GURPS Witchers and their World

85 Pages·2014·4.93 MB·English

by  Casper Gronemann

GURPS 4th ed.
WITCHERS AND THEIR
WORLD
CHARACTERS
A GURPS PROJECT BY CASPER GRONEMANN
Disclaimer: This project is not in any way affiliated with Steve Jackson Games, CDProjekt or any of their subsidiaries.
It is strictly an unofficial, fan-made project. The 'GURPS' and 'The Witcher' trademarks are purely the intellectual
properties of their rightful owners. This project is non-profit, free of charge, free to use and free to distribute. It is also
free for change and adaptation. To receive the master document of this .pdf, send a requisition e-mail to
[email protected], and please remember to credit the author of this document should you use this work for your own
projects. Thank you.
Contents
FOREWORD............................................................................................................................................5
INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................................7
CHAPTER I.............................................................................................................................................8
The Basics.........................................................................................................................................9
CHAPTER II...........................................................................................................................................10
Advantages.......................................................................................................................................11
CHAPTER III..........................................................................................................................................13
Skills................................................................................................................................................14
Racial Talents..................................................................................................................................18
CHAPTER IV..........................................................................................................................................19
Magic..............................................................................................................................................20
Druidic Magic..................................................................................................................................22
CHAPTER V...........................................................................................................................................25
Signs................................................................................................................................................26
CHAPTER VI..........................................................................................................................................43
Alchemy..........................................................................................................................................44
Bombs!............................................................................................................................................47
Witcher Alchemy.............................................................................................................................53
CHAPTER VII.........................................................................................................................................72
Witcher's Arsenal............................................................................................................................73
CHAPTER VIII.......................................................................................................................................79
Races of the Continent..................................................................................................................80
“My first monster, Iola, was bald and had exceptionally rotten teeth. I came across him on the highway where, with
some fellow monsters, deserters, he'd stopped a peasant's cart and pulled out a little girl, maybe thirteen years old. His
companions held her father while the bald man tore off her dress, yelling it was time for her to meet a real man. I rode
up and said the time had come for him, too – I thought I was very witty. The bald monster released the girl and threw
himself at me with an axe. He was slow but tough. I hit him twice – not clean cuts, but spectacular, and only then did
he fall. His gang ran away when they saw what a witcher's sword could do to a man.... Am I boring you, Iola? I need
this, I really do need it. Where was I? My first noble deed. You see, they'd told me again and again in Kaer Morhen not
to get involved in such incidents, not to play at being knight errant or uphold the law. Not to show off, but to work for
money. And I joined this fight like an idiot, not fifty miles from the mountains. And do you know why? I wanted the
girl, sobbing with gratitude, to kiss her savior on the hands, and her father to thank me on his knees. In reality her
father fled with his attackers, and the girl, drenched in the bald man's blood, threw up, became hysterical and fainted in
fear when I approached her. Since then, I've only very rarely interfered in such matters.”
– Geralt to Iola, priestess of Melitele, in The Last Wish
FOREWORD
Many years ago, CDProjekt Red, a Polish publishing firm, released the first game in The Witcher
series. Before that, Andrzej Sapkowski had created the unique fantasy setting. Crafted on the
basis of fantasy tropes within a more medieval and realistic frame, The Witcher was a new take
on the low-magic fantasy setting. Unlike most of the low-magic settings created before and since,
such as George R. R. Martin's 'A Song of Ice and Fire', the World of the Witcher did not aspire to
complete, gritty realism with a few strokes of fantasy here and there. Rather, it was a blend of
obvious magic, monsters and exotic races and a world that had to abide by the rules of a
medieval reality despite all its obvious supernatural elements. The Witcher wasn't really low
fantasy and high realism, though it wasn't high fantasy, low realism either. Rather, it was sort of a
blend of elements with a very strong hint of fairy tale (as opposed to fantasy). In this world,
Sapkowski centered his stories on the character Geralt – a neutral observer of a world in decline,
