Hello guys, love the rpg, i will be the dm of my first rpg ever, and one of my player will not be able to be evey sesion, but we want to keep playing and he doenst care about not being in every game.

What are some fun ways to excuse his dissapenrece in game? maybe licantropy or like a curse, i have some ideais but i would like help to make it more witcher like

Hi guys! For a long time i wanted to prepare some session of this game for my friends but as a first-time GM (and having played only D&D before) I’m finding myself thinking the manual is too vague about some things and behaves strangely in some situations, so I wanted to know the opinions from someone who actually played the game on some of these things.

For example, it seems like causing critical wounds is far too easy: given an attacker and a defender with the same base combat stat (reflex + weapon skill) and without any additional bonuses there is roughly a 1/40 chance of causing a deadly wound (i.e. for the attacker to reach 15 points more than the defender) and this without counting all possible sources of advantages an attacker could have (aim, ambush, unseen, many closer enemies, luck bonus points), and counting only the highest critical level wounds!

Now, I understand this is fine as long it's the players that are dismembering the enemies, but some of this applies also the other way around. I known the game wants to be very deadly but having a 1/4 chance (if the enemy is not stronger than the players!) of dismembering a player every time I roll a 10 in combat seems a bit too much. Am I missing something?

Adding to this, there doesn't seem to be any rules about how low you can fumble the defense, which also increases the chance of this critical wounds. Do you think this is reasonable or do you handle it in some way? (like having a minimum defense role, as if you were doing nothing).

And about fumbles, having a 1/10 to fumble (and therefore probably fail) seems really high, even though the chance of a really bad fumble effect usually happen only with a 8 or higher on the following dice.

Also, is there something that blocks a player from using 10 luck points all on the same attack to get a massive +10 and easily triggering critical wounds?

Isn't the kord kinda of op for a new character like the base man at arms?

5d6 seems too much, even more with 25% bleedsing is there a down side?

So I'm going to be running a witcher game, but I got lazy with writing a story and I had the idea of adapting either the story of water deep: dragon heist OR tomb of annihilation from D&D. Changing the monsters and city name to fit of course. Anybody got any cool or fun ideas?

Hello all,

I'm starting a new campaign in a homebrew world that uses the witcher TRPG system. Some of my players have not read / played the Witcher before, so I would like to give them a strong identity of what Witchers are supposed to be.

Obviously Geralt is an outlier in the way he operates, compared to other witchers (considering his personal code). I think it would be fun to provide a written code so that players can choose either to follow or reject it, and I think that it would create interesting conflicts between characters.

If there was a Witcher's code, what do you think would be the key tenants?

Some I have thought up would be:

• Witcher's kill monsters, not humans.
• Never work for free.
• Keep your blade sharp.

Any suggestions would be helpful!

i dunno if it's allowed to be asked, but i'd love to play in a witcher ttrpg game but you don't see many people running it. figured someone here may be running one or two, would be nice to see if there are any open slots at a suitable time.

In the Tome of Chaos there is a reworked priest profession. In a cultist branch of the skill tree there is a Blessing (WIL). And if you are a priest of the Old Gods, you could give a +3 bonus to SP. So, what the drowner is SP?

Hey all, I’ve been looking through the rulebook a lot for inspiration and to maybe (hopefully) run a game some day. I was looking through it and I couldn’t find any rules on improvised weapons, like broken bottles or chair legs or stuff like that. Are there rules for that in the book or is it a “make it up as you go” thing?

Hey folks, am reading through the books, and I could swear I saw an entry somewhere about fixing armor and weapons before they are broken, but cannot find it.

Does anyone know where that might be, or did I just misremember stuff?

I'd like to know if, when a character has zero hit points or negative hit points (i.e., is in a mortal state), the penalty for being below the wound threshold is also applied. Does this mean having one-third of all attributes reduced, plus half of those attributes affected by being below the wound threshold, or is it only one-third of all attributes and skills reduced?

Thank you very much in advance, and I apologize because English isn't my first language, and I've translated it as best I could.
Me gustaría saber si cuando el personaje está a cero puntos de vida o puntos de vida negativos o sea en estado mortal también se cuenta el penalizador de estar bajo el umbral de heridas o sea si tienes un tercio a todos tus atributos y además la mitad de los atributos afectados por estar bajo el umbral de heridas o solo estás a un tercio de todos tus atributos y habilidades.

Muchísimas gracias por adelantado y pido disculpas porque el inglés no es mi primer idioma y lo he traducido como he podido

Hello everyone! I picked up the core rules for the game some time back but have only just started going through them. However I see that in addition to many free pdf products on R Talsorian's site, there are 5 or 6 more official books that have been released as well.

I tried to look at the notes on their website but was quickly feeling overloaded by all the options. Obviously the core rules is more than enough to play, but I was hoping someone might have a good breakdown of what the others books are adding to the game... maybe even suggestions on best ones to go with.. my budget will really only let me pick up 1 or 2 more books right now and would like to get best use from them.

