New Look at North American Shamanism Options

[Demonseed Elite]

Hey there everyone.

Been working on some house rule stuff the past few days, and figured I'd share what I have so far here, in case anyone is interested in adapting it to their own games. Basically, it's my own personal look at North American native shamanism in SR, based on my own readings and experiences. I always thought the SR descriptions for totems were very anemic, emphasized quantity over quality, and sometimes were downright ridiculous. So I worked on my own.

At the same time, even though I am a freelancer, these rules and descriptions are purely my own, and are not official in any way, shape or form. Maybe I'll try to get something like this worked into a book someday, but for now it's just my random scribblings.

Anyway, it's not done yet, I'm adding totems steadily and only have one done at the time of this posting, but here's the page:

New Look at North American Shamanism in the Sixth World

[Chance359]

I like, a very worth while project.

[Method]

I like what you've done so far. It gives the totem and the shaman so much more character.

[Cynic project]

The probelms I have with what you is this, what about the other "shamans"? Does belief really make up what type of magic you shall use?If so,then why would say devoted Jews fallow the great "Dog" totem? I always wondered why so few tribel people were hermetic. And yet so many urben people were shamans...

[Demonseed Elite]

I'm a bit confused by what you're asking.

I do think belief makes up a significant portion of what magic one will use. At the very least, it makes up the framework in which they perform magic. This is not to say that every Native American that is magical-capable is a shaman. Not at all. There are plenty of Native American hermetics in SR, I imagine, who learned the framework in which they practice their spells in a different way than the shamans. The historic Native American belief system isn't hermetic in nature, but that doesn't prevent Native Americans from learning magic in other frameworks which have developed since, such as secular institutions like universities and corporations which are more likely to teach hermetic magic.

[RangerJoe]

I think the confusion arrises because the site is dedicated to a new look at North American, Native shamanic belief, not shamanic magic at large. There is a different mystical system supporting an urban Toaster shaman of mixed european descent (if there is one at all....) than there is at the back of a Ojibwe snake shaman. I think the site provides an interesting way of looking at NAN and NAN-inspired shamanism (but I'll be damned if I'm going to let my Toaster shaman anywhere near corn : -) )

[Demonseed Elite]

Yah, definitely. All I'm covering here is North American Native shamanism (not even other Native American shamanism, like Central American, South American, or Inuit). There are many other shamanic traditions, but some have different beliefs not found in others, or emphasize different things, or have a different interpretation. In this particular write-up, all I'm working on is one subset.

[Kagetenshi]

I like some of the flavor, but I’m iffy about the rules. More relevant criticism when I’m not at work.

~J

[Black Isis]

Very good....I liked the Abiliene Tales part and the other background, as well as the POV stuff for the Bear and Buffalo shamans. Even if I don't use your rules, it's a good primer, especially for beginning players, who want to know more about how to play an Amerindian shaman.

[Demonseed Elite]

I added Cat this morning. Cat is the first one I've done that didn't really have much historical background in Native American myth, so it was a tough one. But I felt that it was too central to SR's shamanic magic to leave out, especially since it makes a great urban totem, and I figured that by using the Abilene Tales, I could find a place for it that worked.