a man who did not want to be involved in the troubles of a world slowly killing itself, but who
would constantly have to fight the urge to act and try to save what was left of it, or at the very
least some of the people in it. In Geralt, Sapkowski created not only a metaphor for his own
outlook on the world, but a metaphor for modern, democratic politics. Each individual human
looking at what he or she sometimes perceives as collective acts of stupidity and self-destruction,
and a refusal to take part in it. At the same time however, through Geralt, we bear witness to
how we are each more responsible for the state of affairs than we might be willing to admit, and
that distancing yourself from the collective is both difficult and may not always be the right
decision. The main point of Geralt's adventures, though, seems to be that Sapkowski does not
want to answer whether the morally correct decision would be for Geralt to abide by the rules of
neutrality that bind him, or whether he should embrace his wish to act and take responsibility for
the world, even though he perceives most of the people in it as self-destructive. Indeed, perhaps
the answer to Geralt's paradox of neutrality is case-dependent.
In the frame of this excellent setting and theme, I created a very poorly thought-out role-playing
campaign called Return of the Crows. Too little preparation on my side made the plot twist and
turn in all sorts of weird directions. However, the preparation I did with the rich setting and the
GURPS ruleset as well as my experienced players turned the campaign into a very enjoyable and
memorable one regardless, definitely more than the sum of its parts. Determined to return much
better prepared for round two, I started touching up rules, setting and plot, readying myself to
once again master a campaign in Sapkowski's wonderful fantasy world. The results are what you
see before you. Three compendiums; Characters (with general rules), Monstrum (with monsters)
and the upcoming Campaigns (with a campaign setting). All for use with the fourth edition of
GURPS, in my opinion the best role-playing system to grace this world.
I did not arrive at this point alone, however. Tons of praise and thanks should be given to the
communities of sjgames.com and The Witcher Wiki, which were two invaluable resources in
creating these supplements. Specific credit should be given to Bruno, Gnomasz, Langy and
vierasmarius from the forums of sjgames.com who were especially helpful in the creation of this
project. Thanks also to my original players Andreas, Carsten, Erik, Kenneth, Mikkel and Mikkel as
well, for being guinea-pigs and good sports!
If you're about to undertake the role of game master or player in the World of the Witcher, I
hope you'll find some amount of inspiration and help in this work!
– Casper Gronemann
Contact at [email protected] or on sjgames.com forums (username: Grunker)
INTRODUCTION
This supplement deals with every single rule a character would ever need to know in the World
of the Witchers... more to the point, it deals with all rules concerning witchers in the GURPS rules
system, and also contains a few other things, such as additions to the standard alchemy system in
GURPS: Magic, and a few notes on what being a spellcaster means in the Witcher Universe.
To use this supplement and understand everything in it, the only knowledge one needs is a basic
knowledge of GURPS: Characters. Having read Witchers and their World – Campaigns or being
familiar with the video games or books certainly helps, but is in no way required. This
compendium is the central guideline to play in the World of the Witchers.
Note that as a universal system, GURPS is pretty much able to handle the Witcher Universe and
play within it without any additions... sure, this compendium holds a few notes on the topic of
alchemy and sorcery, but the basic rules of GURPS and all its additional material for fantasy will
be enough for anyone running a campaign in this universe. Mostly, this compendium will be
useful for those playing witchers. Usually, only one or perhaps two players should take on the
role as witchers... the witcher's universe as a setting lends itself well to asynchronous campaigns
with players from different walks of life and perhaps even with characters built with different
point totals – that's how I'm running my campaigns – but anything is certainly possible.
With that, I thank you for picking up this project and I hope you can get some good use out of it!
CHAPTER I
The Basics
The Basics
“You witchers, after all, deprive yourselves of work, slowly but surely. The better and the more conscientiously you
work, the less work there is for you. After all, your goal is a world without monsters, a world which is peaceful and safe.
A world where witchers are unnecessary.”
– Dandelion to Geralt, in The Last Wish
Tech Level: The tech level of Witchers and their World is 3. The world of the witchers is a
medieval one – the best comparison is earth circa 1100-1300 A.D.
Starting character points: Starting points in The Witcher do not differentiate from the guidelines
given in basic set. 100-150 point characters are exceptional individuals ready to mingle in the
political conflicts on the continent. Witchers or mages range from between 125 to 300 points – a
150 point witcher recently finished the remainder of his training and is a full-fledged, albeit
rookie, witcher. A 300 point sorceress is a very powerful mage.
Starting wealth: Campaign starting wealth should be 1000$ as the Basic Set suggests for a TL3
world.
Supplements: Using this supplement requires that you have a copy of GURPS: Basic Set. Though
not necessary, copies of GURPS: Magic and GURPS: Dungeon Fantasy 1 are highly recommended
and referenced sparingly throughout this volume. If other supplements are used, they are both
noted in the text and whatever asset is drawn upon will be explained as well.
References: Some quotes are referenced from other sources. The Last Wish and Blood of Elves
are books by Andrzej Sapkowski – author of The Witcher Universe. Return of the Crows is the
first GURPS role-playing campaign set in the world of the witchers played by the author of this
supplement. Other references include the video games (The Witcher I and The Witcher II).
The Continent: This compendium often refers to 'the Continent', which in The Witcher terms
refers to the known world; the mass of land on which the known kingdoms relevant for this role-
playing game are located.
CHAPTER II
Advantages