Recently I've had cause to come up with a new shamanic totem: Ferret. Normally I would just use/tweak one of the existing totems, but none of them really did an adequate job. Since the current thread about totems focuses on the plant kingdom, I figured I'd start a new thread. Feel free to post your comments, advice, or your own totems, as you like.

Ferret

Playful, clever, curious and tenacious - all of these describe Ferret. Above all Ferret loves to explore new places and make "discoveries". She considers everything to be a sort of game, but her opinion of what constitutes "play" can sometimes seem vicious to those to dont understand her. Her tendancy to assume that others are playing rather than actually trying to hurt her lends her a certain fearlessness that can get her into almost as much trouble as her curiosity. When Ferret sets her mind to a task, she will persue it with singleminded determination - at least, until something more interesting distacts her.

Environment: Anywhere on land

Advantages: +2 dice for Manipulation and Detection spells, +2 dice for Spirits of Man

Disadvantages: Ferret shamans love to explore and are easily distracted by the
opportunity to do so. Any time an opportunity to investigate an unfamiliar area presents itself, Ferret shamans must make a Willpower (6) test to avoid doing so.

Edit: Gah! Somehow I managed to submit that post before I finished it. Finished now.

Weaseling out of things is what sets man apart from the animals. Except the weasel, of course.

JaronK

I think it should also include a Berserking disadvantage when backed into a corner and unable to escape. Balance wise you're getting some serious advantages (with Manipulation spells and Spirits of Man being arguably the most powerful ones in the game for a shadowrunner) without any "real" disadvantages.

I also imagine that they'd aim for Illusion spells instead of Manipulation spells since hiding and sneaking around is their game more than blowing stuff or controlling people's minds would be.

Based on the descriotion I'm not sure why they have manipulation really, I'd say +2 dice for detection and +2 dice for Spirits of man.

Out of curiosity, why Spirits of Man at all? They're not native in urban environments beyond the occasional rare pet. Spirits of the Land make a lot more sense. Prairie and Forest Spirits make the most sense, really.

Um, that totem is balanced, how? Most shaman have at least a will power of 4. And investigating is often a good thing.

With manipulation, I was thinking less "fireball" and more "magic fingers." Control manipulations also fit along the lines of messing with people. Looking at descriptions of the other totems that grant a manip bonus - Raccoon, Raven, Bat, Monkey - it just seemed to fit. I understand that elemental manips don't fit really well... but they don't really fit well with the majority of totems that grant a manip bonus, either. I suppose illusion would work reasonably well as a substitute.

As for the disadvantage, I think its a pretty hefty one - It can certainly cause a lot of trouble (something ferrets are *quite* good at, I assure you). "Investigating" could, at the GM's discretion, include looking inside things and pushing buttons and the like.

I dont like the idea of using the standard berzerking disadvantage, but some sort of mechanic to represent their fearlessness might be reasonable.

The other thing I didnt really mention (largely because I couldnt think of a way to include it in the main description that I liked) was that ferrets (and, by extention, Ferret) love to hoard worthless things. Perhaps something to represent that would be a reasonable inclusion.

Actually, that invesitgating thing is dangerous as heck. I had a Racoon Shapeshifter in my game recently with that compulsion... muhahahaha!

JaronK

Two words.......Ferret Treadmill. I'll tell that story later.

Looks like a potential killer disadvantage to me.

Sure, you'll most likely succeed it with a high willpower, but then there're the times when you fail it.

"It was meant to be an easy mission- go in, plant a couple of bugs in the room, then leave. Then our shaman noted that the complex had fourteen floors..."

Oh, and Bossemanden: +0 dice for spirits of man?
I'd think it was a typo excepting the relative positions of the keys (unless you're a keypad sort of person).

Nope the +0 was not a typo. I was changing the +2 benefit to a not benefit (+0 dice)

Words spoken by a man who's obviously never had a Ferret.

I would change it to +2 to Detection and Illusion spells, or +2 to Manipulation spells, then make it +2 to player's choice of one type of spirit of man. And I would also give the Totem -1 to Combat spells (just like rat, monkey, fox, and all of the other similar Totems). And I would keep the "curiosity" disadvantage.

I'm with Glyph on this one.

-Joe