God Changer NPC

[Rhifox]

I don't know if it's just me or not, but the God Changer NPC in the Nexus ends dialogue when trying to ask to change deities.

[Jen Joy]

Does the same for me too. I tried on a "Faitless" character to do it and I was allowed to change it, and then change again. But my SS can't change deities.

[Rhifox]

Maybe just a problem with SS then.

I believe Valefort made it able to bypass the druid restrictions so SS could choose any deity as they're supposed to be able to, maybe something about that script is what's bugging it.

[Endelyon]

If I remember correctly it was disabled in late 2018 for basically any class that receives spells from a divine source (Cleric, FS, Spirit Shaman, Druid, etc) since it was felt like these characters shouldn't be able to change deities on a whim.

[Rhifox]

If I remember correctly it was disabled in late 2018 for basically any class that receives spells from a divine source (Cleric, FS, Spirit Shaman, Druid, etc) since it was felt like these characters shouldn't be able to change deities on a whim.

That makes sense for Cleric, FS, Paladin, Druid, and so on, but not for SS, who don't get spells from their patron, but rather from spirits, who, though linked to the gods, are not necessarily linked to the same god the SS follows. Valefort adjusted the script specifically for SS because it's the only way to fix the issue of SS only being able to choose from druid deities at character creation (due to druid spellbook being hardcoded to the druid deities), which is inaccurate.

[Rhifox]

To elaborate and head off the 'all divine casters get their spells from deities' argument: Yes, shamans do get their spells from deities, but they do not get their spells from their patron deity. They get them from the spirits, some of whom might be associated with their patron deity, but most are going to run the range of many other deities as well. Kossuth is in every fire, so a shaman who communes with fire spirits gets their fire spells from Kossuth, even if Kossuth is not their patron deity. If that same shaman then communed with the spirit of a spring, they would get spells from Istishia or Eldath through that spirit.

Most Forgotten Realms sources for shamans and spirit communion show that spirits can provide spells independently of the shaman's patron deity.

Gannyev of Dreams has No Deity and his refusal to worship deities is a major part of his character. (Mask of the Betrayer campaign)

Hathran spirit shamans "commune solely with spirits, leaving communion with deities to the other casters." (Wizards of the Coast's Eastern Classes in Forgotten Realms article)

The entire section on Shamans in 2e Faiths and Avatars book, who are a kind of Cleric-Spirit Shaman hybrid (and so do have a patron deity providing spells), have a very fleshed out spirit magic mechanic, as their primary purpose is interacting with the spirit world (though they also act as a priest for a tribal deity and their non-spirit spells come from that deity). Indeed, shamans, according to F&A, don't even cast their spirit-given spells themselves. The spirits do it for them.

During this request [from a spirit] the shaman explains what she or he wishes of the spirit and why the spirit should grant help. ... If the spirit agrees to help, the spell-like effect is granted to the shaman, who may retain it in reserve for up to one full day until the shaman is ready to invoke the spirit's power.

- Faiths and Avatars

In short, a spirit shaman isn't worshiping a specific patron and receiving spells from that patron. They're doing what is the equivalent of asking some cleric or druid, 'hey, would you mind casting this spell for me? I'll pay you,' except that the cleric or druid in this case is a spirit.

In addition to the above points, spirit shamans do change the source of their spells on a whim. It's not in NWN2 mechanics, but in pnp a spirit shaman is a preparatory spontaneous caster (prepare spells on rest, but cast spontaneously). They prepare spells every morning by communing with spirits, and what spirits they commune with determines what spells they have access to. Likewise in 2e, a shaman's access to spirit spells for that day is based on which spirits they have specifically negotiated with, which changes from day to day and spirit to spirit. Technically, if we wanted to go by pnp, a shaman should also be able to use the djinni spellswapper NPC with no cooldown. I won't ask for that, SS on BG already have a lot of custom buffs, but it's relevant to this post.

Ergo, Spirit Shamans should be treated the same as non-divine casters for the purpose of changing their patron deity with the god changer NPC. A shaman's patron deity isn't (typically) the source of their powers, and they change the source of their spells on a whim anyway.