Class Idea: The Shaman

[HastyPudding]

So, yeah...

I enjoyed playing a shaman back in PnP (long time ago), and thought it might be an interesting class in DDO. Naturally, some of the unique features of shamans would have to be toned down a bit or re-purposed, but the essence behind the class is there. If people take an interest I'll develop a spell list (based on PnP spells and DDO spells) and flesh out enhancement trees.

Basic Information
Hit Die: D8
DDO Classification: specialist
Epic Destiny Classification: primal
Skill Points: 4 + intelligence modifier
Class Skills: bluff, concentration, diplomacy, heal, listen, search, spellcraft, spot, swim, tumble
Saving Throws: Fortitude (+2 ~ +12), Reflex (+0 ~ +6), Willpower (+2 ~ +12)
Base Attack Bonus: +0.75 per level
Spell Point Progression: same as clerics, wizards, and druids
Spellcasting Stat: wisdom and constitution
Spontaneous Casting: shamans can automatically use summon monster spells for every level
Alignment: no restriction
Weapon Proficiency: simple weapons
Armor Proficiency: light (no shield proficiency)

Specific Information
Class Summary: Lore
Shamans are spellcasters that gain magical power from spirits and exist for one purpose: their spirit journey, a personal quest for spiritual enlightenment. They are the connection between the material world and the supernatural realm. This connection often provides them incredible health and longetivity, and tend to be sturdy and enduring individuals. Like druids, shamans have a deep connection with nature, but where a druid seeks balance and harmony, a shaman seeks knowledge and wisdom. Shamans utilize their connection with the supernatural both in and out of combat, utilizing spirits as both an offensive tool and a provider of knowledge and wellbeing. Most shamans are reclusive and distant, but upon completing their spirit journey, they often return to their tribes or settlements to impart their wisdom and experience to others. Shamans rarely come from sophisticated or civilized societies, but those that do often take a quiet, contemplative role as a healer or advisor.

Class Summary: Gameplay
Shamans are a supportive class halfway between druids and clerics: they can provide healing and buffing but also damage and some measure of crowd control. Their main focus is the summoning of spirits, providing both offensive and defensive buffs and debuffs, but also have a variety of symbol spells and special rituals, making them good at providing support to choke points and defending positions. Shamans also have a special connection with the staff weapon, and gain special bonuses to them as they level. A unique trait of shamans is their connection with the constitution stat: while they use wisdom in order to cast spells and gain spell points, they use their constitution to determine spell DC's (much like a favored soul uses both charisma and wisdom). This makes the shaman a very durable spellcaster and so useful in the front-line of combat, but they lack powerful damage spells that other spellcasters possess: shamans are not a nuking spellcaster, but provide powerful buffs and debuffs with a secondary focus on healing and crowd control.

Unique Feature: Shamanic Staff
Shamans have a close bond with their staff and you gain the ability to increase the power of any staff you wield. Wielding a staff/quarterstaff is required to use several unique abilities and perform rituals, but is not required for general spellcasting. As you take levels in the shaman class, staves you equip gain bonuses:
Level 1 : +1 enhancement bonus / +3 stacking potency / +1 shaman bonus to constitution
Level 4 : +1 enhancement bonus / +6 stacking potency / +2 shaman bonus to constitution
Level 8 : +2 enhancement bonus / +9 stacking potency / +3 shaman bonus to constitution
Level 12: +2 enhancement bonus / +12 stacking potency / +4 shaman bonus to constitution
Level 16: +3 enhancement bonus / +15 stacking potency / +5 shaman bonus to constitution
Level 18: +3 enhancement bonus / +18 stacking potency / +6 shaman bonus to constitution

