Witchburner (Indie Review)

 

The indie title I am reviewing this time it's Witchburner by Luka Rejec. Inside the book we are presented with a dark fantasy setting of heavy and somewhat dense writing in a certain romantic style.  

The rules are simple and draw inspiration from early editions of D&D (OSR) and also from contemporary narrative-centric games. The game tells us about a very concrete situation, where the players occupy the role of investigators who are called by a village in the middle of nowhere to find the witch that makes their lives a torment. The time period of the title seems to be set at the beginning of the industrial revolution and the religion reminds me of the ecclesiastical structure of game of thrones, you know, many gods and elaborate rituals that go beyond praying and singing.

The point is that the players are in a small town and must find the witch who is generating countless evils on the innocent villagers. The plot is extremely simple, but we have the description of 30 npcs and several random tables that will allow us to generate conflicts and tensions between the characters and the villagers. Another very important element is that we have a detailed chronogram of the events that could happen during 30 days, each day divided into morning, afternoon and night. 

These 30 days could be defined as the time limit for the group to find the witch or better yet, escape from the town, an option that, as the days go by, starts to look like the most sensible one. And although there are rules for the resolution of conflicts and the development of combats, much of what happens in the game will depend on the observations and especially on the relationship that the players have with each of the 30 main villagers.

The most interesting part of the game are the villagers, because the feeling that each one of them has towards the players is fundamental to define the path of the adventure. For example, if most of them harbor hatred or resentment towards the characters, then the investigators will end up being the ones accused of witchcraft.

In Witchburner the experimental aspect does not come from the rules, the innovation is found in the construction of relationships as a method for conflict resolution. The characters could act like madmen and burn whoever they want, but they still get more allies and opponents who will get them into more trouble.

I love the month-by-day guide that the book has, since it helps to divide the events and to have a precise follow up of the scenes and situations in the village. But I must say that I don't like the narrative material that accompanies the descriptions of the npcs, I'm sure many people enjoy it but the style is too cryptic and doesn't tell much about the life of those characters.

What I can't deny is that the adventure captivated me, obvious reason why I narrated the whole adventure but using other rules. Instead of following the book's suggestions, I preferred to use a trusty old school manual, but keeping the time rule and the town's love rule. 

By time rule, I mean that the game suggests keeping only three possible interactions with npcs per day per player or group, so that they are forced to plan their days in case they want to move forward with the investigation. On the other hand, with the love of the people, I mean that Witchburner has a list of the main npcs in which you should note whether they love, hate or are indifferent to the party. The more people love them, the more the npcs will be willing to burn the folks that hate the players, but if hate wins out, the adventurers will most likely have the npcs end up at the stake. 

In the same way, pay special attention to the rules related to the witch's trial, in which there are some indications or evidence requirements (mandregoras under the bed, dead cats under the table, dream catchers, drawer full of worms, etc...), which need to be gathered to convince the jury of the town.

It could be said that if the group has managed to burn the witch, everything has ended satisfactorily, although the best of all is that the book has several options to complicate the picture. The group of 3 investigators that I had to narrate, managed to stay successfully for 17 days in the village, accused 3 people of witchcraft, but ended up releasing them for lack of evidence. And who knows, maybe the group would have continued with their investigations had it not been for the accumulated hatred of so many inhabitants. So the only thing left for them to do was to escape from the town in order to save their own skin. 

Although it seems to me that the pdf has a high cost, I recommend that you get the adventure on discount dates. What I am sure of, is that from now on I will have the works designed by Rejec under my gaze. 

I wouldn't suggest DnD for newcomers to RPGs

I truly believe that there is no perfect title to introduce a person to the world of role-playing games, but I don't think it's appropriate to think of the Starter Set or the Essentials box as a great option, that kind of opinions are the result of marketing. Since both products provide incomplete information that can be found for free on the Internet. Everything contained in the aforementioned products can be obtained by visiting the DnD Beyond and Dungeon Master's Guild pages, where details of the rules and multiple adventures for beginner adventurers can be found for free. 

In fact, with the DnD Beyond page, it is not even necessary to purchase the three main DnD books. However, I know someone might point out to me that I don't understand the purpose of the starter kits manufactured by WoC, as they are products made to provide easy access to the experience of creating characters and guiding the DM through the arduous task of running a role-playing game. And I don't deny that they can fulfill their purpose if they have mature and focused players, used to how RPG's work, but in case of finding themselves in front of complete unwary, the DM is going to suffer. 

The 5th edition rules, regardless of the format in which they are presented, seem to me too complicated for people with no experience at all. Elements such as reaction, conditions and additional action, will always generate confusion and although a very interested person can learn little by little about everything that happens in the game, it seems to me a painful introduction to a hobby. 

On the other hand in the field of acting in first or third person of the adventurers, I think DnD gives very little advice about it, not even with the dynamics of inspiration, which is optional and does not change much of what is happening in the game, making it clear to the person that acting is totally accessory, finally "this is a game of killing monsters".  And for those of us who have decades playing DnD we know that this is not true, the combats are constant, yes, but the acting, plots and personal conflicts that can be generated in a game can also change a lot the nature of the game and make it more entertaining. 

So, instead of the Wizards materials, to introduce new people to the hobby I never tire of suggesting the game of "Lady Black Bird", since the system it has slowly introduces concepts that are found in most role playing games, but it does it in a format where anyone can understand what is happening, if you want to show your strength by bending the bars of the prison you are in, you can use the skill that explains precisely what it does. Instead of relying on something as abstract as an athletics roll.

Likewise, the system uses 6-sided dice that can be stolen from any board game and the characters are involved in the story from its creation and have clear objectives throughout the game. Also the game director is given a simple guide on how to direct the game, resolve conflicts and how to present the outcome of the game to the players, since it can be said that this title could at most be extended to a game of about 3 or 4 hours. And better yet, the plot of the title is based on the "Princess Bride" film, so it is very close to perfection.

Despite everything I commented, I am well aware that it is possible to introduce people to the hobby through a game with a good number of abstract rules, such as GURPS or any similar system, but I do not consider that kind of experience to be pleasant for those who know nothing about the world of role-playing games. What I am saying is not strange at all, in the board game universe there are portal or introductory titles, the same would have to happen with role playing games. That's all I'm saying.