The World without Witchers Campaign Help

[Stormthroe]

Good morning/afternoon/evening Playgrounders!


I would like some input from all of you fantastically-minded fellows on a campaign I am building. I am trying to put together a Witcher-themed campaign with some major changes that will allow my players to take up the role of monster hunters. I am using sources from all across the web, but much of my notes is coming from Quickleaf's lovely Witcher in DnD 5e over at ENWorld, as well as some personal conversions I've put together over time.

Essentially, my campaign is set in an alternative storyline to the Witcher 3; the Witcher orders have all but been eradicated and what few Witchers remain are exiles and in hiding as the war between Nilfgaard and the North rages.

The protection of towns and villages has instead turned to smaller mercenary companies with their absence, and this is what I intend my players to be. As far as a plot, I essentially want to mold the Wild Hunt into a tool being used by a powerful, demigod-like Shadow Dragon/Dracolich from another plane (Shadowfell, I was guessing, or possibly an interdimensional prison) to open a portal into the Witcher world. I think that this end goal really lines up with the Witcher storyline, as the second Conjunction serves as an excellent end-game for such a big bad. It would allow the entity to enter the world, and the introduction of additional monsters and possibly races would give the BBEG plenty of new servants.

However, where I'm running into a problem is with the theory of magic differences between D&D 5e and the Witcher. As Quickleaf points out in his documents, the Witcher setting is very Tolkien-esque when it comes to magic. I have never run a low-magic campaign, so it really is uncharted territory for me, and I feel like D&D 5e does not really lend itself well to the low-magic setting.

I had intended to use the optional variant from the DMG for Spell Points, as opposed to slots, as well as alter the rules for class restrictions on spell lists to better reach the Witcher theory of Magic Without Borders. I also am planning on using the optional rule Quickleaf offers for Overchanneling; the ability to cast higher spells than what a character level would normally be able to with the chances of miscasting and suffering exhaustion. For those who have run low-magic games, how did you do it? What optional rules and variants did you use?

The second issue I am seeing is that Monsters in the Witcher are typically very strong compared to the average adventuring party of D&D. As a matter of fact, this is really what makes the Witcher setting so fascinating to me is that even well-trained soldiers in this setting can have a hard time facing off against the beasties and must hire a professional monster hunter to do the job. I believe I will be adding the optional rules for injuries, morale, and critical fails into my game to show this, but I also want to balance the grittiness a certain amount to not just outright kill players all the time. This is especially important, as resurrection is not a thing in the Witcher setting; even the gods tend to shy away from it, though, there are a few extremely powerful entities that are willing to bargain with mortals to return them to life, usually with some alternative motive. How have other GMs made D&D 5e more lethal, while preventing TPKs every session?

These are my biggest questions so far, but as far as anything else is concerned, I'd like input from all of you! If you were a player in my game, what do you think would be cool? What would you shy away from? For a plot, what would you find interesting? This thread is as much a clarification for where I'm stuck as much as a brainstorming session for further ideas.


(TLDR: What are tips on running a low-magic campaign? How do you make D&D more lethal, while balancing it? If you were to take part in a Witcher-themed campaign, what would you want and not wish to see, and what would you find particularly interesting?)

[Tauguy628]

Just coming to throw something out there, there is this cool (but a bit OP) witcher homebrew you could use: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?420965-Witcher-Class-(WIP). I would only use this if all of the players want to, but it allows you to throw some pretty tough stuff at e party.
Hope this was helpful.

[MrStabby]

Depending on the group and playstyle you could run a very dangerous/lethal campaign coupled with a more out of combat focus as well.

Combat is dangerous. In every significant combat you might die. In fact in every combat you will probably die if you don't prepare. Half the game is then preparation. Research monsters, their weak points their vulnerabilities. Prepare strategies against them, lay traps and ambushes. Use consumables and buy the ones you need in advance. Build up a network of spies and support characters who will help you.

[Stormthroe]

@Tauguy628

I have seen these, and I do enjoy the classes. I agree; I would allow this class if all of my players wanted to run a Witcher character. Granted, my world background is currently that Witchers have been practically eradicated, but I wouldn't mind altering the timeline to make the players the remaining Witchers. Tagged for future reference!

@MrStabby

That was my thought. One of the things I personally feel from a player perspective in 5e is that combat encounters are not threatening, and that sense of loss and fear of death is something I'd like to instill in my players for this campaign. Most of my players know my DM style from other systems, like Edge of the Empire and Eclipse Phase; games where you cannot blindly walk into encounters and have to actually think through each fight, lest your character be quite permanently removed from the story. As of yet, I've not tried this style of play in the 5e setting, save for a few games from the Curse of Strahd.

I'd like to prevent including some of the things I see in D&D that some DMs use to create these feelings. Tomb of Horrors, while it definitely instills these reactions in players, does it because it literally just screws over every option available, and I don't want that. I want to show that roleplaying out some preparation can be rewarding for each fight, and not doing so can lead to dire consequences.

Looking again at Quickleaf's World of the Witcher guide, some additional and variant rules from the DMG to include to achieve this will be Action Options (p. 271), Cleaving (p. 272), Hitting Cover (p. 272), Slow Healing/Realistic Healing (p. 267).

