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Intro: I think it would be really cool if Obsidian added a 12th class to Deadfire and I think that class should be the Shaman. I know shaman right now is a multiclass between a Barbarian and Priest, but I think that should be changed to something else and Shaman should be its own single class. Why Shaman? I think shaman could be a really fun, unique class if it was added as a stand-alone class. Totems are cool and add a completely different play style. I gathered my thought and made up what I think would be a cool approach to making Shaman an official class. Below are class descriptions, abilities, and subclasses that I made up for this class. Obviously, there is no way for me to test any of this and maybe this class would be super overpowered the way I have thought of it. I also just described the abilities and didn't mention anything about what defenses they go against or anything that specific. This is just something I made up and would love to see added to the game with real values! I am very open to suggestions and ideas and even though this will probably never be added to the game, it is fun to think and dream about! Thanks for reading! Class: Shaman Roles: Striker, Support, Crowd Control Power Source: Ancestors (Shaman would use Ancestral spirits as a resource like paladins use Zeal instead of having spell slots like a wizard.) Subclasses: (names pending) Double number of allowable active totems. 25% chance to regain resources when totem unsummoned/destroyed. Totems are weaker and have a lower duration Totems no longer consume resources and are have a 0.5 sec cast time. Can only cast each totem once per combat. Total resources cut in half. Gain ability “Extract Spirit” – consume the spirits of fallen kith, wilder, and beasts to regain resources. Can also target low level/near death spirits. Successful use also grants Strong and Smart for 5 sec. Can no longer use empower. -10 all defenses All totems are more powerful, have longer duration, higher defenses, and more health. Having a totem active gives +1 all PL. Can only have 1 totem active at a time. Totems destroyed by enemies inflict damage to the shaman. Not having a totem active gives shaken. Abilities by Power Level PL Active Abilities Passive Abilities 0 Shaman use spirits to summon Totems in combat. Shaman use spirits to infuse their weapons with special abilities Can only have 1 Totem active at a time. Totems Count as summoned creature Totems are immune to Intellect Afflictions but have low reflex 1 Purge Totem – Removes 1 negative affect from nearby allies every 5 sec Fire Totem – Shots small fire balls at enemy targets Taunt Totem – Forces nearest 2 enemies to attack. Enemies are distracted Earth Weapon – Full attack, Deals additional Crush Damage Poison Weapon - Primary attack, Applies poison Hex that sickens the target Arms Bearer Monastic Unarmed Training Will of the Spirits - +5 Will, +5 defense against spirits 2 Water Totem – Regen health in area Earth Totem – Damage enemies in area, enemies are hobbled and shaken Totem of Atrophy - Applies Curse of Atrophy in AOE Shaman Modal – Earth (-5% damage taken), Water (Gain Concentration every 5 sec), Air (charges up, pushes back enemies tat attack in melee), Lightning (+5% Crit Chance), Shadow (increase duration of will targeting attacks) Lightning Weapon – Primary Attack, deals additional lightning damage in small AOE around target Shadow Weapon - Full attack, applies a Hex that lowers accuracy of target Weapon and Shield Style Two Weapon Style One-Handed Style Two Handed Style 3 Pull Totem – Pulls farthest enemy in range to totem Stone Totem – Throws rocks for crush damage at enemies Totem of Nightmares - Applies Curse of Nightmares in AOE Taunt Totem 2A – Increases health, defenses, duration Taunt Totem 2B – when destroyed or unsummoned, deals fire damage and staggers and sickens enemies Earth Weapon 2 – Successful hits also bleed the target over time Poison Weapon 