Playing an Effective Shaman, Are there any pointers on this? Options

[Kagetenshi]

[Lilt]

Concealment cannot be used on the astral. It is a Physical power (P262, SR3). Confusion may be used on the astral, however, as it is a Manna power. I'd say that confusion is the most powerful/useful critter ability, broken almost...

Concealment does add to the linking test TN for ritual sorcery, but that's about the only astral-like thing it can do. On the plus side, you are also concealed from technological sensors.

[Rev]

One does not have to be alone to be a loner. One could be surrounded by people, but still somewhat quiet and in the background. One could even be highly social but never forming strong connections to people, that sort of personality would make an excellent face. The sort who has lots of friends, but is not really a freind to many people.

Also in shadowrun casting a spell could creep people out or make you incredibly popular. What could be cooler than having the power ninety some percent of people only dream about? Sort of like flaunting wealth. Turns some off, others on. Having superhuman physical stats should work the same way. And what else are you going to cast in front of people but illusions and telekinetic manipulations? That acid-blast isn't going to reassure anybody. :)

The best thing about a shaman is that it gives you a leg up on roleplaying. The totem is a great help in defining your personality which can help you have more fun and be more effective at the same time.

[Kanada Ten]

A Nature Spirit can use any Physical power on the Shaman that summoned it -without materializing- through the magical link between them.

[Lilt]

Sorry, I was reading that to be it applied to astral perception checks. Yes a spirit can remain astral whilst concealing, guarding, and useing movement on the summoner (assuming it's force 3 or above).

This is somewhat free to interpretation though. As materialisation is a Physical power it would technically be impossible (by the other rules) for an astral spirit to ever materialise, the wording of the power takes presidence (and makes it possible) though.

[RedmondLarry]

In our game, we don't let conceal power affect astral appearance. While a magician might be in the corner of a darkened room concealed by a hearth spirit, we rule that an observer on the astral plane will see the glowing form of the spirit and the glowing form of the magician. In fact, astral space will be lit by them. If the target being concealed is the shaman who controls the spirit, then the spirit can stay in astral space while providing the concealment.

My players rarely choose a totem that can go beserk, and rarely choose a totem that wouldn't want to be part of a team.

[FlakJacket]

[Glyph]

Your latest set of stats looked good, although I would probably move a point from Strength to Body, to help your survivability. The high Charisma is especially good, because shamans conjure on the fly - they need to be able to resist conjuring Drain. Spirits are often underutilized. Remember that they are in your arsenal as well as spells. Also remember that you can astrally project - and with your mental stats, you will be very effective in astral combat. The personality that you describe fits well with Cat shamans, and with your high Charisma it will be easy to get decently high social skills.

[Snow_Fox]

[TinkerGnome]

[RedmondLarry]

[Talia Invierno]

[Guest_Artemis_*]

Very true. I like Crypt's last set of stats, they look very promising.

I run a shaman who is very much what he was looking to create. Artemis is a female elf who is a Sea Shaman. Low physical stats, but maxed out mental (Cha 8, Int 6, Will 6) and a good face presence. (Which charisma definitely helps out with.)

There are two routes that one can take —to generalize things to a high degree— that I've seen most clearly defined. A Team needs at least one capable combat mage. Someone who can go into astral space, run sweeps and perform astral combat. If this is the route you choose, a good mana combat spells such as manabolt or stunball are very useful to have. Barrier spells and Levitation are msot useful as well.

The other route is that of the useless mage. One who gets spells that nobody else gets, simply because it's fun! Sometimes these spells come in more useful than the combat spells do. (Control Animal and Hot Potato for instance.) MitS is usually a must for the more creative players who want interesting and somewhat unique characters. Many useful/useless spells to be found in there, as well as details on initiating and creating ally spirits, which definitely is a must for magicians at some point in their growth.

[Siege]