Shadowrun Wiki

Totems (aka Mentor Spirits under the Unified Theory of magic) are a way of seeing the use of magic that guide and effect the ability of a magician that follows them.

The first ones to emerge were the Animal totems that guided early shamans. Nature totems are more often associated with druids but are also followed by shamans.

Less well known are the Idols (which are more akin to the various gods from polytheistic religions), Loa (the guiding concepts behind voodoo), and Paths (followed by the elves of Tír na nÓg).

Under the Unified Theories of magic, those that follow mentor spirits has become more diverse as shamans have learned to practice magic without necessarily requiring such a guide, and hermetics have learned how to follow them if desired.

Totem list[]

The following list of the more notable totems is sortable. (A ✓ indicates the core rulebook.)

Totem/Mentor Type SR4 SR3 SR2 / SR1
Antelope (use Horse) Animal Cyberpirates
Badger Animal MitS
Bat Animal MitS Cyberpirates
Bear Animal ✓/ ✓
Boar Animal MitS Tír na nÓg
Buffalo Animal
Bull Animal SM MitS Tír na nÓg
Cat Animal ✓/ —
Cheetah Animal MitS Cyberpirates
Cobra Animal MitS Cyberpirates
Coyote Animal ✓/ ✓
Crab Animal MitS
Crocodile Animal SM MitS Cyberpirates
Crow (use Raven) Animal Cyberpirates
Deer (use Horse) Animal Cyberpirates
Dingo (use Jackal) Animal T:AL
Dog Animal ✓/ ✓
Dolphin Animal
Dove Animal MitS Cyberpirates
Eagle Animal ✓/ ✓
Elk Animal MitS
Falcon (use Eagle) Animal Cyberpirates
Fish Animal MitS
Fox Animal MitS
Gator Animal ✓/ —
Gecko Animal MitS Paradise Lost
Goose Animal MitS Corp. Security & P. Lost
Horse Animal SM MitS Tír na nÓg
Hyena Animal MitS Cyberpirates
Iguana Animal Aztlan
Jackal Animal MitS Cyberpirates
Jaguar Animal MitS Aztlan
Kangaroo Animal T:AL
Koala Animal T:AL
Leopard Animal MitS Cyberpirates
Lion Animal SM ✓/ —
Lizard Animal MitS
Monkey Animal MitS
Mouse Animal Cyberpirates
Otter Animal MitS
Owl Animal SM ✓/ —
Parrot Animal MitS Cyberpirates
Platypus Animal T:AL
Polecat Animal MitS
Prairie Dog Animal MitS Awakenings
Puma Animal MitS Aztlan
Python Animal MitS Cyberpirates
Raccoon Animal ✓/ ✓
Rat Animal ✓/ ✓
Raven Animal ✓/ ✓
Scorpion Animal MitS
Shark Animal ✓/ —
Snake Animal ✓/ ✓
Spider Animal SM MitS Bug City
Stag Animal MitS Tír na nÓg
Turtle Animal MitS Paradise Lost
Whale Animal MitS Paradise Lost
Wildcat Animal Grimoire
Wolf Animal ✓/ ✓
Wombat (use Badger) Animal T:AL
Moon Nature MitS Grimoire
Mountain Nature MitS
Oak Nature SM MitS Grimoire
Sea Nature MitS Grimoire
Stream Nature MitS
Sun Nature SM MitS Grimoire
Wind Nature MitS
Dragon Mythic SM YotC
Fenrir Mythic MitS
Gargoyle Mythic MitS Awakenings
Griffin Mythic SM MitS Awakenings
Leviathon Mythic MitS Awakenings
Pegasus Mythic MitS Awakenings
Phoenix Mythic SM MitS Awakenings
Plumed Serpent Mythic MitS Aztlan
Thunderbird Mythic MitS
Unicorn Mythic MitS Awakenings
Wyrm / Serpent Mythic MitS Grimoire / Tír na nÓg
Adversary Idol SM MitS
Artificer / Creator Idol SM MitS Germany
Bacchus Idol MitS
Dark Goddess Idol SM
Dark King Idol MitS
Dragonslayer Idol MitS Germany
Fire-Bringer Idol MitS Awakenings
Great Mother Idol SM MitS Germany
Horned Man/God Idol SM MitS Germany
Lover Idol MitS
Moon Maiden Idol MitS Germany
Sea King Idol MitS
Seductress Idol MitS
Siren Idol MitS
Sky Father Idol SM MitS
Trickster Idol MitS
Wild Huntsman Idol MitS Germany
Wise Warrior Idol MitS
Agwe Loa MitS Awakenings
Azaca Loa MitS Awakenings
Damballah Loa MitS Awakenings
Erzulie Loa MitS Awakenings
Ghede Loa MitS Awakenings
Legba Loa MitS Awakenings
Loco & Ayizan Loa Awakenings
Obatala Loa MitS
Ogoun Loa MitS Awakenings
Shango Loa MitS
Warrior Path MitS Tír na nÓg
Steward Path MitS Tír na nÓg
Bard Path MitS Tír na nÓg
Druid Path MitS Tír na nÓg
Rígh (Kings) Path MitS Tír na nÓg

Neo-Paganism[]

As mentioned before, a number of polytheistic religions have found a resurgence under neo-paganism. The unified theory of magic includes correlations to notable Mentor Spirits.

