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The Shamans of Achaea
Shamans are Achaea’s enigmatic ritualists. Hailing from the wintry northernlands of Hashan, they hex opponents with debilitating curses, craft vodun dolls to control victims from anywhere, and bind the spirits of ancient figures into their bodies for new power. Fiercely spiritual and reclusive, the class is unaligned with any ethos, but the membership tilts toward those who embrace the secrets of the shadows.
Shaman lore and origin
The Shaman class was born in 288 A.F. of the modern age when Firefox Sly opened the guild of Shamans to the world. The class draws its strength from the darker side of mysticism. While not inherently aligned with any single ethos, Shamans tend to draw those who embrace the secrets of the shadows more readily than the light.
Most Shamans live in Hashan, the Court of Shadows, a city of secrets, science, and the esoteric. A few reside in Ashtan and Mhaldor. Cyrene, Eleusis, and Targossas rarely see Shamans, though the class isn’t formally banned from them.
The class is described in the lore as fiercely spiritual and reclusive. Shamans practice three arts: Curses (direct affliction through hexing), Vodun (remote control via empathetic doll-bond), and Spiritlore (binding ancient spirits to augment the body). The combination makes Shaman one of the most layered dark-magic classes in the game. A Shaman who has bound a powerful spirit, holds a doll of their enemy, and can deliver curses at will is one of the harder opponents to face.
What a Shaman does, in plain terms: enters trance to commune with the Spirit Realm and bind one or more ancient spirits, fashions a doll of an enemy from rope and cloth, and curses targets through hexing. The class wins through accumulation. Once a Shaman has a full doll-likeness of you and the right spirits bound, the lore notes, you are “extremely difficult to overcome.”
Signature combat identity: the curse, the doll, and the spirit
Three things make a Shaman a Shaman.
The first is the curse. Through Curses, a Shaman reels off afflictions in quick succession via CURSE . The roster runs from minor (Vertigo, Dizzy, Asthma) to severe (Paralyse, Plague, Haemophilia) to the capstone Jinx (the ultimate shamanic curse) and Tzantza (a most painful end). The skill is direct, fast, and dangerous. Truecurse drives curses through magic shields; Swiftcurse delivers them faster. Curses is the Shaman’s bread-and-butter combat tool.
The second is the doll. Vodun is the mystical art of imbuing a carving with a target’s life energy. The Shaman Fashions a doll from rope and cloth, refines the link to a specific person, and then affects that person from anywhere: Break their limbs, Throttle them, Burn them, Bleed them, Travel through spirit pathways to their location, Summon them to you, Cripple them at distance. The mechanic is near-identical to the Jester’s Puppetry, same toolkit, different cultural framing. If someone holds a doll of your character, you must retrieve and destroy it, or slay the Vodun master.
The third is the spirit. Spiritlore lets the Shaman commune with the Spirit Realm and bind ancient spirits: Daina the Viridian, Jhulian the Nomad, Arius the Druid, Maligus the Cleric, Aspar the Iron Handed, Aelkesh the Faceless, Teraile the Swordsman, Arcanor the Sorcerer, Syvis the Venomous, Marak the Eviscerator, and many more. Each spirit, when bound, augments the Shaman’s abilities in distinct ways. The most advanced practitioners may bind multiple spirits, sever spirit from body (Spiritwalk), or commune with Demiurge Adchachel, The Rose of Pain, the deepest capstone of the skill.
Together, Curses + Vodun + Spiritlore makes the Shaman a class of layered remote-effect combat. The Shaman doesn’t need to be in the room to win the fight.
The three skills of a Shaman
A Shaman commands three skill sets: Vodun, Curses, and Spiritlore. A fledgling Shaman gains Spiritlore and Curses; Vodun is granted upon embracing the class.
Signature abilities: Fear, Discernment, Deaf
Curses draws on the dark side of the mystic world. Simple, powerful, deadly. The Shaman reels off curse after curse in quick succession via CURSE . Only Bleed works on denizens; the rest require an adventurer target.
