Thanks for the replies - very illuminating! ;-)
Re: spirit face
> I would say so yes. It is the one ability they get that includes
> direct interaction with spirits. I'm also sure that the shaman could
> also develop new skills specifically for "spirit combat" or
> "exorcism". I'm sure that the clan would appreciate the shamans
> efforts in this way. :-))
Understood. I've thought obviously about developing new skills, but wanted to know what the "default" position was. If you can use Spirit Face to initiate spirit combat, that's great; I'm curious as to whether Practitioners should also be allowed to do this, or whether it would be a shamanic ability.
I'm always loathe to house-rule things - IMHO the HQ don't actually *need* houseruling, once you've figured them out... but it's the "figuring out" that's the trick... :-D At the moment it seems from the rules that there's no difference between Spirit Face for Practitioners and for Shamans - so if Shamans can initiate spirit combat, then so can Practitioners. Does that follow for you?
> I think that if the shaman would like to use the spirit more than
> once he needs to provide a "home" for the spirit to return to, i.e.
> bind it into a fetish. I would say that he can use the spirits
> abilities from within the fetish. Alternatively he can release the
> spirit and add its full ability rating to his spirit face in driving
> out the disease spirit, very powerful :-))
That is very powerful - I hadn't thought about that. Normally with Practice Fetishes I've ruled that a released spirit can only add to a practitioner's ability *if* that ability is pretty much identical to the spirit's ability, or if a good case could be made to use it as an augment in the first place. (So, you're practice spirit's Raging Fire 20 ability could add to your Sword attack to create a super fireblade - but basically only once per day. It couldn't add to, say, your First Aid or Hide skill (obviously...)). I'm not sure if that's the "official" use or not. In the case of Spirit Face, I can see a case for arguing you could add a Healing Spirit's "Exorcise Disease Spirit" ability to a Shamans' Spirit Face, assuming they are both "pretty much identical" in function - they both actively attack spirits.
Thanks for the advice! It's nice to see the difference in emphasis between practitioners and, say, initiates - powerful in different ways and different circumstances.
Cheers!
Sarah
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