Real world historical settings can create a familiar backdrop for roleplaying games that has the a real advantage to the players and GMs. Even if the historical facts and sets are altered somewhat, RPGs like Man, Myth, and Magic, Call of Cthulhu, and Dead Lands can present some very bizarre situations all in locals and within contexts that are immediately recognizable to everyone at the table.
Just last year, Paradigm Concepts launched a successful Kickstarter campaign for a game called Witch Hunter: The Invisible World, and updated its rules from the original edition released in 2007 to a newer 2nd Edition for 2013. This historical-fantasy game takes its queues from gothic horror elements and mixes them with real world history to create a unique setting of horror and the supernatural. Swashbuckling adventurers stare down the barrel at the hordes of Hell - and the fate of all humanity lies in the balance!
Witch Hunter: The Invisible World
Witch Hunter: The Invisible World is the Second Edition of a historical-fantasy role-playing game set in the World of the 17th Century where players take on the role of Witch Hunters to fight against The Adversary for the fate of Mankind! WH:TIW comes complete with rules on character creation for players and on game mastering for the Grand Master. It also includes a detailed history of the World from the Witch Hunters’ points of view throughout time since the Biblical ages, details on six different types of mysticism and magic, a complete compendium of mythological and diabolical creatures, and more…
Production Quality
The production quality of Witch Hunter: The Invisible World in hardbound format is quite spectacular! The writing by the authors is very good, the layout and graphical design is both stylish and user-friendly, and the book itself is quite gorgeous despite its simple design.
The glossy black cover is heavy and quite sturdy, with embossed lettering and eldritch symbols in silver on front back and along the spine. The spine is sturdy as well, with heavy stock end papers, and tightly enclosing the pages of the book. The pages are of a decent weight paper, slightly slick to the touch, and neatly colored and trimmed in a parchment style graphics. The overall effect is leafing through a well-preserved tome, and even the lettering and font choices, done mostly in a sepia brown tone, continue to add to the theme.
WH:TIW has both a table of contents and a nicely detailed index at the back for easy reference. There is also an index of tables found in the book, all contained on a single page for additional reference assistance. The last page of the book is a character sheet, which is really quite cool looking – a downloadable PDF of the character sheet can be found on the Paradigm Concepts website.
The artwork in Witch Hunter: The Invisible World is really exceptional, and done In an style which is evocative in some ways of 17th century sketches. Not all of the artwork in the book are sketches, but in many respects the black and white sketches are in superior to the full color plates, if only because they enhance the theme of the books graphical design. The cartography is also quite good, and again uses map styles with an antiquated theme to them.
The Invisible World
The Welcome Page of Witch Hunter: The Invisible World introduces the game as one of Horror, Swashbuckling Action, History, Folklore, and Faith. It immerses the players in a secret version of 17th Century Earth, mainly Europe but including parts of the New World, where a secret society of heroes belonging to the Orders of Solomon fight against evil monsters and demons of folklore and Christian belief. This is a game which has no qualms about pitting Christian heroes against the legions of Lucifer in a secret war for the souls of mankind.
As a rulebook, Witch Hunter: The Invisible World is divided up into three books (sections):
Book I of WH:TIW delves into the history of Western Civilization to as far back as King Solomon in 1000 B.C., but retells it with highlights and new details about the war on Earth between Mankind and the forces of The Adversary – AKA Lucifer, Satan, Old Scratch, etc. The retelling and reimagining of history through the eyes of the witch hunters is a very imaginative and fascinating read, and the authors did a very nice job of melding myth, Biblical stories, and actual historical events into a unique background for the campaign setting.
Book I also details the major nations and lands of the World of 1689, focusing on the major European colonial super-powers of the era – England, Spain, Portugal, France – as well as the colonies of North and South American. The authors also include the Aztec Empire and the Five Nations of American Indians in the campaign setting, providing not only a fairly comprehensive set of locations for adventures, but also background information for player-characters and NPCs. Each of the lands and nations is written from the point of view of a different fictional historian, each with very different writing styles and personalities.
The final section of Book I describes The Invisible World, an unseen parallel dimension where all the monsters and demons of the world were contained by King Solomon – a realm which has “cracks” in its edges, and sometimes lets terrible creatures run loose in the mundane world. In addition to denizens of Hell, The Invisible World is also home to the Fey Courts, the Land of the Titans, The Underworld of Hades, and the mythical oriental kingdom of Prester John – a descendant of the Three Magi from the Nativity stories. These realms of folklore can be entered by witch hunters and are sites for possible adventures as well as exploration – traveling through The Invisible World can lead a wanderer to faraway places in the mundane world when – and if – they emerge alive again.
