Shamans

The Pen & Dagger RPG    Players & Heroes Book    Classes      Shamans

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Barbaric casters who call upon spirits for guidance, inspiration, and power, shamans straddle the worlds of life and death.

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Shaman Heroes

Prerequisite: 12 Wisdom
Starting Hit Points: 8 + your Constitution modifier
Hit Die: d8
Languages: You speak and understand the language of the dead.
Proficiencies: You are Trained in Initiative, Simple Weapons, Light and Hide Armor, Light Shields, and Divine Magic its Divine Defense feature.
Skills: You possess the Religion skill, and can select two other Skills.

Shaman Features

Gift of Souls

Your connection to the spirits bridges life a death. Choose one of the following options.

Ancestral Strength: As part of your turn, you can spend a hero's surge to grant a creature you touch temporary hit points equal to ¼ of your maximum plus 1 per level.
Toll the Dead: When a living creature within 30' dies, you can spend a hero's surge to heal a creature you can see within 30' for ¼ of your maximum hit points plus 1 per the dead creature's hit dice.

Sepulchral Implements

You can use skulls, femurs, or other large humanoid bones as holy symbols, once consecrated by the night.

Spellcasting

Select three Spirit Domains to bind to. Each day after a long rest, designate two of your domains as active. You can utilize the orisons and rituals from your active domains and cast spells from these domains without preparation, up to a number of times per day as indicated on the Shaman table.

Boon Options:

• Bind to an additional spirit domain.
• Activate one additional domain each day.

The Shaman

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Level	Benefit	Hero’s Surges	Spells Per Day	Title
1	Shaman Features, Gift of Souls, Sepulchral Implements, Spellcasting	4	1	Witch Doctor
2	Mantle of Souls, Pull of the Grave	5	2
3	Boon, Grave Walker, Spirit Path	5	2/1	Hoodoo Doctor
4	Spirit Path Feature	6	2/2	Obeah Doctor
5	Valor	6	2/2/1
6	Spirit Path Feature	7	2/2/2	Isangoma
7	Boon	7	2/2/2/1
8	Spirit Path Feature	8	2/2/2/2	Mundunugu
9	Boon	8	2/2/2/2/1
10	Heroism	9	2/2/2/2/2

LEVEL 2 Shaman

Mantle of Souls

When you cast a Divine spell, you gain the Mantle of Souls benefit of its active domain. This benefit lasts while you are conscious or until you cast a spell that invokes a new mantle.

Pull of the Grave

When a creature within 30' dies, you can allow yourself to be pulled 5' toward it.

LEVEL 3 Shaman

Grave Walker

Your Reknown extends to incorporeal undead.

Spirit Path

At level 3, your growing connection to spirits grants you new powers over them. Choose a Spirit Path.

Heart Eater

Heart Eaters

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Often spoken of in whispers and warnings, you eschew morals to rip power from the dying and dead.

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Eat the Heart

Once per day per odd level you possess, you can undertake a minute-long ritual over an adjacent willing or helpless living creature or dead creature that died within the last day and has never been turned undead or had its heart eaten. At the end of this ritual, the target is slain (if it was living) and if it had maximum hit points equal to or greater than ¼ your maximum, you gain one of the following benefits.

• Gain Temporary Hit Points equal to ¼ of your maximum hit points plus the number of hit dice the creature possessed (requires the Toll the Dead Gift of Souls feature).
• Regain hit points equal to ¼ of your maximum plus the number of hit dice the creatures possessed (requires the Ancestral Strength Gift of Souls feature).
• Activate an additional Domain for the remainder of the day.
• Increase your damage done, hit points affected, and healing by your Wisdom modifier for the remainder of the day.
• End an effect afflicting you.

Boon Option: Perform this ritual as a Full-Round Action.

LEVEL 4 Heart Eater

Anthropomancy

You learn Divine Magic's Divine Guidance feature. When you have access to the corpse of a creature that died within the last day, you can use Divine Guidance to ask a question of the creature on any subject, though you may ask only one question per corpse.

Boon Option: Use Divine Guidance as a Full-Round Action.

Feed the Heart

You can use your Eat the Heart feature to feed a heart to a willing adjacent creature, provided the heart came from a creature with maximum hit points equal to or greater than ¼ of your maximum. The creature consuming the heart in your stead can then end an effect afflicting it.

Rebuking

You learn Divine Magic's Rebuke and Sense Outsider features and can command and turn incorporeal undead.

LEVEL 6 Heart Eater

Steal the Soul

When you deal damage to a living creature within 30', you can spend a hero's surge to increase the damage dealt by ¼ of your maximum hit points, so long as it reduces the creature to 0 hit points or less.

If this creature had maximum hit points equal to or greater than ¼ of your maximum, you can then immediately use your Gift of Souls feature without spending a hero's surge.

LEVEL 8 Heart Eater

Greater Heart Eater

Add the following options to your Eat the Heart feature, though you may only use each once per day.

• Regain a hero's surge.
• Regain a spell slot of a level up to half the hit dice the creature possessed.

Invoker

Invokers

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You call upon the spirits of your ancestors to bridge the gap between life and death, empowering yourself and your allies.

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Prerequisite: 12 Charisma

Ancestral Inspiration

You learn Divine Magic's Divine Guidance feature and can use it on any subject once per day. If the subject relates to your active spellcasting domain, you gain Advantage on the attempt.

Sense Spirits

You learn Divine Magic's Sense Outsider feature.

