I worked through a Darjini animist a short while ago, now lets take a look at a Shaman - Pelgra is a Bison Rider, so she will awaken her Fetch through the Horned Man Practice of the Praxian Tradition (HQ:RiG pp145-6).
At Character creation she can belong to cult society, but since she will end up concentrating her magic, I won't bother. She is also a member of the Praxian Tradition, and as a female, by default the Eritha Herd Mother Practice (p 39) - since Horned Man Shaman need to come from Eritha or Waha! practices this is fine. She starts with 5 Tradition Spirits and one of each of the Practice Spirits as part of the Magic Keyword. She also joins the Horned Man now (thus getting its abilities as part of the Keyword at 17)
Charms:
Ride Without Tiring 12, Sense Spirits 19, Resist Enemy Magic 18,
Withstand Damage 15, Hide Trail 14
Fetishes:
"Her" (Herd Mother Spirit) Summon Earth Spirit 20, Command Earth Spirit
2W
"Min" (Bison Cow Spirit) Find Lost Bison 19, Heal Bison 2W
"Trude" (Bison Protectress Spirit) Heal Warrior 19, Restore Courage 17
Other Abilities:
Friendship with Her 17, Friendship with Min 17, Friendship with Trude 17
Eritha Practice Knowledge 17
Horned Man Practice Knowledge 17
Follower of Eritha 17
Follower of Horned Man 17
Open Spirit World 17
Spirit Face 17
Total commitment to Religion 10% Tradition + 10% per practice + 10% total for Spirit Friendships = 40%
To be a Shaman requires Spirit Face, <Shamanic practice> Knowledge and Follower of <Shamanic Practice Spirit> all at 1W2 which (at Concentrated rates) is 72 points worth of improvement, +3 to awaken the fetch (There was some discussion here (or on Heroquest-RPG) between the GTA previews and the final publication as to whether the Shamanic secret allowed the Shaman to awaken another's fetch, meaning a Character could become a Shaman without those ability ratings, but that isn't how the rules read).
A character can not become a Shaman if they have already learned another Secret, but a Shaman can learn another Practice Secret (P139, "Benefits & Obligations", first two lines)
When she becomes a Shaman, Pelgra will gain a Spirit Double, her Fetch which has a rating of 13, and gives the abilities of Shamanic Escape and Spirit World Travel at the Fetch Rating. She also gets to learn "Soul Wind" which also presumably starts at 13 (although it probably requires another HP to start this ability off). Her Fetch takes another 10% Commitment taking her to 50%
As a Horned Man Shaman, Pelgra doesn't immediately gain access to any extra spirits, but "can contact the many powerful spirits of the Wastelands, such as Lightning Boy, Brother Dog and Frog Woman. While a member of those helper practices they often have exotic spirits helping them" She can also take multiple spirit allies (either from Eritha or these helper practices) at an additional 10% commitment each.
I'm not sure this is as good as it sounds - To join a Helper Practice still takes 3HP and a 10% Commitment, plus the cost of any charms or fetishes, and although the practice can be left, doing so means giving up the charms gained immediately, and Fetishes the next time the spirit is released
Furthermore Waha already has access to (some) Brother Dog Spirits, and no doubt Foundchild will too. Other Practices may make use of more of these "Wasteland" spirits (and indeed as with many of the "magic" rules, while it may "make sense" on one level, do you tell the player who says they want to play a "Frog Woman" practitioner that first of all they have to become a Horned Man Shaman?)
A Shaman can spend HP to improve his Fetch (which will automatically improve Shamanic Escape & Spirit World Travel), and Friendship with Practice Spirits in Fetishes. They can't improve the rating of the Fetishes themselves or Tradition or Practice Charms.
The Rules suggest that it costs 1HP to gain a Spirit ally, it doesn't say whether they can be improved. The Improvement cost chart says you can spend 3 HP to get a Spirit Ally as a Sidekick rather than a retainer - Presumably they can then be improved as a normal sidekick.
Oh yes, and I spotted a mistake in the combined Magical Improvement chart on p273, which suggests that a "non concentrated" shaman can improve a Fetch rating for 2HP.
Corrections and comments welcome as always
-- +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Tim Ellis EMail tim_at_... | | What is the use of a book without pictures or conversations? | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
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