Shattered Kingdoms

I think everyone would like to see a certain amount of change happen to shaman and here are some ideas that seem to be popular/I have thought of while reading through various posts.

-Create religion specific for shaman and barbarian
-To gain access to spiritualism you would have to do the quest that currently grants you access to the sacred armor (which would now be religion specific)
-The totem the shaman chooses during the course of the quest would determine what mods are granted by the shaman created totems
-Alter skill and spell sets for shaman to require spiritual devotion for higher tier spells (as is with priests
-Spirit Aura spell would require spiritual devotion to be used by other classes
-Raise Dead spell would check for religious status and if dedicated to spirits would not drain EXP; still requires body
-Replace voodoo with spell that turns spirit doll into totem worn in symbol slot
-Totem: all mods from doll would be replaced by totem specific mods
-Totem: if made from doll of PC would grant ability to scry that PC once or twice before rotting
-Totem: if made from doll of PC would rot when PC dies (would offer decent RP options if you had a totem of even an ally)
-Totem: If made from doll of PC the PC in question would be notified on creation; the caster would suffer from spirit disorientation
-Totem: if spell failed the PC is given a reverse scry effect; the caster would suffer from lesser spirit disorientation (stackable)
-Totem: if made from doll of NPC would grant some kind of combat bonus against that NPC (maybe a bonus to combat stance)

It would possibly be necessary to add scry as a skill rather than just an instant bonus to the totem spell in order to balance this further in which case a failed scry might return either only a room description OR only the occupants of the room AND notify the wouldbe victim what someone is attempting to do. While a successful scry would return both and not notify the victim.

If after seeing some of these ideas, in particular my own about the spell to create totems and what I think they should do, you think that would be overpowered then throw your ideas out there. I was just bored and shaman is pretty much my favorite class so I have a lot of ideas no matter how good, bad, or terrible they might be.

Why require the shaman to do the quest just for their upper tier spells? The quest isnt exactly something they would find without help from others if they were newbs. Why not just make shamans automatic members if you did this and require the quest to use/make symbols?

Not a fan of losing voodoo personally but thats a different debate entirely I suppose.

I dont see the point of making the religion though really. A pantheist has to not be in a different religion already to use SA, were just making it harder for them? Other benefits like using the suit already require the quest so its not like thats really changing much.

Im just getting the idea its more about nerfing shamans voodoo and the use of SA by non shamans than it is about an RP religion.

I do like the idea of the quest altering the shamans raise dead to not take XP and also the creation of totems wearable by the shaman.

So let's get this straight.

You want to make a religion specifically for barbarians and shamans, and make spirit aura exclusive to people in this religion.

So spirit aura vials would only be usable by barbarians.

You did not think this through at all, did you?

Um... Are paladins and priests the only ones allowed to worship Dulrik?

Where did I ever say no one else could devote themselves to spiritualism?

Specifically for shamans and barbs.

I read something into it that you didn't intend, then. No balance issues! I like the totem ideas, as well as the Raise Dead alteration. Frankly, I wouldn't mind voodoo if you just nerfed the damage a bit and made multi-voodooing impossible. It's okay for it to hurt, but killing someone with it is [REDACTED].

Uh, no. These are some sweeping changes to the shaman class that I would not like to see. I was down with the idea posted in another thread about being able to wear spirit dolls in the symbol slot, but shamans really don't need to be fixed at all. There have been plenty of previous changes to nerf Voodoo and the class as a whole is pretty balanced now.

And shamans were implemented to allow people access to a class that used prayer type spells and maledictions but also allowed for RP that didn't require someone to be in a religion. I don't expect changes to this extent to occur any time soon if even at all.

I see where it could be confusing about who can devote themselves. My mistake; deifinitely not my intention. But maybe you're right to some extent about my views on SA. Maybe pantheists should be able to use it with the effect of stackable, lesser spirit disorientation where as the devoted would not suffer the negative effect.

I'd hate to see shamanism turn into another religion. A big plus of playing a shaman instead of a priest is the immense freedom to make up your own stuff. You can play an animal totemist, a worshiper of a dead god, or just someone who learned a few things from his dead grandfather. That variety shouldn't be compromised for some mechanical bonus linked to a quest, or a common religion flag.

If there are going to be shaman changes, I'd rather see them become more dependent on combat and maledictions, instead of back-row spellcasting. Improved totems would be more fun than enchanted armor, but it's still adding a priest/sorc-like function to a class already leaning too far in that direction.

I'd like it to be a religion, but with no blemish/atone powers at all. All shamans under level 10 are F1, 11-30 are F2, 31+ are leaders (yes this means the religion will have about 10 leaders at times).
All shamans are automatically a part of the shamanism religion, anyone else who wanted to join just needs to find any mentor+ shaman to be admitted.

The idea is to have people actually dedicated to ancestor and spirit worship, and to end up with various clusters of worshippers gathered around a speaker who preaches on their own specific rp basis (hence no blemishing because their IS NO one true way of shamanism).

Benefits: A symbol (possibly turning a spirit doll into a symbol) or turning some of the existing totem items into symbol slot items.
Massively decreased (or removed) exp loss for being raised by a shaman for those in the faith.
Ability to fully use spirit aura vials (which should work full power for shamanists, half power for pantheists, and no effect for those in another religion as now)

As per the help file, barbarians should be encouraged to join the religion, but not forced. However any barbarian who did not join should be treated as some form of betrayer of their past.

I really see no reason that you need any religion at all for that RP.