[mephnick]

The Witcher is only sort of low magic. It's very rare but those that can use magic can be super powerful. In the Witcher 2 a sorceroress basically casts Meteor Storm and obliterates 2 armies. Another character can turn into a dragon. Teleport is relatively common among sorcerors but a little more restricted than D&D

[Herobizkit]

I may have posted in that same thread on EnWorld, but if not, here's what I suggest (note: I've only ever played Witcher 3 so much of what I say pertains to that setting):

- Wizard and Cleric are right out, not even NPCs. Druid is the 'new' Cleric: Land only, drop Shape-shifting.

The only "church-y" types I recall are the non-magical jerks who want to kill all non-humans and spellcasters. There are many "herbalists" scattered about the main continent and Druidism is big in parts of Skellige.

- Sorcerer is NPC only. Warlocks can be PC's but drop the Fey patron.

Sorcerers should be "bad guys" or at the very least, very insular or protective of one another. The Warlock Fey patron is too goody-goody for such a grimdark place - you want power, you gotta give it up to something bad or ineffable.

- Bards drop to 2/3 spell progression - use the Ranger/Paladin spell chart.

- Use the spell-less Ranger variant from the UA.

- Paladins... your call, really. IMO, They don't really suit the Witcher theme, but I'm sure there's a place for them somewhere.

Mercer's Blood Hunter from the DMGuild is pretty much 'the' Witcher class.

[Cespenar]

If you're going for mercenaries and no witchers or sorcerers, just outright ban the caster and half caster classes.

[Stormthroe]

Thanks guys! Excellent input so far.

@Herobizkit, @Cespenar

No worries! The Witcher 3 is really what most folks are familiar with anyways.

I agree. No Wizard or Cleric in this game. However, I was gonna modify magic to accommodate for the Witcher world; Quickleaf's alterations seem cool to me. Eliminate the class spell lists, but base any caster on the Sorcerer class he had in there. I was also thinking of pulling out my Middle Earth guide, and using those special classes since they fit pretty well as well.

Even then, I am probably gonna limit casters to one player in the group. Magic is not necessarily rare in the setting, but the ability to control it is, and of course it is shrouded in superstition. And of course, the ever present dangers of Witch Hunters. Warlocks also work, but like you guys said, no Fey pacts.

As for religion, the Gods aren't quite so significant in this setting and there really are no 'divine' powers that differ from regular magic. The Church of the Eternal Fire, though, is just one of about a dozen religions. However, most of them besides the Eternal Fire are fairly lax and nowhere near as zealous. It'd be a flavor thing.

[Stormthroe]

A few updates as to where we are so far;

For magic, one idea one of my players offered while we were chatting was the introduction of the spell points variant (DMG. 288). Based on a quick read through of previous topics on the forum, spell points seem to be where its at for most classes, and I find the theme of spell points more fitting than slots in the Witcher setting.

As far as classes, I am putting a hard limit on Clerics, Bards, and Wizards. Given that magic is not completely understood in this setting, especially at lower levels, the idea of a "School" specialization doesn't make a lot of sense and can be particularly breaking to this campaign, and Bards in the Witcher are more like the Bard class in some other systems, using wit and guile as opposed to spells. Druids will be moved to spell points, and lose their wild-shape ability. To make up for some of the decreased flexibility of these classes, I am going to use the magic Without Borders variant and remove class spell list. Magic is magic, yo.

If anyone has any ideas for a Bard Hack, I'd appreciate some input. I had thought of simply using the Bardic Performance ability from Pathfinder and introducing it to the rogue class; essentially, creating a new archetype. I have not seen in any UA something similar, but if I missed it, please let me know!

Additionally, I will be using the optional rule of overextending and miscasts introduced by Quickleaf in combination with the Spell Points variant rule. This just seems like a fun, interesting idea that meshes really well together. I have in process a d100 table of various miscasts for the inevitable event that our magic-wielder attempts to control more power than they are able to and fail. :biggrin:

As for my other character types, I am designing a primer to simply lay out all of the options available to them using the different variant rules being introduced from earlier. I am allowing feats in this campaign, and have let my players know that the Spell-less Ranger variant will be a replacement for the Ranger class, seeing as this will be a low-magic setting. Eldritch Knight and Paladin will also be gone, along with Arcane Trickster. I will be allowing a lot of the UA articles to be used, so long as they do not tread into that partial-caster territory, and do not use the restricted classes.

Next comes healing, and given that this game is using the extended rests variant rule, I found some homebrewed rules to allow for at least a little more personal healing. Essentially, poultices made by herbalism, potions made by alchemy, and bandages applied by healers kits will allow their characters to stay in the fight a bit longer without access to constant magic. Does anyone else have any general ideas as to prevent player death in every encounter and let them be flexible? So far, they are seeming amicable, but until the first few sessions I will not know how powerful these homebrews might be or if the players need a bit more support.

Our first dive into the setting will occur this coming Sunday. I am figuring after a little bit of a session zero to explain the setting and iron out character creation, I introduce them by having a cutaway from the PCs setting in for the night to a battle between Nilfgaard and Redanian soldiers, having each half of the table control a couple soldiers from each side. I will let them duke it out back and forth for a bit, before suddenly the Wild Hunt appears in the distance and descends on the battle. A fitting introduction to the setting, and lets them know about the main enemy they will be facing as player knowledge, but not character. Thoughts?