[DL] Re: Other ways to gain access to Shaman powers

[Gwydion758@aol.com]

In a message dated 5/10/00 11:52:30 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
deadlands-owner@gamerz.net writes:

> But what are some non-common ways that you might think of to gain access to
>  Shaman like powers?
>  
>  There is Arcane Background - Shaman, Guardian Spirit, and Faith methods -
>  and I came up with a special Relic and perhaps as a reward given by a
>  spirit . . 
>  
>  Any other ideas

Well, you seem to have covered all the bases here.  The only additional way 
that comes to my mind would be someone who actually travelled to the Hunting 
Grounds, either knowingly or unknowingly, might find that they started 
hearing "voices" that told them how to make pacts.  Of course, in that case 
it doesn't necessarily mean the spirits whispering in their ear aren't 
manitous.  The heart of the whole Shaman concept is being able to communicate 
with the spirits.

As a variation of the guardian spirit, if you defeat a spirit in the Hunting 
Grounds you can either count coup as a harrowed does or make it serve you.  
Perhaps that could give someone the Shaman abilities once they come back to 
the real world.  Or perhaps they have to leave a part of themselves in the 
spirit world.

I had a story where one of my player's characters, a Texas Ranger who was 
haunted by the ghosts of the first posse he rode with, was on a train 
travelling thru the Cauldron on the night of the anniversary of their deaths. 
 The train (actually just the passenger cars) "slipped" into the Hunting 
Grounds as it rushed thru the night and he wound up in a confrontation with 
the manitou who had killed that first posse while their ghosts watched.

That encounter ended with the manitou retreating rather than be destroyed, so 
there was no counting coup.  However, I could see one of the characters 
involved gaining some access to Shaman abilities.

Another option could be an encounter with a spirtualist who is more than the 
usual con artist.  A seance could "open the door to the spirit world" for 
some (un)lucky character, leading eventually to their accessing the Shaman 
abilities.  Of course, they may be doing that from inside a padded cell by 
the time everything is resolved.

Hope that helps.

Jeff