The capstone curses: Blight, Tzantza, and Jinx (the ultimate shamanic curse), are some of the most feared afflictions in Achaea. Truecurse drives curses through magic shields; Swiftcurse delivers them faster.
Abilities (38)
| Ability | Description |
|---|---|
| Fear | Instill great fear in your target. |
| Discernment | Discern the severity of your victim’s wounds. |
| Deaf | Dampen an opponent’s hearing. |
| Bleed | Curse your opponent with uncontrollable bleeding. |
| Clumsy | Your victim will fumble about. |
| Vertigo | A devastating fear of heights. |
| Impatience | Inability to concentrate on focused tasks. |
| Amnesia | Make your victim forget what he meant to do. |
| Agoraphobia | Fear of open spaces. |
| Breach | Cut through an opponent’s curseward. |
| Dizzy | Causes problems when trying to move. |
| Claustrophobia | Fear of being under cover. |
| Paranoia | They are out to get you, believe me. |
| Blind | Curse an opponent with blindness. |
| Masochism | The love of your own pain. |
| Asthma | Creates difficulty when breathing. |
| Truecurse | The ability to drive your curses through magic shields. |
| Reckless | A dangerous disregard for personal well-being. |
| Epilepsy | Disrupt the nervous system of your victim. |
| Manaleech | Cause the victim’s mana to bleed away. |
| Peace | Fill your enemy’s mind with thoughts of peace. |
| Dementia | Distorts the victim’s perceptions of the world. |
| Paralyse | Freeze the limbs of your enemy. |
| Plague | Curse someone with the voyria affliction. |
| Addiction | Creates a terrible addiction. |
| Swiftcurse | The ability to deliver curses much more quickly. |
| Stupid | Make a victim dumb as a rock. |
| Healthleech | A victim’s health will slowly bleed away. |
| Sensitivity | Cause your victim to become extremely sensitive to pain. |
| Vomiting | Upset the stomach of your enemy. |
| Sleep | Put an enemy to sleep, or remove his sleep defences. |
| Haemophilia | Deny them respite from their wounds. |
| Anorexia | A terrible condition, preventing one from eating. |
| Weariness | Weaken the body of your opponent. |
| Blight | The most feared of the Curse abilities. |
| Inflame | Set a victim’s very blood aflame. |
| Tzantza | Bring a most painful end to your victim. |
| Jinx | The ultimate shamanic curse. |
Signature abilities: Fashion, Gripping, Confusion
Vodun is mystical. By imbuing a carving with the empathetic link to a person, the Shaman affects that person from afar. The Shaman Fashions a doll from rope and cloth, refines the link through repeated workings, and then can confuse, leech experience, slay, and more, all from anywhere.
If someone obtains a doll of you, you must retrieve and destroy it, or slay the Vodun master who created it. The skill is mechanically near-identical to the Jester’s Puppetry, same toolkit, different cultural framing.