2 - adds poison damage to weapons attacks while hex persist Can have 2 active Totems Bear’s Fortitude Snake’s Reflexes Bull’s Will 4 Water Totem 2 – Activate again for instant heal. Destroyed when activated. Heal amount determined by time remaining Spirit Totem – Frighten nearby enemies Shadow Totem - Applies Curse of Darkness in AOE Modal 2 – Earth (increase AR by 2), Water (Gain Acute at the beginning of combat), Air (recharges faster), Lightning (crits have 50% to set off lesser chain lightning), Shadow (Will targeting attacks also lower will by 5) Water Weapon – Full Attack, target ally instead of enemy, heals instead of dealing damage Lightning Weapon 2 – Full Attack, increased AOE damage Weapon of Rot - Primary Attack, Applies hex deals poison damage over time +1 Penetration with Fire Attacks +1 Penetration with Earth Attacks +1 Penetration with Electricity Attacks Spell Shaping Tumbling 5 Pull Totem 2 – Immobilize Pulled targets Stone Totem 2A – Has a chance to knock down Stone Totem 2B – Stone explodes and deals pierce damage in AOE Defense Totem - +5 all defenses, stacks with other defensive abilities Totem of Obedience - Dominates targets in small AOE Lava Weapon – Primary Attack, increase the time of beneficial effects on allies in a small AOE around the enemy hit Plague Weapon - Primary Attack, Applies a hex that adds damage each time the target is hit in melee Shadow Weapon 2 - The hex also deals damage each time the target misses an attack Tough Uncanny Luck Practiced Healer Far Casting (Totems Only) Strong Totems – Increase Totem defenses and AR 6 Air Totem – Blinds in AOE Lightning Totem – Deals damage in AOE Spirt Weapon – Primary attack, terrify enemy Water Weapon 2 – if ally is below 50% health, leaves a small heal over time Weapon of Rot 2 - Target explodes if killed while the Hex persists Spell Resistance Improved Crit Quick Summoning (Totems Only) Increase number of resources by 1. +1 Spirit 7 Speed Totem – Increase stride and lower recovery speed. Doesn’t stack Rez Totem – Revives ally Air Weapon – Recover Instantly on next weapon Crit Lava Weapon 2 – Crits cause the attack to be more benefical Plague Weapon 2 - the Hex spreads if the target is killed while still affected by the hex Killing blows have a 25% chance to recover 1 resource Lasting Empower Accurate Empower Penetrating Empower Potent Empower 8 Water Totem 3 – Using the active ability with 10+ seconds remaining restores the resource cost Lightning Totem 2A – chance to stun Lightning Totem 2B – increase AOE Spirit Weapon 2 – Hit enemies behind the initial target in a cone area Totem of Serpents Gaze - Petrifies targets in a cone in the direction the totem faces Great Soul Totems have increased Duration 9 Ancestral Totem – lashes out at enemies at range dealing Fire, Earth (crush), lightning damage Rez Totem 2A – Revives in area and gives robust and resolute Rez Totem 2B – Revives 1 ally with more health and brilliant Air Weapon 2 – Recover Instantly on next 3 weapon crits Prestige Totem Master – Can have 3 active totems EDIT - Added some totems and weapon attacks to go along with the theme of curses and hexes and made some minor wording changes

I'm pretty sure that the reason that Thaos comes in and messes it up regardless of what you do is Obsidian trying to explain what it was like working on their previous games.

Could a first-level barbarian ability allowing a limited version of Carnage to be used at range (and possibly locking out melee Carnage) be balanced, or would it almost certainly be too good? I've been pondering the fact that barbarians are only usable at melee range. At first, it seemed like a natural consequence of what the class is all about, and I'm not sure it isn't, but I do wonder if there isn't room for ... I dunno, shooting through a guy and into another guy, or ricochets, or something like that. Barbarians have started to interest me in the same way that Ciphers interest me, and I'd like to know what other people think about this.

