Great White Games/Pinnacle Entertainment Group

[Landale]

Hi there!

So, I was looking through the shaman creation process (the one introduced in Hexarcana). I'm a little confused on how many favors I can start with. I have 5 in "Ritual" and 5 in a Guardian Spirit edge.

As I understand it:

- Ritual 5 gives me 5 favors, of any medicine way (i.e. does not need to be the Guardian Spirit's favored medicine way)
- Guardian Spirit 5 gives me 5 favors from its favored medicine way, with the possibility of trading two of those for 1 non-favored medicine way favor

This would lead me to conclude that I could have anywhere from 8 to 10 starting favors. Is this correct?

Also, let's say I have 2 stored Appeasement in my Guardian Spirit (5), and I perform a ritual for the purpose of calling on a favor. I only need 1 Appeasement for the desired result and I manage to score 4 Appeasement from the ritual. Could I use only 1 Appeasement for the favor and store the excess 3 in my Guardian Spirit at the same time? Or would I need to perform another ritual expressly for the purpose of storing Appeasement?

Thank you! =)

[Landale]

Last question. I chose the Bear as my Guardian Spirit. Given its oath of "Always help anyone whose health or life is in danger, even if they are not of your character's tribe," would I basically have to have the Pacifist hindrance, or would I treat it more as a Christian Blessed where I don't kill except in self-defense?

Like, if a group of bandits are attacking a caravan, and I get involved (being the "Heroic" character I am), after which the bandits shoot at me, would I be breaking the oath if I killed one of the bandits in self-defense? Would I have to heal them afterwards?

The oath, taken at its word, sounds like I wouldn't be allowed to hurt a (natural) fly. I'm curious if anyone can help me with the "spirit" of the oath rather than the wording of the oath.

[RJack]

[RJack]

[Marshalonwheels]

[Marshalonwheels]

[WahookaTG]

As already mentioned, the Bear spirit oath is a matter of Marshall's discretion. One of the players in my group used to play a Bear shaman, and we interpreted it as a "help the needy" kind of oath instead of a form of pacifism.

In the bandit example it would mean that if the bandits pose a threat to the party or to 'innocent townsfolk', he would be fully justified to kick the crap out of them. But when, after the fight, one of the bandits is wounded and surrenders, the shaman would be obliged to patch him up. A "full heal" is not required, just enough to safe the bandit's life. Of course, whether you set the bandit free or not is a different matter entirely

A final note: the Bear spirit oath has proven to be a perfect way to lure players into a plot or trap

My two cents..

[catalac]

[Landale]

Thanks for the answers so far!

Ok, so my character is "Mean as a Rattler," "Vengeful," and "Heroic"...hey, the spirit chooses the person =). So, he is a bit of a jerk, but has a high sense of justice and a need to right the wrongs.

The listserv response references "other ways" to bring a fugitive to justice. Well, what if it's a murderer, or a known (real) witch? I bring the person to the townspeople they wronged to face criminal charges. Everyone and their mother knows that a good ol' fashioned hanging is the only punishment that is doled out to people like that - the law is the law, after all. Given this very strict interpretation of the Bear oath, how do I justify handing over the bad guys when I know full well they are about to be hanged? I can't just lug them around in manacles trying to rehabilitate them - I travel a lot and fight a lot of bad guys, I'd have a full on army of criminals following me in chains. I am also no good at persuading people with my character's attitude problem.

So, how do I bring a known murderer or equally rotten person to justice?

[ValhallaGH]

[Landale]

Hehe sure =).

I was just frustrated because of the strict interpretation. With no wiggle room, a Bear shaman would be useless in anything other than dealing with abominations. My marshal does a nice balance of abominations with people for bad guys. With as many people as we fight, this stuff would come up a lot. The "fair trial" idea works for me, but as I mentioned, we fight a fair few human bad guys, and that's a lot of time spent in court rooms or waiting in hotels.

From what I'm seeing as a consensus, a Bear shaman is useless when dealing with human bad guys. Nothing would get done. The shaman would argue with the party, and not even know what to do himself. You can't let the murderer go because they will just keep killing. You can't turn him into the authorities because they will hang him (barring the "fair trial" idea). You can't keep him imprisoned yourself because it's impractical and sets a bad precedent. So...ultimately it makes for a deadlocked shaman who can't do squat against humans.

That's why I needed help with determining the "spirit" of the oath rather than the wording. My interpretation was that I don't kill unless I can help it (or abominations), and that I try to help ensure survival for hurt people (staunching bleeding and whatnot...even bad guys). Beyond that, I cannot control the actions of other people (like if a fellow posse member has Bloothirsty and likes to scalp people), but I will try to help people the best I can.

Still, I guess I will just have to talk with my marshal. I mainly brought this to the boards because I wanted to know how others used it in their games, and if any of these situations came up, how did other marshals and players deal with it?

Anything more would be appreciated =). Thanks!
~Eric

[Mr. Wilson]

I view the Oath requirement of Bear Shamans to mean that you never intentionally try to kill another human (abominations are ok). If you can knock a bad guy out of a fight without killing him, you must do it.

As a marshal, if someone came to me wanting to play a Bear Shaman with Vengeful and Mean as a Rattler, I'd suggest the Wolf Spirit instead.

Personally, my favorite character I ever played was a Wolf Shaman Cheyenne Dog Soldier who spent the first action of any fighting (one he made it into melee range) staking himself to the ground so he could not retreat.

As for your favor question, I would say you are correct. You start with somewhere between 8-10 favors (5 for your five in rituals, then between 3 and 5 for your Guardian Spirit favors).

Don't forget War Cry, it's a life savor.
_________________
Only now, at the end, do you truly understand the power of the Dark Side....

[Landale]

lol. That character sounds funny (and fun). =)

And yeah, that's how I was viewing the oath, where I never intentionally take a life, and heal whomever I can, but I cannot deny a "tribe" (town, city, etc.) their justice system.

The hindrances are part of my character's back story, left over from his life as a white man where his family was killed by rogue union soldiers mistaking them for southern sympathizers. The bear spirit came to him hoping to soothe and temper his tortured soul (they are nurturing and maternal, after all).

Ultimately, though, Vengeful doesn't mean bloodthirsty. One can be vengeful without killing, it just implies that a wrong cannot go unpunished somehow. Also Mean as a Rattler merely implies he is a jerk, socially. It doesn't mean he wouldn't want to heal people, it just means that he is not really too pleasant to be around.

Part of my wanting the bear spirit too was the favored medicine way of Earth. Healing is only part of its role, as it also handles tracking, communing with earth spirits, changing weather, etc.

Still, I can probably just switch it to the Dog spirit or alter my hindrances a little, if needs be. All this really depends on my marshal.