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The Witcher Pen & Paper RPG

Page 49

by Cody Pondsmith


  Doling Out The Goods

  every 3 monsters that inhabit this cave (in

  With an idea of what makes up your loot, this case large monsters count for 6 small

  it’s important to know how to hand it out. monsters, i.e. 2d6). This is how many bod-

  Here’s how it should usual y go:

  ies are in the cave. For each body, roll 1d6

  again to see how many items they had on

  them when they died, then randomly roll or

  choose them. You can also scatter weapons

  or armor of your choosing if some of the

  victims were armed adventurers/bandits.

  Final y, roll percentiles. On a 80-100 there is

  a rare item or diagram.

  Looting Humans or Non-Humans: When

  looting the average bandit (or traveler, if you

  are the bandits) you’ll usual y find 1d10 ran-

  dom items, whatever weapons and armor

  they had, and an amount of crowns based

  on the enemy.

  You may decide to put rare dia-

  grams or items on the opposition. If you’re

  looting a bandit den or somebody’s house,

  roll 2d10 to find out how many random

  items you find and percentiles to see how

  many crowns you find. Final y, roll percen-

  tiles. On a 80-100 there is a rare item or dia-

  gram.

  223

  Random Possessions Gear Up First

  Always remember to rol

  Roll

  Mundane

  Strange

  Occult

  for the items on an enemy

  before you bring them into

  1-3

  Partially used journal

  Strange statuette

  Black magic dol

  a combat. You don’t want to

  4-6

  Wrapped turkey leg

  Fingernail shavings

  Strange mask

  have to retcon the fact that

  7-9

  Locket

  Pot of ashes

  Strange circlet

  they were carrying a bedrol

  10-12

  Hand mirror

  Choke col ar

  Elf ear

  or hauling around a griffin

  egg.

  13-15

  Instrument

  Taxidermied mouse

  Wooden stake with runes

  16-18

  Guild badge

  Lock of hair

  Book bound in skin

  19-21

  Thieves tools

  Strange letter

  Monster part (GM’s choice)

  22-24

  Pelt of some kind

  Instructions for a trade

  Unit of glowing ore

  25-27

  Random book

  Fragment of stone

  Hal ucinogenic fungus

  28-30

  Waterskin

  Pocket full of gravel

  Preserved organ in a jar

  31-33

  Silver ring

  Scribbled fortunes

  Vial of blood

  34-36

  Manacles

  Ball of clay

  Records of black magic

  37-39

  Bedroll

  Folk remedy for something

  Bloody hand

  40-42

  Dice

  Mechanical piece

  Bag of teeth

  43-45

  Business ledger

  Scrimshawed bone

  Monster skul

  46-48

  Cheap wine

  Ladies’ underwear

  Notes about the players

  49-51

  Map of the area

  Strange dried meat

  Map to an unknown place

  52-54

  Flask of spirits

  Blackmail material

  Dead bird

  55-57 Lucky charm of some form

  Marital aids

  Feverish sketches

  58-60

  Gwent deck

  Odd dream journal

  Insane notes

  61-63

  Tent

  Fish bones

  Illegible scrol

  64-66

  Sketch of a person

  Note with one number

  Symbol writ en in blood

  67-69

  Soap

  Tooth

  Strange jade statuette

  70-72

  Holy symbol

  Worn out shoe

  A lock of blonde hair

  73-75

  Flint & steel

  Reins

  A strange, empty lamp

  76-78

  Whistle

  List of people

  Scrimshawed human bone

  79-81

  Sun stone

  Five iron nails

  Iron shoes

  82-84

  Shopping list

  Strange sea shells

  Human skul

  85-87

  1 Unit of feathers

  Strange poetry

  Censer full of caked blood

  88-90

  Dried meat or salted fish

  Extremely mouldy bread

  Tat ooed skin

  91-93

  Pouch of spices

  Unknown key

  Ritual dagger

  94-96

  Empty vial

  Paper with lipstick marks

  Black magic ring

  97-100

  Chalk

  Arrowhead

  Severed tongue

  224

  Min-Maxers Aren’t

  Evil

  Relics & Min-Maxers

  The world of The Witcher is very danger- 3. Witcher items and experimental mag-Min-Maxers aren’t inher-

  ous; both the video games and the TRPG ic are very rare. They’re trade secrets. Give rently evil. A lot of times

  reflect that. But a well-prepared player can players one or two of these items, but make they min-max as a defense

  acquire many abilities and bits of gear that them work for the formula.