Hey guys, you might know me from the Project Eternity forums. My first few threads were a bit of good-natured trolling, but I would hope that since then I've proven that I'm very interested in discussing games on a deep and serious level. Like many of you my gaming background includes playing classic RPGs by great developers like BIS and Obsidian, and I've played more recent RPGs as well in addition to other genres of games. In an age of blockbuster titles with huge budgets, it's remarkable what Obsidian (and several other studios including inXile) has achieved via Kickstarter, and I believe that this bold and innovative move on the part of the developers has great potential to benefit gaming in general. However, I think that if progress is to be made, we can't simply rely on the production end; the consumers must make efforts as well, and there are many ways to do this, ranging from talking with one's wallet to simply creating and sharing new ideas. In fact, I think that activists, critics, designers, and theorists all have a part to play in the progress of gaming, and I want to foster these efforts by creating a common home for them. The level of discussion in the Project Eternity forums has been very inspiring to me, and I've actively participated in a lot of exciting discussions. I suppose I can only speak for myself, but in my eyes the thing that tends to happen is that, in the course of giving suggestions specific to Project Eternity, we reference other games, and then we find ourselves making theoretical statements about RPGs in general, and finally we end up dreaming up cool stuff that is probably beyond the intended scope of Project Eternity. While I'm ultimately sure such ambitious suggestions don't hurt, it's got me thinking about whether there might be a better place for some of the brainstorming. Project Eternity will be a great game, but it's obviously not going to include all of our crazy ideas. However, that doesn't mean that the ideas that are left out aren't great ideas, and I think it would be a shame for such ideas to languish, buried by tons of other Project Eternity-specific stuff. Needless to say, I'm not proposing a replacement for the Project Eternity forums, but I think all parties stand to benefit from there being a place where broader discussion can take place among like-minded individuals, and to promote other games similar to Project Eternity. To that end I've been doing some searching for a gaming community based around discussing the theory of game design and ideally also promoting more grass-roots development and consumer activism. The thing is that I have not really found anything that entirely suits these purposes. RPGnet seems to be the place to go for tabletop RPGs but it's a bit lacking in video game-related content. The Forge used to be another popular place for such things, but now it's closed. Gamasutra has some quality blogs, and there are a lot of other cool game design blogs out there, but ultimately I don't quite think blogs achieve the objective. I'd like to see a place where everyone, not just the minority who are committed enough to run their own personal blog, can share their ideas about game design and promote projects they feel are worthy. I just don't know of such a place currently, though feel free to correct me if you do. With this in mind, I was just like "what the hell, I'll give it a go". Yesterday I started messing around with creating a free forum, and I'm a complete noob at it, but I'd really like this to succeed because I think something like this could greatly improve the gaming experiences of those involved. If any of this resonates with you or you've always wanted somewhere to post your ideas about RPGs or gaming in general, I encourage you to come visit what I've got so far. As you can tell the work has only just started, and there are plenty of opportunities for anyone to help out and have their own influence on this endeavor (nothing's quite set in stone yet, especially the name). Please feel free to post in there or on this thread if you have input or suggestions, or if you feel like this is enough of a worthwhile endeavor that you'd like to assist me. -mcmanusaur

So, well to begin with could we bring to mind the Souls update and how Sawyer mentioned that the gods are meddlesome and also are purposely obscuring the nature of souls/how they work. I have an idea for why this might be and thought I'd make a thread on here to see if anyone has any of their own ideas/theories/what have you. What occurred to me is I'm guessing the most obvious reasoning. The souls spend time among the gods in-between re-incarnations, so perhaps the souls are intertwined with the gods and not just leaves floating about the godly landscape? Are souls a source of power for the gods as well as the earthly races? Are gods equivalent to a huge accumulation of souls who somehow ended up conjoined? Were gods maybe at the beginning individual extremely powerful souls who stayed awake when entering the realm of the gods and use freshly arriving souls as some sort of sustenance or power increaser? Like a water skin being emptied then sent back to re-fill with a new lifes worth of experiences? If any of that is spot on, then it would make a lot of sense for the gods to be actively interested in preventing magicians or anyone else from learning how to ably manipulate souls for if they do they may end up being able to manipulate the gods themselves or through artificial means turn themselves into gods. Of course it could be anything but this is what came to my mind.