We've got the wide, wide range of animal and mytho-animalistic totems. (I don't think it's canon, but I had to add Salmon - it's such a wisdom and teaching symbol.)
We've got the idols.
We've got mythology.
We've got nature symbols.
Who's up for more ideas?
Tonight you will be visited by three spirits.
Great! Make it vodka, scotch, and a small pint of gin.
Full Version: New totems
Seal
A friendly, communal spirit, Seal is a good natured trickster. He likes to have fun and laze around. He can be vicious when he or his friends are threatened, but would rather fool an enemy than kill them.
+2 Illusion, +2 spirits of the sea
-1 combat
A friendly, communal spirit, Seal is a good natured trickster. He likes to have fun and laze around. He can be vicious when he or his friends are threatened, but would rather fool an enemy than kill them.
+2 Illusion, +2 spirits of the sea
-1 combat
As some know, I have been working on a Warhammer 40k setting using SR rules. Since there was no totem or idols that fitted the 4 great powers of chaos I had to make them my self. They make great corrupted idols for those sinister NPC you might be tossing at you players. I have made finished 3 out of the 4 chaos goods, they are Khorn, Nurgle, and Slaanesh
Khorn: The Blood God
Khorn the chaos god of blood, is one of the most blood thirsty of the chaos gods. A large majority of his followers are mundane and adepts, there are no spell casters among his followers, thought there are summoners among his followers. He looks down upon spell casting, seeing it as a sign of weakness compared to martial skills. His followers worship him by spilling blood in his name, and collecting skulls for his throne.
Advantages:
Followers of Khorn gain +1 to their strength and body attributes. Followers of Khorn gain +1 dice to all melee and athletics tests. Some adept followers have exhibited the ability to ignore the most serious wounds that have been dealt to them. After character creation, make a magic (12) test, must at least have two success to succeed. If successful the character gains the power: Ignore Wounds 2 (see power).
Disadvantages:
Followers of Khorn strive for nothing more then to fight the enemy in hand-to-hand combat. This prevents them from using firearms other then pistols and other select weapons; these include flame-throwers, Laser Pistols, Gyrojet Pistol, and Submachine guns with conceivability of 6 and above. They are also prone to bouts of homicidal rage, each hour spent outside of combat; the character must make a Will (6) test. If failed they go in to a homicidal rage and attack any living thing in their vicinity, friend or foe it doesn’t matter. If they succeed (minimum of two successes) they don’t have to make another test until the next hour. For each successful test after the first increase the target number by 2, once the target number reaches 14, the character automatically fails, no test allowed.
Special
All followers of Khorn are either mundane or are adepts, no spell caster are allowed to follow the path of Khorn. All followers of Khorn have exhibited the power: Bezerkers Rage (see power), all adepts Khorn must purchase this power. All followers of Khorn are required to take the Combat Monster flaw on top of any other flaws they have taken.
Ignore Wounds allows adept to ignore all wound modifiers of a curtiam level
lv. I(2) ignore all wound modifiers up to moderat
lv. II(3) ignore all wound modifiers up to serious
lv. III(5) ignore all wound modifiers up to deadly
Bezerkers Rage(5)*1
Bezerkers Rage allow an adapt to functions normally with no wound modifiers past deadly damage on the condition monitor, unless the damage was caused by the lose of the head. The adapt is functional until all over-flow boxes are filled
Nurgel: The Death God
Nurgle is the god of pestilence, he is also the most generous of the 4 chaos powers. A large number of his followers are mundanes, there are some among them that show potential as mages and adapts. His followers tend to look like walking dead because of the rotting flesh and bloated flesh that is so common with his followers.
Advantages:
Followers of Nurgel x2 over flow damage instead of the normal x1.5 and gain +2 to their body. Followers of Nurgel are immune to all disease. Some adept followers have exhibited the ability to recover from wound that would have severely wounded or outright killed a lesser being. After character creation, make a magic (12) test, must at least have two success to succeed. If successful the character gains the power: Regenerate (see power).
