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Drache64
2018-06-05, 11:16 PM
My friend is playing a witcher as he's recently discovered Witcher 3. I am playing a summoner focused on necromancy. He says his character will hate mine due to summoning evil things. He says the only way he's going to like my character is if I stick to summoning wild life.

I don't know Witcher Lore very well, is there any way a Witcher could like a necromancer?

My character's story is that he was a prince who defeated his kingdoms rival nation. He broke their defences and accepted their surrender. But the prince's father slaughtered his enemies instead of accepting their surrender. In the after math the prince discovered that the mass grave was filled with his true people (yeah basically Loki). He found a grimorie that taught him the power of summoning and he's fled across the Sea to grow his power and learn necromancy so that he can raise his people's army once more and have their vengeance.

So my character is an altruistic necromancer, he's not your typical evil villain.

Any recommendations or things to exploit/include from Witcher Lore?

comk59
2018-06-06, 12:02 AM
First off, your friend devlaring that he will hate your character is not a great sign. Sort of sets off a few red flags.

Second, context is sort of important here. Is this game going to literally be set in Andrzej Sapkowskis The Continent? Or when your friend says he "wants to be a Witcher", does he really mean he "wants to be a pale skinned yellow eyed white haired monster hunter"?

Drache64
2018-06-06, 12:24 AM
First off, your friend devlaring that he will hate your character is not a great sign. Sort of sets off a few red flags.

Second, context is sort of important here. Is this game going to literally be set in Andrzej Sapkowskis The Continent? Or when your friend says he "wants to be a Witcher", does he really mean he "wants to be a pale skinned yellow eyed white haired monster hunter"?

He just wanted to play the class and character, the world is my DMs own creation

Cespenar
2018-06-06, 02:39 AM
One of Geralt's best bros companions was an elder vampire.

The whole deal of the Witcher series is that a monster is what you do, not who you are.

Geralt would have no problems with you if you used your "summons" responsibly. He would be skeptical, though.

Anonymouswizard
2018-06-06, 05:37 AM
Didn't you have a session zero to establish why Hatesmonsters Monsterhunter is adventuring with Dude McMonsterbro?

Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't Geralt let monsters go if they're not harming anybody, and kill the villain of the first game with his silver sword? (Remember, the iron sword is for men and the silver sword is for monsters.) It's perfectly reasonable that a less extreme Witcher would be okay with some forms of necromancy.

Part of the problem is that, while doing so for a noble reason, your character is messing with arts that make people uncomfortable. Not inherently evil arts, like enchantment spells, but you're still desecrating corpses or commanding souls*. So one of you is probably going to have to make some sacrifices to your concept (I vote him, his interpretation of Witchers is very restrictive).

* Okay, making massive assumptions about necromancy that my homebrew setting doesn't even use (necromancers can see ghosts and talk to them, but can't command them or create zombies. The most widespread order carries shovels so they can bury any bodies they come across). But it is the standard for most settings.

GloatingSwine
2018-06-06, 06:35 AM
Necromancy in the Witcher universe is unpredictable and unreliable, and so whilst it's banned it's more for practical reasons than anything else.

(In Witcher 3 there is literally a quest where you help Yennefer reanimate a corpse so you can interrogate it)



Witchers aren't noble crusaders, the whole point of the concept is that they aren't because killing monsters is unglamorous. They're professionals with an unpleasant job that nobody really likes but everyone sort of needs, they're the pest control guy. (Geralt is mostly also a hobo because the sort of people who actually have trouble with monsters are usually too poor to pay very much).

Worgwood
2018-06-06, 06:56 AM
Geralt (possibly) works with necromancers in Witchers 2 and 3, and there's a good chance he marries one of them. He does raise some issues in W3, but it's more to do with the source of power for the spell, rather than the spell itself. Also, as noted, one of his good friends is a vampire (although vampires are not undead or reanimated in the world of the Witcher, so this should be taken with a grain of salt).

It sounds like your friend has a very shallow understanding of Geralt, the Witcher, and the themes surrounding the character and stories. Moral relativism and 'shades of grey' are a big part of the setting. Geralt's morality is his own, and he doesn't allow the opinions of others to dictate what is right and wrong for him. He lets monsters walk if they're harmless, and even befriends several. He sometimes appears to commit atrocities to uphold a greater good (which is why he's known as the Butcher of Blaviken). I have no trouble thinking he would work with a necromancer if their powers were used responsibly.

He and the School of the Wolf are also generally presented as the most morally upstanding of the Witchers; the School of the Viper and School of the Cat are two other major factions which appear in the games, and neither of them seem to have the scruples of Geralt and his brothers-in-arms. I have no problem imagining that a Viper or Cat witcher would work with a necromancer without trouble.

However, your friend is probably going to play what he wants to play regardless. The problem is that he's trying to police your character. This is a problem that's going to be resolved through frank out-of-character communication rather than any argument about whether or not a witcher would tolerate a necromancer.

GloatingSwine
2018-06-06, 07:27 AM
He lets monsters walk if they're harmless, and even befriends several.

Bear in mind that as far as Geralt is concerned, anything that can talk and reason is a person not a monster and therefore not a Witcher problem (Short stories: The Bounds of Reason, Eternal Flame).

(More'n my job's worth etc...)

Worgwood
2018-06-06, 07:39 AM
Bear in mind that as far as Geralt is concerned, anything that can talk and reason is a person not a monster and therefore not a Witcher problem (Short stories: The Bounds of Reason, Eternal Flame).

(More'n my job's worth etc...)
Which, to me, reinforces the notion that Geralt wouldn't be particularly offended by necromancy. Now, the necromancer might draw his ire, but necromancy in and of itself is not any of his business.

Drache64
2018-06-06, 08:41 AM
Thank you everyone for fantastic insight to Witcher Lore, I think all of you have given me plenty to share with my friend.

comk59
2018-06-06, 10:41 AM
Bear in mind that as far as Geralt is concerned, anything that can talk and reason is a person not a monster and therefore not a Witcher problem (Short stories: The Bounds of Reason, Eternal Flame).

(More'n my job's worth etc...)

Heck, doesn't he even go out of his way to help some monsters? I haven't played witcher 2 in a while, but doesn't he save a giant from soldiers or something?

Foreverknight
2018-06-06, 11:35 PM
He should try and kill you.

Mr Beer
2018-06-07, 12:25 AM
So you have a character in a game and your friend is joining the game and has decided up front his character will hate you? Witcher Lore isn't the problem here, your friend is just being an arse.

EDIT

In most groups the GM will head off impending 'I must kill the other characters' conflict of this kind. I don't know whether you're better off talking to your friend, the GM or both or neither.