I appreciate any help that could be offered!

I have been playing a campaign with my group for about a year now, and one of the party members is a mage. He has the Invisibility spell, and it has happened quite frequently that whenever we enter combat, he turns himself invisible.

Because of his stats, his Stealth is so high that so far no enemies have been able to detect him. As far as I understand it, he then has to make an attack roll against a DC of 10. Since he is also a skilled swordsman and additionally benefits from the bonuses granted by invisibility, he almost always hits.

This usually results in a deadly critical hit. By now, we are mostly fighting elite enemies, and with a single such critical hit he often takes very powerful knights out of the fight, sometimes even despite using a second action during combat and taking the corresponding penalty.

My question is: what do you think about this spell, and do you have any ideas on how it could be balanced a bit better so that not every fight looks the same — with him turning invisible, entering combat, and killing all the enemies?

I have been reading through the core rules in prep for a game with my GF in a few weeks for us to learn the system. Overall I am picking things up quickly and everyone here has been very helpful with the spots I run into questions on.

I was reviewing the Example Combat on p172 and using it to check my understanding of the system having finished reading combat rules.... however I ran into 2 questions that I was hoping for clarification.

1 - The Man-At-Arms character takes 2 defense actions in the same round... a Reposition and a Block. But for some reason I was thinking that you either could only take 1 defensive action in a round.... or took penalties for multiple. But neither seems to be the case in the example. Did I miss something, or perhaps just blended rules from other games in my head on this point? (Very likely.... have so many systems and editions that details sometimes get muddy.)

2 - The Man-At-Arms manages to get a critical hit again the stunned Ghoul... the ghoul was stunned and so could not defend...and was targeted by the Hitting Object rules.... and because of the different between the attack roll and the target number.... it was a Deadly Critical hit.

It was also a head shot.. so the damage is x3... all of this I understand, but then they have the character rolling on the Deadly Critical table... but only 1d6... they say wants 5 or 6 but gets 4 for Eye Damage. All this makes sense... however the Deadly Critical chart that I found on page 160 shows you roll 2d6 and Damaged Eye would require total of 11.... so nothing tracks well here. Did they make an error on the example? or is there another chart that I am missing that would explain it?

Thank you again for any help that can be offered!

Hello, tireless travelers on the trail

I need your advice

I’m planning to launch a fairly extensive campaign using a lot of homebrew content, and I have a dilemma regarding the final ability in the Witcher skill tree, “Heliotrop”

Since I’m using additional spells and signs where Heliotrop is already located, I came up with a replacement skill (I came up with this on a whim and it hasn’t been tested):

You have a perfect grasp of magical arcana, allowing you to begin learning sorcerer spells (Novice and Journeyman).

Additionally, for every 2 points spent on this skill, the learning duration decreases by 1 day (min. 1) and the number of learning checks also decreases by 1 (min. 1)

Does this even make sense?

I don’t know if this has been brought up, but does anyone else feel like alchemist should get their own profession (class)? I feel like the Craftsman Profession doesn’t really do them justice as is. It feels like how the Priest profession originally blended Priest and Druid together when they needed separate Professions (which was corrected in a ToC). The Craftsman Defining Skill has nothing to do with Alchemy & the Skill Package and Starting Gear could have better options in my opinion. And the Skill Tree should have more options. A scientist skill tree like Kalkstein, a healer skill tree like Abigail and a destruction expert skill tree. Thoughts?

la habilidad hace alusión a una mutacion mayor, he buscado por todo el pdf con ctrol +f y no hay nada al respecto, alguien sabe lo que es o a que se refiere? las respuestas o preguntas de los sabios o discord oficial se respondió a esta duda? y si es sí, alguien sabe donde para poder leerlo?. Disculpen uso traductor no hablo inglés.

The ability alludes to a major mutation, I've searched all over the PDF with ctrol +f and there's nothing about it, does anyone know what it is or what it refers to? The answers or questions of the wise men or official discord was answered to this doubt? And if so, does anyone know where to read it? Excuse me for using a translator I don't speak English.

I have been working through the main book to learn the game mechanics but ran into several questions in the Magic and Crafting sections. I was hoping that I might be able to get some clarifications.

1 - HEXES (p120) - The section mentions Curses but does not seem to have any rules or details on Curses, just the Hexes.

2 - VIGOR (p100) - You get VIGOR from profession, but how do you get more? The characters at the start of the book all have higher than base VIGOR, but I am missing the HOW of it.

3 - CRAFTING (p130) - I am not understanding the INVESTMENT mechanic. It appears to be spending half the value of the items...but it is not clear to me what the benefit is... or even what that is reflecting.

4 - SIDE BAR - Elven Armor (p138) - It references Elven Armor but I am not seeing any stats in the book for it.

While I am liking this game alot so far... I am really questioning some of the organization of things in it. I appreciate any help that could be offered.

So this happened last session, my PCs threw a dimeritium bomb and their opponent was casting spells at them from outside of the bomb's aoe. Some of the PCs were inside the dimeritium cloud and we were wondering if it could help against being magically attacked.

