Shaman (Dungeons & Dragons) and Wickford, Rhode Island: Difference between pages

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'''Wickford''' is a small village in the township of [[North Kingstown]], [[Rhode Island]] named after [[Wickford]] in [[Essex]], [[England]]. Wickford is located on the west side of [[Narragansett Bay]]. The village is built around one of the most well-protected natural harbors on the eatern seaboard, and features one of the largest collections of 18th century dwellings to be found anywhere in the northeast. Today the majority of the village's historic homes and buildings (most in private hands) remain largely intact upon their original foundations.

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Wickford is generally said to have been established around 1637, when religious dissident and Rhode Island state founder [[Roger Williams]] bought a parcel of land from the sachem [[Canonicus]] and established a trading post there. Prior to [[European contact]], the lands in and around Wickford had long served as dwelling, fishing, and hunting grounds to the [[Narragansett (tribe)|Narragansett]] people, who were New England's most powerful and prominent tribe at the time when Williams found his way to their shores.

The first '''Shaman''' [[character class]] was introduced in the 2nd Edition Supplement, The Complete Shaman Handbook. It tied into the Planescape setting, but used a nonstandard spellcasting mechanic. It was not further developed (although it was briefly mentioned as the source of power of one of Ravenlofts minor Darklords on an island of terror).

At about the same time as Williams' purchase, Richard Smith, a religious dissident from Gloucester, England who had originally settled in the Plymouth Colony's town of Taunton, established a trading post on Narragansett Bay near the mouth of Cocumscussoc Brook. In 1637, Smith built what appears to have been a rather grand, gabled house on the site, which Williams in his letters described as the first English house in the area. This house was also heavily fortified, and thus became known as ''Smith's Castle''.

The current '''Shaman''' is a [[character class]] in the ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' [[Editions_of_Dungeons_%26_Dragons#3.0_edition|3.0 edition]] that was introduced in the [[Oriental Adventures#3rd edition era |''Oriental Adventures'']] campaign supplement.

During 1651 Smith purchased Roger Williams' trading post, and continued expanding his holdings over the years - building what came to be called the ''Cocumscussoc Plantation''. Smith's plantation became a center of social, religious and political life in the area. Many of the homes that were built during this bried period of expansion, however, were destroyed between 1675-1676 in the conflict called [[King Philip's War]]. One of the homes that went was Smith's Castle, which burned to the ground in 1676. Two years later, Richard Smith Jr. built a new home on the old foundation. Retaining the name "Smith's Castle," this structure remains standing today and is one of the area's most visited historic sites.

The shaman in the Third Edition of the game is the new name given to the ''shukenja'' of the First Edition ''Oriental Adventures''. (A character class called the [[Shugenja (Dungeons & Dragons)|shugenja]] also appears in ''Oriental Adventures'' 3.0 which is a different, though similarly spellcasting class.) The shaman is considered the oriental equivalent of the [[Cleric (Dungeons & Dragons)|cleric]], although it also shares abilities with the [[Monk (Dungeons & Dragons)|monk]] and [[Druid (Dungeons & Dragons)|druid]] classes. Like clerics, shamans derives their spells from divine energy in general and from powerful entities; they propitiate spirits of an animistic religious system rather than deities, forces, or philosophies (although deities may also exist as extremely powerful spirits). These spirits embody the domains from which shamans gain powers and ___domain spells. A few domains are identical to clerical domains listed in the [[Player's Handbook|''Player's Handbook'']]; some are unique to the shaman and have no direct equivalent to any clerical ___domain. Unlike a cleric, at higher levels a shaman can learn a third ___domain and prepare two ___domain spells per day for certain spell levels. In general, a shaman's spell list is more nature-oriented than the cleric's. Like the druid, it can gain an animal companion. Its attack progression is identical to a cleric's, while it has a variety of unarmed combat feats similar to the monk. The 3.5 update to the class found in Dragon Magazine issue 318 (April 2004) improves the shaman's combat prowess, such as by granting shamans the ability to inflict extra damage with their unarmed attacks, similar to those of monks.

