Continuing on with our previews leading up to the release of the Saurids Sourcebook, tying into the preview last week about the expansion of Spirits, this week I wanted to talk a bit about some of the variant Shaman Professions. As has been mentioned previously, the Saurids primarily follow shamanic practices for their magical traditions. While the bog standard Shaman Profession covers a fair amount of versatility for focus, we wanted to include some additional variants to further flesh things out, both for the Saurids as a people and for players to have some additional options to play.
First on the list is the Hapatonicoyo, or Warchanter. These are warrior shamans, using their summoning and spellcasting abilities with a focus on combat. These were first partially written up in the old material before I took over as Line Developer, so if you were around then you may recall having seen them posted about before. Their primary attack method is Unarmed Combat, which allows them to make use of Claw Shape to enhance their damage. Most of their early Skills focus on the magical aspects, moving into leadership and buffing/rallying as they advance. Mechanically, they’re not likely to be your primary front line fighter, more a backup fighter with support abilities.
Next up are the Teskovonicoyo, or Wildspeaker. These are shamans with a focus on beasts, both living and in spirit form. Like the Packmaster (and Beastmaster if you’re coming from the Earthdawn side of things), they’ll have abilities focused on working with wild animals and animal companions. Unlike them, however, they’re approaching it from a magician point of view. They’ll have spells focused on animals and the wilds, and they’ll also be able to summon beast spirits. Naturally, this means from a mechanics standpoint, they’ll be hanging in the back in a fight, as they don’t have a lot to offer up themselves combat-wise. They will, however, be able to offer support for their party members, as well as call up some friends, both in the local living fauna as well as spiritual ones. Given the beasties that exist in the Gruv, this gives them some powerful friends indeed to call up for help.
Next up are the Varsalnicoyo, or Speakers to Places. These focus on summoning spirits of the domains. I got into the description of those spirits a bit more last week, but in a nutshell if you missed it, these are elemental spirits that are based on a particular area, and take on aspects related to that space. For the most part mechanically, the Varsalnicoyo are fairly similar to your standard Shaman. The main difference is going to come with the spirits they summon and spells they cast. They’ll be focused mostly on making use of terrain and local resources. Unlike your typical nature spirit that is primarily found in natural areas, spirits of the domains can be found anywhere, even in places that have been shaped by people; that will simply change the nature of the spirit found in that place. Varsalnicoyo, therefore, will be just as at home in a city as they will out in the wilds, and will simply adjust their behaviors and tactics accordingly.
These are the primary specialists covered in the book, but there’s plenty of room for additional ones to provide additional flair and focus. Are there any specializations you’ve used for your campaign? Have these given you any ideas for new ones to write up? Let us know your thoughts in the comments and on Discord. And don’t forget, next week we’ll be out at GenCon. I’ll be running demos (some of which still have slots open), and will be manning the booth after 3pm until close Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. If you’re there, swing on by, I’d love to hear from you. You’ll also have a chance to see the Saurids Sourcebook in person, and we will have an extremely limited quantity of them as well as Maps of London for sale (plus an exclusive special bonus if you pick yours up at the con). Hope to see you there!