Ahimsa
CREATOR
Backed 3 projects in Tabletop Tavern
about 2 months ago
Project Update: Getting Witchy with it
We've got two weeks left so I thought I'd take this chance to talk a little about some of the influences on Wytch Mountain.
First of all, the title does not come from the Disney Movie Escape to Witch Mountain (although I loved that movie when I was a kid). If you do think you know what helped inspire the title, leave a guess in the comments.
The hardest part about designing this game was replacing the standard fantasy classes (fighter, cleric, thief, etc) with different kinds of witches. There are so many witches in different traditions and they resist taxonomy but RPGs are nothing but oversimplifications of life anyway.
The list I came up with was
Black Mass Witch - These are your bad witches. Think Helena Markos in Suspiria, the titular witch in The VVitch, Morgan Le Fay, Baba Yaga, Jadis from Narnia or the Sanderson Sisters. These are my favorite kind of witches because they just do what they want and you kind of have to admire that.
Hedge Witch - These are Green witches. They come from the Baltic tradition of Ragana, or herbal women and also from books of herblore from publishers like Llewellyn books.
Leyline Witch - These come out of folklore, especially from Great Britain. This is an oversimplification because all witches exist in liminal areas but I wanted to create a specialist.
Potion Witch - Another oversimplification and definitely shares some common ground with the Hedge Witch, but Potion Witches are more about controlling the people and environment around them. Some of the witches I was thinking about was The Love Witch, the witch from Fire and Ice, or Witch Hazel from Looney Tunes. They are the most ambiguous in terms of good or evil.
That was the core four and then ...
Warlock - Wind then pointed out we were missing a strength based witch. Our solution was based on one character, famously not a witch. Wind helped write this one as well, and we essentially made an Elric of Melnibone class.
It should turn out that whatever kind of witch you want to play, you'll find something good. And the differences in motivations and tactics should make for interesting Coven play!
Thanks everyone for your support. Hit us up with any questions!
Ahimsa & Wind
Knight Owl Publishing
First of all, the title does not come from the Disney Movie Escape to Witch Mountain (although I loved that movie when I was a kid). If you do think you know what helped inspire the title, leave a guess in the comments.
The hardest part about designing this game was replacing the standard fantasy classes (fighter, cleric, thief, etc) with different kinds of witches. There are so many witches in different traditions and they resist taxonomy but RPGs are nothing but oversimplifications of life anyway.
The list I came up with was
Black Mass Witch - These are your bad witches. Think Helena Markos in Suspiria, the titular witch in The VVitch, Morgan Le Fay, Baba Yaga, Jadis from Narnia or the Sanderson Sisters. These are my favorite kind of witches because they just do what they want and you kind of have to admire that.
Hedge Witch - These are Green witches. They come from the Baltic tradition of Ragana, or herbal women and also from books of herblore from publishers like Llewellyn books.
Leyline Witch - These come out of folklore, especially from Great Britain. This is an oversimplification because all witches exist in liminal areas but I wanted to create a specialist.
Potion Witch - Another oversimplification and definitely shares some common ground with the Hedge Witch, but Potion Witches are more about controlling the people and environment around them. Some of the witches I was thinking about was The Love Witch, the witch from Fire and Ice, or Witch Hazel from Looney Tunes. They are the most ambiguous in terms of good or evil.
That was the core four and then ...
Warlock - Wind then pointed out we were missing a strength based witch. Our solution was based on one character, famously not a witch. Wind helped write this one as well, and we essentially made an Elric of Melnibone class.
It should turn out that whatever kind of witch you want to play, you'll find something good. And the differences in motivations and tactics should make for interesting Coven play!
Thanks everyone for your support. Hit us up with any questions!
Ahimsa & Wind
Knight Owl Publishing
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