Disadvantages:
Followers of Nurgel are infected with many diseases and leak puss and other bodily fluids. They half their charisma and charisma linked skill when dealing with normal metahumans except for the skill intimidation. Some of the bodily fluids are flammable, and heat makes them very vulnerable to damage from fire and extreme heat. They have the power: Vulnerability (fire and heat), if the character takes damage above Serious they make a body (power of the attack –2) test. If failed, the character must make a damage resistance test, with the attack power equal to the characters body and base damage level at moderate with out and armor to reduce the damage. If they succeed (minimum successes enough to reduce damage to nothing), they take nothing from the second attack.
Special
All adepts’ follows of Nurgel have exhibited the power: Ignore Wound 1 (see power), all adepts must purchase this power. All followers of Nurgel are required to take the Uncouth flaw on top of any other flaws they have taken.
Slaanesh: The Pain and Pleasure God
Advantages:
Followers of Slaanesh gain +1 to their quickness and charisma attributes. Followers of Slaanesh gain +2 dice to charisma and charisma-linked skills when dealing with normal metahumans. Some adept followers have exhibited the ability to ignore the wounds dealt to them, and in fact are quite invigorated by the wounds. After character creation, make a magic (12) test, must at least have two success to succeed. If successful the character gains the power: Slaanesh’s Blessing (see power).
Disadvantages:
Followers of Slaanesh are addicted to the sensations of pain and pleasure much like a BTL addict. Followers of Slaanesh only register the strongest sensations, either from pain or pleasure. They will do anything in there power to get this fix, they will even resort to self-mutilation in order to get the fix. All followers of Slaanesh suffer the effects of withdrawal as per standard rules in Man and Machine, the character may make a Will (6) test. If failed they go in to withdrawal, and suffer the full effects of the withdrawal. If they succeed (minimum of two successes) they don’t have to make another test until the next hour. For each successful test after the first increase the target number by 2, once the target number reaches 14, the character automatically fails, no test allowed.
Special
All adepts who follow Slaanesh have exhibited the power: Ignore Wounds 1 (see powers), all adepts, must purchase this power.
Slaanesh Blessing is still being worked on.
The custom powers are still being worked on, the two that are up are still being worked out. Slaaneshs Blessing is a diffulcult one, but basically it is to allow the wound modifiers to increase reactions, while ignoring the modifiers from the wound.
Khorn: The Blood God
Khorn the chaos god of blood, is one of the most blood thirsty of the chaos gods. A large majority of his followers are mundane and adepts, there are no spell casters among his followers, thought there are summoners among his followers. He looks down upon spell casting, seeing it as a sign of weakness compared to martial skills. His followers worship him by spilling blood in his name, and collecting skulls for his throne.
Advantages:
Followers of Khorn gain +1 to their strength and body attributes. Followers of Khorn gain +1 dice to all melee and athletics tests. Some adept followers have exhibited the ability to ignore the most serious wounds that have been dealt to them. After character creation, make a magic (12) test, must at least have two success to succeed. If successful the character gains the power: Ignore Wounds 2 (see power).
Disadvantages:
Followers of Khorn strive for nothing more then to fight the enemy in hand-to-hand combat. This prevents them from using firearms other then pistols and other select weapons; these include flame-throwers, Laser Pistols, Gyrojet Pistol, and Submachine guns with conceivability of 6 and above. They are also prone to bouts of homicidal rage, each hour spent outside of combat; the character must make a Will (6) test. If failed they go in to a homicidal rage and attack any living thing in their vicinity, friend or foe it doesn’t matter. If they succeed (minimum of two successes) they don’t have to make another test until the next hour. For each successful test after the first increase the target number by 2, once the target number reaches 14, the character automatically fails, no test allowed.
