Totems - General

Druidic Totems
Early on in their career a Druid will form a bond with an animal, this can be formally done as part of early mentoring with a master or more likely (given the general lack of Druidic colleges/schools) by accident when the Druid first looks to establish an animal companion. Once “contact” has been made (generally through Speak With Animals followed by a period of active friendship), the bonding process will establish the totemic link within a week.
A Druid can only ever have one Totem, if the Druid dies then the Totemic spirit awaits the Druids resurrection or dissipates in the event of a permanent death.
Totem States
The Druidic Totem can be in 1 of three states:
Manifested:
The totem will be physically present and separate from the Druid, it can telepathic communication between the two is unlimited in range and the Druid can sense whatever the Totem does (even beyond normal Human/Dwarf etc. sensory capabilities), for example with a Bat totem the Druid would be able to comprehend what the Bat is sensing through echo location.
If the Totem is within 30’ of the Druid then the two share a hit point pool (the Druids HP) and count as a single target for area effect spells. In addition whilst within 10’ the Totem benefits from all protections/blesses etc. that the Druid has in place and vice versa. See below for moving into and out of range.
Outside of 30’ the Totem only has it’s own hit points and protections and although these are generally superior to a normal animal, it is vulnerable to being attacked.
No matter how far away, a manifested totem will automatically discorporate and move to a latent state if the Druid falls unconscious.
Latent:
On demand and with a simple skin to skin contact either the Totem or the Druid and initiate a merging whereby the Totem spirit is absorbed into the Druid. This action is generally taken for protection purposes or to conceal the Totem.
Once Latent, it takes around 8 hours for the Totem to re-manifest, at the time of manifestation the Druid must be on full health.
Dormant:
If somehow the Totem is killed then it’s physical body dissipates and its spirit returns to the Druid. It takes 10 days for the totemic spirit to recover and during the first half of this period the Druid will suffer from a number of penalties.
Note that once a Totem has been killed once, from then on the physical manifestation of the Totem will have a faintly transluscent appearance.
Totem Benefits
In addition to the communication, shared protection and sensory improvements the totem provides a number of benefits to the Druid that increase with the level of the Druid. The Totem grows in power with the Druid (i.e. the Totem level is equal to the Druid level). These benefits vary by animal type but have in common:
Level	Totem HP	Druid Benefits	Totem Death Impact
1 	4 	 	
2-10 	 	 	
11+ 	 	 	
Totem/Druid Damage
The nature of the bond between the Druid and the Totem is such that the Druid will always take on any damage in so doing the Druid can fall below 1 hp – and indeed in some circumstances could die.
Example:
A Druid + Totem are operating together, the Druid has 10HP, the Totem 4HP.
Whilst within 30’ of each other they share a HP pool of 10HP
The totem takes an arrow for 5 HP damage, it does not fall unconscious but the HP pool is reduced to 5 HP
The totem is sent away to investigate something, beyond 30’ this gives Druid 5HP, Totem 4 HP
At this time the Druid takes 2 HP damage and the Totem another 3 HP damage (Druid now on 3HP, Totem on 1HP).
When the Totem returns, the Druid absorbs the 3 HP of damage and falls unconscious on -1HP. The Totem immediately discorporates and reverts to a latent state.
----Additional info from email 2020-05-15 21:57
1) Detect magic does not show a Totem as magical - one exception if Quercius is casting through his Kestrel then the Kestrel shows up as magical.
2) If someone tries Speak w/Animals on a Totem, the Druid is aware.
3) The Totems retain independent spirit and self (although this gets subsumed by the Druids personality when the Totem is latent) - but their loyalty is to the Druid. So a Dog becomes a totally loyal companion, a Kestrel becomes a superbly trained bird of prey. There is always a slight independence (although this declines somewhat with level and if the Totem is killed) and if the Druid is say asleep - the animal will behave naturally unless instructed otherwise.
....on another note - the Totems lifespan is also massively increased in line with the Druids.
----Additional info from email 2020-07-28 17:07
Q: "If a totem suffers a magical or physical affliction (eg hold/confusion/sleep/bleeding/blindness etc) while manifested within range, does the affliction transfer over to the druid, or remain with the totem? And if it remains, what happens if the totem goes latent while suffering from the affliction?"
A: The totem/familiar suffers from the affliction.....
....if then the totem goes latent....the affliction transfers to the Druid/Mage....
If the totem/familiar manifests from a Druid/Mage that has an affliction, it does not transfer to the Totem/Familiar.