Shaman (5e Prestige Class)

Author: Rlyehable (talk) Date Created: 2017.02.16 Status: Finished Editing: Clarity edits only please

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Shaman are spellcasters that tap into the primal power of the spirit world.

Shaman is a prestige class for 5th edition.

Shaman

Shaman are spellcasters that tap into the primal power of the spirit world. They often contact both spirit animals and ancestral spirits.

Epiphany

At some point during your druid, ranger or paladin adventurer's career, you realized that there was more than the natural world. You had a glimpse into the spiritual world. This changed your world-view and you began to perceive the spirits everywhere. You thought you were going crazy until a kindly spirit (animal spirit or ancestral spirit) showed you the way to harness this new-found awareness.

Quest

This kindly spirit sent (or will send you) on a quest to find a high-level shaman. Once found the shaman introduced (or will introduce) you to the the traditions, and methods of progressing in your journey as a shaman. Until you complete this quest, you cannot progress beyond a 1st level shaman.

Class Features

As a Shaman, you gain the following class features.

Hit Points

Hit Dice: 1d8 per Shaman level
Hit Points at 1st Level: d8 + your Wisdom modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d8 + your Wisdom modifier

Proficiencies

Armor: None
Weapons: None
Tools: Medicine Kit, Shaman Focus
Saving Throws: None
Skills: Choose One from Arcana, Nature, Perception, Religion, Survival.

Equipment

You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background: None

Prerequisites

• Character Level must be at least 3 before it can multiclass with this prestige class. This class may not be taken as an initial class.
• May only be multiclassed with Druid, Ranger, or an Oath of the Ancients Paladin.
• Wisdom 13 (also see prerequisites for Druid, Paladin, and Ranger).

The Shaman

Shaman Level	Features	Cantrips Known	Spells Known
1st	Spirit Armor, Talk with Spirits, Spellcasting	2	2
2nd	Whispers of Danger	3	4
3rd	Spiritsense, Turn Spirit	4	4
4th	Ability Score Improvement	5	5
5th	Turn Spirits	5	6
6th	Spiritsense feature	5	7
7th	Summon Manitou	5	8
8th	Ability Score Improvement	5	9
9th	Spiritsense feature	6	10
10th	Talk with Spirits feature	6	10
11th		6	11
12th	Ability Score Improvement	6	11
13th		6	12
14th	Whispers of Danger feature	6	12
15th		6	13
16th	Ability Score Improvement	6	13
17th		6	14

Spirit Armor

If wearing padded armor, leather armor, hide armor, or no armor, and not wielding a shield, you may add your Wisdom modifier to your armor class.

Talk with Spirits

You may spend an action to consult the spirits (animal or ancestral) of the area. The shaman may ask one question of the spirits. The response, which only the shaman can hear, are usually brief and cryptic. The answers are usually truthful, but can be misleading. The spirits are not always friendly to the shaman and the shaman may use a bonus action to make a Persuasion or Insight check in conjunction with consulting the spirits.

The shaman may continue asking questions of the spirits on his subsequent turns by spending his action(s) to do so. This requires concentration (as in spellcasting), and no more that five questions total may be made of the spirits. If the shaman's concentration is broken, instead of voluntarily stopping, it is as if the shaman had asked 5 questions.

Once five questions have been asked, the shaman may not use this feature again until finishing a long rest. At 10th shaman level and above, the shaman may use this feature after finishing a short rest instead of a long rest.

Spellcasting

Drawing on the spirits of nature and ancestors, you can cast spells.

Shaman Spell List

see shaman spell list

Cantrips

You know two cantrips of your choice from the shaman spell list. You learn one additional cantrip of your choice at 6th, 9th, 13th, and 17th shaman level.

Preparing and Casting Spells

The Multiclassing Spellcaster Table shows how many spell slots you have to cast your spells of 1st level and higher. To cast one of these shaman spells, you must expend a slot of the spell’s level or higher. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a long rest.

You prepare the list of shaman spells that will be available for you to cast. When you do so, choose a number of spells equal to your Wisdom modifier + your shaman level (minimum of one spell). The spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots. Casting the spell doesn’t remove it from your list of prepared spells.

You can change your list of prepared spells when you finish a long rest. Preparing a shaman spell requires time spent in meditation: at least 1 minute per spell level for each spell on your list. You may change a number of spells on your list equal to your proficiency bonus when you finish a short rest

Spellcasting Ability

Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for your shaman spells. You use your Wisdom whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use your Wisdom modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a shaman spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one.

Spell save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier

Spell attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier

Ritual Casting

You can cast a shaman spell as a ritual if that spell has the ritual tag.

Spellcasting Focus

You can use a shaman focus as a spellcasting focus for your shaman spells. A shaman focus is usually a fetish composed of fur, feathers, bones, and other odds and ends. This fetish is often attached to the end of a staff or rod, or in the form of a necklace.

Whispers of Danger

Beginning at 2nd level shaman, the spirits warn you of danger. You may gain advantage on any saving throw you need to make. You may do this a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and then this feature is exhausted. Once exhausted, you may not use this feature again until you finish a long rest. When you reach 14th level shaman, you may use this feature again after a short rest.

Spiritsense

Beginning at 3rd level shaman, your perception of spirits is such that you see up to 60 feet, regardless of the light in the area. You can also "see" invisible, ethereal, and astral creatures in that range (including creatures that are in the border-regions of the ethereal and astral planes).

At 6th level shaman and above, you gain advantage on Perception and Investigation checks to see through illusions and disguises.

Starting at 9th level shaman, you gain Truesight to a range of 120 feet.

Turn Spirit

Beginning at 3rd level shaman, you can use an action to command unfriendly spirits to flee. Each unfriendly spirit¹ that you can perceive (see spiritsense) that is within 60 feet of you must make a Wisdom saving throw. If it fails, it is Turned for 1 minute or until it takes damage. Once used, the shaman may not use this feature again until he takes a short or long rest.

While turned, it must use it movement trying to move away from you. The only action it may use is to dash or disengage (continuing to move away from you). If it is unable to move away from you it may use the dodge action.

¹ Unfriendly spirits includes any undead and creatures not native to the Material Plane (fiends, celestials, elementals, etc.). If the shaman is not on the Material Plane, he cannot turn creatures native to that plane.

Summon Manitou

Beginning at 7th level, as an action, the Shaman can summon a number manitou (spirit animals or ancestral spirits). The amount of the manitou's combined challenge rating can be no more than that of 1/2 of the shaman level (round down). I.e. a 7th level shaman can summon CR 3 worth of manitou, CR 4 at 8th. The shaman may choose to summon less than this amount of manitou, to summon additional spirits later. These spirits appear in an unoccupied space within 30 feet of the shaman. Once all the CR of spirits has been summoned, the shaman cannot summon additional manitou until after a long rest

Manitou are spirit forms of beasts (including swarms), plants, or humanoids. Such spirits are insubstantial, being able to move through other creatures or objects, but not end their turn there; and are resistant to bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage from nonmagical weapons; and their attacks are magical. Otherwise, use the beast, plant, or humanoid's listing.

Once summoned, the manitou have their own initiative and actions. They instinctively work to the benefit of the shaman. The manitou manifest for a number of turns equal to the Shaman level. The DM may choose to control the manitou or designate a player(s) to control one or more of the manitou.

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