Special
All followers of Khorn are either mundane or are adepts, no spell caster are allowed to follow the path of Khorn. All followers of Khorn have exhibited the power: Bezerkers Rage (see power), all adepts Khorn must purchase this power. All followers of Khorn are required to take the Combat Monster flaw on top of any other flaws they have taken.
Ignore Wounds allows adept to ignore all wound modifiers of a curtiam level
lv. I(2) ignore all wound modifiers up to moderat
lv. II(3) ignore all wound modifiers up to serious
lv. III(5) ignore all wound modifiers up to deadly
Bezerkers Rage(5)*1
Bezerkers Rage allow an adapt to functions normally with no wound modifiers past deadly damage on the condition monitor, unless the damage was caused by the lose of the head. The adapt is functional until all over-flow boxes are filled
Nurgel: The Death God
Nurgle is the god of pestilence, he is also the most generous of the 4 chaos powers. A large number of his followers are mundanes, there are some among them that show potential as mages and adapts. His followers tend to look like walking dead because of the rotting flesh and bloated flesh that is so common with his followers.
Advantages:
Followers of Nurgel x2 over flow damage instead of the normal x1.5 and gain +2 to their body. Followers of Nurgel are immune to all disease. Some adept followers have exhibited the ability to recover from wound that would have severely wounded or outright killed a lesser being. After character creation, make a magic (12) test, must at least have two success to succeed. If successful the character gains the power: Regenerate (see power).
Disadvantages:
Followers of Nurgel are infected with many diseases and leak puss and other bodily fluids. They half their charisma and charisma linked skill when dealing with normal metahumans except for the skill intimidation. Some of the bodily fluids are flammable, and heat makes them very vulnerable to damage from fire and extreme heat. They have the power: Vulnerability (fire and heat), if the character takes damage above Serious they make a body (power of the attack –2) test. If failed, the character must make a damage resistance test, with the attack power equal to the characters body and base damage level at moderate with out and armor to reduce the damage. If they succeed (minimum successes enough to reduce damage to nothing), they take nothing from the second attack.
Special
All adepts’ follows of Nurgel have exhibited the power: Ignore Wound 1 (see power), all adepts must purchase this power. All followers of Nurgel are required to take the Uncouth flaw on top of any other flaws they have taken.
Slaanesh: The Pain and Pleasure God
Advantages:
Followers of Slaanesh gain +1 to their quickness and charisma attributes. Followers of Slaanesh gain +2 dice to charisma and charisma-linked skills when dealing with normal metahumans. Some adept followers have exhibited the ability to ignore the wounds dealt to them, and in fact are quite invigorated by the wounds. After character creation, make a magic (12) test, must at least have two success to succeed. If successful the character gains the power: Slaanesh’s Blessing (see power).
Disadvantages:
Followers of Slaanesh are addicted to the sensations of pain and pleasure much like a BTL addict. Followers of Slaanesh only register the strongest sensations, either from pain or pleasure. They will do anything in there power to get this fix, they will even resort to self-mutilation in order to get the fix. All followers of Slaanesh suffer the effects of withdrawal as per standard rules in Man and Machine, the character may make a Will (6) test. If failed they go in to withdrawal, and suffer the full effects of the withdrawal. If they succeed (minimum of two successes) they don’t have to make another test until the next hour. For each successful test after the first increase the target number by 2, once the target number reaches 14, the character automatically fails, no test allowed.
Special
All adepts who follow Slaanesh have exhibited the power: Ignore Wounds 1 (see powers), all adepts, must purchase this power.
Slaanesh Blessing is still being worked on.
The custom powers are still being worked on, the two that are up are still being worked out. Slaaneshs Blessing is a diffulcult one, but basically it is to allow the wound modifiers to increase reactions, while ignoring the modifiers from the wound.
Rabbit
Domain: field
Rabbit represents the power of life and rebrith. Rabbit is alert to it's surrounding and quick to flee. Rabbit shamans are generally family oriented, and horribly protective of their "kin".
