Awesome Alternate Shaman idea

[Sailor Vulcan]

Pokemon Trainer Alternate Shaman


So some people were talking about having a creature type like pokemon. So I thought it would be good for an alternate shaman.

The basic premise of this mage is this: He bonds with the elemental beast spirits of his deceased ancestors and aids them in their quest for growth so they can reunite with their human spirit counterparts. In return, they protect and fight for their descendant (the alternate shaman).

Full Training in 3 of the four elemental schools + Lv 1 in Nature

Spellbook points: 120
Health: 25
Armor: 0
Channeling: 10
Mana: 10

Abilities:

Connected Spirits--When 0-1 zones away from an elemental spirit beast creature he controls, this Mage could switch the creature for another one in his spellbook of equal or lower level. However, rather than being returned to the spellbook, the creature switched out is warped back to the spirit realm to wait (moved outside the arena). All enchantments, statuses, and damage etc. attached to the creature remain there, but have no effect on it while in the spirit realm. Using the Connected Souls ability always costs 10 mana + mana equal to the level of the creature being switched in. This ability does not count as summoning.

Spirit Bond: When you summon an elemental spirit beast creature, you can pay mana equal to that creature's level plus 3 to place a Spirit Bond marker on it. This creature gains Aegis 1, the Familiar and Intercept traits. A maximum of 2 creatures can have a Spirit Bond marker assigned to them per game.

This version of the Shaman has no Basic Melee attack. Rather he has a 0 Dice attack with an effect that varies with his spirit bond.

Elemental Spirit beasts have a level up ability that makes them get stronger each time they destroy an enemy creature. In what way they get stronger depends on the creature. They either gain armor, melee attack, ranged attack, a defense or a trait. Level maxes out at 6 of course.

What do you think of the Pokemon Trainer Alternate Shaman?

[DarthDadaD20]

I think it could be the very best! (Like no one ever was)

Seriously though.....this is really good! I can completely get behind this.

It really does capture the spirit of a monster tamer in a way I havnet seen before.

I have seen a few D&D "Monster tamers" and know of this amazing game called "pokemon tabletop RPG" and I think you have captured the essence of it better then even these games have.

On a Mage Wars strategic level- This has potential as an amazing buddy build type of playstyle, while being completely different.  Also, switching creatures like that and the growth aspect makes it so I would play it!

If him not having an attack is based on the games- the trainers were originally supposed to have attacks, and in the manga, a basic strategy to win a pokemon battle is to kill you opponent- so I don't think a attack is out of line- but I am not sure on your thought process there, so I may be wrong.

Overall- nice job and 10/10 would play.

[Stormmaster]

I love it!  Very cool, love the creature bond theme/idea.

I will say that lull ability which is essentially the same exact ability as the Charm card (but for 1 turn) seems a tad out of place.  Seems an ability for a Forcemaster or maybe that Siren Mage I've heard about.  On the Siren that ability would make perfect sense.  Her 'song' ability temporarily lulls opponents.

So I like the idea of a "cool" unique ability, but I'd say something else that even further increases your bond with your elementals/spirits.  Maybe something like your basic attack is a 3 dice version of the element you are bonded with.  Would be kind of fun to have a "different' base attack that can change.  Fire/Wind/Earth etc not to overcomplicate it but maybe even with a low chance to apply a condition like 9+ Fire adds burn Wind pushes Earth adds umm Slam or Stun?  I dunno on that last one

The other thing is with 25 life something needs to give you some life.  So maybe Spirit Bond could act similar to Tree Bond and give you +4 Innate Life and the Life Bond trait to transfer damage.

[Sailor Vulcan]

Or maybe he could have some sort of innate armor caused by a talisman that marks him as a spirit tamer/whatever the Mage would be called. In return he would not be able to equip anything in the pendant slot.

[Stormmaster]

Interesting yes I could see that.  Also if you go that low on life having the Mage itself have innate armor (mystical or otherwise) seems cool/unique since none of the other mages come into the arena with any armor.  Armor value you can't dispell, dissolve etc would be very cool.

[Sailor Vulcan]

Ok, I suppose you're right. The calming voice attack doesn't fit. Instead I think he should have an attack that varies with his spirit bond(s), like you said. It should be something that can protect the spirit tamer while also supporting his creatures. Perhaps the Earth attack could make opposing creatures stuck, water could heal friendly creatures and push enemy creatures (slams if they hit a wall), fire could burn everything in the zone (including friendly creatures and conjurations), and air could daze creatures. They would all be 0 dice range 0-1 zone attacks. Limited to 1 use per round and it costs 3 mana to use.

[Sailor Vulcan]

and i just remembered that Shamans are supposed to be mediators between the spirit world and the regular world, so this would be perfect for a shaman. Perhaps this could be the regular shaman rather than an alternate? I mean, I suppose there's the kind with greater emphasis on potions and communicating with the spirits of the ancestors--or perhaps they could be one and the same. Maybe elemental spirit beasts ARE the spirits of his ancestors in a sense--the more primal parts of their spirits which separated from them when they passed on to the spirit world. These beastly spirits need to grow and evolve to a higher spiritual state so that they can be recombined with their human counterparts. As a mediator between the Spirit world and the physical world, the shaman is the anchor that allows the beastly spirits of his ancestors to take on forms that can interact with the physical world. I think this works better than calling him a "Spirit tamer" or the like for three reasons:

1. the name "Spirit Tamer" brings Pokemon to mind, as well as digimon and a bunch of other "monster tamer" shonen anime. That mental connection would also probably make the Spirit Tamer seem silly or childish to a lot of people.

2. Having him be a Shaman in the way I described makes a lot of sense, and actually gives a more understandable explanation of why the elemental spirit beasts fight on his behalf. I mean, these creatures die in the arena, they don't just faint. If they're loyal enough to die for him, then merely saying they're loyal to him because he makes them stronger isn't enough explanation. Saying that he is their kin and that he is trying to help them grow spiritually so that they can reunite with their human halves in the spirit world makes more sense.

3. There's already a mage that tames wild beasts. Calling this one a Tamer would make people compare him to the beastmaster if they dont know about pokemon.