Abilities (32)
| Ability | Description |
|---|---|
| Fashion | Fashion vodun dolls from rope and cloth. |
| Gripping | Grip your dolls tighter than ever before. |
| Confusion | Muddle the thoughts of your victim. |
| Dizzy | Cause your enemy to become unsteady on his feet. |
| Sleep | Send someone to the dreamworld. |
| Illusion | Cause your victim to see an image of your choosing. |
| Spy | See the surroundings of your target. |
| Status | Find out what the health and mana of your target is. |
| Strip | Strip someone’s defences. |
| Paralyse | Lock up the muscle system of your victim. |
| Break | Break both the arms or both the legs of someone. |
| Throttle | Crush the life out of your victim. |
| Reckless | Induce a sense of extreme bravado in your opponent. |
| Tickle | Tickle the feet of your doll. |
| Burn | Set your victim alight. |
| Bleed | Bloodlet your enemy. |
| Travel | Travel through the spirit pathways to your doll. |
| Cripple | Break all the limbs of a victim. |
| Command | Your wish is their command. |
| Slow | Make a victim move through time more slowly. |
| Puncture | Destroy your target’s internal organs. |
| Blackout | Rob your victim of some of his senses. |
| Summon | Summon your victim to you. |
| Bind | Tie up your hapless opponent. |
| Listen | Hear talking through your target’s ears. |
| Intuition | You know them more than they know themselves. |
| Inventory | See the inventory of your target. |
| Imbibe | Afflict your opponent through your doll. |
| Mangle | A pain beyond that of mere breaking. |
| Concussion | Bruise the very brain of your doll’s model. |
| Leech | Attach yourself to the spirit of your victim. |
| Truefashion | The hallmark of a master of Vodun. |
Signature abilities: Commune, Daina, Jhulian
Gifted with the power to pierce the layers of reality and commune with the Spirit Realm, Shamans access wells of power thought long-lost. Upon entering a trance, the Shaman binds the spirits of one or more named ancient figures, augmenting their abilities. Further attunement unlocks greater powers.
The most skilled practitioners are rumoured to attune to multiple spirits at once, or to sever spirit from body and traverse incorporeally (Spiritwalk). The deepest capstone is Adchachel, communing with a Demiurge.
Abilities (24)
| Ability | Description |
|---|---|
| Commune | Commune with the spirits. |
| Daina | Daina, The Viridian. |
| Jhulian | Jhulian, The Nomad. |
| Arius | Arius, The Druid. |
| Silvanix | Silvanix, The Fool. |
| Ri’shen | Ri’shen, The Master. |
| Maligus | Maligus, The Cleric. |
| Aspar | Aspar, The Iron Handed. |
| Aelkesh | Aelkesh, The Faceless. |
| Teraile | Teraile, The Swordsman. |
| Arcanor | Arcanor, The Sorcerer. |
| Syvis | Syvis, The Venomous. |
| Marak | Marak, The Eviscerator. |
| Anthius | Anthius, The Crusader. |
| Garon | Garon, The Knight. |
| Designate | Designate the owners of your tribal totems. |
| Tarnel | Tarnel, The Walker. |
| Kosuira | Kosuira, The Child Sorceress. |
| Arayan | Arayan, The Healer. |
| Tether | Desperate times lead to temporary measures. |
| Spiritwalk | Walk free of the confines of mortal flesh. |
| Khentimen | If you dare. |
| Mastery | Mastery of the spiritual arts. |
| Adchachel | Demiurge Adchachel, The Rose of Pain. |
Shaman Houses and cities
See Achaea’s city-states for the cities where these Houses recruit.
Shaman is unrestricted by alignment. 16 Houses across all 6 cities + cityless, same wide acceptance as Serpent, Magi, and Runewarden.
| House | City | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| The Krymenian Academy | Hashan | Hashan academic House. The traditional Shaman home for scholarly play. |
| The Somatikos | Hashan | Hashan body-discipline House. Strong fit for Shamans who bind warrior-spirits. |
| The Esoteric Consortium | Ashtan | Ashtan martial House. |
| The Savants of the Wheel | Ashtan | Ashtan academic House. |
| The Nemesian Vanguard | Ashtan | Ashtan front-line House. |
| The Dread Legates | Mhaldor | Mhaldorian military House. |
| The Insidium | Mhaldor | Mhaldorian rites House. |
| The Dawnblade | Targossas | Targossan martial House (rare Shaman choice). |
| The Harbingers of Redemption | Targossas | Targossan succour House (rare Shaman choice). |
| The Vashnarian Shield | Cyrene | Cyrene guardian House (rare). |
| The Virtuosi | Cyrene | Cyrene artistic House (rare). |
| The Discurean Outriders | Cyrene | Cyrene explorer/academic House (rare). |
| The Scions of the Ithmia | Eleusis | Eleusis forestal House. |
| The Heartwood Kin | Eleusis | Eleusis nature House. |
| The Grand Merchant Collective | (cityless) | The trader House. |
| The Carnivalis Institute of Jestering | (cityless) | The Jester-founded House. |
To check current House availability in-game: HOUSE LIST SHAMAN.