Bonus: +1D Health Spells. +1D detection spells. +2d Field Spirits
Disadvantage: -1D Combat Spells
Domain: field
Rabbit represents the power of life and rebrith. Rabbit is alert to it's surrounding and quick to flee. Rabbit shamans are generally family oriented, and horribly protective of their "kin".
Bonus: +1D Health Spells. +1D detection spells. +2d Field Spirits
Disadvantage: -1D Combat Spells
Slug/Snail
Domain: Field
Represents the powers of slime and creepyness. Slow to move, Often gooey, but overall generally unplesant.
Bonus +1 health, and +1 manipulation (+3 for Glue strip and create slime(Ice sheet variant)) +1 Illusion
Disadvantage : -1 Combat spells -1 running modifier Automatic uncouth flaw
Domain: Field
Represents the powers of slime and creepyness. Slow to move, Often gooey, but overall generally unplesant.
Bonus +1 health, and +1 manipulation (+3 for Glue strip and create slime(Ice sheet variant)) +1 Illusion
Disadvantage : -1 Combat spells -1 running modifier Automatic uncouth flaw
Talky Toaster (Patent Pending)
Domain: Anywhere there are toasted bread products.
Advantages: +2 dice for any test involving trying to convence someone else to enjoy toasted bread products, +3 dice when they do NOT want toasted bread products.
Disadvantages: Cannot perform any action without first offering someone a toasted bread product of some kind. Must have the knowledge skill of Toasted Bread Products at a rank of at least 4.
Sorry, I couldn't resist...
The Abstruse One
"Would you like some toast? How bout a muffin? Potato cake? Croissant? Roll? Hot Cross Bun? Flapjack? Biscuit? Ah...you're a WAFFLE man!"
Domain: Anywhere there are toasted bread products.
Advantages: +2 dice for any test involving trying to convence someone else to enjoy toasted bread products, +3 dice when they do NOT want toasted bread products.
Disadvantages: Cannot perform any action without first offering someone a toasted bread product of some kind. Must have the knowledge skill of Toasted Bread Products at a rank of at least 4.
Sorry, I couldn't resist...
The Abstruse One
"Would you like some toast? How bout a muffin? Potato cake? Croissant? Roll? Hot Cross Bun? Flapjack? Biscuit? Ah...you're a WAFFLE man!"
Here's a totem I created for a fomori conjurer I recently created. It really suited his background, especially since he's a Knight of the Red Branch with a heavy Celtic vibe (of whose legends and lore I derived the totem from).
BUTTERFLY
Commonly associated as the symbol of faerie faith, the butterfly is believed by many cultures to be the souls of the dead and the keepers of power. Traditionally, no negative energies were said to be experienced in any area of the Otherworld where butterflies could be found. They are symbolic of the freedom from self-imposed restricitions and their shamans are reknowned for their ability to regard problems with great clarity and insight. Divination is a very popular metamagic technique amongst butterfly shamans.
Domain: Any under the open sky.
Advantages: +1 die with detection and positive health spells and +2 dice with spirits of the sky or winds. Butterfly shamans gain the ability to summon spirits of the elements in lieu of spirits of the waters, and these spirits always materialize in the form of a faerie, be it a slyph (wind), imp (flame), gnome (ground), undine (waves), or nymph (woods).
Disadvantages: -2 dice with control manipulation and negative health spells and a +2 TN penalty on all magical actions whenever a butterfly shaman is in shackles or otherwise physically constrained. Butterfly shamans are unable to summon spirits of the waters.
BUTTERFLY
Commonly associated as the symbol of faerie faith, the butterfly is believed by many cultures to be the souls of the dead and the keepers of power. Traditionally, no negative energies were said to be experienced in any area of the Otherworld where butterflies could be found. They are symbolic of the freedom from self-imposed restricitions and their shamans are reknowned for their ability to regard problems with great clarity and insight. Divination is a very popular metamagic technique amongst butterfly shamans.
Domain: Any under the open sky.
