I had a bit of a rough Sunday this weekend, so I decided to distract myself from Real Life a bit with some work on my Witcher Burning Wheel hack that I've been tinkering with. I posted the lifepaths and traits that I shared previously on the BW forums and got some excellent feedback on those from a couple of people, including some amazing advice from Thor for tweaks, so I'll be reworking those.
One of the big things that Thor pointed out is that the elven spell songs probably were a better model for the signs than using the Art Magic rules that I had initially intended to go with. This solved one of my big concerns I had with having witchers use the Sorcery skill when there would be actual witches using the regular Sorcery rules in the game, which is something the Codex specifically calls out as an issue. By making the signs themselves individual skills based off the elven spell songs, it eliminates the conflicting magic rules while still achieving the same effects.
That still leaves the issue of creating the new sign skills, though, so I've take a stab at that below! These function mechanically as the elven spell songs more or less, being open-ended rolls but not requiring the Gifted trait. Instead, the use of these skills requires the Witcher trait I shared before. The other chief difference obviously is that use of these skills doesn't require sustained singing as the elven spell songs do in order to use to make them a bit closer to the magic used in-game. Each of the signs is its own individual skill, it should be noted.
Quen -- Ob 4^ -- 11 Actions
The witcher surrounds himself with a magical shield, absorbing damage from enemy blows. Functions as the existing Turn Aside the Blade spell.
Yrden -- Ob 4^ -- 2 Actions
The witcher casts a circle of magical fire on the ground, trapping supernatural foes caught within it. The caster chooses a single supernatural target to make a Steel test. Hesitation is increased by the margin of success.
Igni -- See Description -- 2 Actions
A burst of flame erupts from the hand of the witcher, setting torches or foes ablaze in its path. Functions as either the existing Flame Finger or Fire Fan spells as applicable to the intent.
Aard - Ob Speed -- 1 Action
The witcher assails his foes with a telekinetic blast. Targets in the path are knocked prone. Weapon length: as spear; Range: as pistol.
Axii -- Ob 3 -- 2 Actions
The witcher influences the mind of a target, forcing them to speak honestly or stunning them into inaction. Targets must make a Steel test, and must speak honestly for a number of actions equal to the result.
Please take a look and let me know your thoughts, especially any changes you think might need to be made, Are they too powerful? Are they not powerful enough? Let me know! Once I get enough feedback, I'll work on putting together a post with the revised lifepaths, traits, and signs in a single post as an easy reference for anybody to use in their games. At some point in the future, I might even take a stab at putting together some folklore monsters and Wild Hunt NPCs for those that want them, but that's a hill I'm not quite ready to climb just yet.
Showing posts with label Witcher 3. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Witcher 3. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 21, 2016
Sunday, September 4, 2016
Oh, Witch-AY Woman!
(Note: Outside of this post being related to The Witcher 3, the title of this post makes no sense, and serves no purpose to the post outside of giving me an opportunity to quote my favorite obscure Seinfeld line.)
After some delays with Real Life going on (not the greatest week of my life, unfortunately), I've managed to make some kind of progress with the Witcher 3 Burning Wheel setting hack that I've talked about before. Specifically, I've set about trying to come up with the new lifepaths and traits that I think burning a witcher would require. While the Codex doesn't contain the rules for burning lifepaths and traits that I was hoping would be included, the Burning Wiki does have the worksheets for creating a new trait, which I used as a rough guide when putting the new traits together. Mostly, though, I just tweaked some existing lifepaths and traits in order to get where I needed.
The big things I was concerned with when trying to put this stuff together were making sure that I covered the crucial skills a witcher would need, along with covering the very specific mutation process that a witcher goes through, leading to the fun cat eyes. I decided against going with a separate lifepath for the mutation, given that I couldn't come up with any actual skills that would be gained form the process itself, and ended up just rolling an additional two years onto the Witcher lifepath. I ended up basing the new lifepath on the dwarven Adventurer lifepath, which ended up also providing a pretty sweet bonus guide for the Witcher trait. I also created one additional lifepath - that of the Witcher's Apprentice. This was a slight tweaking of the existing Page lifepath from the mannish stock, reducing the years served and adding the Demonology skill, but with a big hit to the Resources points gained.
The one little wrinkle that I will say is probably necessary to tweak the game rules a bit to fit in is that the Witcher's Apprentice lifepath, like the Squire lifepath it's based on, requires that it be the second lifepath a character takes, but is itself an Outcast lifepath. This means that, due to the lack of Born lifepaths that lead to the Outcast subsetting, you might have to fudge things a bit in order to incorporate this into your games and allow other lifepaths to lead into the Outcast setting.
