Shamans is a 65-page 8.5" x 11", extremely well-researched dissertation on Shamans and their lifestyles and includes a methodology for incorporation in any role playing game. The shaman himself is quite different from the mages most of us have grown accustomed to, as he idolizes solitude and physical purity. He avoids high concentations of people, seeks to preserve the environment from which he draws his strength, and derives all of his powers from an internal source, the soul. The mage, on the other hand, relies mostly on chants, ceremonies, and metropolitan areas where he can best ply bis trade. Since the mage gains power from external sources, he and the shaman distrust one another emphatically; thus, we find an entire book devoted to a single character class.

Shamans begins with a brief historical background to set the scene for most of what follows. With this in mind, the reader will see how character creation stems from what the author, Ed Lipaett, researched. Generally, the shaman, as he passes into manhood, undergoes a rite of passage, during which he fasts and hopefully has a viaion. The vision comes in the form of an animal spirit that becomes his foster-father, gives him his true name, and places him in a spiritualiatic nest in a tree of seven branches, from which the shamen's soul will eventually be reborn. The higher on the tree he is, the more powerful he will become. In the topmoat branches, his intestines will turn to quartz, giving him additional protection and power. Those less fortunate may have the quartz implanted artifically, and judging from primitive surgical procedure, the survival rate will not be high. Therefore, surviving Shamans will usually be of the more powerful variety. Failure to have a viaion is the worst calamity to befall a proposed shaman; those unfortunates have a very high suicide rate. Naturally, all of this is handsomely reflected in the rules for character creation.

A very few pages are actually devoted to the characters themselves. After creation, space is taken to show ways to gain experience and how to restore expended mana points. Mana sources, other than actual recovery, include obtaining the claws of wild creatures and the teeth of intelligent beings, locating natural mana power sources, the removal of one of the shaman's own limbs, or sleeping with a person of the opposite sex without that person being aware of it. I mention theae mainly because they appeal to my better instincts: I am now the proud owner of two greatly satiated witchdoctors.

Attempted humor aside, this book's greatest punch comes in the form of spells or powers, sectioned off according to the level a shaman must have attained for effective utilization. Beginning Shamans perform functions of a tribal nature, performing minor healing, promoting fertility, and the like. Rather than document the myriad powers available, I'll highlight those that may seem attractive to role-playing enthusiasts.

Shamans learn how to use the power of the true name to control beings or inanimate objects (for a full underatanding of this, I strongly recommend Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea Trilogy) . They can perform ritualiatic soul combat, where they meet foes on another plane of existence. And as the shaman increases his potence as an administrator of hie inborn earthly power, he will be able to enter the netherworld to rescue the soul of a departed friend, cause illness among his enemies, shapechange, weave bewitchments to gradually eat away at a person's inner being, enanare the souls of wanderers and demons, supercharge his body so that he becomes capable of superhuman feats, control the weather, and finally, he may protect himaelf by concealing his own soul in his ahadow or in any object he chooses.

It ahould be obvious by now that the shaman relies to a great extent on the properties of the soul, equipment to the grimoires and scroll of the normal mage. Yet this causes him augmented problems, since his workings are slower to take effect, and often a great deal of fasting and purification is necesaary beforehand. In spite of this, he remains an attractive character type that is worth the trouble to play, if one can afford the $7.95 price tag. If so, join some other soul brothers and order a copy from The Little Soldier, 12180 Nebel Street, Rockville, Maryland, or from Lowry Enterprises.

Prism Reviews

Introduction
Space Patrol
Dragons
The Book of Shamans
The Book of Treasure
Spacefarers Guide to Planets: Sector One