Shaman Description

Lyman, this is the description of the shaman from (Shadowrun 4th Edition, p. 181)

The Shamanic Tradition

Concept: Magic comes from a shaman’s connection to the power of nature and the spirits. These latter forces are manifestations of the living Earth. Shamans are guided and aided by her children, the spirits, often through the auspices of a mentor spirit they call a totem.

Combat: Beasts
Detection: Water
Health: Earth
Illusion: Air
Manipulation: Man
Drain: Willpower + Charisma

When the Awakening brought magic to the world, native tribal shamans were some of the first to successfully use it. Shamanism also developed in many urban areas during the boom in occultism at the close of the 20th century. These “urban shamans” discovered the old ways worked in the cities just as well as in the wilderness. Shamans are in tune with the natural flow of the energies of life and magic.
 
To a shaman, the world is filled with living spirits, powers the shaman calls on for magical aid. Shamanic magicians summon spirits that are tied to nature: air, earth, water, beasts, and man. To a shaman, these are the spirits of the natural world. They are spirits of skies and storms, of mountains and valleys, of lakes and rivers, of birds and rats, and of the mass of humanity, for even man is a part of nature. Communion and trafficking with such spirits is a venerable and honored tradition among shamans.
 
Most shamans have a mentor spirit called a totem who gives the shaman magical power and knowledge. The shaman, in turn, follows the ideals represented by the totem and works toward its goals where applicable. Many shamans find that this totem expresses itself through them when they use magical skills, often changing their appearance slightly to suggest their totem animal . This phenomenon is called a shamanic mask (see Noticing Magic, p. 179). A player can choose whether or not this effect is apparent for her character.