The Witcher Pen & Paper RPG
Page 50
encourage you to have your
give the players a reason to follow any plot tant to the plot, you may have to hold off for own Roach in your games.
arc.
a while until they are free. But if they aren’t
very important to the current plot, have
“Guest Appearances”
something happen to them. They could be
After you get your game started you may kidnapped, wander off, be called away for
wind up with people who want to join it, some reason, or even made into a tiny jade
or people you want to see in the game. The doll.
problem is, often you already have as many
players as you can handle long-term. This is “The NPC”
where guest appearances come in handy. In my games I always try to give the play-
Have that person make a character, maybe ers one NPC that is their companion. “The
give them something that ties them into the NPC” is a very important tool when run-
plot for one episode. Think of it like the long ning for more than two or three players. It’s list of “Scooby-Doo™ Meets Some Celebri- very nice to have an NPC you control who
ty” episodes. This gets the player in for one not only is always with the party but also
game to see how it works.
has some weight with them when making
If everybody has fun and it’s not decisions. Make this NPC very detailed, do-
too hard for you to run, make them a recur- ing a whole character sheet and Lifepath for
ring character. Every three or four episodes them. Remember, though: this NPC is there
they make another appearance and join the to help the players when they’re lost or keep
“main characters” for another adventure. them on track when they go off the rails. The
This is especial y fun if you bring them in NPC shouldn’t be the savior of the party or
as a bounty hunter or monster slayer going raise invisible wal s around them. Use them
after the same quarry as the players.
when the players miss an important check
to move the game forward, or when your
The TV Theory
players make a suicidal or insane decision
If you have a lot of character-based role- ‘just because.’
players in your party, one fun approach is to
It even pays off to keep this char-
pretend your game is an ongoing television acter largely in the background. That way
show. Have people pick actors/actresses for when your players do something insane and
their characters. Write each new session as have to face the consequences, your NPC
an episode in the series.
can slip away and come to help the players
This can even help you write better later when they have to escape the jail cell/
adventures. By writing your game as a TV execution/lake bottom.
show you have a lot of references for how
to pattern your game and how to lay out the
plot. If your players REALLY get into it they
229
230
Lycanthropes
If you want, you can let your
Curses
player play themselves while
Curses Are A Plot Device
Making Curses
they are in werewolf form.
There are very few known and written hex- When making a curse, just use your im-
As long as they can adhere to
es like the Nightmare, the Devil’s Luck, or agination. Curses can do everything from
the understanding that they
the Hex of Shadows. Curses, on the other transmuting people to animating entire
are not in their right mind,
hand, whether in the Witcher books or vid- mansions. If you need some ideas or a pre-it does allow the player to
eo games, are plot devices. You should gen- made curse, check out the tables below. Re-
most accurately act on their
eral y only use curses in the TRPG either to member though: a curse should never be
character’s worst impuls-
drive the plot or to get hooks into your play- random. Curses are poetic justice that pun-es. But they must be able to
ers. Curses are too powerful to just throw ish transgressions in a fitting way. The Curse
keep their vicious nature in
out randomly.
Building section give you more information
mind. Being a lycanthrope is
about making your own curses.
a curse, not a benefit.
Known Curses
The Monstrous Curse
The Curse of the Wanderer
Effect: The Monstrous Curse makes a subject appear
Effect: The Curse of the Wanderer is one of the most
monstrous to all who see them. While they remain
vicious curses. Though it doesn’t hurt the subject, it
humanoid, their facial features take on aspects of a
strips away even the most loyal friend, relative, or
random animal. Roll 1d10; 1-2: Bear, 3-4: Boar, 5-6:
companion. Slowly the people around the subject
Bird, 7-8: Snake, 9-10: Insect. The curse-bearer’s
are pushed away by misunderstandings, arguments,
social standing is now Hated & Feared, no matter
natural interventions, or even kidnappings until (if
what it was. The cursed is not actual y a monster and
they stay around for more than a month) fate starts
doesn’t take damage from silver, but appears mon-
conspiring to kill them.
strous and will be mistaken for a monster by anyone
Intensity: High
who fails a DC:18 Education rol .