Following King Philip's War, Wickford grew steadily as a port and shipbuilding center. To this day, the waterfront remains very active and hosts, among other fine vessels, the Dutch sailing yacht ''Brandaris''.

The vanara, a monkey-like humanoid race also published in ''Oriental Adventures'', has Shaman as its favored class.

In 1755, painter [[Gilbert Stuart]] was born at Saunderstown, on the southern outskirts of Wickford, in a snuff-mill that still stands and is open to the public in season. Other famous residents have included novelist [[Owen Wister]], who for decades summered in a home just to the south of the village. Wickford was also home to Paule Stetson Loring, artist for ''Yachting Magazine'' and other publications, and longtime editorial page cartoonist for the ''Providence Journal''. A popular urban legend maintains that novelist [[John Updike]] hailed originally from Wickford - but this is not the case. Updike was born and raised in Pennsylvania. Updike did, however, use Wickford as the model for the fictional village of ''Eastwick'' in his novel, ''The Witches of Eastwick'' (Knopf: 1984).

Green Ronin Publishing released a 3.0 '''Shaman''' in The Shaman Handbook as part of their Master Class series. They cast divine spells spontaneously, like a sorcerer. The book also contains a number of Prestige Classes.

(Nevertheless, a branch of the Updike, or Op Den Dyck, family was among the first settling families of Wickford; the original village was at one time called <i>Updike's Newtown</i>. The descendants of Richard Smith and Lodowick Updike intermarried and the Updikes were residents of Smith's Castle in the colonial era.)

The Wickford Art Festival - held in July of every year since 1962 and hosted by the Wickford Art Association - is one of the leading such events on the eastern seaboard, attracting hundreds of prominent artists and thousands of spectators from across the country and around the world.

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[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons character classes]]

==External Links==

* [http://www.beautyandthebath.com/ Beauty and the Bath of Wickford (Official Website)]

* [http://www.yachtbrandaris.com/ Brandaris - Dutch Sailing Yacht of Wickford, RI (Official Website)]

* [http://www.byy.com/wickford/visit.cfm Brewer Wickford Cove Marina (Official Website)]

* [http://www.canvasri.com/ Canvasworks of Wickford (Official Website)]

* [http://www.differentdrummerri.com/ Different Drummer Gift Shop of Wickford (Official Website)]

* [http://www.wickfordbaptist.org/ First Baptist Church of Wickford (Official Website)]

* [http://www.gwillakers.com/ G. Willakers Country Store of Wickford (Official Website)]

* [http://www.gilbertstuartmuseum.com/ Gilbert Stuart Birthplace Museum at Saunderstown, RI, on the outskirts of Wickford (Official Website)]

* [http://www.goldladyjewelers.com/ Gold Lady Jewelers of Wickford (Official Website)]

* [http://herbwyfe.com/ The Herb Wyfe of Wickford (Official Website)]

* [https://www.the-hourglass.com/shop/ The Hourglass, Wickford, RI (Official Website)]

* [http://www.npj.com/homepage/teritowe/histwick.html Photo-Tour of Wickford, RI]

* [http://www.pswri.com/ Pleasant Street Wharf, Wickford, RI (Official Website)]

* [http://www.ryansmarket.com/ Ryan's Market, Wickford (Official Website)]

* [http://www.smithscastle.org/ Smith's Castle (Official Web Site)]

* [http://www.stpaulswickford.org/ St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Wickford, RI (Official Website)]

* [http://www.teddybearskins.com/ Teddy Bearskins of Wickford (Official Website)]

* [http://www.wickfordart.org/ Wickford Art Association (Official Website)]

* [http://www.wickfordgourmet.com/ Wickford Gourmet (Official Website)]

* [http://www.wickfordvillage.org/ Wickford Village (Official Website)]

* [http://wickfordyc.org/ Wickford Yacht Club (Official Website)]

* [http://www.wilsonsofwickford.com/ Wilson's of Wickford (Official Website)]

* [http://www.woodwater.com/ Wood & Water of Wickford, RI (Official Website)]

[[Category:Villages in Rhode Island]]

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[[Category:Towns in Rhode Island|Wickford]]