A † indicates Idols/Spirits from the 2064 posting, not discussed in Street Magic
Pagan Idol Pantheon Suggested Mentor Spirits
Quetzalcóatl Aztec Plumed Serpent or Snake
Huitzilopochtli Aztec Thunderbird
Tlaloc Aztec Crocodile
Tlazolteotl Aztec Seductress
Xipe Totec Aztec Dark Goddess (male)
Dagda Celtic Wise Warrior or Bull
Belenos/Balor/Beli Celtic Sky Father or Wise Warrior
Cernunnos/Herne Celtic Horned Man, Wild Huntsman or Dragonslayer
Don/Danu Celtic Great Mother (primeval), Lover, Sea King (female)
Epona Celtic Horse
Goibhniu Celtic Artificer
Lugh/Lugus/Lleu Celtic Fire-bringer, Sun, Sky King Wise Warrior or Dragonslayer
Morrigan Celtic Dark Goddess, Wolf, or Raven
Nodens/Nuada/Nudd Celtic Dark King
Jade Emperor Chinese Dark King
Dragon Kings Chinese Dragon
Huang Di Chinese Wise Warrior
Lei Gong Chinese Thunderbird
Matsu/Tin Hau Chinese Sea
Nuwa Chinese Great Mother
Phoenix Empress Chinese Phoenix
Ti-Tsang Wang Chinese Owl
Zeus/Jupiter Classical Sky Father, Wise Warrior or Bacchus
Aphrodite/Venus Classical Seductress, Lover or Siren
Apollo Classical Sun, Sky Father Wild Huntsman (without the nature focus)
Ares/Mars Classical Wolf or Wise Warrior
Artemis/Diana Classical Bear, Moon Malden or Wild Huntsman (female)
Athena/Minerva Classical Wise Warrior or Sky Father (female)
Demeter/Ceres Classical Great Mother
Dionysus/Bacchus Classical Horned Man or Bacchus
Hades/Pluto Classical Dark King
Hephaestus/Vulcan Classical Artificer or Firebringer
Hera/Juno Classical Great Mother or Siren
Heracles/Hercules Classical Dragonslayer
Hestia/Vesta Classical Firebringer
Pan/Faunus Classical Horned Man
Poseidon/Neptune Classical Sea or Sea King
Prometheus Classical Firebringer
Cronus/Saturn Classical Adversary
St. George/St. MichaelMitS Christian Dragonslayer
Ra Egyptian Sun or Phoenix
Bast Egyptian Cat
Horus Egyptian Eagle
Isis Egyptian Moon Maiden
Osiris Egyptian Dark King
Sekhmet Egyptian Lion
Set Egyptian Wolf
Sobek Egyptian Crocodile
Thoth Egyptian Artificer
Lilith Hebrew Dark Goddess
Brahma Hindu Artificer
Devi Hindu Great Mother
Durga Hindu Lion
Ganesha Hindu Dark King (less grim)
Hanuman Hindu Dragonslayer
Kali Hindu Dark Goddess or Wild Huntsman (female)MitS
Krishna Hindu Wise Warrior
Shiva Hindu Dark Goddess (male)
Vishnu Hindu Sun or Sky FatherMitS
Amaterasu Japanese Fire-bringer, Phoenix, or Sun
Hachiman Japanese Wise Warrior
Izanagi Japanese Dark King
Izanami Japanese Dark Goddess
Maneki-neko Japanese Cat
Susanoo Japanese Sea or Shark
Tsukuyomi Japanese Moon Maiden (male)
Ishtar Mesopotamian Dark Goddess
Odin/Wotan Norse Sky Father, Artificer Dark King Wise Warrior or Wild Huntsman
Fenrir Norse Fenrir (toxic)
Freya Norse Great Mother or Lover
Heimdall Norse Wise Warrior
Hel/Hela Norse Dark King (female)
Loki Norse Raven, Trickster, Adversary or Coyote (description only)
Njord Norse Sea King, Great Mother (male)
Norns, the Norse Spider
Thor Norse Dragonslayer, Thunderbird, or Wise Warrior
Tyr Norse Wise Warrior
Weiland Norse Artificer
Agwe Voodoo Sea
Damballa Voodoo Snake
Erzulie Voodoo Seductress
Ghede Voodoo Dark King
Legba Voodoo Owl
Obatala Voodoo Eagle
Ogoun Voodoo Wise Warrior
Shango Voodoo Sky Father or Thunderbird
Goddess/Diana/The Mother Wiccan Great Mother or Moon Maiden
God/Horned Man/Pan Wiccan Horned Man or Wild Huntsman

Sources[]

  • Shadowrun: 4th Ed. (SR4 p. 192–194, SR4A p. 200–202)
    • o59345449Street Magic (p. 180–183) revises almost everything, leaves out some totems