Book II of WH:TIW details creating and developing a witch hunter character, explains some of the key mechanics of the game, as well describes the magic systems which exist in the World of 1689. The system of the game uses pools of d10s to resolve situations called an Action Roll. The number of dice which roll at or above a particular target number counting as successes – the more successes on counts, the greater degree of success overall. There are some other variances to this such as Complications based upon the number of 1s rolled, Wagering to add increased effect at the cost of dice in the pool, and other modifiers. The gist of the game system is to be more story-driven and cinematic than the minutiae of combat maps and miniatures placement. The game has nine ability scores – three physical (Strength, Agility, Toughness), three Mental (Education, Reason, Will), and three Spiritual (Courage, Intuition, Personality) and a range of derived scores based upon those nine, so there is considerable variance to the nature of each witch hunter just from a mechanic standpoint alone.
Witch hunters also have a background which provides not only persona material, but determines social standing, what ability scores tend to be favored, as well as skills. And each background has a special ability that makes it unique from other backgrounds. The list of potential backgrounds is quite impressive, around two score in total, and range from common themes such as Laborer, Nanny, and Servant, to obscure themes such as Shaman, Occultist, and Brave (as in an Indian). All sorts of professions and backgrounds are possible in the World of 1689, but at some point each witch hunter was called to the profession by some sort of Catalyst. There are only seven examples in the book, but they are generally open ended enough to allow a bit of overlap when creating a witch hunter character. Examples of Catalysts include The Chosen (those destined to be born a witch hunter), The Damned (individuals seeking to atone for misdeeds before being dragged off to Hell), and The Witness (one who saw something not of this earth). There are also the Nine Orders of Solomon to which characters can belong, and each of these further differentiates one witch hunter from another. The authors make it a point to give each of the orders very detailed histories, rules of conduct, and other unique qualities – all of which provide ample fodder for character development and diversification. Just because everyone is a witch hunter does not by any means suggest that any two will be alike!
The game uses a point buy system to advance character starting features, talents, and skills, and this same system works as experience points and increases over time. Witch Hunter: The Invisible World is essentially a classless and level –less RPG, and this allows characters to develop quite organically based upon concepts rather than classes. The system used in WH:TIW also includes special effects a character can call upon in times of need to alter rolls and outcomes, and just outright survive. Hero points are common enough in many game systems, but there are also Damnation points which act similarly to Hero points but slowly get corrupted and susceptible to evil forces. And there are True Faith points which can be used to activate magical relics, ward off demonic attacks, and destroy evil servants of Hell. These mechanics not only serve to provide greater storytelling and role-play options, but also increase immersion in the nature of the setting as a world of dark powers, magic, and horror.
Book II ends with a section on the six types of magic in the World, all of which have foundations in actual folklore and historic magical traditions. The six types of magic include Animism, Diabolism, Hermetic, Necromancy, Prayer, and Witchcraft. Many of the spells in each tradition are based upon rituals and rites, and have a very different feel than the instant-cast spells that many fantasy RPGs have. Magic is also difficult and tiring, and the authors include a strain factor, which is the amount of time a practitioner must wait between castings/rituals. Failure to wait results in actual damage to the caster, so magic has a certain inherent risk built in.
Book III details playing the game, and includes combat rules, ideas for running the game, and how to handle rewarding witch hunters during the course of the game. As previously mentioned, the rules are designed more for cinematic gameplay and storytelling, but the combat system still has quite solid mechanics. And combat is covered in a short 10 pages, which is a fairly rules light system as RPGs go. The bulk of Book III details all sorts of supernatural horrors and entities, from Bogeymen and Fairies, to vampires and werewolves. This section also details entities known as Masterminds, super-villains of evil and destruction in this campaign setting. There are also powers to give demons and other powerful entities called Story Abilities, which are more plot devices than powers but nevertheless can be frightening to deal with. Finally, Book III delves into sample themes to use in a Witch Hunter: The Invisible World campaign, using powerful emotions and concepts such as Deception, Fear, and Madness drive a story along and to tempt the heroes into damnation.
