Re: [HoE] Shamans [slightly OT]

[Olympiad1@aol.com]

In a message dated 9/4/98 7:08:37 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
afterburner@erols.com writes:

> 	"Hrm.  The sole combat spell for a shaman costs 2 points.  The quickest
>  rituals to get points are Pledge, Maim, and Scar.  Pledge will only get you
>  one point.  So basically I have to cut myself up or lop off a finger to
>  cast a combat spell.  Um.  No, don't think I'll be playing a shaman."
>  
>  	Don't get me wrong:  I'm not a munchkin (well, not much of one).  But that
>  just seemed wrong somehow.


See, I found the opposite to be true --- I felt it was exactly the feel that a
shaman should have.   Most real life shaman rituals of the American Indians
(at least as far from my self-admitted limited reading on the subject) are
long term slow processes.  Shamans were the wise men of the tribe, and I just
took it that they were used to looking at the long term picture and prepared
before hand what they thought they would need.  "Battle spells?  Well, we will
attack at dawn, so we have all night to prepare the braves for battle."
Personally, I prefer the time it takes for Shaman's to cast spells --- gives
them an entirely different feel in game mechanics and helps to differentiate
them from other spell casters (in Deadlands and compared to other RPG's)


Scott Mickelson