FUDGE Shamans
A Free Supplement for FUDGE
Copyright 1995 by Johann A. Hibschman
Version 1.0
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i. Legal Notice
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ABOUT FUDGE
FUDGE is a role-playing game written by Steffan O'Sullivan, with
extensive input from the Usenet community of rec.games.design. The
basic rules of FUDGE are available on the internet via anonymous ftp
at ftp.csua.berkeley.edu, and in book form or on disk from Grey
Ghost Games, P.O. Box 838, Randolph, MA 02368. They may be used
with any gaming genre. While an individual work derived from FUDGE
may specify certain attributes and skills, many more are possible
with FUDGE. Every Game Master using FUDGE is encouraged to add or
ignore any character traits. Anyone who wishes to distribute such
material for free may do so - merely include this ABOUT FUDGE notice
and disclaimer (complete with FUDGE copyright notice). If you wish
to charge a fee for such material, other than as an article in a
magazine or other periodical, you must first obtain a royalty-free
license from the author of FUDGE, Steffan O'Sullivan, P.O. Box 465,
Plymouth, NH 03264.
DISCLAIMER
The following materials based on FUDGE, entitled FUDGE Shamans, are
created by Johann A. Hibschman and made available by Johann A.
Hibschman, and are not authorized or endorsed in any way by Steffan
O'Sullivan or any publisher of other FUDGE materials. Neither
Steffan O'Sullivan or any publisher of other FUDGE material is in
any way responsible for the content of these materials. Original
FUDGE materials (c) Copyright 1992-1995 Steffan O'Sullivan, All
Rights Reserved.
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7.5 Alternate FUDGE Magic System: Shamans and Spirits
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Version 1.0
Date: 25 July 1995
By: Johann A. Hibschman
Here is a combination magic and spirit system based on the following
premises:
Who can cast: Shamans only (supernormal power needed).
Levels of Power: no. Effectiveness is base on Willpower.
Source of Power: Summoning and controlling spirits
Reliability: Good
Drawbacks: Spirits may get out of control
As an aside, this was my first attempt at creating a "shamanistic"
magic system, made before I had read much about the subject.
Therefore, it does not pretend to be at all similar to anything that
the real world calls "shamanism." It is a magic system which deals
with spirits. Nothing more. It may be a little bit like Native
American or Siberian shamanism, but that is mostly accidental. I have
another system in the works, more influenced by "real" shamanism than
this one is.
The system assumes the existence of a "Willpower" attribute. This can
easily by "Psyche," "Power," or whatever else is desired.
Since shamans are those who have power over spirits, they cannot be
well defined without first defining the spirits themselves and where
they live.
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7.51 The Spirit World
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This system assumes that there are at least two planes of existence,
the physical and the astral. The astral plane is the spirit world, the
place where spirits reside when not active in the physical world.
There are places in the astral plane which correspond to locations in
the physical world, but not all places in the astral have a physical
correspondent.
The geography of the astral world depends on the mindset of the shaman
visiting it. It does not necessarily correspond to the geography of
the real world. In general, there are specific regions corresponding
to different classes of spirits. For example, there is the "Place of
Wolves," the "Place of Forests," and the "Place of Mountains." All of
these different Places may be thought of as being layered on top of
each other. They are different selective interpretations of the sheer
complexity of the astral plane.
The spirit of a forest may be found by traveling to the region of the
astral plane which corresponds to the physical location of the forest.
It may also be found by seeking it in the "place of forests." Both of
these are equally valid symbolisms for the location of a certain
spirit. To use a computer metaphor, both are equally viable "sort
indices" to find a particular spirit in the spirit world.
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7.52 Spirits
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Spirits are beings which live in the astral plane. Typically, they
cannot reach the physical world through their own power, requiring a
shaman to show them the way. In strongly magical places, the astral
plane is closer to the material, and spirits have an easier time
passing from one to the other.
A spirit is rated in power from Terrible to Superb. In general, this
level indicates the level of the spirit's Willpower and other traits.
Extremely potent spirits may even be at higher Steps of power.
There are several general classes of spirits: Ghosts, Life Spirits,
Elemental Spirits, and Spirits of Man. These groups are rough and often
overlap.
To contact a ghost, the shaman must either already know the spirit or
have some material connection to the spirit. These material
connections may be body parts, objects treasured by the spirit, or
anything else appropriate.