Overall Score: 8.1 out of 10.0
Conclusions
There is a lot of amazing role-playing potential wrapped up in Witch Hunter: The Invisible World, and the game really takes its cues from books like Solomon Kane and movies like Brotherhood of the Wolf in a rather exciting fashion. The mechanics rules compliment the genre and setting very well – this is no generic system tailored to fit the dark world of the witch hunters, but rather the other way around where the rules take their concepts from the setting itself. The writing is really top-notch and the illustrations are perfectly fitted to the contents of the book.
The game is a very complete package for the price, presenting character content and GM content all in one book. For players who enjoy dark gothic adventure and the thrill of facing unspeakable evil, then you might find out you’re destined to be a witch hunter after all!
Editorial Note: This Reviewer received a complimentary playtest copy of the product in hardbound format from which the review was written.
Grade Card (Ratings 0 to 10)
Witch Hunter: The Invisible World
- Creator: Henry Lopez
- Lead Designer: Eric Wiener
- Authors: Pedro Barrenechea, Clint Blome, Scott Charlton, Rucht Lilavivat, Henry Lopez, M. Sean Molley, Brian Schoner, Robert J. Schwalb, Robert Vaughn, and Eric Wiener
- Illustrations: Pat Loboyko; Keith Curtis (cartography)
- Publisher: Paradigm Concepts
- Year: 2013
- Media: Hardbound (256 pages)
- Price: $39.95 (Now Available through The Paizo Store - or - also in PDF format for $24.95 from DriveThruRPG)
Witch Hunter: The Invisible World is the Second Edition of a historical-fantasy role-playing game set in the World of the 17th Century where players take on the role of Witch Hunters to fight against The Adversary for the fate of Mankind! WH:TIW comes complete with rules on character creation for players and on game mastering for the Grand Master. It also includes a detailed history of the World from the Witch Hunters’ points of view throughout time since the Biblical ages, details on six different types of mysticism and magic, a complete compendium of mythological and diabolical creatures, and more…
Production Quality
The production quality of Witch Hunter: The Invisible World in hardbound format is quite spectacular! The writing by the authors is very good, the layout and graphical design is both stylish and user-friendly, and the book itself is quite gorgeous despite its simple design.
WH:TIW has both a table of contents and a nicely detailed index at the back for easy reference. There is also an index of tables found in the book, all contained on a single page for additional reference assistance. The last page of the book is a character sheet, which is really quite cool looking – a downloadable PDF of the character sheet can be found on the Paradigm Concepts website.
The artwork in Witch Hunter: The Invisible World is really exceptional, and done In an style which is evocative in some ways of 17th century sketches. Not all of the artwork in the book are sketches, but in many respects the black and white sketches are in superior to the full color plates, if only because they enhance the theme of the books graphical design. The cartography is also quite good, and again uses map styles with an antiquated theme to them.
The Invisible World
The Welcome Page of Witch Hunter: The Invisible World introduces the game as one of Horror, Swashbuckling Action, History, Folklore, and Faith. It immerses the players in a secret version of 17th Century Earth, mainly Europe but including parts of the New World, where a secret society of heroes belonging to the Orders of Solomon fight against evil monsters and demons of folklore and Christian belief. This is a game which has no qualms about pitting Christian heroes against the legions of Lucifer in a secret war for the souls of mankind.
As a rulebook, Witch Hunter: The Invisible World is divided up into three books (sections):
- Book I: The World of the Witch Hunter – History and background with setting information for a re-imagined 17th Century.
- Book II: Witch Hunters – Character creation and play information including magic systems
- Book III: Playing the Game – Rules for play, hints for the Grand Master (GM) and monster compendium.
Book I also details the major nations and lands of the World of 1689, focusing on the major European colonial super-powers of the era – England, Spain, Portugal, France – as well as the colonies of North and South American. The authors also include the Aztec Empire and the Five Nations of American Indians in the campaign setting, providing not only a fairly comprehensive set of locations for adventures, but also background information for player-characters and NPCs. Each of the lands and nations is written from the point of view of a different fictional historian, each with very different writing styles and personalities.
