[korkscrew]

I am new to SR 4th Ed. and currently working to build an Amerindian Shaman Healer that will also double as a Scout (both physical/astral).  Think Shaman meets Indian Scout/Survivalist.  Where should I begin? 

I would also like to know your thoughts on a Mentor Spirit for the Great Blue Heron.  What would fit best?  Or what thoughts would you have on a new MS based on the advantages of Dark Goddess and disadvantages of Spider? 

Look forward to hearing your ideas!

[RHat]

Actually, the advantages of Spider might be better of a scout anyways - and spiders are often trickster figures, which suits how a scout would have to fight.

Actually, here's a question:  What sort of mythological figure do you want your mentor spirit to be?  Old Man Coyote isn't a bad choice for the character - he's another trickster, but is also the one (if I'm remembering stories I haven't heard in years properly) to have brought people fire.

If you're going to start doing custom stuff for mentor spirits, it's best to have a concept in mind first.  Plucking advantages and disadvantages to stitch together isn't a very good idea - especially because the strengths of both are varied, and typically matched up; the greatest benefits are tied to the biggest downsides.

[korkscrew]

I was planning to use the Great Blue Heron.  Do a quick internet search on the symbolism to get an idea of the concept.

[RHat]

What I can't find is a decent summary - think you can post the concept as you see it?

[UmaroVI]

How sure are you that you really want Shaman as your tradition? Unfortunately, Charisma traditions do not play nice with scout; Astral scouting is Logic based, Physical scouting is Agility-based. That said, you can still be OK.

If you want to see an example Shaman, look in my sig and at the Spirit Medium. You can probably get to OK scout by:

-Influence 1
-Summoning from 4 to 1
+Infiltration from 1 to 4
-Lose Laser, Increase Charisma, and Stunball.
+Gain Levitate, Trid Phantasm, Increase Agility, Increase Logic, Clairaudience, Mana Window, Astral Window.
-Drop Infiltration specialization.
*Switch Spellcasting specialization to Illusion.
*Change your Mentor Spirit. I have no idea what you see Great Blue Heron as, because the internet is full of people who will post random crap about totems, and there is no single "Amerindian" culture or mythology. http://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Legends/HoneyedWordsCantSweetenEvil-Algonquin.html for example, would get you Sky Father. From an optimization standpoint, you want Cat.
*Adjust NQs, background skills, and contact as appropriate.

Optionally, you could take a point or two from Reaction for more Agility or Logic, but IMO you are better off just leaning on magic to shore those up while scouting.

The basic idea is that you scout physically with some combination of Increase Agility (so your Infiltration check doesn't suck super bad), Concealment (from a spirit), Clairaudience and Mana Window (to remotely scout), Improved Invisibility (which is pro, but remember it only works on sight, not radar/sonar/etc), Physical Mask (which does work on stuff like radar), and Levitate (to get over walls/up buildings/etc). You obviously don't want to maintain all of that at once, but I think you can do a decent job scouting. A lot of the time, you can cover scouting with nothing but Clauraudience and Mana Window.

Astrally, you can Increase Logic through your sustaining focus before you project, then fly around with Concealment (from a spirit) and Astral Window as needed.

You should probably aim for Masking/Extended Masking ASAP because that's what you need to get past astral watchers and wards.

[korkscrew]

From a rules perspective, is there really any difference between a Mage and Shaman?  It seemes to me like they both do the same things just in different ways.  Or do mages only use spellcasting, and Shaman only use spirits?

Also i see Great Blue Heron as giver/taker of life, which is why I thought Dark Goddess, but the disadvantages are harder for me to nail down.  Spider seemed the best for Heron since the Heron is more independent.  I don't know, but thanks for all that other feedback, that is good stuff.  And I'm ok with " ok" scout, primary function is healer.  I just kind of see the character as like a Cody Lundin, from Dual Survival.  Hippy indian healer scout survivalist.

[UmaroVI]

The big differences between traditions are:

*Fluff
*Drain stat. Having your drain based on Logic, Charisma, or Intuition is very important.
*Spirit selection. Different traditions can summon different spirit types.

Mentor spirit wise, based on that, I'd actually just recommend going with Dark King. Dark King is a very good mentor spirit; +2 to two useful skills and +2 to one of the best spirit types is really good. -1 to resist P damage is painful, but it's only -1 and only P, not S. Dark King is a good fit on the "life and death" end of things, and Herons are somewhat fragile.

[korkscrew]

That sounds pretty good.  I was wondering about your medium, was that a 400 point build?

[UmaroVI]

Yes.