Hero Spirits

Hero spirits are the stars of tribal epics: the founder of a people, the warrior who saved a nation. Each is a flawless ideal of man or woman, strong, beautiful and embodying every virtue the tribe honors. Where ancestors are revered, hero spirits often lead them, but many patrol tribal lands alone, and stories tell of living heroes receiving warnings, help or guidance from them in a crisis. Like ancestor spirits they cherish tradition and frown on change, and they prize bravery, might, skill and flair.

A hero spirit attacks twice per round with the weapons its legend says it loved. Once a round, in place of an attack, it can automatically perform a single showy defensive feat, for example catching an arrow in flight or leaping over an attacker's head, which forces a morale check on characters of 5th level or lower.

Hero spirits accept shamans of any good alignment or lawful neutral. Most have to raise a shrine and offer an extra 100 gp of sacrifice to gain familiarity, but any shaman of at least 8th level is recognized at once as outstanding mortals. The spirit demands 500 gp of sacrifice a year, from the shaman or others, a maintained shrine, and a firm defense of its people or descendants. The shaman must also credit every success to the spirit and tell its tales above those of other heroes, so no shaman can serve two at once. From 8th level the spirit treats the shaman's deeds as an equal's and drops that demand, though it still expects the tribe protected and its stories taught to the young.

They refuse the worship of common folk but welcome that of living heroes, and smile on sacrifices from any tribe member of at least 5th level, usually cattle or the like worth 1,000 gp a year; a hero who owns nothing after selfless service owes nothing. A hero spirit can sponsor any spell on the tribal shaman's list and any 1st-level priest spell, and a supplicant who has reached 8th level may perform one impossible act of heroism per week, like knocking a dragon senseless with one blow, within limits the GM sets.