The Spiritualist (SB)

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: Who were they? Well, I introduced them all, didn't I? There was Crow, who was once a god, the Rat Totem and... oh, what were they? They were just spirits, that's all. Ghosts of the dead, memories of the living, things that might have been in another time, how should I know? But, I will tell you this; stick with me, and I'll teach you how to make them your friends, your servants, and your deadliest weapon. The chant I performed— it's not begging, pleading, and threatening, it's a dance! It's a seduction! It's reaching out to Death and stroking her and cuddling her and leading her where you want her to go.
: —Karalach, spiritualist
The spiritualist is the darkest of the three shaman classes. These are the descendants of tribal shamans whose tribes were destroyed, and now they manipulate the spirits for whatever grim purpose they please.
Some DMs may wish to relegate the spiritualist shaman to the status of an NPC class. The archetypical character belonging to it is a vicious manipulator, and callous in his or her approach to both the lives and safety of others.
Requirements: Spiritualists must have a minimum Intelligence of 12 and a minimum Wisdom of 9.
Role: When cultures have been subsumed by expanding empires, their sacred sites ploughed over, and the people dispersed amongst the burgeoning cities, the shamans continued to practice their arts. They sometimes passed on their skills to the younger generations, who develop new spells and rituals to suit their situations. From here, emerged the spiritualists.
Shamans without tribes, the spiritualists have no obligations to fulfill, no moral standards to uphold, and little to direct their own values except the bitter memories of the respect and honor speaking with spirits brought their predecessors.
Spiritualists, as a group, do not share any particular set of objectives. Many are completely self-serving, although a minority have goals and ambitions which are motivated by selfless considerations (such as concern for a social or ethnic group).
Some, remembering the religions of their forbears, attempt to set up religious movements to resurrect these forgotten spirits. A few succeed, but others find that the ancient spirits have faded away, or become the dupes of other supernatural powers. Alternatively, rather than set up genuine religious movements, they use their powers to set up fake cults, hoping to manipulate the gullible or shear them of their cash.
Most churches and relgious institutions condemn the spiritualists' activities (particularly their dealings with malign or evil spirits) and teach that such blasphemers are damned to hideous, eternal punishment. Spiritualists vary in their responses to such condemnation: Some develop guilt complexes and have little self-esteem; others embrace any religion which forgives, overlooks or condones their practices; others reject the notion that they are the ones in the wrong, and become obsessed with avenging themselves upon the culture that absorbed their own.
Restrictions: There are no racial restrictions on the spiritualistc class. Spiritualists may be of any alignment, but tend towards neutral and chaotic. Very few are of good or lawful alignments. Spiritualists are not the kind of people who enjoy confronting a foe face to face, and so are not very skilled in the use of weapons. They may not use heavy or awkward, nor delicate or refined weapons: only simple, basic weapons are acceptable, such as a staff, dagger, short sword, or club. They may not use armor more cumbersome than leather, and do not use shields.
Special Benefits: Through force of will, and a deep-seated obsession with the lost stature of their kind, spiritualists has developed a method to call upon the spirits. It is not as subtle as that used by the tribal shaman from whence this class sprang, but it works nonetheless.
Commune with Spirits: Seeking out a quiet and secluded area, away from prying mortal eyes, a spiritualist may perform a ritual to invite nearby spirits to speak with him.
Each spiritualist has a personal ritual (which must be determined when the character is first rolled up), which reflects his or her alignment and temperament, which he or she may easily perform. Typically it takes no more than one round to perform. If the spiritualist is prevented from using his or her own personal ritual (due to a lack of props or physical components), an alternative impromptu ritual may be attempted, but this will take longer and may have unexpected side effects. (And these have been left up to the creative whims of the DM.)
If a ritual is correctly performed, the spiritualist sends out a psychic invitation to all spirits in the area, attracting them to him or her. No spirit is bound to respond to this invitation, but most are at least curious to understand why the spiritualist wishes to commune with them.