Advantages: +1 die with detection and positive health spells and +2 dice with spirits of the sky or winds. Butterfly shamans gain the ability to summon spirits of the elements in lieu of spirits of the waters, and these spirits always materialize in the form of a faerie, be it a slyph (wind), imp (flame), gnome (ground), undine (waves), or nymph (woods).
Disadvantages: -2 dice with control manipulation and negative health spells and a +2 TN penalty on all magical actions whenever a butterfly shaman is in shackles or otherwise physically constrained. Butterfly shamans are unable to summon spirits of the waters.
So then...Powdered Toast Man would be a Talky Toaster shaman, right? 
funk, i'd allow a butterfly shaman to summon sylphs in lieu of spirits of the waters, but allowing them to summon all spirits of the elements seems incredibly overpowered to me.
Shoot, it was supposed to be Spirits of the Waters and Land (a total of six different spirits) in exchange for the Spirits of the Elements (a total of five).
In my world Butterfly shamans can only summon one spirit, the one they summon into their own bodies. @,@
Tyrannosaurus Rex
The brutal mindless monster of combat. Slow to action, though sleek and swift in hunt, T-Rex is a force of nature driven by gluttony and blood lust. Shamans of Tyrannosaurus are slobbish in personal life, and often seen as lechers. They are merciless in combat and conquest, often feared more than respected.
Domain: Lowland floodplains
Advantages: +2 dice to Combat spells and summoning Spirits of the Planes or Swamps (shaman's choice).
Disadvantages: T-Rex shamans can go berserk in a manner similar to Shark shamans.
Tyrannosaurus Rex
The brutal mindless monster of combat. Slow to action, though sleek and swift in hunt, T-Rex is a force of nature driven by gluttony and blood lust. Shamans of Tyrannosaurus are slobbish in personal life, and often seen as lechers. They are merciless in combat and conquest, often feared more than respected.
Domain: Lowland floodplains
Advantages: +2 dice to Combat spells and summoning Spirits of the Planes or Swamps (shaman's choice).
Disadvantages: T-Rex shamans can go berserk in a manner similar to Shark shamans.
Spirit of William Shatner
Followers of the Spirit of William Shatner totem embody the take no prisoners attitude of Captain Kirk in Star Trek: The Original Series. They believe in peace through superior firepower, and damn the Klingons.
Domain: Urban (Usually parents' basement)
Advantages: +1 Die for Summoning Spirits of Man. +1 Die on combat Spells. Followers of the Spirit of William Shatner have a knack for bedding the opposite sex. They add one Die to all Negotiations (Seduction) rolls.
Disadvantages: Shatner followers must have a minimim of 4 Charisma. Followers of this totem are drawn to members of the opposite sex, they suffer a +2 TN when rolling opposed rolls for one with a Charisma of 4 or more.
Jean Luc
Followers of the Jean Luc totem embody the peaceful spirit of observation embodied by Jean Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation. They believe in not interfering with the affairs of others.
Domain: Urban (Usually parents' basement)
Advantages: +2 Die for Divination Spells. +1 Die to Summoning Spirits of Man
Disadvantages: Jean Luc followers must have a minimim of 4 Intelligence. Followers of this totem are peaceful unless their life depends on it. All followers have the Pacafist Flaw, but earn no build points for it.
Followers of the Spirit of William Shatner totem embody the take no prisoners attitude of Captain Kirk in Star Trek: The Original Series. They believe in peace through superior firepower, and damn the Klingons.
Domain: Urban (Usually parents' basement)
Advantages: +1 Die for Summoning Spirits of Man. +1 Die on combat Spells. Followers of the Spirit of William Shatner have a knack for bedding the opposite sex. They add one Die to all Negotiations (Seduction) rolls.
Disadvantages: Shatner followers must have a minimim of 4 Charisma. Followers of this totem are drawn to members of the opposite sex, they suffer a +2 TN when rolling opposed rolls for one with a Charisma of 4 or more.