  mechanism to make sure

  make them hell on wheels— or hooves, as

  they don’t get overrun by

  the case may be. In many respects that’s Your players can still become badasses, and other players. If you have a

  fine. It’s cool for a player to plan and gath- that’s fine. You want your players to be able min-maxer in your party

  er gear and allies, then take down some to pull off incredible feats and escapes. Ya you’ll know pretty soon if

  big monster, like a fiend. But beware: a just don’t want them to be too powerful.

  they are just looking to game

  min-maxer in the party can make life hell

  You also can work around your

  the system. If they are, feel

  on earth for a new GM.

  min-maxing players. By their nature,

  free to unleash hell (within

  min-maxers optimize for one type of thing,

  reason of course). If they’re

  Min-Maxer

  usual y combat. If you have a min-maxed

  just trying to make the most

  (Noun)

  combat character, change things up. Make

  survivable character they

  Popularity in Games: Highly unpopular

  the next few challenge puzzles or other such

  can, go ahead and let them.

  Simple Definition: A player who spends mental problems. Pick battlefields (marshes, They mean you no harm.

  hours, even days, reading through every bit rooftops) that play to their weaknesses. You

  They just want to make it

  of source material, every rule and online can deal with min-maxers and have them

  through th
e game on one

  guide, to create the ultimate character, often in your game groups, but you have to know

  character and not get run

  using exploits or loopholes in the system to how to control them.

  over.

  achieve this.

  Why Relic Items Aren’t

  Being married to a top-tier min-maxer, I Craftable

  have to deal with this a lot. The Witcher sys- One important change from the Witcher tem offers many possible character skil s and video games to the TRPG is that relic items

  items that grant special abilities. If you let are no longer craftable. This is a pretty big your players accumulate too many too fast, and even frustrating change, but the TRPG

  you’re going to have to throw big things at needs it, for two reasons.

  them to keep them busy. And while that can

  First, most relic items in The Witch-

  be epic for a while, it hurts to send a big, bad er gained their power through events they boss monster after your players and watch experienced. It would be rather strange to

  them flatten it in two rounds because part of craft the cursed blade Virgin, for instance.

  your party has reached a level of power you Freya doesn’t give it to you, and no horrible

  were previously unaware of.

  betrayals taint its magic. Why’s it cursed?

  The GM’s key to managing that is to Because it was made in the same way?

  remember that you control when your play- Wouldn’t it come out as the original un-

  ers get the big toys.

  cursed holy blade? Who knows. Most likely

  it would just come out as a regular blade.

  1. Give relics as major quest rewards. Don’t

  Second, being able to craft relic

  hand them out left and right.

  items out of common parts means...wel ,

  mass production. Say you get hold of the

  2. Potions and decoctions have toxici- diagram for the legendary sword Devine, ty, which will keep Witcher players from which does a ton of damage and has a bunch

  knocking back too many.

  of bonuses.

  225

  Theoretical y, to make Devine you only

  need:

  1 Unit of Leather

  2 Units of Steel Ingot

  1 Unit of Diamond Dust

  1 Unit of Sapphire Dust

  Take that diagram to the right crafter and

  you could outfit every member of your par-

  ty with a Devine. Or copy that diagram a

  hundred times and you can sell the key to

  making a tremendously powerful sword to

  anyone who’ll pay and make a ton of coin.

  Not only does that throw the game into cha-

  os by pushing your party’s power through

  the roof and blowing up the local politics

  and economy, it diminishes the meaning of

  the sword. Suddenly it goes from:

  Devine, the legendary sword, imbued with

  the power of a treacherous djinn, which kil ed

  the wielder in a painful y ironic moment.

  to

  Devine, that sword design that does a lotta

  damage and stuff!

  When you final y get a relic, it should be an

  event. You should feel a certain weight, just

  having the item. Relics are not meant to be

  just tools that you forge over and over again

  so your party has the best gear. That’s why

  relics aren’t craftable in the Witcher TRPG.

  Sometimes you have to compromise to get

  the feel just right.

  226

  Continuity

  Of course, when you are

  Good NPCs

  A key ingredient in any good game is the NPCs, the non-player characters. Your plot

  making an NPC, keep a

  can be amazing, but if your NPCs are cardboard cut-outs, then the game will be dull.

  certain amount of realism

  Not every NPC has to be a portrait, but the core characters have to be at least vaguely in-and continuity. If you need

  teresting. To make things easier, follow these charts to quickly make interesting NPCs.

  a farmer to give your players

  information on a wyvern,

  you can generaly assume

  Basic NPC

  that that farmer won’t be a

  nobleman.

