Witcher (Netflix)

[Blue]

Haven't played the games or read the books. Watched it with my wife who didn't even know it was a series of games. We quite enjoyed it. I give props to Henry Cavill for being able to well emote someone who supposedly has little emotions - that's got to be a tricky line to act. But his hmms were filled with meaning.

After finishing it, my wife has already ordered the books under the assumption I'll read them after she has. She's right.

I like it wasn't dumbed down, and expected viewers to follow around in different times without being held by the hand. Fight scenes were dynamic (though some variation), and gory enough to be uncomfortable without going over the top.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I like it. I don’t like that it had to go full grimdark tragedy in episode 1, and introduced and killed my favorite character in episode one (Renfri), but I’m enjoying it in spite of that.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Never heard of the game or the books- But saw the hoopla about it recently-I forced myself through the 1st episode. It's certainly no Stranger Things or Lost in Space.

I really don't understand why so much fantasy is done so poorly on-screen. The acting was -eh. The setting seemed anachronistic.

The setting is definitely not "chronistic". The world is the result of a clash of worlds (aka the Conjunction of Spheres). We know very little about it (and I remember probably even less from the novels). But it's not humanity's past. It's humans, displaced to a new world that contained elves, and together with the humans, hordes of monsters also invaded. One can imagine that this was quite world-shattering for everyone, and anything we could predict from "our" medieval times could be off, simply because some knowledge, some culture was lost, while others was retained, and other aspects might actually come not from the humans, but other races. The Elves taught humans magic, but the humans breed like rabbits humans, and the Elves didn't know how to handle the kind of aggressive expansion humanity engaged in, fighting back far too late.

I'd say that's fantasy just done right - clearly fantastic, not an attempt to be historical (though some argue that elements of the history and story of the novels might mirror the history of Poland, minus the magic.)

 

[5atbu]

Rotten Tomatoes Critics Consensus: "The world of The Witcher still only feels half-formed as it gallops onto screens, but Henry Cavill brings brawny charisma to a series teeming with subversive fantasy elements and dark humor. "

That is no bad way to introduce a world: bit by bit.
The books are more grim than the TV so far. They are very based in the horror of the wars in Poland in WW2; and all the better for it.
I think the series has made a great start.
Don't worry too much about the setting, it'll grow out of the stories.

 

[BookBarbarian]

The setting is definitely not "chronistic". The world is the result of a clash of worlds (aka the Conjunction of Spheres). We know very little about it (and I remember probably even less from the novels). But it's not humanity's past. It's humans, displaced to a new world that contained elves, and together with the humans, hordes of monsters also invaded. One can imagine that this was quite world-shattering for everyone, and anything we could predict from "our" medieval times could be off, simply because some knowledge, some culture was lost, while others was retained, and other aspects might actually come not from the humans, but other races. The Elves taught humans magic, but the humans breed like rabbits humans, and the Elves didn't know how to handle the kind of aggressive expansion humanity engaged in, fighting back far too late.

I'd say that's fantasy just done right - clearly fantastic, not an attempt to be historical (though some argue that elements of the history and story of the novels might mirror the history of Poland, minus the magic.)

This is what makes it feel more like a D&D setting to me than a lot of other Fantasy Fictions settings. It's a world filled with competing organizations of high magic users, competing human kingdoms, Old High elven lore, and current elf freedom fighters. religious zealotry, and most importantly monsters, monsters, and more monsters. With a secretive order of rangers dedicated to protecting civilization from these monsters.

I could run a 5e game in Witcherland with far fewer tweaks than say Middle-Earth or Westeros.

And now I want to.

 

[Beleriphon]

I could run a 5e game in Witcherland with far fewer tweaks than say Middle-Earth or Westeros.

And now I want to.

Ask and ye shall receive.

https://img.4plebs.org/boards/tg/image/1477/36/1477360852873.pdf

 

[BookBarbarian]

Ask and ye shall receive.

https://img.4plebs.org/boards/tg/image/1477/36/1477360852873.pdf

Wow! I have the basic version of the Witcher TTRPG for a while now, but wasn't a fan of how fiddly it is. This looks sweet!

 

[Zaukrie]

Ask and ye shall receive.

https://img.4plebs.org/boards/tg/image/1477/36/1477360852873.pdf

If I haven't read the books or played the games, how much will this spoil future seasons of the tv show, do you think?

 

[Beleriphon]

If I haven't read the books or played the games, how much will this spoil future seasons of the tv show, do you think?

Not at all, it basically explains very, very briefly the state of the world at around the time frame of The Witcher 3 without spoiling the game plot. It actually does a good job of barely even referencing the books and instead says: here's how D&D rules/classes/etc. would work in The Witcher stories with a enough background to explain. The biggest reveal is The Witcher 3 involves a second Conjunction which Geralt stops (you discover this relatively late in the game, but its nothing unexpected really) and it doesn't explain how or why Geralt does this.

Edit: The Witcher class (yes it has a new class) has some discussion about the history of witchers and some of the plot points from the novels and first game. Nothing about it should be a big spoiler, the most significant one is that the Cat School of witchers betray the Wolf School and Geralt along with his sorceress friends wreck holy havoc on the Cats.

Oh, a bit of the end of The Witcher 2 I suppose. Again, nothing specific at all. I'm not sure the Netflix series will ever deal with game elements given how The Witcher (the first game) and why its even a game.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Wow! I have the basic version of the Witcher TTRPG for a while now, but wasn't a fan of how fiddly it is. This looks sweet!

Yeah it looks good. I wouldn’t use most of the rules variants they throw in, like fumbles and called shots, but the meat of it looks good.