Unique Feature: Spirit Animal
Shamans have a deep connection with a specific animal, which acts as a guide on their spirit journey. Shamans pick a spirit animal at level 1 and gain bonuses associated with it. At any time a shaman may activate their spirit animal for greater knowledge, gaining another bonus for 20 seconds (2 minute cooldown). This can be used 3 times per rest.
Badger - +3 bonus to search and spot (activate to gain an additional +3 bonus to search and spot and gain +6 reflex saves)
Panther - +5% movement speed bonus (activate to gain an additional +15% movement speed boost)
Fish - +5 bonus to swim and gain underwater action (activate to gain an additional +5 bonus to swim and gain underwater evasion)
Weasel - +3 bonus to bluff and diplomacy (activate to trigger a diplomacy effect, making yourself invisible for 2 seconds)
Wolf - +2 reflex and +3 listen (activate to gain a +5% bonus to dodge and maximum dodge)
Bear - +2 fortitude and +3 concentration (activate to cause your spells to become uninterruptible for the duration)
Owl - +2 willpower and +3 heal (activate to instantly recover 1d6 hit points per character level)

Unique Feature: Rituals
Shamans have the ability to empower any spell from the shaman's spell list and turn it into a ritual. This essentially causes selected spells to become longer to cast (and thus easier to interrupt) in exchange for increased power. Spells cast in this manner have 1.5x the normal cooldown and cannot use the quicken metamagic.
Level 5 - Lesser Ritual - Spellcasting time +25% / +30 spellpower and +1 to DC
Level 15 - Greater Ritual - Spellcasting time +50% / +60 spellpower and +2 to DC

Special Feats Gained
Level 1 - Shamanic Staff, Spirit Animal, Wild Empathy
Level 5 - Lesser Ritual Spellcasting, Shamanic Fortitude (+3 saves against natural and magical poisons and diseases)
Level 10- Shamanic Fortitude (+6 saves against natural and magical poisons and diseases)
Level 15- Greater Ritual Spellcasting, Shamanic Fortitude (+9 saves against natural and magical poisons and diseases)
Level 17- Timeless Body
Level 20- Shamanic Fortitude (You are now immune to all natural and magical poisons and diseases)

Enhancements
Shamans have three enhancement trees available to them:
Witch Doctor - Pure spellcasting tree focusing on healing, damage-over-time, and debuffs
Warden - Melee tree, gains the ability to use mauls and focuses on defensive play and buffs
Spirit Guide - Spellcasting tree focusing on increasing the power of rituals as well as summoned creatures, pets, and hirelings

Past Lives
Past Life: Shaman. You were a shaman in a past life. You occasionally find yourself in a trance-like state, muttering to yourself. Each time you acquire this feat you gain a +2 bonus to fortitude saves.

Past Life: Spiritualist. You recall more about your past life as a shaman. You gain a +5 bonus to willpower and +3 to the heal and spellcraft skills. You may activate this ability 5 times per rest to gain +20 spellpower and cause your spells to be uninterruptible for 20 seconds (cooldown 1 minute).

[HastyPudding]

Reserved #1

[HastyPudding]

Reserved #2

[cpw_acc]

While I did like the Shaman in DnD 4th edition (not that I liked that edition generally), I'm not yet convinced there's enough here to make a Shaman class in DDO stand out from the Druid.

If anything, this could just be an idea for the 3rd Druid enhancement tree. For example, the first core enhancement turns your wolf pet into a 'spirit guide' (changing it's type to Outsider), while other enhancements allow you to re-call (raise) it more easily and add a minor bonus-granting aura to it (say +1 to AC to anyone within the aura, +2 to you). Other enhancements then improve the aura further and add additional effects to anyone within it.

[HastyPudding]

While I did like the Shaman in DnD 4th edition (not that I liked that edition generally), I'm not yet convinced there's enough here to make a Shaman class in DDO stand out from the Druid.

If anything, this could just be an idea for the 3rd Druid enhancement tree. For example, the first core enhancement turns your wolf pet into a 'spirit guide' (changing it's type to Outsider), while other enhancements allow you to re-call (raise) it more easily and add a minor bonus-granting aura to it (say +1 to AC to anyone within the aura, +2 to you). Other enhancements then improve the aura further and add additional effects to anyone within it.

Hmm that sounds interesting. You could implement the shamanic staff bonuses to the tree in an enhancement line (which are integral to the shaman archetype as a whole) and something along the lines of a ritual-like clicky that enhances the power of your next spell.

Now you have me thinking of an enhancement tree...

[cdbd3rd]

Kinduva Divine Warlock?

Assuming they don't want to take the time/effort to create another full class just yet, do you think the class could be reduced to make a good enhancement tree for Cleric or Warlock? Maybe Druid.