Intensity: Medium
Lycanthropy
Effect: A character afflicted with Lycanthropy has a 30%
The Haunting
chance of changing into their werewolf form every night,
Effect: The Haunting can only curse an area. It
when the moon rises. When a character changes, they
summons the spirits of every person wronged in
become a vicious predator with a human’s cunning and an
the area as wraiths. When you cast this curse, roll
urge to kill. If the character is a player character, they are
5d6 to see how many wraiths manifest. If the area is
taken over by the GM until the sun rises. When in their
particularly horrible, roll an extra 2d6. If the area is
werewolf form the character acts on all their worst impuls-
relatively tame, just roll 2d6. These wraiths remain in es with no mercy and kills anyone in their way. While in the area until killed and return the next night. They
their beast state the lycanthrope has all of the werewolf’s
will attack anything that enters the cursed area. The
weapons, armor, and abilities. The character also adds a
only way to get rid of this curse is to somehow right
bonus to 4 of their statistics except as noted below.
the wrongs done in the area.
Intensity: High
Intensity: Medium
The Curse of Pestilence
Werewolf Bonuses
Effect: The Curse of Pestilence makes the subject a
carrier for a dangerous disease. While they are un-
Reflex+2
Body+3
affected by the disease, they spread it to anyone who
touches them and fails a DC:18 Endurance check. If
Speed+4
Empathy-5
they stay in a building for more than 3 days, every-
one in the building must make a DC:16 Endurance
> check. If they stay in a town for more than a week,
everyone in that town must make a DC:14 Endur-
ance check.
Intensity: High
231
Curse Building
Building a curse is an art. No
Violence
Betrayal
Inaction
Lifting Curses
effect in a curse should be ran- Animals are uneasy The cursed is always People are unwilling Curses are punishments,
dom; you should be able to around the cursed.
left alone at night.
to help the cursed.
so they’re hard to get rid of.
trace everything back to the
Those the cursed
There are few curses that you
reason the curse was cast.
Blood pours from the The cursed has vivid
cursed’s eyes at night.
night terrors.
failed to help appear
can lift without some pain
If you need help mak-
as hal ucinations.
on somebody’s end. Once
ing a good curse, here are a Wraiths chase the The cursed loses the The cursed’s body
again, the steps to break a
few suggestions on what you cursed every night.
ability to love.
becomes sick and
curse should be related to
could bring to bear for cer-
twisted.
the cause of the curse. You
tain actions or inactions. De- The cursed is com- The cursed sees the Food the cursed eats
pelled to kill anyone person they betrayed turns to ash, but they
can use the Penance table to
pending on the severity of the who comes too near. in every mirror.
can’t starve.
get a concept for what level
curse, you can also stack a The cursed feels like Everyone the cursed The cursed is struck of penance need be paid.
number of curse effects on top
of each other. A curse should they are being vivi- loves turns against with paralysis at crusected in the night.
them.
cial moments.
never feel too unfair, though.
There should be some hope.
The cursed becomes
hideously ugly to The tools and weap- Anywhere the cursed
match their person- ons of the cursed al- stays begins decaying
ways break.
and falling apart.
Cursed Places
ality.
For cursed places, penance
Penance & Suffering
should be a bit different. If
the curse is tied to a person,
No two curses are lifted the
the Penance table is fine. But
Intensity
Penance & Suffering
same way. Three people afflict-
if the curse is specificaly on
ed with lycanthropy may find
Low intensity curses are small time and don’t threat-
the place then the penance
en the life of the cursed. Lifting these curses require
three entirely separate ways to
usualy means ending the
smaller things such as: the forgiveness of the person
lift their curses. When some-
Low
who cursed them, giving away all of their money,
suffering of spirits around
one gets cursed in your game,
or burning their most prized possession under the
the cursed place, or perhaps
take a moment to figure out
full moon.
returning something to the
how they’re gonna undo the
Medium intensity curses are dangerous and power-
place.
curse. You don’t have to tell
ful webs of magic that threaten the cursed’s life. Lift-
Medium
ing these curses requires real suffering. The cursed
them but you should know,
must: renounce a loved one, nearly die, or spend
just in case they stumble upon
years in isolation and misery.
it. Based on the severity of a
High intensity curses are tremendously dangerous
curse, here are a few sugges-
and, luckily, very rare. These curses require in-
tions for how curses can end.
High
tense suffering. To lift these curses the cursed must:
sacrifice a beloved companion, or lose literal y
everything.
232
World States
Throughout the novels of Andrzej Sap- Both fortunately and unfortunately, the
kowski, many many events take place with Witcher video games add quite a bit of vari-clear ripple effects. Characters die, betray- ability to the world as you play. The Witcher als rock relationships, friends are made, 1, 2, and 3 are masterpieces of roleplaying.
and long-lasting feuds are created. All of Your decisions have ripple effects and out-these events shape the world of the novels comes that make you a real factor in the his-into an interesting and lively place.
tory of the world.
