In my current shaman rules, the fetch may be a number of things, depending on the mystical tradition of the shaman. It might be one of the shaman's own ancestors, or a totemic spirit. It might even be a spirit double of the shaman, somehow evoked from his subconscious. Among non-humans, it might be a premortal monster, an unborne spirit, or a fragment of Aldrya's overmind. Whatever the source, it is certain that the maintenance and evocation of the fetch is dependent upon something within the shaman -- a special organ, a new bone, a secret name. Whatever the source, every shares many things in common, and yet every fetch is different.
The fetch provides POW and magic points to the shaman. Its magic points are always accessible, and its POW can be sacrificed at will. A Divine Intervention can be paid for partially or wholly with the fetch's POW (but the die roll is still based on your own POW alone). The fetch's POW does not rise on its own, but is increased only by sacrifice to it.
The fetch shares the shaman's INT, and can act and react as just as can the shaman. However, this fetch's "INT-equivalent" is not able to memorize spells, as it is just another side of the shaman.(I realize that this is not the normal fetch rules for RQ. If a shaman has the Mind Expansion special ability, he can store extra points of Magic in the parallel INT provided by this ability)
A shaman automatically has permanent Second Sight, as per the spell. This means his fetch does, too.
A shaman, by doing a successful Summon roll and taking an hour, can free his spirit from his body and enter the Spirit Plane. His fetch stays behind to watch over his body. By casting Visibility at this time, the shaman's spirit can manifest on the mundane plane, and engage other individuals in spirit combat. While the shaman is gone, the fetch can cast any spells the shaman know, automatically succeeding, and with a DEX SR of 1. The fetch can communicate in the shaman's absence by Mindspeech or similar spells.
The fetch _cannot_ cast spells or become visible when the Shaman is in his own body (another change from the regular RQ rules. However, if the shaman has the Spell Barrage special ability, his fetch can cast spells as well as he).
The regular RQ rules permit a fetch's MPs to add to the shaman's. I hate this, and in playing with shamans for many years, I have a different system. Instead, the shaman can draw MPs from the fetch at will, to replace his own, even during spirit combat. If an attacking spirit comes solely from the spirit plane, he can intercept it with the fetch, and have the fetch fight it instead of him. If a shaman loses a fight on the spirit plane, his soul automatically retreats to his body, accompanied by the victorious spirit. There, the spirit must now battle the fetch. If the fetch is victorious, the spirit is expelled. If not, the shaman remains possessed.
Sandy P.
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