  Roll

  Race

  Gender

  Age

  Personality

  1

  Human

  Male

  Child

  Shy

  2

  Human

  Female

  Child

  Rebel ious

  3

  Human

  Male

  Teen

  Arrogant

  4

  Human

  Female

  Teen

  Headstrong

  5

  Aen Seidhe

  Male

  Young adult

  Friendly

  6

  Aen Seidhe

  Female

  Young adult

  Secretive

  7

  Aen Seidhe

  Male

  Adult

  Nervous

  8

  Dwarf

  Female

  Adult

  Flirtatious

  9

  Dwarf

  Male

  Elder

  Eccentric

  10

  Dwarf

  Female

  Elder

  Aloof

  Background

  Roll

  History

  Standing

  Romance

  Secret

  1

  Lost everything

  Slave

  None

  Is secretly a mage

  2

  Family was killed

  Slave

  None

  Found a lost treas-

  ure

  3

  Fought in the North-

  ern War

  Poor

  None

  Is a wanted criminal

  4

  Thinks they have

  Is a secret

  magic

  Poor

  Uninterested in

  love

  service agent

  5

  Almost died

  Poor

  Debauchery

  Has a secret life

  6

  Saved by a witcher

  Average

  Playboy

  Has a Secret Profes-

  sion

  7

  Used to be a priest

  Well to do

  Interested in a

  player

  Is a cross-dresser

  8

  Once ruled a small

  town

  Well to do

  A dedicated

  lover

  Is a deserter

  9

  Lived as a bandit

  Rich

  Married

  Has a secret lover

  10

  Killed a

  Has a hex or curse

  dangerous monster

  Nobility

  Star-crossed

  lovers

  of your choice

  227

  Campaigning

  A lot of people will probably just use this strikes again. Or, your players could find out Run Campaigns

  book to run short one-shot games. And that the monster was a sign of some greater

  I’m biased but I have to say,

  that’s fine, but your players may have so threat to come. Either way, you need a plot if you can, run a campaign.

  much fun they beg you to make the game l
arge enough that your players can pursue it

  One-shots are fun and if

  a campaign. That’s when this section will for quite a few games.

  you don’t have stable players

  come in handy.

  The Traveling Adventurers

  they’re the best option. But

  The Overarching Plot

  if you can get a few players

  Alternately you can choose a “traveling ad-

  together, run a whole cam-

  One-shots are designed to open and close venturers” campaign, where the players are

  paign. Players can realy get

  in one session. To “upgrade” your one-shot simply adventurers together, either on the

  at atched to their characters

  to a campaign, you have to pick a core plot. road for safety in numbers or because they

  and it’ll give you a million

  The best way to do this is to connect the plot have a common destination. In a game like

  great stories. It may seems

  from your one-shot to an overarching plot. this the destination almost doesn’t matter.

  difficult for new GMs but

  Something that builds on it to give your It just has to be a long way away, with lots that’s what this chapter is

  players more to do.

  of stops en route. Every episode, the players

  here for!

  For instance, say your players start- stop along the road and encounter some is-

  ed out by defeating the monster plaguing a sue they need to overcome, either to contin-

  town. They could find out a mysterious en- ue their journey or for some reward.

  emy sicced the monster on the town. Your

  campaign sends them to stop her before she

  228

  Don’t Expect Saints

  can play fandom to the show. Players can do

  Roach

  The world of The Witcher is a dog-eat-dog fan art, fan fiction, and other things based world. There are people who will do things around the “show.” It may sound sil y but it

  Horses with personality are

  out of the goodness of their hearts, but they gets people real y invested in the game, and

  surprisingly popular in my

  are exceedingly rare. People should rarely go keeps people interested whenever you can’t

  personal games. I’m not sure

  out of their way for the players at first meet- get everyone together for a game for a while.

  what it is but my players love

  ing unless the players offer something good.

  it when they get a horse or

  This applies to players as wel . Never assume When A Player’s Gone

  some other pack animal and

  your players will follow a plot because it’s Often you’ll wind up in a situation where all

  it turns out to have its own

  the right thing to do. Whether it’s the threat but one of your players is free for the game.

  quirks and habits. I highly

  of death or the promise of crowns, always This can be a tricky. If that player’s impor-

 

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