Once per week, the shaman can reconnect a spirit to its body, restoring life to a recently deceased creature. The ability must be used within 1 round of the victim's death. This ability functions like raise dead, except that the raised creature receives no level loss, no Con loss, and no loss of spells. The creature is only restored to -1 hit points, but is stabilized.
Exorcism (Su): Starting at 13th level, as a full-round action, a spirit shaman can force a possessing creature or spirit out of the body it inhabits. To exorcise a possessing creature, the shaman makes a class level check, adding any Charisma modifier, against a DC of 10 + the possessing creature's HD + its Charisma modifier, if any. If the result equals or exceeds the DC, the spirit shaman succeeds in forcing the possessor from the body, with the normal results based on its method of possession. A spirit so exorcised cannot attempt to possess the same victim for 24 hours.
Weaken Spirits (Su): At 16th level and higher, a spirit shaman can choose to strip spirits of their defenses instead of damaging them with her chastise spirits ability. When a spirit is weakened, it loses its spell resistance and any damage reduction overcome by magic weapons, silver or cold iron weapons, and aligned weapons (but not damage reduction overcome by adamantine weapons or not overcome by anything). In addition, an incorporeal spirit loses its immunity to nonmagical attacks, its 50% bonus to ignore damage from corporeal sources, and its ability to move through or into objects.
To weaken spirits, a spirit shaman uses her chastise spirits ability but chooses to do less damage in exchange for weakening the spirits for a short time. For each 3d6 of chastise spirit damage the spirit shaman forgoes, the affected spirits are weakened for 1 round. Spirits that make their Will save against the chastise spirits damage are unaffected by the weakening effect (but still take half damage).
Spirit Journey (Sp): A spirit shaman knows how to vanish bodily into the spirit world beginning at 17th level. This ability functions like the spell shadow walk, except that it only works on the spirit shaman, allowing no additional subjects, does not require a shadowy area, and travel is through the Plane of Spirits rather than the Plane of Shadows. A spirit shaman can use this ability once per day.
Favored of the Spirits (Sp): At 19th level, a spirit shaman learns how to perform a special rite that guards her from death. Performing the rite requires 8 hours, and the spirit shaman must bargain away part of the shaman's life force, expending 1,000 experience points. The rite's effects last until it is dismissed or discharged.
Under the protection of this rite, a spirit shaman instantly receives the benefit of the heal spell (caster level equal to the spirit shaman's level) if ever reduced to 0 hit points or lower or has any ability score reduced to 0. The spirit shaman receives the spell's effects immediately, even if reduced to a hit point or ability score total that would normally kill the shaman. The rite's protection is discharged once it is triggered, and the spirit shaman must perform a new rite to use this ability again.
Spirit Who Walks (Ex): At 20th level, a spirit shaman becomes one with the spirit world. The shaman is forevermore treated as a fey for purposes of spell and magical effects. Additionally, the shaman gains damage reduction 5/cold iron.