Spirits of Life correspond to collections of plants and animals. The
"soul" of an individual wolf typically cannot be contacted, but the
collective spirit of a pack can be. An individual tree may not have an
intelligent spirit, but a forest almost certainly will. These spirits
typically have some influence over their component creatures, and may
be petitioned for aid. For example, a lost shaman may contact the
spirit of a local pack of wolves and request guidance in return for
providing a substantial amount of food for the pack. On the physical
plane, a wolf will go to the shaman and lead her back to the trail.
Elemental Spirits can be found in the region of the astral plane
corresponding to their real-world location. These spirits include
spirits of fires, mountains, rivers, and other geographical features
as well as storms, earthquakes, and other natural disasters.
Spirits of Man are all of the gnomes, guardians, imps, and other
spirits which thrive in the presence of intelligent creatures. Perhaps
they feed on thoughts, or are somehow the imprint of conscious minds
on the spirit world. No one really knows. These spirits, if contacted,
tend to know a great deal about the goings-on in their homes. Some or
beneficial, others are not. For example, a spirit found in a library
may be a helpful sort who keeps dust off of the books and knows the
location of every last volume, or it may be the kind who shuffles card
catalogs during the night.
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7.53 Powers of Spirits
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When in the astral plane, most spirits are unable to affect physical
things or even to know much about them. An astral being cannot simply
look into the physical world and affect things there. They are in an
entirely different world.
Spirits in the physical world are still invisible, intangible, and (in
general) incapable of communicating with normal physical beings. Some
spirits have the ability to present an image of themselves, some have
the ability to be heard, and some can even manifest a physical form.
All of these depend on the kind of spirit involved.
Some spirits, when in the physical plane, may attempt to possess a
material being. Possession is a contest of skills between the
Willpower of the spirit and the Willpower of the target. For a
possession to work, the spirit must get a minimum result of Good. If a
spirit succeeds in doing this, it inhabits the target, but does not
automatically gain control. After a failed possession attempt, the
spirit may not try to possess the same target again until a full day
has passed. If the spirit tries and fails to possess a target three
times, it may never again attempt to possess that target.
A spirit inhabiting a target is simply "along for the ride." It can
see through the senses of the target. It can also telepathically
communicate with the target, but cannot order actions without further
contests. Having a loud spirit in your head can get annoying even if
it does not control your actions.
Once a target has been possessed, the spirit may attempt to control
it. For each simple command given to the target, such as "Attack
Brian," the spirit must make another roll of Willpower vs. Willpower,
but the target's Willpower is adjusted according to how much the
ordered action is in accordance with the personality of the victim, up
to +/- 3. If Brian were the victim's best friend, the victim would
have at least a +2 to resist the command to attack.
Many spirits also have magical abilities relating to their realm of
expertise, which a shaman may use to his advantage.
Rules Summary:
Possession: Willpower vs. Willpower, minimum result Good to work
Control: Willpower vs. Willpower, modified by propriety of action
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7.54 Shamans
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Enough with the spirits, who are these shamans? Shamans are those who
have the power to journey to the Astral Plane and communicate with
spirits.
Gifts:
Second Sight: This is the ability to directly see spirits in the physical
world. It also includes a measure of sensitivity to magic and allows
minor divination.
Spirit Tongue: This is the ability to communicate with any and all spirits,
even with ghosts who do not speak your language.
Supernormal Powers:
Astral Projection: This is the ability to visit the spirit realm through
ritual and meditation. The astral projector's body is left behind.
Physical Projection: This is the ability to detach the spirit and
send it wandering through the physical world, much like a ghost. As
a "ghost," the shaman is invisible and intangible, but can see and
hear what happens around him. (optional)
Totem Spirit: A shaman with this power has a totem spirit, as described
below. (optional)
Skills:
Banish Spirit (VH): Opposed Action of Banish skill vs. spirit's
Willpower. Success casts the spirit from the physical world back
into the spirit world. Only one attempt a day is allowed.
Divination (VH): GM call
Spirit Walk: astral navigation
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7.55 Controlling spirits
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The act of controlling a spirit is an Opposed Action between the
Willpowers of the shaman and the spirit in question.
On a relative degree of 0, the contest continues for another round. On
a relative degree of 1 or 2, the contest also continues for another
round, but the winner gets a +1 bonus in the next round. These
modifiers are cumulative, so if the same individual won again by 1 or
2, he would have a +2 bonus for the third round, etc. A similarly
successful round by the other combatant would eliminate the bonus.