But as a result, as of The Witcher 1,
the history of the Witcher world diverges
with each choice you make throughout the
three games. Important characters may die
or may not. Countries may thrive and may
col apse. It all depends on the player of the
video game, at least for their game world.
This complicates things for our roleplaying
game, especial y for someone who has never
played any of the video games.
It would have been easy enough to
pick one world state based on my personal
play throughs of the video games and say
‘this is the canonical setting for the TRPG’
but that felt like cheating to me. Millions
of people have played through the Witcher
video games and crafted their own unique
stories as they went. So this small section
gives people who played the video games
the tools to play in the world they helped
build, and also to help those who didn’t play
the video games get a feel for the choices
that were made in the video games, then
pick and choose their ideal world state for
the TRPG.
Granted, not every choice you can
make in the Witcher video games is repre-
sented here. Many small decisions are very
important to the video games but have little
influence in the grand scheme of the setting.
Decisions like killing Loredo in Flotsam are
important in The Witcher 2, but trivial to
the larger Witcher Universe since Flotsam
is a small backwater town. However, deci-
sions like whether the siege of Vergen is a
success and what happens at the summit at
Loc Muinne are vastly important and must
be taken into account.
233
Decisive Regions
Regional Fates
Description
The small city of Vergen in Upper Aedirn was recently the site of warfare and contention between not only Aedirn and Kaedwen, but also a third party—an elderfolk alliance led by a woman named Saskia, otherwise The Fate of Vergen
known as the Virgin of Aedirn. King Henselt of Kaedwen laid siege to the city recently, hoping to take back Northern Aedirn, which was once part of Kaedwen. This siege determines the power balance of the region and is one of the most important events in the last year.
/> Last year, Letho of Gulet and the King Slayers assassinated King Demavend of Aedirn. This left Aedirn with The Fate of Aedirn
one remaining legitimate heir: Prince Stennis. Prince Stennis wound up in Vergen during the siege. In an attempt to unify Aedirn, he poisoned the leader of the Vergen rebels, Saskia. Depending on his fate, Aedirn wil either survive or fall into madness.
In the few months since the siege of La Valette Castle, Temeria has been in turmoil, with many noble families The Fate of Temeria
vying for the throne. The only solution would be the return of Anaïs La Valette, King Foltest’s only viable heir, who has been kidnapped by Nilfgaardians. At Loc Muinne, whether the rescued Annais goes to Temerian forces or their Redanian neighbors determines Temeria’s status during the Third Nilfgaardian War.
At the summit at Loc Muinne, the deceit of the Lodge of Sorceresses becomes public. This great betrayal turns The Fate of the Mages
the people of the North against magic users of any kind. The fate of magic users across the North depends on the fate of Triss Merigold and whether she is able to influence the kings of the North to reinstitute the Council of Mages.
Decisive People
Personal Fates
Description
Saskia of Aedirn, otherwise known as the Virgin of Aedirn, is the tenacious leader of the Pontar Valley rebels.
Saskia of Aedirn
She is a dragon in disguise who, during the events of Witcher 2: As assin of Kings, is poisoned by a prince and then subsequently saved and mind-controlled by a cabal of sorceresses. She may be killed at the summit at Loc Muinne, may escape (still under the sorceress’ control), or may be freed to return to the Pontar Valley.
Sile De Tancerville is a high-level sorceress and part of a cabal known as the Lodge of Sorceresses. For a time Sile DeTancerville
she works with Geralt of Rivia, but at the end of Witcher 2: As assin of Kings, she betrays the North and at empts a coup. In her at empted escape she can either survive or be killed by an imperfect crystal planted by Letho of Gulet.
The King Slayer, also known as Letho of Gulet, is a witcher from the School of the Viper. He was hired by the The King Slayer,
Emperor of Nilfgaard to pretend to work for the Lodge of Sorceresses and use that guise to destabilize the Letho of Gulet
Northern Kingdoms with regicide. At the end of the summit at Loc Muinne he may be killed by Geralt of Rivia or be spared.
Aryan La Valette is the eldest son of the Duchess of La Valette Castle. He led the forces of La Valette Castle Aryan La Valette
against a siege by King Foltest of Temeria, who had come to take back his bastard children. At the end of the siege, Aryan La Valette is either killed by Geralt of Rivia or spared.