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Castiel
2011-12-16, 02:56 AM
The Witcher is a polish book series as well as a recent video game that has become pretty popular. The main character of the series, Geralt, is one of my favorite characters in any fantasy setting, and I would love to build him for 4e. Now if this simply means retooling another class, or writing up a new one, I don't know, but thats why I'm asking you guys. If you know who the witchers are then go ahead and give me all you've got, but if you don't then I'll give a brief synopsis of their history/abilities/ etc.

From the game:
Witchers came into being when the first settlers were colonizing the untamed lands of present-day Temeria. The elite caste of warrior-monks was to defend humans from the monsters which inhabited the wild. Thanks to mutagenic mushrooms, herbs, and plant stimulants, the bodies of young apprentices developed superhuman speed and endurance. As a result of the painful and dangerous Trial of the Grasses, young witchers gained cat-like eyes, which allowed them to see in the dark. With the help of sorcerers they learned to utilize simple combat spells called Signs as well as magic potions that augmented their fighting skills.

Their combat abilities relied on their swordsmanship, and their use of small magic abilities.

They carried two swords (a silver one for monsters, and a steel one for humans) which they used in a series of forms. There is a fast form (for agile creatures), a slow form (which focused on heavy hits), and a group form (AoE like attacks). In combat they were unable to hold back(IE no nonlethal damage), and they fought very ruthlessly (lots of stun, and bleeding effects). There was one story where a witcher tried to commit suicide by attacking some guards without any weapons, but he still walked away alive. Their combat style relies on being mobile, and countering.

They also used signs, which are the equivalent of small magic spells. There was igni (fire), aard (a telekenetic thrust), yrden (creates a magical trap that causes pain), quen (forms a protective field), and axii (charm effect). Each sign drained them a lot, so they weren't used often, but they did give them an edge.

So in 4e terms, they are definitely strikers, they don't really care for stealth, they use bastard swords (flavor wise), and they are a race/class combination, which raises some interesting problems. I could see it being a weird rogue hybrid that allows the use of heavy blades, I could see a ranger combat style that allows heavy blades, and I could see a retooling of the avenger, but none of that really gets the feel of its combat right. My idea for creating a new class would be a martial/arcane based striker/defender. One build would focus on magic and the other would focus on swordplay, although it would still be able to do both. Signs would be encounter spells (maybe usable twice), and everything else is self explanatory. Utility spells would be some signs, or abilities that help isolate enemies, or counter attacks.

So thats what I've got so far. I'm about to be the DM of a game, so it wouldn't be hard for me to playtest anything we come up with. I'm inclined to create a new class, even though that is a lot of work in 4e. If you guys have any ideas, I would love to hear them.

Castiel
2011-12-16, 03:04 AM
The class outline would look something like this:

Role: striker/defender - In combat witchers concentrate on attacking the most threatening enemy and dealing great damage to quickly grab it's attention.
Power source: martial/arcana - the witcher's abilities are a mix of physical ability and some magical spells.

Key ability Str/Dex (combat), Con (survivability), Int (spells)
Armor prof: cloth, leather, hide (they were lightly armored)
Weapon prof: simple melee, military melee, simple ranged (mostly melee based)
Def bonus: +1 fort +1 ref (fast and hardy)
Hp at 1 lvl: 15 + con (were pretty resilient)
Hs per day: 7 + con mod
Hp per lvl: 6
Trained skills: I would do the same as ranger, but with Arcana instead of Stealth to support the signs.
Build options: Quick style (a dex based build with maybe a multi attack option), Strong style (a str based build). These could be expressed through stances (?)


Class features: Prey (once an encounter - minor action: choose your prey - your attacks against it deal extra d6 damage per tier and the target is marked(?), if target dies, regain use of power).
Witcher metabolism ( +5 vs poison and afflictions)
Extra damage with heavy blades.

The Troubadour
2011-12-19, 06:47 AM
It probably would miss out on at least a few of the Witchers' secondary abilities, but I thought of making a Geralt-type character as a Ranger|Warlock hybrid focusing on DEX and CHA, using the Ranger's DEX melee/ranged powers from "Martial Power 2" and the Fey Pact's more control-focused spells.

The Succubus
2011-12-19, 06:51 AM
You've overlooked a couple of points:

* Witchers are not just magic users with a sword - they undergo several genetic mutations as well, which forms a large part of their combat ability. It also affects their interactions with other people.

* Witchers also depends *very strongly* on the consumption of potions as well. The game manages them by means of a toxicity meter but a paper version will need some sort of system to manage the various potions and their effects.

Ziegander
2011-12-19, 12:16 PM
I also don't see where you're getting the defender role from any of the source material. They are pure strikers the way I see it.

Castiel
2011-12-25, 12:00 AM
the only reason I say defender is because they were able to suck up quite a bit of damage. They are definitely hands down striker.

I've been playing around with it and it seems that a ranger gets the right tone for a lot of the witchers combat abilities, but the only problem is that all of those powers require two weapons. I just homeruled a version of flurry of blows for 4e.

I'd be interested in trying to work out a version of the class from scratch if anyone else is.