Shaman — elemental control & astral sight

Game: Orion Corridor — 2277 · Ship: Verdigris · Rules: GURPS 4e at the table. Companion: Khesret Magic System · Three-Plane Pools

Table purpose: Shamans create and control elements (water, ice, air, earth, fire, living growth — one bonded element at character creation). They see the astral (perception only) like mages but cannot astral project. Empty space hurts them less than mages because the bonded element is a living anchor.

Player contract (read every session): No free shaping. Every use = declare operation → volume → zone → pay FP → roll → apply time/range cap. If you skip the pay step, it did not happen.

Who this is for

Name note: Character is Talyra (Karthunai). Player habit of “free water” ends here.

Shaman vs mage (short)

Core skill

Shamanic Elementalism (IQ/Average)

• Defaults: Naturalist-4, Religious Ritual-4, Meditation-4 — use best default.
• Cannot exceed best prerequisite + 2.
• Bonded element: Pick one at creation (Talyra: Water). Other elements need GM arc unlock.
• Roll: Quick Contest vs task difficulty below; margin adds +10% volume or +1 m range per +1 margin (GM picks one).

Optional GURPS overlap: if you already have a fitting spell (e.g. Create Water, Purify Water), you may roll spell skill instead of Shamanic Elementalism — same FP costs from this doc, not lower spell energy from the book.

Mana zones (element & astral)

Cross-link Khesret Magic System.

Mage astral drain (comparison): same row but ×3 harsher — void 1 FP / 3 min, ship 1 FP / 7 min, etc. Shamans are not immune; they are buffered.

Bond anchor (why void is survivable)

If the shaman holds ≥ 0.25 L bonded element (water bottle, snow pack, live cutting from garden) or stands within 3 m of ship mana-garden:

• Range cap in dead void becomes 5 m (not 2 m).
• Astral passive drain uses ship row even in void (1 FP / 20 min) while anchor lasts.
• Create water in void is still ×3 FP — you are not a fire hose in vacuum.

Anchor lost (bottle empty, left garden zone): revert to dead void row immediately.

Four operations (all elements)

Volumes are liters (L). Pay base FP × zone multiplier (round up). Time cannot be skipped without paying Rush (below).

1. Sense (scan)

2. Move (control existing)

Redirect, lift, pour, stop flow — must already exist (no creation).

Examples (Talyra, water):

• Pour 1 L from kettle to bowl, 2 m on ship: 2 FP (1 L base × ×1.5 low-mana) · 1 sec · roll vs 12.
• Siphon 20 L spill toward drain, 3 m: 5 FP (3 base × ×1.5 → 5) · 2 sec.

3. Purify (cleanse)

Remove toxin, salt, radiation dust, astral sludge — bonded element only.

Examples:

• Purify 1 L IV bag (medbay): 2 FP on ship · 10 sec · touch.
• Purify rain barrel 30 L: 6 FP on normal world · 1 min.

4. Create (condense / grow)

Pull humidity, melt ice to drinkable, condense on cold surface — hardest action.

Rush (combat): Pay +2 FP to compress time one step (1 min → 1 sec per liter tier). Still pay zone multiplier. Max 5 L rushed per round.

Examples:

• Cup of water in galley (ship): 3 FP (2 × ×1.5) · 1 min or 5 FP rushed to 1 sec.
• 1 L in dead void with suit canteen anchor: 9 FP (3 × ×3) · 1 min — announce it.

Paying from FP vs garden pool

On Verdigris, Talyra may pay water costs from:

Rules:

• Pool payment still uses zone multiplier on the FP equivalent.
• Overdraw garden pool → same step penalties as mage (shaman tends garden to prevent).
• Other PCs cannot spend garden pool on element ops unless GM grants ritual assist (−1 per helper, max 2).

Astral sight (perception only — no projection)

Locked: Shamans do not leave the body. No silver cord, no astral map, no Layer 3 set-pieces. That is mage-only — see Khesret Magic System.

Shamans operate on Layer 1 (meat) and Layer 2 (assense / read) only.

Shaman bonus: With bond anchor (above), first 10 minutes of Layer 2 per scene cost 0 FP on ship or in void. After 10 min, pay normal 1 FP / min.

Spirit contact: Negotiate with spirits in person (garden, lodge, job site) — not by walking the astral. Deep spirit work = Religious Ritual scene, not projection.

Not allowed: Astral Lattice hacking — digital stays digital.

Astral backlash (no cord — perception only)

Shamans have no silver cord. They can still take spirit backlash from hostile assensing or spirit attacks while on meat:

• Use 10 + Will only when a spirit directly contests the shaman’s Layer 2 read or lashes out at their physical presence.
• In dead void, −2 to resist that backlash (mage projection: −4).
• Overflow → FP on meat first (standard biofeedback dial).

No “snap back from projection” scenes for shamans — they never left.

Failure & discipline

Session checklist (Talyra player)

Before you describe the cool water trick:

1. Operation? Sense / Move / Purify / Create
2. Liters?
3. Zone? Void / ship / world / preserve
4. FP math? Base × multiplier; garden or personal?
5. Time? Normal or Rush (+2 FP)?
6. Range within cap?
7. Roll Shamanic Elementalism — tell the table the number

GM: If steps 1–4 are skipped, answer is “You feel the pull but nothing moves — pay first.”

Talyra quick reference card

Garden & downtime (links)

• Tend garden (4 hr): Cancels 1–9 MP overdraw step loss — magic system.
• Clear Strain: Garden scene, same doc.
• Shaman berth upkeep: maint-shaman-berth d100 on GM screen.

Scope lock

• Shamans do not get free Enchantment Gadgeteer speed — garden + element only.
• Create does not replace life support — ship still needs engineering.
• Bonded element is one element unless GM unlocks a second through play.
• Shamans cannot astral project — perception (Layer 2) only; Layer 3 is mage-only.
• Heat / fire bond uses same tables with GM flavor approval.

Source canon: WCP_Website/campaign-authoring/palimpsest/KHESRET-SHAMAN-ELEMENTAL.md