Prefab Character Sheets Ready

OK, binding = BAD. Got it.
Any examples of the blessings or bargains?

The Loa are not like Elemental or Ancestral spirits, they don't have any inclinations or stereotypes.  Some are kind, some are cruel, some are complicated, some are willing to be fair, some are trying to screw you over as hard as they can.  That's why it's such a risky thing to do in general (and why many Troll tribes try to work regularly with what are effectively 'patron' Loa, because then they KNOW those Loa and know they're not trying to screw you over) and why some tribes (lookin at you, Zandalari) skip the whole thing and habitually bind Loa because screw 'em. 

To Gwydo's question... if you're asking for numbers in D&D terms, they don't exist.  I'd be making them up on the fly because, y'know, the very nature of such a thing is morphic.  If you want some story examples, those are easy; probably the most powerful examples would be Akil'zon, Nalorakk, Jan'alai, Halazzi, and the priests of Sseratus, Har'koa, Zim'torga, Mam'toth, et cetera.  The Drakkari trolls of Zul'Drak are a fascinating example because they had worked in conjunction with their Loa like most do for some time... until the Scourge invaded and were crushing them, SO badly that the Drakkari became terrified and, shortly, desperate enough to (for lack of a better term) FEED on their Loa, gaining their power directly... but at a pretty horrible long term cost.

Nope, completely missed the question.
What kinds of things would the Loa ask for as a bargain? A piece of your soul? Transport to somewhere else? Kill this guy, because reasons....?
And in exchange for what? What is the nature of the blessing they can bestow? Shapechange 1/d? Hurricane winds? Drop a glacier on someone's head? Nuclear explosion wiping out the entire dungeon (party included)?

Well see the problem, Gwydo, is the answers to your question are, respectively; anything and anything.

But okay, an example.  Vol'jin made a bargain with a Loa who's name escapes me.  The Loa wanted Vol'jin to weaken another Troll, so that the Loa could consume his soul (slowly) and make him suffer for some indignity.  In return Vol'jin gained the power to remove some of the magical protections the other Troll had.  Now if you're paying attention, that's a pretty fair bargain all things considered; both get what they want. 

Let's try a worse one.  There's an unnamed Zandalari Troll who makes a bargain with several Loa spirits; they want blood, ritualistic sacrifices done to and for them.  (does it empower them?  Give them their essences or souls?  No they just enjoy it, it's a form of entertainment).  The Zandalari in question agrees to this bargain but in so doing his price is the ability to call upon the essence of the raptor, empowering him.  He kills and sacrifices, but in so doing the power he had gives him enough strength to then BIND those Loa he'd made the pact with, effectively canceling it cuz (again) screw them. 

There's a few other specific examples I could pull up (like Jin'Do who actually made a bargain with Loa WHILE DEAD to come back to life, so he could give the souls of fallen to said Loa) but hopefully this will actually answer you.  If not... I give up.

Archengeia wrote:There's an unnamed Zandalari Troll who makes a bargain with several Loa spirits; they want blood, ritualistic sacrifices done to and for them.  (does it empower them?  Give them their essences or souls?  No they just enjoy it, it's a form of entertainment).  The Zandalari in question agrees to this bargain but in so doing his price is the ability to call upon the essence of the raptor, empowering him.  He kills and sacrifices, but in so doing the power he had gives him enough strength to then BIND those Loa he'd made the pact with, effectively canceling it cuz (again) screw them.

Even knowing that those Loa could torment him for an undefined period of time after his death, he still bound them? That sounds insane.

Of the many adjectives I could use to describe Zandalari, sane is not amongst them.

OK, so let me see if I understand the process.
I contact a Loa in an area. (How many can you have a bargain with at a time?) I either ask for X or it offers me X (or Y, or Z etc.) at which point it tells me what it wants me to do for it in exchange for (whatever). At this point we enter into a barter process until we reach an agreement or one of us refuses.

Is that a pretty good way to sum up the mechanic of entering into a bargain with a Loa?

Secondly, I'm doubting you're going to want to go through this process for the playtest. Did you want to give the Shaman a bargain to start with, or ignore it for the playtest?

None of the racial passives are really designed with combat in mind so we're just going to ignore it for the time being methinks. 

Secondly, there's no limit to how many Loa you can bargain with at a time (though they might be enemies.  Or teaming up against you.  Or anything in between)

Otherwise decent summary.

Give him an EVIL Loa when he tries, Arch! Do it!