Trance (Proficiency)

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A character with this proficiency may access the knowledge and memories of predecessors— tutors, the tutor's tutor, and so-on, back to the first shaman of their line or priest of the religion.
This means that a character can find the correct solution to any doctrinal or historical question, as if he or she had every proficiency on the shaman proficiency list. Each time that the trance proficiency is used, the answer to one question may be sought—anything from "where was the boundary of the tribe's lands originally?" to "what are the weaknesses of the Jendahla Spirit?" but only concerning matters known to past generations. A trance cannot be used to discover facts about the recent past, the present, or the future, or knowledge beyond the ken of previous shamans.
To delve back into the memories of past generations is not, however, without risks. There is a chance that the character will pick up prejudices, ideas, half-memories and idiosyncrasies from the predecessors whose memories he or she has accesses. In extreme cases, the shaman might develop dual personalities, or loose his or her own memory entirely.
If a player rolls a natural 20 while attempting to use this proficiency, the DM should roll 2d6 and consult the following table for effects to the character's mind. The resulting conditions cannot be removed by any magic less than a wish spell: the character is fundamentally altered, not just magically influenced. Encourage the player to roleplay the new character's quirks.
 Table 6: Failed Trance Results
2-3: 	No adverse effect.
4: 	The shaman develops a strong prejudice or hatred, consistent the attitude of ancient peoples: this may be an old-fashioned view of women ("beat your wife if she disobeys you!") or children ("should be seen and not heard"), or might involve a refusal to participate in "new" customs or practices (like trade with outsiders or listening to music).
5: 	trade with outsiders or listening to music). The shaman gains a firm belief that a certain historical person still lives. This figure be a legendary shaman, the current king's grandfather, a villain of folklore, or similar. If through proof or persuasion this conviction is disproved, the character receives a saving throw vs. paralyzation. If the save is failed, the character forgets the evidence, and is deluded again by the following morning. If the save is successful, the character's original knowledge is restored.
6: 	As above, but the character becomes convinced that a whole political structure, now extinct, still survives. This may be a now extinct clan, a royal family, an evil cult, an order of paladins, and so on.
7: 	The character becomes obsessed with achieving a certain goal, which was achieved or has been irrelevant for centuries, such as defeating a now-friendly "enemy," recovering a lost relic, protecting an extinct family, and so on. No evidence can convince the character that this goal is futile.
8: 	The character gains an antiquated sense of the geography of his or her home region, functioning as though the character has the ancient geography nonweapon proficiency, but believing it's the way things are now. He or she remembers everything within one mile as it would have been generations ago—roads and buildings (or lack of them),: steams and ponds, and so on. The current geography of places that he or she knows can be relearned at the expenditure of a skill slot on the geography nonweapon pro-i ficiency, but until this is done, the character will always be lost and confused in such areas. (If the character already had skills lots devoted to geography, these are lost, and replaced with the ancient geography proficiency.)
9: 	As 4-5, but the character now believes that he or she is living under the rule of several centuries ago, believing that the royal family and shamans, warriors and administrators now living are those who ruled all those years ago. He or she cannot be dissuaded of this delusion for longer than one turn.
10-12	The character loses his or her memory entirely, and instead remembers the world as' it was several hundred years ago—the geography, politics, important people, everything. If changes are explained, the character will remember and try to understand them, but it will be some time before he or she can relate to the world again.
Category:Shaman Proficiencies