The Shaman

A shaman is a tribal spell caster that uses clerical magic without becoming a full cleric. This class is normally a non-player class for monstrous humanoids.

The shaman is a tribal cleric. He or she has the functions of any cleric that is, to revitalize and protect himself or herself and the war leader. Because the deities served by such NPCs are usually evil, the shaman carries more offensive and defensive spells than curative spells.

On the whole, humanoids tend to be a dim-witted and barbaric lot. Those born with unusual Intelligence or Wisdom learn to use their spell-casting abilities ruthlessly or are killed by jealous rivals.

A shaman will have a maximum caster level of 7th level,dependent on race, with access to a limited set of clerical spells.

Prime Requisite. None
Minimum Ability Scores. Wisdom (9)
Dice for Additional Hit Points. d4 for each level after the 1st; Maximum 6d4 (See Hit Dice below)
Alignment. Any
Non-Player Character Races. Bugbear (5th), Ettin (3rd), Giant (7th, hill, stone, fire, and frost only), Gnoll (5th), Goblin (7th), Hobgoblin (7th), Kobold (5th), Lizard man (7th), Ogre (3rd), Orc (5th), Troglodyte (3rd), Troll (3rd)
Armor. Any (dependent on humanoid type and deity)
Shield. Any (dependent on humanoid type and deity)
Initial Weapon Proficiencies. Dependent on humanoid type (usually 2)
Non-proficiency Penalty. -2
Added Weapon Proficiencies. None
Weapons Allowed. Any (dependent on humanoid type and deity)
Use of Poison. Yes (dependent on alignment and deity)

Advancement

Hit Dice

As humanoid shamans increase in level, they also increase to a degree in hit dice and combat ability. For each level of ability above the 1st, the shaman adds 1d4 hit points to his or her total. For every two levels of shaman ability, the creature fights as if one hit dice better. Thus, a 4th level gnoll shaman would have 5 dice for hit points: 2d8 (his normal amount) plus 3d4 (his shaman dice). However, he would fight as a 4 hit dice monster. Likewise, a 5th level goblin shaman would have 4d4 plus 1d8-1 hit points, and would fight as a 3 hit dice monster (technically, 3-1 HD).

Saving Throws

As covered in Combat, Saving Throws, monsters with the abilities of other classes gain the most favorable saving throw available. In this case, check the saving throw value on the Monster Saving Throw Matrix with the creature’s increased hit dice (in fighting ability if any), and compare this to a cleric’s saving throws of the shaman’s caster level (1 through 7) and use the best save for each category.

Weapons and Armor

Shamans are not restricted to blunt weapons but are limited to weapons used by that humanoid type. Fire-giant shamans use great swords; kobold shamans use short swords, axes, spears, or spiked clubs; and so forth. Shamans are expected to show bravery and bloodlust, and are expected to melee frequently. They may thus wear any sort of armor without penalty and may use the best armor and weapons available to their tribes.

Spells

A humanoid shaman has access to a limited limited set of spells and must choose his daily spells from them by praying for them, as does a human or demi-human cleric. A shaman can use clerical scroll spells (if he or she can read). This limited knowledge is a function of being primarily self-taught and serves to vary the spells available to each shaman. The DM can roll for spells selected each day randomly or assign them.

Shamans do not gain additional spells for high Wisdom scores.

Magic Item Use

Shamans may employ any magical item of general use or of use by clerics. In addition, shamans (due to their combat orientation) may employ magical items usually reserved for fighters.

The chance for a humanoid spell-caster to own magical items is given in the Core Rulebook in Random Encounters, treating the NPC as a spell-caster of the appropriate class and level (using the shaman’s caster level). Remember that only the more powerful humanoid bands have spell casters at all, and that such bands do a lot of raiding. The spell-caster will be certain to examine new treasures closely for a chance to increase his power, and will thus collect as many items as possible.

Encounters

Unless the DM rules otherwise, there is a 5% chance for a shaman to appear per 25% of the maximum strength of a humanoid band. For example, the number of gnolls usually encountered is 20-200. If there are 50 gnolls (25% of the possible maximum), there is a 5% chance for a shaman to be present. In a group smaller than 50 gnolls, there is no chance for a shaman to be present; a band of that size could not protect its shaman well enough and would quickly lose its spellcaster.

This applies to all humanoid bands: No spell-casters are ever encountered in a group smaller than one-quarter of its maximum size, as given in the Monster Manual. This principle works in 25% increments—that is, in a group of 99 gnolls, there is still only a 5% chance for a shaman to be present, but at 100 gnolls, the chance jumps to 10%. This serves to keep the chance of a shaman appearing to a minimum and increases the scarcity of spell-casters.

No humanoid tribe has both a shaman and a witch doctor, and the shaman is always checked for first.

Guards

The humanoid spell-caster is an important part of his or her tribe and should be protected as such by the tribe. Such persons are often surrounded by guards equal in ability and in number to those who guard the sub-chieftain. In addition, the spell caster stays near the war leader, combining his many bodyguards with magic to create a potent defense. War leaders are certain to defend their tribal spell-casters, for those shamans are the only defense against magic their tribe may have. A final wise defense for the spell-caster is placing guard animals near him. Most humanoids employ guard animals, and these animals are often tougher than the races for whom they work.