Baldur's Gate : The Sword Coast Chronicles : NWN2 Persistent World

Spirit Shamans and Deities

Spirit shamans are no exception to the requirement that divine casters have a deity, and they draw their powers ultimately from a god. However, in the case of a spirit shaman, spirits act as intermediaries of this divine power, and it is the spirits themselves that spirit shaman PCs bargain with. While usually a spirit shaman will know the source of his divine powers, it is also open to a spirit shaman to venerate a cause, a broad aspect, or the spirits themselves, without realising that ultimately his or her power is derived from a god.

Could the Spirit Shaman approach the belief in the spirit the same as what is found in real life Christianity. That in being, the Holy Trinity, where the Holy Spirit (or, Ghost), is found to be an aspect of the God itself and that the believer is aware of this?

My character is a follower of Angharradh, which has some mild correlation to the divine Trinity of Christianity and I have often RP'd that the God, while disbelieved by others, in times of crisis will come to her with divine omen. There is the Omen spell which would seem to allow for this. I always contact a DM to ask them their interpretation of this Omen while IG, FYI.

Just to clarify, is this you asking if the "spirit" a character deals with can be the God itself?

The answer to that would be no. That would be a cleric, not a spirit shaman. It could be a servant of the god though, communicating the god's desires.

It would be open for your character to not know the difference however!

DM Golem wrote:Just to clarify, is this you asking if the "spirit" a character deals with can be the God itself?

The answer to that would be no. That would be a cleric, not a spirit shaman. It could be a servant of the god though, communicating the god's desires.

It would be open for your character to not know the difference however!

To clarify, my Spirit Shaman receives visions, that she believes to be given to her by her Goddess. She does not understand, how, or why? Some are direct portals to gate of Arvandor, as has been the case with a singular DM event in the past which a select few other PCs did bear witness and others "visions" in which the Shamaness casting the Omen spell receives text message from a DM offering some vague insight which she must interpret.

As you stated, she does not know how, or why she receives these visions, and often her prayers go unanswered but she does have a powerful belief in her Goddess. Think Luc Besson's version of Joan of Arc: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gv2p2WZoUE

Just not quite as dramatic, lol.

Can this be done by a player?

It depends how far you go with it.

For omens with any verifiable meaning - not without a DM to give the message, as they are technically communications from an NPC.

((Although you would be quite welcome to pad out castings of the omen and augury spells with some flowery text and interpretation. ))

As pseudo mystical mumbo jumbo, yes, I'm sure its fine.

Gosh, it's spirit shamaness, check your privilege.