Any incentive to ever play a Favored Soul or a Spirit Shaman?

I really like the concept of Favoured Soul and have played one and made a couple of others.

She played really well actually, her concept was more intellectual and she was a Favoured of Boccob. If CJ sees this he'll probably remember her - Maya. She was more focused on wisdom than charisma but still wasn't bad, at worst a charisma boosting item or a focus on buffing and defence, as they're meant to be a more warrior cast fousing on spells to improve their performance isn't too shabby, Bulls Strength for example with a quarter staff with the free feats on top

Spirit Shaman I haven't played or really read much upon to be honest. I've played Dragon Shaman but that character got very muddled up and the campaign wasn't entirely suitable.

 

Maya was a good character, those priesty types can be rather a handful in melee.

We also had a Favoured Soul in my tabletop campaign where i'm a player, and he was pretty good. Went the big-sword-and-hitty-shouty route. Mainly used his spells to buff and then went in swinging.

As for Spirit Shaman, our DM has always liked the look of them, but nobody has actually played one yet. Maybe i'll be the first!

 

Actually, I thought spirit shamans aren't a half bad class, although I have yet to play one. They are a strange mix of prepared and spontaneous casters - they choose their spells known each day from all on the druid's list, but then cast them spontaneously as sorcerers. The issue with wisdom and charisma is a serious one, but with decent rolls or PB creation it should be manageable.

 

As I understand, true D&D Favored Souls and Spirit Shamans are far removed from their NWN2 counterparts. For one thing, there are feats that can allow them to be single attribute dependent again (in some obscure rulebook somewhere, I don't know the specifics but I've read about these more than once in munchkin threads). Spirit Shamans in particular can actually choose which spells to "memorize" each day - that's a shocking amount of versatility right there.
Both of these classes have better HP/BAB/saves than wizards and sorcerers, so when it all comes down to it they're not as magic-dependent. Both of these classes also have access to some of the most powerful defense/supportive magic in the game, and these are not save-dependent. Spirit Shamans are very effective in settings with lots of spirits (which includes Fae and Elementals on top of the incorporeal undead variety - that actually includes a lot of creatures) and can detect/communicate with ghosts (which are everywhere). They are also very difficult to kill when built properly, what with their high fort/will saves and various class feats. Favored Souls, on the other hand, actually have deities actively watching over their progress.
All in all they are both very solid classes.

 

I think you have it reversed. A Favoref Soul uses Cha for spells per day and maximum spell level, and Wisdom for setting Saving Throws. The spirit Shaman reverses that pattern. I think that cuts down on having these characters use too many offensive, damage dealing spells.

I would love to play a FS. Awesome saves, playing a deity's chosen rep, the spell selection challenge. . . Cool!

 

I can imagine the regular cleric sulking in a corner. "Chosen, eh? What am I, chopped liver?"

 

I have played a Favored Soul in the past. Tons of fun. Depending on the type of campaign you play and the DM, the Wis + Cha requirement isn't an obstacle. Unless of course you are in a very hgih-level campaign. Even still, they are playable. A good DM can see the deficiency of a class and add something extra to the class or the character to even the slate.