Oriental Adventures Shaman

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od
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Oriental Adventures Shaman

Post by od » Sat Sep 08, 2007 1:30 am

So having played an OO shaman in Maha1 for 2-3 combat now I am really begininng to think they screwed up this class.

Why?

Light armor - Yipee less armor than a normal cleric
Abreviated spell list - Yipee less spell choice than a standard cleric.
Decreased Turning level - Yipee I turn worse than a cleric.
Animal companion - Well it is worse than a druids, but I get one...so it's sorta like I'm a weird druid/cleric hybrid...ok...of course it is just a regular animal of X hitdice...not generally that great.
Hit die: d6...you're kidding me right? I get rogue hit dice? Not cleric, not monk, not druid...but Fing rogue hit dice?

Monk feats - Wait what? My AC is worse than usual and you are gonna give me monk feats...for melee combat? Deflect arrows is helpful but still...

Paladinesque saves - At 5th you add your charisma bonus to your saves...this is nice but um...what about that AC?

Ok...so lets run down the stats I need to be good.
Wisdom -spell casting
Charisma - Turning and Saves
Dex - the ONLY thing that helps my AC
Con - did you see the rant about the rogue hit dice?
4 (or 3 if you argue) stats that you need is alot...most classes require 1 maybe 2.

So here are the problems with the class:
Spell list, it's smaller than, and less useful than the cleric spell list.
AC No real way around this, a level of monk might help but one class should not rely on a level from another class to be viable unless it is a prestige class.

Between the bad AC and bad Hit dice this person isn't supposed to be up in melee combat. But for some reason I get free melee combat feats?

But wait! All of my healing spells are touch, and the attack spells on the shaman list are virtually nonexistant....so I CAN'T hang back and be useful.

Am I missing something? can some one help me out here? The class seems broken and I can't figure out what the designers expect from the class.

The abilities of the class just seem to contradict each other and I'd appreciate it if anyone had some ideas that could help me. I've spent 2-3 combats feeling pretty useless and feeling like my character is going to die at any moment.

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Vardaen
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Re: Oriental Adventures Shaman

Post by Vardaen » Wed Nov 28, 2007 6:39 pm

So, didn't even see this.

You should feel like you are about to die at any moment in Mahasarpa. That's how that game works ;)


The class does seem neutured when you point out all the flaws. There are some interesting abilities, and spells that arent' on the cleric's list. A possible fix or variant for the class might be something along the lines of:

You do not get an animal companion.
You gain AC as per a monk.
"He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom." - Gandalf
J.R.R. Tolkien, Council of Elrond, The Fellowship of the Ring

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Trogdor
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Re: Oriental Adventures Shaman

Post by Trogdor » Wed Nov 28, 2007 11:55 pm

When I was in Maha2 I played a spirit shaman for many of the reasons you state. Upon looking at the regular shaman I determined it just wasn't a very good class.

od
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Re: Oriental Adventures Shaman

Post by od » Thu Nov 29, 2007 12:47 am

V

Most of the unique spells are under powered or require very costly material components.

As for feeling like I'll die...it's not because of the encounter...I often feel (felt we haven't been in combat lately) like I personally will be dieing in fights where the other characters very rarely get hit (such as against a large number of mooks).

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Vardaen
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Re: Oriental Adventures Shaman

Post by Vardaen » Thu Nov 29, 2007 1:10 am

I agree it does seem under powered, and just not a great class.

Suggestions to fix it?
"He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom." - Gandalf
J.R.R. Tolkien, Council of Elrond, The Fellowship of the Ring

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Bitom
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Re: Oriental Adventures Shaman

Post by Bitom » Thu Nov 29, 2007 1:11 am

Cleric spell list would be a huge stride forward.

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Vardaen
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Re: Oriental Adventures Shaman

Post by Vardaen » Thu Nov 29, 2007 1:20 am

Cleric Spell List/Shaman Spell List combined.

Option to Take Animal Companion or Monk AC Bonuses (Wis and Level Boost).
"He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom." - Gandalf
J.R.R. Tolkien, Council of Elrond, The Fellowship of the Ring

od
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Re: Oriental Adventures Shaman

Post by od » Thu Nov 29, 2007 1:23 am

Bitom is right about the spell list.

I've looked at this many times and I think the following would go a long way.

1)Cleric spell list. (plus any very AO spells)
2)Wisdom to AC
3) d8 Hit dice

No animal companion.
No free monk feats.

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Bitom
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Re: Oriental Adventures Shaman

Post by Bitom » Thu Nov 29, 2007 1:37 am

od wrote:Bitom is right about the spell list.

I've looked at this many times and I think the following would go a long way.

1)Cleric spell list. (plus any very AO spells)
2)Wisdom to AC
3) d8 Hit dice

No animal companion.
No free monk feats.
I haven't looked at the class, but if you're gonna go that far, why not just play a cleric (Yes, I know, V doesn't allow it)

But what would be the differance between this and a cleric? You'd only wear light armor, but in the end, your AC would be better than that of a monk.

Your turning undead would be slightly worse

Is that a big enough change to warrant a new class?

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Vardaen
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Re: Oriental Adventures Shaman

Post by Vardaen » Thu Nov 29, 2007 1:42 am

Its not that I don't allow it, but when Maha started I used the Maha suppliment as is. By playing a Cleric you would miss out on several things like See Spirits, Spirits Favor, bonus feats, a third domain.

FYI: The errata has expanded Bonus Feat list, and Unarmed Dmg Improvement as per a monk.
"He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom." - Gandalf
J.R.R. Tolkien, Council of Elrond, The Fellowship of the Ring

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