I've been working on a trio of classes that use totemic spirits to grant them power.
Berserkers are warriors that bravely wade into battle, fortifying themselves with the awesome powers of the spirit world.
Shamans are wise healers and advisors that summon and control spirits using their imposing willpower.
Tricksters use spirits to confuse their enemies as they skirmish amongst their opponents.
There are three kinds of spirits: Ancestral, Beast, and Elemental.
Ancestral Spirits represent iconic roles in society, like Brave, Crone, Chieftain, Hunter, Witchdoctor, etc.
Beast Spirits represent animistic forces, like Canid, Corvid, Great Cat, Serpent, etc. The relatively generic Canid would encompass Coyote, Dog, Fox, Hyena, and Wolf; Great Cat would cover Lion, Tiger, Panther, Cheetah, Lynx, etc.
Elemental Spirits would represent non-human and non-animal spirits, like the Sun, the Moon, and the Stars, Stone, Sea, and Sky, Grandfather Oak, Grandmother Night, and the Mushroom Princess, Mountains, Thunder, and Glaciers.
The basic design features that Berserkers, Shamans, and Tricksters all share is that they begin at 1st level knowing how to bond with a single totem at one time, and they would know a single totem from each of the three categories of Ancestral, Beast, and Elemental Totem. At 3rd level, and every odd level thereafter, they add an additional totem to the list of totems they know. At 9th level, they can bind with 2 totems at once, but these totems must be from different categories. At 17th level, they can bind with 3 totems at once, one each of Ancestral, Beast, and Elemental.
The way Totems are structured is that they grant abilities based on requirements that the Totemist (Berserker, Shaman, or Trickster) must meet. These requirements are usually based on BAB or, more often, minimum base save bonuses. Berserkers have good Fortitude Saves, Shamans have good Will Saves, and Tricksters have good Reflex Saves. Therefore, different types of Totemists gain different powers at different rates from the same Totem.
An example totem is the Lizard.
All-Around Vision: +4 to Perception and cannot be flanked; requires Base Will save of +2.
Sticky Foot: Gain a Climb Speed equal to your base speed and a +8 racial bonus to Climb skill checks; requires Base Fort save of +3.
Chameleon Skin: +8 racial bonus to Disguise and Stealth skill checks; requires Base Reflex save of +2.
Sticky Tongue: gain Pull special ability with a range of 40 feet; requires Base Reflex save of +4.
Regeneration: Once per day cast regeneration on self; requires Base Will save of +5.
Prehensile Tail: Gain a prehensile tail you can use as a 3rd arm for wielding weapons, using tools, or performing somatic spellcasting component with; requires BAB +6.
Waterwalking: For 1 round every minute, gain the ability to walk on water; requires Base Reflex save of +4.
Poisonous Bite: Gain a secondary natural bite attack for 1d4 points of damage that also causes 1d2 points of Dex damage for 6 rounds, cure 1 save, save Con based; requires Base Fort save of +3.
Swim: Gain a Swim speed equal to your base land speed and a +8 racial bonus to Swim checks; requires Base Fort save of +2.
Hold Breath: You can hold your breath for a number of rounds equal to 4 x your Constitution score; requires Base Fort of +2.
Intimidating Charge: When charging, gain +20 to your speed and make an Intimidate skill check; all opponents within 30 feet that fail a Will save equal to your Intimidate skill check are shaken for 1d6 rounds; requires BAB +4.
Tail: You grow a tail that grants you a +4 racial bonus on Acrobatics checks; requires Base Reflex save of +2.
Basilisk Gaze: You gain a gaze attck with a range of 30 feet that petrifies opponents that fail a Fort save; requires Base Will save of +5.
Fast Healing: You gain Fast Healing 1; requires Base Fortitude Save of +5.
Natural Armor: You gain a Natural Armor equal to you Constitution bonus; requires Base Fort Save of +4.
this is an awesome idea, i love it a lot, i would love to see some other totem abilities and some class features of the 3 classes.
what if you give them the ability to take animal forms much like wild shape based on there first totem, just an idea.
I am a fan of the idea. Super Genius came up with a Pathfinder Shaman that uses spirits thats interesting
what if you give them the ability to take animal forms much like wild shape based on there first totem, just an idea.
That might make a nice ability to give every animal totem, but requiring on a minimum Base Fortitude, Reflex, or Will Save depending on if the animal seems more fitting for a Berserker, Trickster, or Shaman. I'm thinking around base +4 save, so it's available at 4th level for the class it is "meant" for, but still accessible to the other classes by 12th level.
I also think it might be neat to design PrCs with 2 good saves each (F&R, F&W, and R&W), that will allow a little bit more flexiblity.