Jean Luc
Followers of the Jean Luc totem embody the peaceful spirit of observation embodied by Jean Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation. They believe in not interfering with the affairs of others.
Domain: Urban (Usually parents' basement)
Advantages: +2 Die for Divination Spells. +1 Die to Summoning Spirits of Man
Disadvantages: Jean Luc followers must have a minimim of 4 Intelligence. Followers of this totem are peaceful unless their life depends on it. All followers have the Pacafist Flaw, but earn no build points for it.
you've gotta do janeway next--followers embody the spirit of sacrificing as much of your crew as possible at every opportunity in order to be PC, when you're 10 hobillion kajillion light-years away from anyone who might know what "PC" even stands for.
I wrote up the Vampire: the Masquerade clans as totems for my game. Mainly to satisfy a resident VtM player who insisted there be vampire clans in SR. So I decided that since almost all vampires have magical ability, let's make them all vampire shamans.
I was thinking of turning the Valar from Lord of the Rings into totems, too. I'm sure the books have a strong enough following for them to appear, if magic really does come from beleif.
I was thinking of turning the Valar from Lord of the Rings into totems, too. I'm sure the books have a strong enough following for them to appear, if magic really does come from beleif.
Donut totem, anyone?
"Mmmm... donuts"
"Mmmm... donuts"
Totem: Donut
Domain: Urban, commercial areas
Advantages: +1 die for control manipulation spells, +2 dice for spirits of Man
Disadvantages: -2 dice to health spells
Donuts are central to the western mystic tradition ("What happens to the hole when you are done eating the donut? "I do not know master." "Sweep the floor of the Dunkin' Donuts and the answer will come to you, young one."). They are also central to the western culinary tradition (almost every "old world" nationality has a donut of some kind). Donut delights in playing with our minds as much as he enjoys feeding us. Donut is a whimsical totem, dedicated to mind games, deliciousness, and highly saturated fats.
Domain: Urban, commercial areas
Advantages: +1 die for control manipulation spells, +2 dice for spirits of Man
Disadvantages: -2 dice to health spells
Donuts are central to the western mystic tradition ("What happens to the hole when you are done eating the donut? "I do not know master." "Sweep the floor of the Dunkin' Donuts and the answer will come to you, young one."). They are also central to the western culinary tradition (almost every "old world" nationality has a donut of some kind). Donut delights in playing with our minds as much as he enjoys feeding us. Donut is a whimsical totem, dedicated to mind games, deliciousness, and highly saturated fats.
| QUOTE (mfb) |
| you've gotta do janeway next--followers embody the spirit of sacrificing as much of your crew as possible at every opportunity in order to be PC, when you're 10 hobillion kajillion light-years away from anyone who might know what "PC" even stands for. |
Domain: the Delta quadrant.
Try building your shamanic lodge *there*
Seishi Totem
Favored Environment: Urban
Advantages: Receives +2 dice for any spell or magical skill when all other members of his/her team is incapacitated or captured.
Disadvantages: Must carry at least one change of clothes which must look incredibly stupid to wear on the street. The shaman loses 2 dice to all spells and magical skills when not wearing this stupid outfit. Must take two of the following flaws with no advantages: Can't Cook, Annoying as All Holy Hell, Badly Dubbed, Ditsy, Klutz, Attracted to the Bad Guy, and Has a Hentai Dojinshi on the Streets.
The Abstruse One
Favored Environment: Urban
Advantages: Receives +2 dice for any spell or magical skill when all other members of his/her team is incapacitated or captured.
Disadvantages: Must carry at least one change of clothes which must look incredibly stupid to wear on the street. The shaman loses 2 dice to all spells and magical skills when not wearing this stupid outfit. Must take two of the following flaws with no advantages: Can't Cook, Annoying as All Holy Hell, Badly Dubbed, Ditsy, Klutz, Attracted to the Bad Guy, and Has a Hentai Dojinshi on the Streets.
The Abstruse One
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