What do Shamans do?

From: Joseph Troxell <jmt107_at_psu.edu>
Date: Sun, 20 Apr 1997 09:30:34 -0400

>'spend 90% of their time chasing spirits' is an arguement from the
>roolz. The Shaman fits into Orlanthi society because he or she
>performs tasks that they need done. There is no prohibition on
>Shamans farming and in Orlanthi society they probably do

All I can think of is this example, which I think I was taught in grade school.

Suppose you're an accountant and make $100 a day. You hire someone to paint your house, but they want $125 a day and estimate it will take two days. So, you take off work to paint your house. It takes you three days since you're not nearly as good a housepainter. So, you loose $300 a day in wages to save $250.

Ok, the arguement is full of holes and the numbers probably aren't right.

But, I see the shaman as being the same way. Sure, they can farm (and maybe they must in order to survive). But, they're going to make most of their income by knowing lots of spirits. "Need Bludgeon 3? Sure, just let me check my directory...." If someone comes up to a shaman, and wants a spell for which the shaman doesn't know the spirit, it may take him days (even weeks) to track down the right spirit. Since, I think the shaman only has one spirit encounter an hour, and not all of them will even be spell spirits. It seems to me that the shaman is a lot more efficient when he spends his time tracking down spirits to know for future reference. Of course, this is heavily weighted by the RQ3 rules, with which you may or may not agree.

Of course, if no one wants to learn spells from the shaman, then he will have to do something to survive. But, if no one wants to use his shamanic services, why is he a shaman and not a farmer?

>Two writeups exits for Magasta and Dormal exist in ToTRM#10.

Thanks. Not that I have it, but at least I know what to ask to borrow. :)

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