The final section of Book I describes The Invisible World, an unseen parallel dimension where all the monsters and demons of the world were contained by King Solomon – a realm which has “cracks” in its edges, and sometimes lets terrible creatures run loose in the mundane world. In addition to denizens of Hell, The Invisible World is also home to the Fey Courts, the Land of the Titans, The Underworld of Hades, and the mythical oriental kingdom of Prester John – a descendant of the Three Magi from the Nativity stories. These realms of folklore can be entered by witch hunters and are sites for possible adventures as well as exploration – traveling through The Invisible World can lead a wanderer to faraway places in the mundane world when – and if – they emerge alive again.
Witch hunters also have a background which provides not only persona material, but determines social standing, what ability scores tend to be favored, as well as skills. And each background has a special ability that makes it unique from other backgrounds. The list of potential backgrounds is quite impressive, around two score in total, and range from common themes such as Laborer, Nanny, and Servant, to obscure themes such as Shaman, Occultist, and Brave (as in an Indian). All sorts of professions and backgrounds are possible in the World of 1689, but at some point each witch hunter was called to the profession by some sort of Catalyst. There are only seven examples in the book, but they are generally open ended enough to allow a bit of overlap when creating a witch hunter character. Examples of Catalysts include The Chosen (those destined to be born a witch hunter), The Damned (individuals seeking to atone for misdeeds before being dragged off to Hell), and The Witness (one who saw something not of this earth). There are also the Nine Orders of Solomon to which characters can belong, and each of these further differentiates one witch hunter from another. The authors make it a point to give each of the orders very detailed histories, rules of conduct, and other unique qualities – all of which provide ample fodder for character development and diversification. Just because everyone is a witch hunter does not by any means suggest that any two will be alike!
The game uses a point buy system to advance character starting features, talents, and skills, and this same system works as experience points and increases over time. Witch Hunter: The Invisible World is essentially a classless and level –less RPG, and this allows characters to develop quite organically based upon concepts rather than classes. The system used in WH:TIW also includes special effects a character can call upon in times of need to alter rolls and outcomes, and just outright survive. Hero points are common enough in many game systems, but there are also Damnation points which act similarly to Hero points but slowly get corrupted and susceptible to evil forces. And there are True Faith points which can be used to activate magical relics, ward off demonic attacks, and destroy evil servants of Hell. These mechanics not only serve to provide greater storytelling and role-play options, but also increase immersion in the nature of the setting as a world of dark powers, magic, and horror.
Book III details playing the game, and includes combat rules, ideas for running the game, and how to handle rewarding witch hunters during the course of the game. As previously mentioned, the rules are designed more for cinematic gameplay and storytelling, but the combat system still has quite solid mechanics. And combat is covered in a short 10 pages, which is a fairly rules light system as RPGs go. The bulk of Book III details all sorts of supernatural horrors and entities, from Bogeymen and Fairies, to vampires and werewolves. This section also details entities known as Masterminds, super-villains of evil and destruction in this campaign setting. There are also powers to give demons and other powerful entities called Story Abilities, which are more plot devices than powers but nevertheless can be frightening to deal with. Finally, Book III delves into sample themes to use in a Witch Hunter: The Invisible World campaign, using powerful emotions and concepts such as Deception, Fear, and Madness drive a story along and to tempt the heroes into damnation.
Overall Score: 8.1 out of 10.0
Conclusions
There is a lot of amazing role-playing potential wrapped up in Witch Hunter: The Invisible World, and the game really takes its cues from books like Solomon Kane and movies like Brotherhood of the Wolf in a rather exciting fashion. The mechanics rules compliment the genre and setting very well – this is no generic system tailored to fit the dark world of the witch hunters, but rather the other way around where the rules take their concepts from the setting itself. The writing is really top-notch and the illustrations are perfectly fitted to the contents of the book.
The game is a very complete package for the price, presenting character content and GM content all in one book. For players who enjoy dark gothic adventure and the thrill of facing unspeakable evil, then you might find out you’re destined to be a witch hunter after all!
Editorial Note: This Reviewer received a complimentary playtest copy of the product in hardbound format from which the review was written.
Grade Card (Ratings 0 to 10)
- Presentation: 7.75
- - Design: 8.0 (Handsome book; great writing; cool layout)
- - Illustrations: 7.5 (Awesome art and cartography; decent amount but more art is never a bad thing)
- Content: 8.5
- - Crunch: 8.5 (Solid mechanics; the system fits very well to the setting requirements)
- - Fluff: 8.5 (TONS of background and lore in game; very story/character concept driven)
- Value: 8.0 (Great price – very complete setting and rules system!)
