Shimar (Sh’him-ar)
Mindbender, He Who Knows, Lord of the Mind
Greater Deity
Symbol: A humanoid head profile with a glowing mind showing through
Home Plane: The Demi-Plane of Gulag
Alignment: Neutral
Portfolio: Psionics, forgotten and lost knowledge, the mind
Worshipers: Psions, psychic warriors, monks, enchanters, illithids, yuan-ti
Cleric Alignments: CN, LN, N, NE, NG
Domains: Mind (see below), Knowledge, Trickery
Favored Weapon: Sling

Shimar is the master of the mind. All things known and all things forgotten are his jurisdiction. No secret can be kept from him, for the mind is his domain. Shimar is the patron god of many who practice psionics. The number of clerics dedicated to him is small, though he hardly seems concerned with that triviality. Shimar has no physical form, at least any form anyone has ever seen. When he manifests, he does so in the form of a telepathic bond. Those who observe him do not see him as a physical form, but they immediately recognize him for the god he is and hear his words in their minds.

Dogma
Shimar believes that all thoughts are sacred things and should be shared with the universe. To him, psionics is a greater form of thought process that is more highly evolved. Through speech, people make their will known through their words, but through psionics, people make their will manifest through their thoughts. Controlling, manipulating or even suppressing thought processes is merely a way to impose one’s will on another, but permanently blocking or destroying a being’s ability to produce thought altogether is seen as a crime in the eyes of Shimar. Death is seen as a natural part of life, even ascension to a higher form of thought, but intentionally causing brain death may very well bring Shimar’s wrath upon the offender.

Temples and Clergy
Temples and shrines dedicated to Shimar are almost non-existent, as there are usually not enough clerics or acolytes in any one area to maintain anything resembling a permanent structure. In many areas, being recognized as a cleric of Shimar may very well be detrimental to a person’s life, as followers of other religions may very well brand the cleric a charlatan, blasphemer, and heretic. Fortunately for many followers of Shimar, most of the general public doesn’t even know of Shimar’s existence.

Clerics of Shimar are usually very aloof and preoccupied. They are constantly thinking about some problem or puzzle in an effort to forward the will of their deity. Members of the general public that recognize clerics dedicated to Shimar for what they are usually consider then to be arrogant or on a high horse due to their constant detachment. Clerics tend to favor rusty red colored robes or cloaks and usually wear them with the hood thrown forward.

Mind Domain
Granted Power: Once per day, you may manifest one psionic power as a psion of your cleric level. Upon taking the Mind domain, choose one psionic power you qualify for. When you gain a new level, you many choose to replace your current power with a new psionic power, but you may only know one power in this fashion at a time. The power may come from any psionic discipline, but must have a power point cost equal to or less than your cleric level.

Add Knowledge (psionics) and Psicraft to your class skills list.

Mind Domain Spells
1 Charm Person
2 Detect Thoughts
3 Clairaudience/Clairvoyance
4 Modify Memory
5 Mind Fog
6 Rary’s Telepathic Bond
7 Antipathy
8 Mind Blank
9 Astral Projection

*Note that taking the Mind domain bestows the psionic subtype on the cleric. See page 68 of the Expanded Psionics Handbook for more information.

True History
Shimar is one of the old gods. He was present during the creation of the world, though he did not aid the other gods’ building efforts, and therefore has little stake in the world itself. He did, however, help greatly with the creation of the mortal beings that inhabit the world, granting unto each one the gift of psionic thought. It was this gift that eventually led to Shimar’s banishment and imprisonment.

As time passed, the mortal races grew in power. They began to master the arts of magic and built the first cities. Eventually, their psionic powers grew to such an extent that the gods began to fear that the mortals might steal their secrets. They gathered in a great divine forum to decide what was to be done. The evil deities called for an end to the mortal races, planning to start the beginning of life anew without giving the mortals such dangerous power. The good deities admitted that this was an extreme measure, but agreed that no mortal should have such power to threaten a god. This debate continued for time unknown.

Finally, Shimar spoke up to end the debate, suggesting that instead of destroying all mortal life, they should simply remove the threatening abilities from the mortals and see what was to become of them. After much deliberation, it was agreed and all psionic powers were removed from mortal minds. However, Shimar had a trick up his sleeve, which he didn’t mention to the other gods. He believed that once the mind was organized enough to allow psionic ability, psionic ability would always be present. His gamble paid off when psionic abilities persisted throughout the generations of mortalkind, especially in some of the aberrant races, albeit in a much weaker form that was nowhere nearly powerful enough to draw the ire of the gods again.

Despite the lack of a real threat from the watered-down powers of present-day psychics, the gods still remember a time when the psionic abilities of mortals threatened their power. So to do they remember Shimar’s deceit. Upon the discovery of his trickery, Shimar was banished from the pantheon, forced to reside in a demi-plane designed to be his prison. However, because he left peacefully and willingly, he was allowed to have a minor influence on the world and its people so long as his influence did not threaten the pantheon. He may not attempt to leave Gulag, nor may he attempt to entice others to free him, as either would bring the full wrath of the pantheon upon him. If a powerful enough psychic were to link his mind to that of Shimar, he might escape his prison, though Shimar seems to have no real desire to leave. His one true wish is to aid mortalkind by restoring psionics as it once was, but he fears –rightly so- that the gods would not hesitate to wipe out the mortals and start over if he were to accomplish this. Thus, he is content to remain in his prison and allow mortalkind to grow back into their psionic abilities naturally.

As for the deities of the pantheon themselves, they do not speak of Shimar and will usually go so far as to deny his existence, even to their own clerics.

How can I use Shimar in my game?
Shimar is a god of psionics. Psionics, however, is a system not used by a great many dungeon masters. There are, however, a growing number of DMs that wish to include psionics, but don’t know how to justify introducing psionic beings to their game where none existed before. Shimar is the perfect method for doing so, in may potential ways. Perhaps Shimar has somehow earned his freedom and has been accepted back into the pantheon, thus enabling his clerics to freely spread his dogma in the world. Whatever the reason, Shimar’s very existence is a large enough justification to include the new mechanic into a game.

Burn the witch! The party passes through a small village on the same day that a heretic is to be publicly burned at the stake. While being led to his doom, the condemned man, a good cleric dedicated to Shimar, begs the party for help, telling them that he has committed no wrong, has received no trial and is being executed only because of his personal beliefs. How will the party react? Will they try to convince the bloodthirsty mob of townsfolk to release their prisoner or will they pull up a seat and enjoy an ale while watching the heretic burn?

My flag boy and your flag boy, sitting by the fire. The party, particularly any religious members, are surprised to find a small following dedicated to a deity they’ve never heard of (Shimar) in a rural area. The cult is not hurting anyone in any way and is actually performing many great services for the community. Their powers are real, including the divine magics some wield, which testifies to the existence of the deity they worship. Further, the leaders of the cult all detect as good in alignment to any who attempt to magically ascertain their intentions. What will the religious members of the party do? Will they denounce the cult as wicked? Will they dig deeper and discover the truth of Shimar? Perhaps some will even convert.

E=MC2. An unknown scholar has stumbled upon the solution to a large problem plaguing the city/duchy/nation/etc during his meditations. However, his devotion to Shimar, a deity most don’t believe exists, has labeled him as a crackpot and he is not allowed to see the official he must pass his solution on to. Enter the party. Do they join the locals in shaking their heads sadly and ignoring what they see as the lunatic ravings of a simple-minded man? What if they hear him out and discover the wisdom of his words? Do they do their part to get him access to the officials, or do they pass the information on to the officials themselves, claiming it was their idea?