Anyway, here's what I've come up with. Please feel free to respond with your thoughts, and to use in your games. If you DO end up using any of these for a game that you're running, please let me know how they play out.
After some delays with Real Life going on (not the greatest week of my life, unfortunately), I've managed to make some kind of progress with the Witcher 3 Burning Wheel setting hack that I've talked about before. Specifically, I've set about trying to come up with the new lifepaths and traits that I think burning a witcher would require. While the Codex doesn't contain the rules for burning lifepaths and traits that I was hoping would be included, the Burning Wiki does have the worksheets for creating a new trait, which I used as a rough guide when putting the new traits together. Mostly, though, I just tweaked some existing lifepaths and traits in order to get where I needed.
The big things I was concerned with when trying to put this stuff together were making sure that I covered the crucial skills a witcher would need, along with covering the very specific mutation process that a witcher goes through, leading to the fun cat eyes. I decided against going with a separate lifepath for the mutation, given that I couldn't come up with any actual skills that would be gained form the process itself, and ended up just rolling an additional two years onto the Witcher lifepath. I ended up basing the new lifepath on the dwarven Adventurer lifepath, which ended up also providing a pretty sweet bonus guide for the Witcher trait. I also created one additional lifepath - that of the Witcher's Apprentice. This was a slight tweaking of the existing Page lifepath from the mannish stock, reducing the years served and adding the Demonology skill, but with a big hit to the Resources points gained.
The one little wrinkle that I will say is probably necessary to tweak the game rules a bit to fit in is that the Witcher's Apprentice lifepath, like the Squire lifepath it's based on, requires that it be the second lifepath a character takes, but is itself an Outcast lifepath. This means that, due to the lack of Born lifepaths that lead to the Outcast subsetting, you might have to fudge things a bit in order to incorporate this into your games and allow other lifepaths to lead into the Outcast setting.
Anyway, here's what I've come up with. Please feel free to respond with your thoughts, and to use in your games. If you DO end up using any of these for a game that you're running, please let me know how they play out.
| Outcast Setting | Time | Resources | Stat | Leads |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Witcher's Apprentice | 5 yrs | 5 | +1P | Any |
| Skills: 6 pts: Brawling, Read, Write, Sword, Demonology | ||||
| Traits: 2 pts: - | ||||
| Prerequisites: If chosen, this path must be the character's second lifepath and may only be taken once. | ||||
| Witcher | 7 yrs | 10 | +1M/P | Any |
| Skills: 12 pts: Sorcery, Climbing, Folklore, Herbalism, Haggling, Brawling, Sword, Crossbow, Axe, Appraisal, Munitions, Survival, Symbology, Alchemy | ||||
| Traits: 2 pt: Witcher, Mutant | ||||
| Requires: Witcher's Apprentice or any Soldier lifepath. | ||||
| Witcher | Dt | |||
| Witchers are feared by the commonfolk, considered freaks and meddlers. As such, Witchers gain +1 Ob to all Circles tests when dealing with Born Peasant or Villager humans. However, they may take a minor (1D) affiliation with the school that trained them for free. | ||||
| Mutant | Dt | 4 pts | ||
| The mutation that witchers undergo renders them sterile and unable to produce offspring. However, the procedure gifts them with sight into the supernatural realm. All Observation tests made to see traces of the supernatural are open-ended. | ||||
Tuesday, August 9, 2016
Getting My Wheels Burning
Busy and productive week this has been! After months of trying toying with the idea of various different game designs and hitting various walls with each one, I had a random bit of inspiration the end of last week, and put together the early parts of a new game! It's obviously still very raw, but I'm very excited with the shape that it's taken so far. I gathered up some additional materials that I'll need, and I think the next step is to actually start some playtesting. I've never hit this stage with a game before, so this is all very exciting. Once I get a bit father along, I'll likely try to recruit some additional playtesters to get some more eyes on it. But still, progress.
Also very exciting is the fact that I received my Kickstarter copy of the Burning Wheel Codex. For those unaware, the Codex is a sort of rerelease of the original books that made up the original Burning Wheel set but weren't included in Gold - specifically, the Monster Burner, Adventure Burner, and the Magic Burner.
So not that I finally have the complete rules in hand, I've been pouring through everything pretty regularly. The essays contained in the Adventure Burner in particular have been fantastic to go through, with a lot of great advice on running the game itself and some pretty rad ideas of gaming and GMing as a whole.
Anyway, the biggest upside of all the information contained in the Codex is that now I have better tools for making a setting to run a campaign! Outside of the people I've played with online, the majority of the people I play (and I think a lot of casual gamers in general) are more likely to get behind the idea of a new game or campaign based on the setting. So which one is the best to explore with my fancy new books?
