Witch Hunter: Are you playing? Yes? No? Why?

[BluSponge]

Dude, share.

Well let's see. I'm probably not going to say anything others wouldn't be able to figure out already.

1) There have been no products since the core book until now because the season was off (bad time to release new books).
2) Expect Blessed and the Damned and an anthology of adventures at GenCon.
3) Trying to build interest outside of the organized play game.
4) First region books will cover New Amsterdam and Europe. Africa, South America, and India.
5) Published adventures will be playable through the Dark Providence campaign.
7) Rucht Lilavivat is "Mr. Witch Hunter." He's also a real nice guy. I sat in on a 4e demo with him.
8) There is a lot of internal discussion about how much focus needs to be on crunchy stuff for players (Blessed and Damned) and fluffy stuff for GMs (setting books, GToA). This is made more difficult since WH is not really a crunchy game.
9) Response to the organized play has been good, but doesn't meet Living Arcanis numbers...yet.

And that's about the bulk of what I remember. Their dedication to the game was what really sold me on the products. Originally I was considering just the monster book, but I'm all about supporting good people who believe in their product lines (especially when those lines don't seem to be getting a fair shake).

Tom

 

[Ycore Rixle]

Looking forward to playing it at Gen Con. I'm normally not a fan of alt-history or dice pool mechanics, but Witch Hunter is intriguing.

 

[kenobi65]

I played 3 sessions of Dark Providence at Origins, and enjoyed it immensely (but, note that I'm a longtime RPGAer, and have played a *ton* of Living-style games). The mechanics are easy to learn, though there's still a few quirks in the system (two-weapon fighting, and Bless, are both too good for words...)

I'm playing an Oneida Indian shaman (folk healer); despite having a serious lack of physical skills, I can still contribute in a fight (going last in the round is advantageous; your "tanks" have already depleted the bad guys' Defense Pools, so it's easier for you to do some damage). And, the writing is generally pretty darn good, IMO.

We used to play Living Death with my home group; despite the resistance of some of them to anything that's non-d20, I think they may enjoy WH.

 

[Scurvy_Platypus]

(going last in the round is advantageous; your "tanks" have already depleted the bad guys' Defense Pools, so it's easier for you to do some damage).

Yeah, ganging up on something is deadly.

 

[HalWhitewyrm]

I don't like "Roll lots of dice!" systems at the best of times. If it's much better implemented, though, it might be worth a shot.

There is actually a firm cap of 10 on the amount of dice you can amass. So you get that feeling of a nice handful of dice, but it doesn't get ridiculous.

Pal, I am barely able to put a D&D group together. I'd rather watch a marathon of a German golf tournament than try to put a non-D&D game together.

Thanks for that image.

One: never heard of it before the ENnie nominations were announced. For whatever reason, news has not reached me - and I come to both EN World and RPG.Net every day, so . . .

I am not surprised. As I said before, there has been not that much promotion for the game outside the organized play league, and the fact that its a year later that the first supplement for it is coming out also didn't help.

Two: colonial America, even with witch hunters, ain't that exciting to non-Americans in general.

Well, to be fair, the game is not exclusively about Colonial America, it just happens to pick that as its focus for the core book. There is actually a nice gazetteer section in the book that covers what is going on in the world at large in a fairly good amount of detail, enough to birth quite a few adventures or full-on campaigns. Also, the Dark Providence adventures have already gone beyond the fledgling USA to explore Quebec and environs, and in Year 2 of the campaign (starting this Gen Con) we'll see some Old World adventures as well. So, this is very much a global-scope game; it just had to start somewhere, and Colonial America was a good choice.

1) There have been no products since the core book until now because the season was off (bad time to release new books).

I figured. It's been a slow year in general since last Gen Con. They've certainly come back with a vengance!

2) Expect Blessed and the Damned and an anthology of adventures at GenCon.

With baited breath.

3) Trying to build interest outside of the organized play game.

Same here. I love what's going on with Dark Providence, but the game needs to grow beyond that group as well.

4) First region books will cover New Amsterdam and Europe. Africa, South America, and India.

Fantastic news. See, mhacdebhandia?

5) Published adventures will be playable through the Dark Providence campaign.

No surprise there; they've been doing this with Arcanis for years and it's worked great.

7) Rucht Lilavivat is "Mr. Witch Hunter." He's also a real nice guy. I sat in on a 4e demo with him.

I've spoken with Rucht a few times over email; I'm looking forward to meeting him in person.

8) There is a lot of internal discussion about how much focus needs to be on crunchy stuff for players (Blessed and Damned) and fluffy stuff for GMs (setting books, GToA). This is made more difficult since WH is not really a crunchy game.

I actually trust PCI to not overcrunch the game needlessly.

9) Response to the organized play has been good, but doesn't meet Living Arcanis numbers...yet.

Then again, Living Arcanis has been going on for 7 years (debuted Gen Con 2001 with my one adventure for it!), and if list traffic is any indication, it hasn't done too shabby since launching last year.

Looking forward to playing it at Gen Con. I'm normally not a fan of alt-history or dice pool mechanics, but Witch Hunter is intriguing.

There should be games of Dark Providence going on steady during the con, so check out with PCI for more info. I'm considering putting together an informal game with pre-gens for people who may want to try it without the organized play restrains. We'll see.

We used to play Living Death with my home group; despite the resistance of some of them to anything that's non-d20, I think they may enjoy WH.

