Shamans and divine foci

[Strife2002]

What do shamans use as a divine focus? Are they like oracles where they can ignore the divine focus requirement or are they like clerics and require a holy/unholy symbol?

They venerate spirits, so would a holy/unholy symbol be more like when a cleric venerates a cause or ideal, and their symbol's overall look is tied to that ideal rather than to a specific deity?

[Trekkie90909]

I would assume it's their spirit animal.

[Benchak the Nightstalker]

I'd say they probably either have no divine focus like an Oracle (since Oracle is one of their parent classes) or they'd use a nature-y themed focus like Druids.

Just a guess though.

[Dispari Scuro]

I'm building a shaman and so would like to bump this. Their spellcasting block says nothing about divine focuses, and some of their spells (protection from evil, and others) require one. The shaman kit doesn't come with one, though. Some of the above posters said you could use your spirit animal, but I took the speaker for the past archetype which has no familiar. So... do I need to buy a separate divine focus? Why didn't the kit come with one if I need one?

[Trekkie90909]

I... have no direct advice to give. If I were your DM I'd say "pick some trinket on your person - that is now a beloved heirloom of your people, and your divine focus for spell casting." But that has no basis in the books.

[Dispari Scuro]

Trekkie90909 wrote:

I... have no direct advice to give. If I were your DM I'd say "pick some trinket on your person - that is now a beloved heirloom of your people, and your divine focus for spell casting." But that has no basis in the books.

I was actually going to do an heirloom weapon (a scythe handed down in her family line), which could work. But that's purely in the line of house rules.

Clerics and paladins need a holy symbol to present to channel and to cast certain spells. Oracles ignore that restriction. But shamans say nothing about it, and their kit doesn't come with one. So I'm curious what the actual intent was with shaman.

[Trekkie90909]

Clerics and Paladins have to actively worship something in order to gain the benefits of their beliefs, which is why they need a holy symbol. Druids are in tune with nature, so they need to present an offering to nature to gain their abilities. The idea with the Oracle is that they are so beloved by their god that the deity grants them their abilities; basically they ARE a divine focus. With shamans there's a lot of wording about spirits, so I think it's logical to assume that they form the basis of the class's divine focus.

Basically your divine focus is anything which provides a direct link between you and your source of power.