Spirit before Flesh

The spirits of your ancestors empower your actions. You can add your Wisdom modifier in place of your Dexterity or Strength modifier with weapon attacks. In addition, you add your Wisdom modifier to your damage, healing, and hit points affected with Divine Magic.

Rebuking

You learn Divine Magic's Rebuke feature and can command and turn incorporeal undead.

LEVEL 4 Invoker

Ancestral Knowledge

Your time spent with the spirits of your ancestors has taught you much. Gain two Skills of your choice.

Give up the Ghost

When you are reduced to 0 or fewer hit points, instead of losing a hero's surge you can gift one or more of your remaining hero's surges to creatures within 30’ or immediately spontaneously cast Restoration on a creature within 30'. In addition, if you recover from being reduced to 0 or fewer hit points, you can change your active domains.

Boon Option: When an ally within 30' of you is reduced to 0 or fewer hit points, you can gift the hero's surge they lose to another creature within 30'.

LEVEL 6 Invoker

Inorcism

As a Full-Round Action, you can spend a hero's surge to overtake your body with an ancestor's spirit. Except for your proficiencies, skills, languages, Give up the Ghost, and Spirit before Flesh, you lose access to all your Shaman features. In their place, you gain a feature set of your choice:

Guardian: You increase your current and maximum hit points by 2 per level, become Adept in Weapons and Shields, gain two Movement Skills, and reduce all damage you take by 2.
Sage: You become Trained in Arcane Magic and its Detect Magic and Dispel Magic features, learn the Arcane language and one cantrip, and gain the Arcana skill. In addition, as an action, you can spend a hero's surge and a spell slot to cast an Arcane spell of a spell level up to the spell slot's level.
Scout: You become Trained in Finesse Weapons, three Movement Skills, and two Expertise Skills. In addition, when you hit a target with a finesse weapon attack with major success, you deal an additional 1d6 damage per number of odd levels you possess.
This effect lasts for one minute, until you lose consciousness, or until you spend an action to end it. After employing this feature, you can change one of your active domains.
Boon Option: Employ this feature as an Attack action.

LEVEL 8 Invoker

In Death's Doorway

When your hit points are below half their maximum, you add your Charisma modifier to your damage, healing, and hit points affected.

Spirit Walker

Spirit Walkers

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Your command of spirits expands to all forms of life and you learn to draw on the very essence of nature.

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Prerequisite: Access to the Nature domain

Blessings of Nature

You consider the Air, Earth, Fire, and Water domains to be Spirit domains and can choose two of them to bind to. In addition, you can have one of these domains automatically active every day in addition to your other active domains.

Censure the Desecraters

You learn Divine Magic's Rebuke and Sense Outsider features and can turn aberrants.

Path of the World

You add your Wisdom modifier to damage, healing, and hit points affected with divine magic of the Air, Earth, Fire, Water, and Nature domains.

Spirit Animal

You learn to call an animal spirit. Choose one of the following options:

Spirit Companion: You can target a dead animal or animal spirit with the Animal Companion spell to gain the service of an incorporeal undead animal companion. This companion has Immunity to poison and disease, Resistance to all damage except force and psychic, and Advantage on defenses against attacks targeting it directly.
Spirit Guide: You learn Divine Magic's Divine Guidance feature and can use it to ask questions related to spirituality and nature.
Boon Option: Gain the option you did not select.

LEVEL 4 Spirit Walker

Spirit Totem

As an action, you can spend a hero's surge to throw a small non-magical wooden object into an unoccupied space within 15'. For the next minute or until this totem is destroyed, creatures you choose within 30' of it gain the effect of your active Mantle of Souls benefit.

LEVEL 6 Spirit Walker

Spirit Weapon

As a Full-Round Action while holding a weapon, you can spend a hero's surge to send yourself into a catatonic state for one hour. At the end of this period, select an orison from a domain you are bound to. Your critical hits with the target weapon deliver the effects of this orison as if it were cast at a normal success level. This effect lasts until you choose to regain the hero's surge from this feature.

Boon Option: Make this effect permanent without the reservation of a hero's surge. If you ever wish to change the weapon you instill this benefit in, you can repeat the process, albeit without spending a hero's surge.

LEVEL 8 Spirit Walker

Spirit Armor

As a Full-Round Action while wearing hide or leather armor, you can spend a hero's surge to send yourself into a catatonic state for one hour. At the end of this period, select a domain you are bound to. The hide or lighter armor you are wearing provides this domain's Mantle of Souls benefit while you wear it. This effect lasts until you choose to regain the hero's surge from this feature.

Boon Option: Make this effect permanent without the reservation of a hero's surge. If you ever wish to change the armor you instill this benefit in, you can repeat the process, albeit without spending a hero's surge.

Vision Quest

Once per day as a Full-Round Action, you can spend a hero's surge to send a willing creature you touch into a catatonic state for one hour. When they first enter this state, you can end an effect afflicting them, and while in this state, they can attempt to have a question of their choice answered, using your Divine Magic rank with Advantage. Finally, at the end of this time, the creature regains one of the following:

• ½ its maximum hit points.
• A hero's surge (or two, if you targeted yourself).
• A spell slot or spell point, the level of which cannot exceed the number of odd levels you possess.

A creature is awoken from a Vision Quest by taking damage or when an adjacent creature spends an action to awaken it. If you use this feature on yourself, you can change your active domains when it completes.