I don't have specific names right now, but IIRC, some of the folks that used to work on Living Death moved over to Dark Providence. At least I remeber that being touted, but I need to go find a source. But hey, if it's true, you have the perfect tool for bringing your players over!

 

[BluSponge]

I figured. It's been a slow year in general since last Gen Con. They've certainly come back with a vengance!

According to the folks at PCI, it's really difficult to introduce a new product into the mix after con season winds down in the fall. If you don't have the goods on the shelf before November, you can forget about it. They do this for a living, so I won't argue with their logic too much. But I suspect that dearth of material is one reason WH hasn't been getting too much attention from the mainstream. Meanwhile, runs on the core book at cons continue as people get invested in the DP program.

With baited breath.

I'm always up for adventures, so their anthology definitely has my attention. As for BaD, we'll see. Since I'm not playing WH proper, I don't know how much value it will have for me. But I can always mine it for secret societies and the like. For me, the significant selling point will be non-euro centric orders, as I've mentioned before. Time to see how the other two-quarters of the world gets business done.

Same here. I love what's going on with Dark Providence, but the game needs to grow beyond that group as well.

I've long believed the real answer to a lot of game company woes is getting people playing and keeping them playing, and the OP events can do a lot in that regard. I really wish there were more opportunities to play in DP games here in Texas. For most of the good stuff, I need to drive to Atlanta.

Then again, Living Arcanis has been going on for 7 years (debuted Gen Con 2001 with my one adventure for it!), and if list traffic is any indication, it hasn't done too shabby since launching last year.

It also had the pleasure of being the OTHER DnD living campaign. If you didn't like LG, or the RPGA, there was Living Arcanis. I think WH has managed to pull in some of those players, along with a LOT of the Living Death crowd, but how many LA players won't touch anything that isn't DnD? I think next year will really be telling for the DP program. LG is gone, 3e is gone, and 4e is...different. There are a lot of groups whose entire gaming hobby is comprised of living campaign play, and if PCI plays their cards right, they stand to pick up a nice-sized chunk of disenfranchised RPGAers. We'll have to wait and see.

Tom

 

[HalWhitewyrm]

According to the folks at PCI, it's really difficult to introduce a new product into the mix after con season winds down in the fall. If you don't have the goods on the shelf before November, you can forget about it. They do this for a living, so I won't argue with their logic too much. But I suspect that dearth of material is one reason WH hasn't been getting too much attention from the mainstream. Meanwhile, runs on the core book at cons continue as people get invested in the DP program.

The dreaded After-Gen Con Lull is a real threat and screws a lot of companies and retailers every year.

For only .20 cents a day, you can help...

I'm always up for adventures, so their anthology definitely has my attention.

I find them great as examples and idea mines.

As for BaD, we'll see. Since I'm not playing WH proper, I don't know how much value it will have for me. But I can always mine it for secret societies and the like. For me, the significant selling point will be non-euro centric orders, as I've mentioned before. Time to see how the other two-quarters of the world gets business done.

I know for a fact there will be non-Eurocentric Orders in that book, as well as in more upcoming books (as I said, I know I wrote a Jewish Order and submitted it, and I was not alone in tackling non-Euro, non-Christian Orders). At the very least, The Blessed and the Damned should help to fill out the gaps story-wise of what is going on in the rest of the world, which is great in and of itself.

I've long believed the real answer to a lot of game company woes is getting people playing and keeping them playing, and the OP events can do a lot in that regard. I really wish there were more opportunities to play in DP games here in Texas. For most of the good stuff, I need to drive to Atlanta.

I think this might be one of those 'Be the change you want' kind of things, then. What is great about the organized play is that it can help bring a lot of people to the game since there's a lot of people that are fans of that format.

(Arcanis) also had the pleasure of being the OTHER DnD living campaign. If you didn't like LG, or the RPGA, there was Living Arcanis. I think WH has managed to pull in some of those players, along with a LOT of the Living Death crowd, but how many LA players won't touch anything that isn't DnD? I think next year will really be telling for the DP program. LG is gone, 3e is gone, and 4e is...different. There are a lot of groups whose entire gaming hobby is comprised of living campaign play, and if PCI plays their cards right, they stand to pick up a nice-sized chunk of disenfranchised RPGAers. We'll have to wait and see.

Well, that won't be the case for long, as Arcanis's next edition won't be d20-based at all (source HERE). So those who won't touch non D&D/d20 will have a decision to make: is Arcanis itself enough to make them jump to the new system? I think for a lot of Arcanis fans the answer will be yes, but we'll see. As far as I know, Living Arcanis will continue, so they still stand to gain some players who enjoy that play format.

 

[HellHound]

Love the game, but the reality is that I can't run that many campaigns concurrently.

Right now I'm running a CyberPunk 2020 campaign, a Vampire: the Requiem chronicle, a B/X D&D dungeon crawl, and have just started a Scion cycle.

 

[HalWhitewyrm]

Love the game, but the reality is that I can't run that many campaigns concurrently.

Right now I'm running a CyberPunk 2020 campaign, a Vampire: the Requiem chronicle, a B/X D&D dungeon crawl, and have just started a Scion cycle.

Can I import you to Miami, please?

Hey, top of the to-play pile is good, too.

 

[gtJormungand]

While the story of the Witch Hunter: The Dark Providence is really good (since they grabbed the best Living Death authors), the mechanics in the book are mostly terrible. The book editing is also terrible. PCI does not want to issue ANY errata for anything, just sell more books with terrible editing.