On a relative degree of 3+, the winner has the option of taking a +2
bonus and continuing the struggle or simply claiming the win. If the
shaman wins, he may command the spirit to perform one action for every
relative degree above 2 he achieved. If the spirit wins, it can
possess the shaman and command one action without contest for every
relative degree above 2. In this case, both the spirit and the
projected shaman immediately return to the shaman's body. If a shaman
ever Astrally Projects while possessed, the spirit gains full control
over the shaman's body while the shaman is "out."
Once a control attempt has begun, neither party can quit until one or
the other has won.
Ex: Bob the Shaman has a Great Willpower and is trying to control a
spirit with Good Willpower. Bob rolls a -1 (Good), while the spirit
rolls a +2 (Superb). The spirit won that round by 2, so it has a +1
bonus for the next round. Next round, Bob rolls a +1 (Superb) and the
spirit rolls a 0(+1) (Great). Bob wins, so the spirit loses the bonus.
In the third round, Bob rolls a 0 (Great), but the spirit rolls a -2
(Mediocre). Bob has a relative degree of 3, which would entitle him to
win the contest, but he wants to get more services from the spirit, so
takes a +2 bonus and continues. Next round, Bob rolls a -1(+2)
(Superb) while the spirit rolls a +1 (Great). Bob gets another +1 and
is now at +3. He then rolls a +1(+3) (Superb+3) while the spirit rolls
a 0 (Good). Bob wins by a relative degree of 5, and he decides to
declare the win. He gets three services from the spirit, one for each
relative degree above 2. If the spirit had somehow won that round,
Bob's +3 bonus would have immediately evaporated.
A shaman may also attempt to bargain with a spirit. The spirit may be
willing to help the shaman in return for some service in return. If
the shaman is significantly more powerful than the spirit, the shaman
may even intimidate the spirit into cooperating, without the risk of a
control contest.
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7.56 Locating Spirits
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To locate a particular spirit in the spirit world, the caster must try
an Unopposed Action using Spirit Walk skill against a difficulty level
of Fair for a familiar spirit or Good (or higher!) for an unfamiliar
spirit. Some spirits, such as demigods or totems, may dwell in less
accessible regions of the astral plane than normal, so they may
require arbitrarily high difficulty levels to locate.
If the shaman is physically in a place inhabited by the spirit, a
location roll is still needed (unless the spirit actively wants to be
found), but the location attempt takes no time. In addition, the
difficulty is one step easier.
To locate a spirit, the shaman walks through the astral plane,
focusing his attention on locating the spirit. Much like the
shadow-shifting abilities of Amberites, the time it takes to find
something depends not so much on how fast the shaman moves, but on how
good the shaman is at manipulating (in this case, filtering) the world
around him. The time required depends on the margin of success
achieved by the shaman as per the table below.
If the shaman fails the roll, he spends 1 hour and is lost. He may
try again or return to his own body. If he rolls a -4, he is
completely lost. He can no longer automatically return to his body,
but must find it first. Luckily a shaman's own body is a familiar
destination.
Margin of Success Time required
0 30 min
1 15 min
2 5 min
3 1 min
4+ instant
Spirit Walk vs. Fair (for familiar) or Good (for unfamiliar)
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7.57 Summoning Spirits to the Physical World
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A spirit is generally trapped in the spirit world and cannot use any
of its powers. A shaman, however, can provide a conduit to the
physical world for the spirit. Typically, a shaman would only do this
for a spirit he has controlled or made a bargain with. The shaman
controls the amount of time a spirit can spend in the physical world,
from "go back immediately after completing this task" to a maximum
time of one month (until the next new moon.)
If a shaman fails a control attempt, the spirit is free to travel to
the physical world and stay there until banished.
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7.58 Totem Spirits
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Many shamans have a spirit "sponsor," or totem spirit. Typically,
these are are spirits of general Archetypes, such as wolf, badger,
tiger, tree, or fire. Spirits and other astral beings can identify a
shaman's totem, which will affect their reactions. Spirits associated
with a shaman's totem will usually be willing to aid the shaman, but a
shaman is typically prohibited from trying to directly control such
spirits.
A totem spirit grants the shaman spell-like abilities appropriate to
the totem. To invoke her totem, a shaman uses the Totemic Channeling
skill, which has a default of Non-Existent and no maximum value. The
rolled degree of the skill is compared to the difficulty of the
action.
