Race: Witchers[]
3 CrP
As long as there have been monsters, there have been monster hunters. And as time passes and the monsters become scarier, so do the hunters. At some moment lost in history, somebody decided to give the hunters a push ahead of the curve and created the Witchers. All Witchers are born as humans, but upon their initiation into the order they undergo a regimen of biological engineering and guided mutation that leaves them as something quite different.
Their reactions are quickened, their bodies made more resilient, their lifespans extended by centuries. They are given unique and devastating tools and extensive knowledge of their prey. But this does come at a price. Some signs of their mutations are obvious and visible, and they are feared and despised by humans as only the familiar but slightly different can be. The changes to their bodies also render them permanently sterile which forces them to rely on other people's children to renew their permanently scarce numbers, something that obviously does nothing to improve their popularity.
- Attribute Modifiers: +2 WIT, +1 WIL
- Adaptable Irises: Witchers can adapt the size of their irises at will, to adjust to any kind of lightning instantly. In any lightning except Pitch Blackness, a Witcher may choose to see like it was changed by one step in either direction, e.g. treat Poorly Lit as Dimly Lit or Blinding as Brightly Lit.
- Engineered Immunity: Witchers are immune to almost all mundane sicknesses and diseases that normally plague humans. They also gain an innate -2 to any Infection Chance from a wound.
- Mutant: All Witchers have the Sterile Bane by default. This does not count to their points total with regards to purchasing Boons.
- Resilient Metabolism: Witchers count their effective Health at +5 for the purposes of resisting any kind of poison or toxin. They can also use Witcher Potions to their fullest.
Witcher Potions[]
Witchers use a vast array of specially brewed potions to help them overcome their prey. These potions are nothing less than incredibly potent combat drugs, often with potentially disastrous side-effects.
Every potion carries a Toxicity value, and causes a Strain to the body. Whenever a Witcher imbibes a potion, this toxicity is absorbed by their system and added to their body's Strain. They then have to pass an immediate HLT check (including their racial bonus) at RS equal to their new total Strain to suppress the side effects. Drinking two potions of the same type does not stack their effects, but only prolongs their duration.
If one of these checks is failed, the imbibed potion that caused it fails to take effect as the body violently rejects it. The user is incapacitated by wracking muscle spasms for a few seconds (2 rounds if in combat), and temporarily loses as much HLT as the number of successes they failed the test by. If this reduces their total HLT to 0 or less, they immediately enter cataleptic shock and will die in short order unless expert aid is given.
Strain is slowly reduced as the body cleanses itself, at the rate of 1 Strain per hour since the last potion was imbibed, to a minimum of 0. Similarly, lost HLT from potion overdoses recovers at a rate of 1 per hour until it's back to the initial value.
Example: For his well-rounded breakfast, Geralt first drinks a potion with 2 toxicity, raising his Strain to 2 and forcing him to make a HLT check at 2 RS. Once he's done that, he washes it down with another potion with 3 toxicity, raising his Strain to 5 and forcing him to make a much more demanding HLT check at RS 5. It will now take him five hours to fully recover from this ordeal, just in time for lunch.
Witcher's bodies are specifically engineered to process these potions and resist their toxicity. Non-Witchers may try to use them, but their intended effects might be lessened, altered, or even entirely absent.
Furthermore, any non-Witcher imbibing these potions treats their toxicity as double their original value, and the Strain takes twice as long to filter out of their systems.
Example Potions[]
These potions may be used as-is and as exemplars for custom potions.
Swallow[]
- Toxicity: 1
- Duration: 4 hours
- Description: Witchering is a dangerous business and things don't always go to plan, so it's a small surprise that something to treat wounds is among their highest priorities. Swallow significantly improves the rate of blood clotting and wound healing. Together with its minimal side-effects this makes it a very popular choice for any Witcher, and some of the more paranoid ones have been known to be under its effect for any waking moment.
- Effect: Every individual source of Bloodloss the user suffers is reduced by 3, and they gain an additional -2 to Infection chance.
