Kalliper's page

I was just wondering what racial stats you were looking for specifically? I know the few initial paragraphs, and I assume physical description, society, and relations. What about alignment, religion, and the adventurers description? Male and female names?

I know racial traits are required, or abilities. Are alternative ones allowed? Favored Class options?

I know feats, example characters, archetypes and items are not allowed, but I wasn't sure if that meant the what I mentioned before were not as well.

Sorry if I missed something.

EDIT: I suppose most of the first paragraph would all be wrapped up in the one-two paragraph description now that I notice it.

EDIT2: Are ages/height/weight considered racial mechanics? Forgive my ignorance.

I'm not a power gamer; I don't min-max, or meta, or have an encyclopedic knowledge of spell lists, feats, or anything else that would certify me to really know what I'm talking about particularly with regards to the mechanical stability of a class.

That said, I want to start by saying The Oracle and the Witch are my two favorite classes in Pathfinder, both mechanically and flavorfully. Seeing that the Shaman is in fact a blending of my two favorite classes is - utterly - awesome to me. A year back a friend of mine and I got into an argument over whether or not Pathfinder would release any more base classes for the game. He said no, of course not, but I was always hopeful. I'm seriously thrilled to see that they haven't stopped coming up with base classes.

With THAT said, my thoughts on the Shaman are overwhelmingly positive, though I'd like to comment on a couple things being brought up here in the forums.

My biggest concern is that everyone wants the Druid spell list to replace the Oracle spell list it has now. I totally understand why, considering flavorfully the Druid spell list is more in synch with many peoples idea of what a Shaman is, but... I'm worried that that list takes away from the Witch aspects of the class. If right now people are saying 90% Oracle that means we have 10% Witch, and... We're not making an Oracle/Druid class, so adding the Druid spell list doesn't help blend the two classes it's suppose to be representing.

I would also argue that Shamans are often represented as medicine men/healers, fortune tellers/seers/prophets, and to a certain degree simply general miracle workers. The commune with nature/spirit guide archetypes are, at least in my opinion, less common than the wise man that reads the signs and tells the tribe of impending doom, or prepares warriors for battle through tradition and ritual. I understand even scholars don't have a definite answer of what the term "Shaman" means specifically.

But I digress, maybe what I want from the class and what it is really trying to do are different things. Perhaps, as much as it would pain me, the class would make more sense as an Oracle/Druid. Flavorfully, what part of the shaman IS the Witch part? The fact that they're often isolated from the rest of the tribe? Oracles already "commune" with higher powers, so how a witch interacts with their patrons isn't necessarily the Witch class' aspect associated with how a Shaman interacts with spirits, though that seems to be what they're going for.

The Shaman has a familiar, which a Witch has, which was originally an option for Wizards. This, sadly, feels tacked on because (at least as far as I'm aware) Shamans rarely have familiars with them. Unless the familiars are suppose to be their spirit guides, but generally those are invisible/intangible to anyone but the guided...

Well, I suppose what I'm getting at is they really need to give the Shaman its own spell list. Something that fuses the healing of the oracle, with the nature of the Druid, and the power of the witch. That seems to help give everyone what they want.

THEN they need to up some of the Witch stuff, in my opinion. If the Shaman is going to remain Oracle/Witch, and everyone agrees it's more oracle than witch, adding a druid spell list isn't helping that problem, and giving it its own special spell list is only marginally doing so.

Interesting character, could imagine great roleplay with the right group of the "reunion" with his/her former love.

Thanks. :) I intend on fleshing out the whole idea and hopefully playing it sometimes in the near future. But you're right, it might require more than anything the right kind of group.

This is my first post on these forums so bare with me. It's nice to talk with all of you!

I noticed the topic of conversation had shifted here and there from representations of homosexuality in the worlds 'cannon' to player and character portrayals and the extent with which people are comfortable with those portrayals among other... interesting... little side topics. :P

I want to post this particular idea of mine here because I feel it is an interesting, on-topic, and I would like to think out-of-the-box portrayal of a homosexual character and personal conflict.

I'd like to hear your thoughts on the character and whether or not you would allow him to be in your campaign, whether you think the concept of the character is thought-provoking and interesting, and how well you'd imagine the character might be portrayed, especially by a heterosexual male or even a female (someone who might not be of the characters assumed 'playerhood'). Also, whether or not this character is even plausible given the current knowledge of the races/classes/settings/ect in question (I might have taken some liberties). Really, whatever you'd like to say and how it would make you feel as either GM or companion.

The character is meant for a campaign focused on the story elements and progressions of the characters a little more than simple level and/or mechanic progression. The story has what I would consider to be slightly darker elements than most games are used to (though these elements are only implied in back history). For the sake of simplicity I kept some of the unimportant details out.