Those nearby spirits wishing to commune with the shaman appear, visible to all who are present, as ghostly images of what they were in life, and converse normally. They appear separately, not en masse, each individual spirit or groups of spirits coming to him or her in turn; there is no order of precedence—the first to answer appears first, and later arrivals approaching the spiritualist when these have departed.
A spirit who answers the call stays to speak with the spiritualist for as long as it wishes. Most depart if the spiritualist asks them to do so, but some may refuse. In this instance the only way that the spiritualist can get rid of them is to terminate the ritual.
Most spirits consider this communion to establish a kind of truce. Even if hostile to each other or to the spiritualist, they rarely attack; only the most chaotic ignore the truce and assault their enemies. Conversely, the spirits expect the spiritualist to honor the truce and are usually appalled if he or she violates it.
Special Disadvantages: Aside from being cold-hearted and almost pathologically manipulative, spiritualists have no disadvantages.
Class Background: As mentioned above, the spiritualist shaman is the product of the displaced people from a shattered culture. Therefore, it is no surprise that the training of a spiritualist shaman resembles a twisted version of the training of a tribal shaman.
Spiritual shamans are often found in the most destitute areas of the world's cities, and there they keep an eye out for young people, ideally of their own ethnic background, who seems suited to carry on the legacy they have begun. This generally means the shaman watches for ruthless, angry youngsters , tests them for sensitivity to the spirit world, and then coaxes or coerces the youngster to enter training.
The relevant knowledge that most spiritualists possess—rituals, lore, and so on—could be taught in a matter of weeks. In practice, however, spiritualists tend to stretch the instruction over a number of years, using the pupil as a servant, guard, and guinea pig for the duration of the training.
On becoming full spiritualists, most pupils move away from their masters, so their interests don't conflict. Some, however, may be bound to continue to serve their masters, particularly if the elder has the bind fetish spell (detailed in the next chapter):, or simply by threatening the pupil with the powers of other spirits or mortal allies, the master may force the younger to serve him or her for decades.
In some cases one spiritualist even manages to direct a number of such proteges. Usually it is only fear of the leader's power that maintains these groups, and the younger spiritualists are often keen to break free from their elder's control. When large groups exist, the leader maytake steps to ensure that the younger members do not know of each other, as this prevents them from conspiring together against him or her.
Roleplaying: Spiritualists are concerned with the manipulation and control of spirits and mortals. They therefore tend to be manipulative, insensitive, m and unscrupulous in their dealings with other, living people. Life to the spiritualist is cheap and disposable in the face of the eternal spirits. Spiritualists rarely take death seriously, either as a personal threat or an abstract concept, and rarely understand why others make such a big deal of it: "So I murdered a few people? People die every day. So what?"
Often studying magics of which society disapproves, spiritualists usually pursue sordid, grubby lifestyles. Surviving in poverty or struggling to gain power in the cities' toughest quarters, they tend to be hardheaded, practical people, with little time for idealists or dreamers, an attitude that frequently clashes with their own dreams of past glories. Nonetheless, spiritualists are usually intuitive, and good judges of people, but rarely develop interests in such abstracts as art or academia.
As spiritualists' activities put them outside of respectable society, their objectives usually serve the interests of those outside of the mainstream. Some side with the poor, with rebel movements or with persecuted minorities; others become involved in dark cults or the criminal underworld.
Followers and Stronghold: Spiritualists do not automatically gain followers or strongholds. Any haven or servants which they might gain should result from the intelligent use of their powers, and the manner in which they interact with the other inhabitants of their area. Indeed, several spiritualist spells exist just to create a base or gain guards for the spiritualist, and these are detailed in the next chapter.
Generally, a high level spiritualist establishes a haven, guarded by animals and spirits, and can rely on the support of several local allies such as beggars who act as spies, and thieves who act as henchmen.