The powers granted by animal totems fall primarily into 4 categories:
communication, detection, senses, and transformation. Transformation
can be anything from the shaman growing claws to a complete
metamorphosis into the totem animal. A typical table of difficulties
is given below:
Wolf: (great hunter)
Poor Howl like a wolf
Mediocre Wolf ears, talk to wolves
Fair Run like a wolf, Eyes of the Wolf
Good Track by scent, Claws
Great Wolf Form
Superb Call wolves
Owl: (silent wisdom)
Poor Imitate Owl
Mediocre Move Silently, talk to owls
Fair Owl Eyes, Sense prey
Good Targeting hearing
Great Owl Form
Superb Flight (in human form)
Fire: (a bit of a stretch)
Poor Matchlight
Mediocre Sense Fire, Light
Fair Create fire (campfire size), Resist Normal Fire
Good Resist All Fire (absolute immunity)
Great Immolate
Superb Flame bolt
Oak:
Poor Identify Plants
Mediocre Find Plant
Fair Oak Armor, Warp Wood
Good Speak with Trees
Great Tree Form
Superb Animate Tree
If the rolled degree is equal to or greater than the difficulty, the
attempt works. If the rolled degree is two or more levels higher than
the difficulty, there is no fatigue cost. Otherwise, the caster loses
1 fatigue level, even for a failed attempt.
If the rolled degree is less than the difficulty, the shaman assumes
some aspect of the totem's appearance (e.g. yellow eyes for Wolf) for
about one hour. If the shaman attempts and fails any further Totemic
Channeling in that time, the transformation may become permanent. The
shaman is also stunned for one combat round.
A roll of -4 or a rolled degree 4 less than the difficulty offends the
totem so much that no further attempts may be made for the rest of the
day. At sunrise the following day, the shaman may attempt a Totemic
Channeling roll against the difficulty of the original failure. On a
successful roll, the totem forgives the shaman. On a failure, the
totem will still ignore any request of the shaman that day, although
the shaman may try again the following sunrise.
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7.59 Helper Spirits
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For the price of one gift, a shaman may have one friendly helper
spirit. This spirit can take control of the shaman's body while the
shaman is astrally projecting, and it will resist any other spirit
which tries to possess the shaman's body. For resistance purposes, it
has a Willpower of Fair. This can be improved for 3 skill points per
attribute level.
The helper spirit is its own creature, with its own personality and
desires. It likes and wishes to help the shaman, but it may do
things the shaman will later regret. When animating the shaman's
body, the spirit cannot use any of the shaman's skills, and it has
too little experience in the mortal world to have any effective
skills of its own.
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7.60 Spirit Powers
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Spirits are typically rated in terms of Power. Power ranges from
Terrible through Superb, and beyond for truly awesome spirits.
A spirit always has Willpower equal to its Power. Mental and physical
attributes default to Power, but may be adjusted up and down on a
level for level basis.
Spirits also have one or more supernormal powers which they can use
when in the physical plane. Many spirits may Manifest, creating a
material body with which to perform tasks. Other common powers are
Telekinesis (for poltergeists), Pyrokinesis (fire elementals), and
Control Element (elementals and nature spirits). The power level of
these supernormal powers equals the spirit's Power.
For example, a Terrible Power poltergeist has a Terrible Telekinesis
power. It can knock over a glass once a day. A Great Power
poltergeist, however, has a Great Telekinesis power, and can fling
chairs about at will.
Similarly, a Fair Power earth elemental can Manifest a body with Great
Strength, Fair Health, and Poor Dexterity, while a Superb elemental
might have Legendary+1 Strength, Superb Health, and Good Dexterity.
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7.61 Shamans and Disease
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In this world view, many kinds of disease are caused by spirit
possession. A shaman may cure these diseases through Banishment. The
Power of the disease spirit is based on the severity of the disease.
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7.62 Shamans in Society
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In an actual society, a shaman spends very little time directly
controlling spirits. Instead he bargains with powerful local spirits
to ensure proper rains, abundant game, etc., in return for having his
followers worship the spirit and obey any taboos the spirit may
decree. Many of these "greater" spirits cannot enter the physical
world, yet can manipulate it subtly from the spirit world.
If any of these taboos are broken, the shaman is responsible for
finding the spirit once more, apologizing, and asking if any penance
is required.