I’m in the process of adapting DW to the Witcher universe. I decided to start by making some new classes. Here is the first class. I decided to try out adding extra move choices for each class to help customization mechanically. Some of the moves are taken from other custom classes i saw on here. The downside, however is that it may be to restrictive on the fiction standpoint. This is the Mercenary, a fighter replacement and my first class. This is not intended to act as a witcher but just a regular sword-for-hire, usually working for and against humans, dwarves and elves. What do you guys think?
I’m in the process of adapting DW to the Witcher universe.
I’m in the process of adapting DW to the Witcher universe.
Why not just use the Fighter as is?
As i said, im trying out more moves to see if the extra character customization is good. In addition i think the ‘Warrior-For-Hire’ is quite common in the witcher world so i thought building a class to have some mechanics around that would be cool.
Okay, though I still don’t think you need to build a whole class, especially one that borrows so heavily from an existing one.
A lot of times, a Compendium Class can do the job, especially if you have something in mind that will require deeds, initiation, or training. I would only make a new base class if there was really an unfilled niche that no other class could fit into well.
I haven’t read it yet (will though) but my first impression is “YES!” I absolutely love the Witcher and think it would be a great fit for the system.
Grim World might be something to look at for inspiration. There’s also this Witcher-inspired modification of GW’s Slayer class here: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B94zELwEwdHsR3JTX1Vaek1FeHc/edit?pli=1
Having read the playbook, I’ve got to say that there’s nothing here that particularly screams “Mercenary” to me. Really, this feels more like a Fighter with a massive amount of Advanced moves bloat. Most of the advanced moves are either copied over from the fighter, or just give roll bonuses, which aren’t the most useful thing in DW. The only real “Merc” like move here is “Trouble in Town,” which doesn’t really have much going for it as a move, since as-is, it pretty much just makes the job harder or less rewarding if you hit a 7-9 (and if you’re adventurers, why would you care if it’s less difficult or not as long as the pay’s good? Also, why is it roll+nothing? Charisma would contribute a great deal for finding a job). Going to have to agree with Peter Johansen about this being more of a compendium class type deal.
I like the Witcher & feel that the fighter would work well but you could have a specialized class after someone fights a certain monster where they are more of a monster hunter so they can mix in some magic or herbalism into the things they pick at leveling up instead of what the fighter has.
I plan to have a Compendium Class that can make you a witcher if you drink the potions needed for it. I’ll think about toning down the moves and specializing them more.
Here is the newly reworked Mercenary. I changed it back to a normal amount of moves and they are all now custom ones. I also made it significantly hireling-based. I’m not sure how strong it is, none of my players have ever gotten a hireling so i’ve never used the mechanics.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/jyaiumd088of3bm/Mercenary2.docx