Banner Saga
This one is partially on me playing this one recently, or rather Banner Saga 2, but I think from a Burning Wheel standpoint there are a lot of awesome possibilities. The setting itself is pretty close to the out-the-box Sagas of the Icelanders game, but with enough distinctions that I think there would be a lot missed running in that system. In particular, I think BW allows for really trying to flesh out the hulking Varl. Still, pretty niche audience I think for the most part.
Elder Scrolls
In keeping with the northern European but not quite viking high fantasy idea, the Elder Scrolls series provides some great options for running a game I think. The setting itself is incredibly fleshed out, which is a benefit as well as a bit of constraint, as there's more room for butting up against canon in terms of campaigns. Not the hugest deal in the world, but something to think about. The other question in using the Tamriel is settling on the primary province of the game, and how that will affect mechanics. Skyrim? At least one person is going to want to play as a dragonborn, meaning shouts will need to be fleshed out. There's also a much greater number of race options that will need to be determined. The various man and mer races are likely to be covered by limiting and tweaks various existing lifepaths, but what about the kaihjit? Or the argonians? Some heavy lifting would be required here.
Which, I think, brings me to my most likely setting for a future Burning Wheel game.
Witcher 3
I'll confess something here: I have Witcher 3. I've played Witcher 3. I have, as of yet, been unable to really get into Witcher 3. This is largely to due with the control schemes of the game itself, particularly when it comes to combat. For whatever reason, the game is very counter-intuitive to my play style when it comes to video games. However, what is inarguable is that I do find the game world itself incredibly fascinating, well developed, and (perhaps most importantly for my purposes here) open.
There's a lot of generic in Witcher 3 that I think it would be simple enough to try and convert to a default setting like Burning Wheel's, and likely without much fuss. Are there towns in Witcher 3? Are there important characters? Yes, of course. But while I know many players could tell you there's a character named The Bloody Baron, I would think fewer would be able to tell you what the name of his town is. I'm a fairly reactionary GM - I plan scenarios, I'm good at interpreting player action and coming up with creative responses to that action, even if I didn't plan anything ahead of time. Where I am very weak is in carefully planning out encounters and fleshing out the meticulous details of a world. I'm perfectly fine referring to a town as "that place we went where the duke killed his wife while we were there" in my groups, and I'm much more apt to remember that than the name of the town anyway.
That being said, it doesn't mean there's no work to be done in order to convert Burning Wheel's default setting framework over to Witcher 3. For one thing, there's a lot of limiting of the available character races. Dwarves would make sense given their roles in the game, elves would be iffy I think, but no orcs. Really I would ideally limit the PC choices to human and dwarf. Then, assuming the players are mostly planning on playing witchers, there need to be some specific traits made up. Witchers are sterile in game terms, and also have their unique cat eyes that allow them to see the magic secrets in the world around them, so there's some call-on or die traits to be dealt with there.
Where the Codex really caught my eye as it relates to the way magic and the witchers actually tackling supernatural creatures would be handled. The game is largely based around northern European folklore, so the system works perfectly there with the Folklore skill. Players can use that to try and discern remedies and charms for combating various ghouls and beasts, very similar in that regard to how the story progresses in the actual game. The bigger question relates to how the game would handle magic. The game has witches and the like in it, so there are some spells there, but by and large the witchers themselves have only a handful of magical powers to work with. These come off less like true spells in the traditional RPG sense and more general skills that happen to be magical in nature.
This, I think, would be something best covered by using the Art Magic rules rather than the standard sorcery rules built into the system. For the most part, the spells like Igni and such would be covered pretty well by the various functions of the Sorcery skill under the Art Magic rules, maybe with some slight tweaking and interpretation. The big thing is that, in trying to emulate the game world, the witchers less learn new spells as they do improve their existing powers, which grow in strength as they go on. In that sense, it seems to me to work better to just have a single skill, broken into different schools of magic in order to allow a bit more customization opportunity and less ability to munchkin as much, and having that skill improve through play as the game wears on. Plus, then we don't have to constantly remember exact spell names and functions (again, planning and details aren't exactly my thing).
This will take some time and some percolating as far as the specifics go, but I think there's enough here to work with. Once I get things fleshed out a bit more, I'll try and post some of my tweaks and such for anybody else out there who'd like to run their own Witcher game.
As always, thanks for reading.
Also very exciting is the fact that I received my Kickstarter copy of the Burning Wheel Codex. For those unaware, the Codex is a sort of rerelease of the original books that made up the original Burning Wheel set but weren't included in Gold - specifically, the Monster Burner, Adventure Burner, and the Magic Burner.
 |
| The Burning Wheel Codex |
So not that I finally have the complete rules in hand, I've been pouring through everything pretty regularly. The essays contained in the Adventure Burner in particular have been fantastic to go through, with a lot of great advice on running the game itself and some pretty rad ideas of gaming and GMing as a whole.