Blizzard[]
- Toxicity: 3
- Duration: Five Minutes
- Description: Blizzard is one of the premier combat potions among Witchers. It slows down the user's perception of time by an amazing degree, giving them unparalleled reaction times. The short duration and severe side effects mean it has to be used immediately preceding combat, though.
- Effect: The user gains the Burdinadin's 'Stains of Time' ability for the time of the duration.
Cat[]
- Toxicity: 1
- Duration: 30 minutes
- Description: Cat further increases the sensitivity and abilities of Witcher's already sensitive eyes. It allows them to see things that strictly speaking shouldn't even be physically possible.
- Effect: The user can now see in any lightning (including Pitch Blackness) as if it were Brightly Lit, and treats their PER as +2 higher for any skill- or attribute-check involving their vision.
White Honey[]
- Toxicity: 0
- Duration: 6 hours
- Description: White Honey is a great tool for Witchers who tend to overestimate their capabilities at holding their potions. It seeks out any potions in the user's body and neutralizes them almost instantly.
- Effect: The user's Strain is reduced to 0, and any currently ongoing effects from potions are immediately canceled. For the rest of duration, and imbibed potions have no effect and effectively behave like water.
Black Blood[]
- Toxicity: 4
- Duration: 2 hours
- Description: Black Blood dumps the toxins that usually course through a Witcher's body directly into their bloodstream, turning their blood into outright poison. It is a rather unpopular potion among Witchers, since it is very dangerous and assumes the user will get caught by their prey. Still, its great lethality make it a useful and occasionally necessary last resort against enemies such as vampires.
- Effect: When another creature somehow ingests any of the user's blood, it must make a HLT check as if they'd just imbibed a potion with a base toxicity equal to the user's current Strain. Remember to double this value as per the rule for non-witchers ingesting potions, unless the blood drinker happens to be a Witcher themselves.
White Rafard's Concoction[]
- Toxicity: 2
- Duration: instantaneous
- Description: White Rafard's Concoction is an incredibly rare and sought-after potion for treating critical injuries. It has the ability to instantly stabilize even the most gravely injured victims, as long as they manage to survive the side-effects. The ingredients that go into making it are rare and poorly understood, and it is said that more than a little magic goes into its creation. It is probably for this reason that the concoction has unusually long-term side effects from repeated use.
- Effect: The user's total current Bloodloss is instantly reduced to zero. Any currently developing or existing infection is instantly prevented/cured. White Rafard's Concoction's toxicity is doubled for every time the user has already used it during the last three months.
Signs[]
Signs are a simplified kind of magic powered by simple willpower and rote training rather than any innate predisposition or outside force. A long time ago, they've been devised by a cadre of mages specifically to improve the capabilities of the Witchers they often relied on. Generally anybody can learn Signs with sufficient dedication, but the knowledge of them is usually a closely guarded secret.
During combat, a Sign can be performed just like a maneuver. The main difference is that the user may only invest as many CP into a Sign as they have combined WIL+INT, not counting any activation costs. The main prerequisite for performing a sign is having one hand free to contort the fingers into a certain shape to focus the energy. This cannot be done if the hand is significantly crippled, in a mitten-type glove, or currently holding an object.
Aard [X][]
- Sign, Thrust-like
- Maneuver: Attack with X dice at current range or LL to enemy's body, at TN 7
- Success: Enemy suffers stun equal to bonus successes, and must pass a KD roll equal to bonuses successes or be rendered prone.
- Special: This attack cannot be parried or blocked, only voided.
- Superior: On a success, the opponent also takes falling damage from a height equal to bonus successes.
Quen [X+1][]
- Sign, Block
- Maneuver: Block with X dice at TN 7
- Success: Enemy attack negated, you gain initiative.
- Special: When at least one success is scored, the user is treated as having full-body shield coverage providing an additional passive 2 AV for the rest of the action.
- Superior: Maneuver resolves at TN 6
Igni [X+2][]
- Sign, Thrust-like
- Maneuver: Attack with X dice at TN 7 at current range or LL to thrusting target zone.
- Success: Enemy suffers a burn on the hit location at BS/TN5
- Special: This attack cannot be parried, only blocked or voided.
- Superior: A random adjacent hit location is burned as well, with the same damage as the original hit.