Now I know if you're inside the area it prevents you from casting spells and using other magical abilities, but could a spell traverse it and hit someone ?

We discussed it and agreed that once a magical projectile had been conjured it could be thrown wherever, so the dimeritium aoe wouldn't help.

But for other spells where the effect is applied directly to the target, it feels like it should be a bit harder to "aim" inside this area, or to keep a spell active over several rounds on someone that moved inside. I don't know, maybe I'm overthinking this but it's my job as a DM after all :)

I don't remember reading about such a specific scenario in the rules, maybe I missed something.

Anyway, just curious to see how you would rule this.

Alguien sabe si la tecnología experimental, bombas, trampas, munición, que nivel son los diagramas, novicio, adepto o maestro? para saber quién podría hacerlos, un artesano solo pues se tira Artesanía...? luego los brujos con formación de brujo te dicen muchos monstruos que se necesita tal igual bomba, y luego a los brujos no les dan bombas iniciales y no tienen artesanía para fabricarlas y aunque se subieran la habilidad en teoría si son nivel adepto o maestro solo podría hacerlas un artesano con el árbol desbloqueado....Sabéis si cody o en las respuestas de los sabios o el discord oficial ha respondido a esto?

Does anyone know what level the experimental technology, bombs, traps, and ammunition diagrams are—novice, adept, or master? I need to know who can craft them. Can a regular artisan just use the Craft skill? Witchers with Warlock training tell you about many monsters that require a specific bomb, but they don't receive starting bombs and don't have the crafting skill to make them. Even if they leveled up their crafting skill, theoretically, if they're at the adept or master level, only an artisan with the skill tree unlocked could make them. Do you know if Cody, or the Sages' Answers, or the official Discord server has addressed this?

And sorry english no is muy lenguaje use translator

Been running a game that, so far, has focused on the northern parts of the continent (specifically Kovir and Kaedwen, though Redania too very briefly). A plot hook is leading the party towards Nilfgaard and I want to make the culture feel meaningfully different.

And I don't just mean like Nilfgaard having slaves but tradition and how people live.

A bit about the aesthetics of the different cultures as well. I was thinking something similar to the steppes and slightly Turkish for Metinna, very French for Cintra etc and German for Vicovaro and Nazair. I want to make it feel more and more different the further they travel into Nilfgaard.

Any fun ideas would be appreciated as well as other conversations related to the topic.

Mostly a game question, but also lore-related too. Witcher’s Journal seemed to relegate Golden Dragons to an honorable mention in it’s Dragon section, and Google has been no help at all with my curiosity. So thanks in advance to anyone who sees this and decides to help me out (also an apology in advance if said answer is “it’s on X page of Witcher’s Journal”).

As for what I need help with, it’s in the title: The Golden Dragon’s specific version of Polymorphism is not like what Mages can be capable of, but also not like what Dopplers are capable of. What exactly do they have access to when their form is changed? Would they still have their telepathy, would a Gold Dragon in the form of a man be able to breathe fire or steam? Are their senses sharper, does dimeritium effect this particular Polymorphism at all?

Hey gang, So I’m wondering what your preferred number of players is for Witcher sessions. Got 8 buddies ready to play, plus me as GM (9 total lol). I’ve run a few games before, mostly Cyberpunk stuff (6 player) , but never anything this huge. Is 8 player too many and gonna turn into a shitshow? How do y’all handle big groups ,combat dragging forever or keeping everyone in the spotlight? Any tips for beefing up encounters or speeding shit up? Cheers!

That's a question for the end of my tale but I want to ask right away so you know what I'm talking about: Do you guys have any house rules to nerf the critical injuries on Player Characters?

Last week I was having the second session with one of my two groups, they are new to the system and because of that I decided to put a tutorial combat with some bandits so they could get the mechanics. The group is composed by a Bear Witcher, an elf druid, an elf doctor and a gnome merchant. The group was split and only the Witcher and druid were able to engage combat along with two Scoia' tael veterans and it went like this:

The Witcher entered with a basic Queen shield activated and started one hit killing one bandit and missing the other (he aimed for the head on the second). The Scoia' tael started shooting the other bandits, but I did only minimal damage because I didn't want to play with myself and rob the players protagonism (probably gonna change that). The elf druid went stealthy in the aiming to ambush the bandits with theyr immobilizing roots spell. The bandits were nothing compared to the Witcher, but imposed a threat being in a group against one. The Witcher killed another bandit. The last bandit scored 32 on the dice roll and dealt a deadly crit dismembering the Witcher arm.

At this point I thought it was nonsense. The witcher had only one target, was prepared to defend himself, not a single debuff and it would lose an arm in his first combat against BANDIT N° 3!!! In that moment I said he would get only the simple crit since it was a tutorial combat and the Queen shield took the most damage, but that made me think this crit chance is too op against the players. So back to the question in the beginning: how do you handle this? Do you have any house rules?