Anyway, the biggest upside of all the information contained in the Codex is that now I have better tools for making a setting to run a campaign! Outside of the people I've played with online, the majority of the people I play (and I think a lot of casual gamers in general) are more likely to get behind the idea of a new game or campaign based on the setting. So which one is the best to explore with my fancy new books?
Banner Saga
This one is partially on me playing this one recently, or rather Banner Saga 2, but I think from a Burning Wheel standpoint there are a lot of awesome possibilities. The setting itself is pretty close to the out-the-box Sagas of the Icelanders game, but with enough distinctions that I think there would be a lot missed running in that system. In particular, I think BW allows for really trying to flesh out the hulking Varl. Still, pretty niche audience I think for the most part.
Elder Scrolls
In keeping with the northern European but not quite viking high fantasy idea, the Elder Scrolls series provides some great options for running a game I think. The setting itself is incredibly fleshed out, which is a benefit as well as a bit of constraint, as there's more room for butting up against canon in terms of campaigns. Not the hugest deal in the world, but something to think about. The other question in using the Tamriel is settling on the primary province of the game, and how that will affect mechanics. Skyrim? At least one person is going to want to play as a dragonborn, meaning shouts will need to be fleshed out. There's also a much greater number of race options that will need to be determined. The various man and mer races are likely to be covered by limiting and tweaks various existing lifepaths, but what about the kaihjit? Or the argonians? Some heavy lifting would be required here.
Which, I think, brings me to my most likely setting for a future Burning Wheel game.
Witcher 3
I'll confess something here: I have Witcher 3. I've played Witcher 3. I have, as of yet, been unable to really get into Witcher 3. This is largely to due with the control schemes of the game itself, particularly when it comes to combat. For whatever reason, the game is very counter-intuitive to my play style when it comes to video games. However, what is inarguable is that I do find the game world itself incredibly fascinating, well developed, and (perhaps most importantly for my purposes here) open.
There's a lot of generic in Witcher 3 that I think it would be simple enough to try and convert to a default setting like Burning Wheel's, and likely without much fuss. Are there towns in Witcher 3? Are there important characters? Yes, of course. But while I know many players could tell you there's a character named The Bloody Baron, I would think fewer would be able to tell you what the name of his town is. I'm a fairly reactionary GM - I plan scenarios, I'm good at interpreting player action and coming up with creative responses to that action, even if I didn't plan anything ahead of time. Where I am very weak is in carefully planning out encounters and fleshing out the meticulous details of a world. I'm perfectly fine referring to a town as "that place we went where the duke killed his wife while we were there" in my groups, and I'm much more apt to remember that than the name of the town anyway.
That being said, it doesn't mean there's no work to be done in order to convert Burning Wheel's default setting framework over to Witcher 3. For one thing, there's a lot of limiting of the available character races. Dwarves would make sense given their roles in the game, elves would be iffy I think, but no orcs. Really I would ideally limit the PC choices to human and dwarf. Then, assuming the players are mostly planning on playing witchers, there need to be some specific traits made up. Witchers are sterile in game terms, and also have their unique cat eyes that allow them to see the magic secrets in the world around them, so there's some call-on or die traits to be dealt with there.
Where the Codex really caught my eye as it relates to the way magic and the witchers actually tackling supernatural creatures would be handled. The game is largely based around northern European folklore, so the system works perfectly there with the Folklore skill. Players can use that to try and discern remedies and charms for combating various ghouls and beasts, very similar in that regard to how the story progresses in the actual game. The bigger question relates to how the game would handle magic. The game has witches and the like in it, so there are some spells there, but by and large the witchers themselves have only a handful of magical powers to work with. These come off less like true spells in the traditional RPG sense and more general skills that happen to be magical in nature.
This, I think, would be something best covered by using the Art Magic rules rather than the standard sorcery rules built into the system. For the most part, the spells like Igni and such would be covered pretty well by the various functions of the Sorcery skill under the Art Magic rules, maybe with some slight tweaking and interpretation. The big thing is that, in trying to emulate the game world, the witchers less learn new spells as they do improve their existing powers, which grow in strength as they go on. In that sense, it seems to me to work better to just have a single skill, broken into different schools of magic in order to allow a bit more customization opportunity and less ability to munchkin as much, and having that skill improve through play as the game wears on. Plus, then we don't have to constantly remember exact spell names and functions (again, planning and details aren't exactly my thing).
This will take some time and some percolating as far as the specifics go, but I think there's enough here to work with. Once I get things fleshed out a bit more, I'll try and post some of my tweaks and such for anybody else out there who'd like to run their own Witcher game.
As always, thanks for reading.
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