A note on the class’s home: while the class is technically unrestricted, per HELP SHAMAN the membership “is mostly contained within their historical home of Hashan with a few residing in Ashtan and Mhaldor, but rarely in Cyrene, Eleusis, or Targossas.” The good-aligned cities don’t ban Shamans, but the dark-mysticism flavour doesn’t fit easily.
What an Achaea Shaman might look like
Class shapes silhouette; race shapes everything else about a character’s appearance. The art below shows what a Shaman can look like across two of Achaea’s 14 playable races. These are illustrative examples. Any race can play a Shaman.
How to roleplay a Shaman in Achaea
A Shaman’s identity is reclusive. Your character keeps secrets. Knows things others don’t. Communes with old spirits, with ancient figures, with the shadow side of mysticism. The class lore is explicit about reclusiveness. Shamans tend toward the quiet, the watchful, the unsettling.
Three things make Shaman roleplay distinct:
Your bound spirits are characters. Daina, Jhulian, Maligus, Adchachel. These aren’t combat buffs. They’re named ancient figures with personalities. Players who treat their bound spirits as roleplay material (referring to them by name, describing the binding ritual, acknowledging the spirit’s influence on the Shaman’s behaviour) get the strongest roleplay material.
Your dolls are personal. Holding a doll of an enemy is intimate. Your character has carved a likeness, refined a link, and now affects the target from anywhere. The lore frames this as deeply uncomfortable, and that discomfort is part of the class’s character.
You live in Hashan but the city doesn’t own you. Most Shamans are Hashani, but the class isn’t politically locked to the city the way Priest is to Targossas. Players who treat their Shaman as Hashan-aligned but ultimately independent, beholden to spirits more than to city politics, get the truest version of the class.
A few practical notes:
Combat is layered and slow. Vodun doll preparation, Spiritlore trance and binding, and Curse stacking all take time. Shamans reward patient combatants who think 3-5 moves ahead.
The Krymenian Academy is the canonical home. Strong fit for Shamans who lean scholar. Somatikos works well for Shamans who lean toward combat through bound warrior-spirits.
Cyrene, Eleusis, and Targossas are awkward. Politically you can join them. Culturally and thematically, the class doesn’t fit. Most Shamans who try those cities end up wandering back to Hashan or going cityless.
If you want a class with the deepest dark-mysticism identity, three-layer remote combat through curses + dolls + spirits, and a quiet authority that comes from knowing things others don’t, Shaman delivers.
Other classes to consider
Three classes worth a look if Shaman is on your shortlist (or browse all 21 Achaea classes for the full comparison):
Jester: Absurdity as a Weapon
The mechanical cousin via Puppetry, near-identical doll-and-link combat system. Same flexibility (16 Houses, no alignment lock). Very different cultural framing: where the Shaman’s dolls are ritual implements, the Jester’s puppets are tools of absurdity. Choose Jester if you want the same remote-control mechanic with a playful clown identity instead of dark mysticism.
Apostate: Mhaldor’s Daemonic Priest
The Mhaldor dark priest. Shares the affliction-stacking combat style (Apostate Evileye works analogously to Shaman Curses). Where the Shaman is unrestricted, the Apostate is locked to Mhaldor and serves Evil with a Baalzadeen instead of bound spirits. Choose Apostate if you want a tighter factional commitment.
Pariah: The Accursed Sorcerer
The other dark mystic class. Different mechanics (blood logographs, plague swarms, crypt construction) but a similar “outcast scholar” identity. Both classes are unrestricted by alignment. Choose Pariah if the tomb-and-desert aesthetic appeals more than Hashan’s wintry reclusion.