synthapse's page

I don't know if they will, but it seems like the Sorcerer offers an interesting design possibility, in that their spell list could be entirely tied to their bloodline. The main trait of a sorcerer (or, at least the way I think of a sorcerer) is that they are born with innate magic, and I see no reason why that inborn magic should be forced into only one of the four available types of magic

So, an Arcane bloodline would produce a "standard" PF1 sorcerer, a Divine bloodline gives us Favored Soul, the theoretical Occult bloodline produces something that lives in a similar space as the Shaman, and a Primal bloodline would create an elementalist or something similar. That way, they could have several options in the Core for players without having to create several more classes in future books. It seems like a lot of PF1 additional class design was to create something that was "sorcerer, only with a different type of magic", and that you could get around a lot of that by making the class itself more flexible from the beginning.

I have to disagree with the OP. Other than skipping over the fact that the cleric gets better saves, the main thing that the cleric has on the shaman is spontaneous casting.

Spontaneous healing allows the cleric to prep spells as she wants, without having to worry about being able to heal the party. The shaman, by contrast, must decide first thing in the day how much healing to allocate, and which other spells to sacrifice (lesser restoration, protection from evil, etc.)

Obviously this disparity lessens at higher levels when wands and such can be easily acquired, but there is a substantial drop-off between the two at 1st-4th level, at least where healing is concerned. The cleric has the versatility to be both healer and something else, while the shaman must choose when she prepares spells.

I still think shaman is a fantastic class, but it's a far stretch to say that cleric is obsolete.

I know it's extra work, but I really feel that Shaman needs its own spell list. The class has its own feel, and I think deserves the extra effort. the Druid, Witch, and Cleric spell lists all miss the mark, even if it's by just a little.