Toxic Shamans

Edge: Arcane Background (Toxic Shaman)

Requirements: Wild Card, Novice, Faith, Spirit d8+

Arcane Skill: Faith (Spirit)

Power Points: 10

Starting Powers: 2

Available Powers: Armor, banish, barrier, blast, bolt, burrow, burst, damage field, detect/conceal arcana, dispel, drain power points, elemental manipulation, entangle, environmental protection, farsight, fear, fly, growth/shrink, havoc, healing, light/ obscure, pummel, shape change, smite, stun, succor, summon ally, wall walker.

Backlash: When a Toxic Shaman rolls a 1 on his Faith die, he suffers a level of Fatigue. Fatigue lost in this way may be recovered with four hours of rest per level.

Jump to the Savage Arcane Powers List

Special Rules:

• Choose Your Poison: The shaman must choose to be a caretaker or a corruptor, as discussed below. The two sides are typically violently hostile toward one another.

• Spook Juice: Toxic shamans can regain Power Points quickly by drinking spook juice (page 58). Each pint restores 1d6 Power Points (up to their normal maximum), but causes a level of Fatigue as the shaman gets drunk. It takes 4 hours to recover each level of Fatigue, which no magic or tech can aid (including powers such as succor). During this time, the Shaman cannot recover Power Points normally.

History

Nature spirits are a reflection of the physical world, With the coming of the industrial age, some nature spirits began to be corrupted into “toxic spirits.” Judgment Day accelerated this “evolution” a thousand-fold. Mushroom clouds burning with fire and damned souls littered the globe. Burning fuel dumps and bombed-out factories poured tons of pollution into the air, ground, and water. Depleted uranium shells, ionized by the incredible velocities with which they struck, spread radioactive dust, and the ruptured containment chambers of vehicle reactors leaked radioactive water and steam.

Toxic spirits bred like wildfire in the aftermath, and each one wanted what all creatures want—to create more of themselves and the environment that gives them the most energy.

Corrupters & Caretakers

Some Indian shamans latched onto toxic spirits early, but for the most part they’re a recent phenomenon. Some embrace the spirits and give them what they want in exchange for power, while others attempt to use the spirits to draw the toxins out of the world.

The latter breed of toxic shaman are called caretakers. When they cast a favor, they feed the corrupted spirits by channeling pollution from the world into the Hunting Grounds for them to feed on. This is the nature of their bargain. Caretakers hope that one day they will clean the environment and restore the balance. The distant spirits don’t realize they’re contributing to their own eventual destruction—they just know that irradiated goo sure tastes good. The flip-side of the caretakers are the corruptors. These shamans are usually evil (or at least destructive), and war with caretakers on sight. There are also well-meaning shamans who believe that by siphoning off the toxic spirits’ power in the spirit world they weaken them and give the nature spirits a better chance of victory in the Hunting Grounds, but these are few and far between.

The Power of the Wastes

Toxic shamans in a particularly deadly area may draw additional power into their bodies. If in an area that normally causes Fatigue or long-term effects due to pollution (see Savage Worlds, Hazards), they recover Power Points at twice their normal rate (2 PPs per hour barring Edges). If they are in an area that causes immediate damage, they also reduce the cost of their spells by 1 Power Point for each Raise on their Faith roll. This cannot reduce the cost below zero, and the toxic shaman must have the points available to cast the spell in the first place before rolling.

Toxic Shaman Edges

Toxic Guardian

Requirements: Seasoned, Wild Card, Arcane Background (Toxic Shaman)

A toxic spirit has manifested in the world and attached itself to the shaman. This “pet” is a source of power—and occasionally

mayhem. All toxic spirits have the same basic statistics. Its Special Abilities make it unique. A shaman picks one type of spirit,

and only one, to bond to. This creature rises from a pool or pile of waste to join this unique human in the physical world. If the spirit is slain, the shaman can visit an appropriate source of pollutant—an insect hive, an irradiated zone, a pool of

sludge, a belching smokestack, or a pile of trash—and spend an hour resummoning it. Toxic spirits have no mental link with the shaman, but do understand reasonably complex commands. They can be tasked to guard, to escort, or even to die for their ally (since “death” is a temporary state anyway).

Toxic Spirit

Attributes: Agility d4, Smarts d4, Spirit d8, Strength d4, Vigor d10

Skills: Fighting d6, Notice d6, Stealth d6

Pace: 6; Parry: 5; Toughness: 6

Special Abilities:

• Claws: The spirit has claws—physical or otherwise—that cause Str+d4 damage.

• Construct: +2 to recover from being Shaken, no additional damage from called shots, immune to disease and poison.

• Size –1: Toxic spirits are generally 2’ to 4’ tall, or about the size of medium dogs.

• Type: Below are five types of toxic spirits that can manifest in the Wasted West. The shaman chooses which type is his “pet.”

• Insect: The spirit manifests as some kind of insect, or even a combination of several pests. Flies and roaches are common. The creature can fly at a Pace of 12” and has a Climb of –1. Insect spirits have some kind of stinger or weak poisonous bite; if they cause a Shaken or worse on a foe with a Fighting attack, the target must make a Vigor roll or suffer a level of Fatigue.

See Poison in Savage Worlds for rules on recovery.

• Radiation: These energy spirits look like small clouds of irradiated vapor with brilliant glowing eyes. They are not quite Ethereal, but have +2 Toughness against non-magical weapons and attacks. They have Shooting at a d6 and can fire weak

radiation energy from their eyes at a Range of 6/12/24. Those hit who fail a Vigor roll suffer Fatigue. See Radiation in Savage Worlds for rules on recovery.

• Sludge: Sludge spirits are small, monkey-like creatures made of toxic goo. They have +2 Armor from their malleable bodies, and their sticky hands and feet grant them the Wallwalker ability. Sludge spirits can hide an object up to 5 lbs. of weight within their gooey bodies, though it may be a bit sticky when returned.

• Smog: Creatures of black, choking smoke. As an action, they can create a cloud of black choking gas centered on themselves equal to a Medium Burst Template. Vision in the area suffers a -4 penalty, and every living, breathing creature within must make a Vigor roll or be Shaken. Smog spirits can Fly at a Pace of 6” with a Climb of -2.

• Trash: Trash or “junk” spirits are small creatures made from piles of garbage. They can hurl bits of themselves at foes at a Range of 3/6/12 for 2d4 damage with a d6 Throwing. Trash spirits gain a +2 to Stealth in areas of junk or debris (which covers much of the Wasted West). Trash spirits can also sniff out the best junk; they get a +2 bonus to Notice when making

a cooperative roll to aid their master in scavenging (see page 66).

Trappings

Offensive powers of toxic shamans might look like streams of filth, the spirits of rats, or a storm of metal debris. Defensive

powers often look like chitin, a swarm of roaches that surround the host, sludge, or crackling green energy.

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