Nuttyartist / Felix

If I didn't have you rolling to activate the ability then that was my bad. If you do it out of combat you can focus but still need to gain their help, as indicated in test

Are you serious?

I never rolled test for it.

This ability is way too terrible with the test roll. Really ruined my character.

I still think the ability is useful but if you and @daryen want to work out a variation on his that works that between you two. But all other mystic powers require a test will to activate.

I worked hard on my character, and feel like a lot of time was wasted.

I understand that most things require a test. We never rolled a test during our play sessions. I thought that the result is random and only lasts 3 rounds/turns it was balanced.

With a test, it's a 1 in 3 to activate, then a 1 in 6 for a particular ability. Let's say it works. Then by some miracle it works again in a round or 2, but you roll the same ability that may or may not be relevant.
Not to mention I have no free actions during combat because my heavy weapon takes up the whole turn to swing once.
It's meant to be a combat skill, but is too unreliable and slow for combat.

I am sorry you feel your character is wasted. As it is shamanic warior is more powerful than most other mystic abilities, save for the randomness factor. Mixing with the the ability to select what ability you triggre for 1 HP, especially when you can heal yourself, was how I balanced it.

This is the original trait, which I modified for use in my game so as to not cost 1hp just to activate but cut the duration in half.@daryen may have his own opinion and options to present but if you want full control you could shift from a shaman warrior to a strait shaman.

Here's one example where I used it the way I thought it worked.

Do note that while you only get one swing with the great sword, it still only takes one Action. Your other Action is still available for other Actions.

If that's true that's the first I'm hearing about it.

Yes, the heavy weapon attack only takes the one Action, but you can only make one attack a turn. The other Action is free for whatever. (A lot of times it is for Focus, but it can be for anything, including Move, Focus, Evade, or some magic use.)

One thing that contributed to the confusion is that anything that requires a roll can skip the roll as long as:
- It's not in combat.
- It's not time critical.
- There is no penalty for failure.
For example, someone with the Healer Trait has to roll a Test to see if they can heal their subject. If they get a success, the subject gets 2 HP back. If they fail, nothing happens. This action has no penalty on failure, other than the lack of healing. Therefore, in a time critical or combat situation, the rolls must be made. But, out of combat, there is no point to make the rolls because you can try as many times as needed to get the healing done. So, to keep things simple, you just don't have to roll in those situations.

With that in mind, for the Shamanic Warrior trait, how about this:
- The write-up it has doesn't change for what currently exists.
- We add the following sentence to the initial paragraph: "If both Actions in a turn are spent making the request of the spirits, the Test is an automatic success."
- Note that the above above non-combat, non-time-critical exceptions still exist.

This means you can still invoke it without rolling, but it takes the entire Turn to do so. Or you can roll the dice and hope for two successes in a single turn.

Will that work for you?

If attacking with the great sword takes one action, that's a big deal. With 2 actions I didn't think I could even move and attack - hence me bee-lining for the extra action boon.

I'll work with your suggestion - it's a generous compromise.

The problem I have with the skill, is it takes 2 lucky rolls to do something relevant. Most of the time it will do nothing.
If I test and pass (1 in 3 chance) then roll bonus critical DMG, I then have to roll double 6 in the next 2 or 3 attacks or it does nothing. Etc

Actually a basic test passes with 12/36 + 8/36 = 20/36 = 5/9 to activate the ability in combat
After that yes it is luck. But the results are more potent than other basic mystic abilities. You do have the option to select the ability that activates for 1 HP.

As for critical damage in combat, unless you are at disadvantage then the probability of rolling 2 6's is about 40%

Critical Success :
Any time two or more 6's are roll rolled on any test the results exceed basic results. Damage is increased or another beneficial effect will be added by the GM.

Basic traits are designed in this system to not be overpowered. Now that you are a veteran you can gain XP to develop a single Prestige trait. Those have a higher damage output and other benefits.