The Witcher

"Who are the Witchers? Scoundrels and fanatics, for the most part, though after the foul deeds perpetrated during the Elf/Dwarf war, many a decent men, outraged to the hilt, joined their ranks..."

"There will always, always be darkness. And in that darkness there will always be Evil, in that darkness there will always be fangs and claws, murder and blood. There will always be things that go bump in the night. And we, Witchers, are the ones who will bump back."

Witcher is a term used to describe individuals that hunt down and destroy supernatural beings.

A human stalks through the night, cat eyes shining in the darkened forest. All is silent save for the gentle tapping of his medallion against his chest. At the sound of an otherworldly howl, he dodges out of the way, narrowly avoiding the cavernous maw of a werewolf.

An Boy whirls his gleaming sword about his head before bringing it down before him, hacking a demon’s wing from its body. Blood flies as he nimbly carves his way up the side of the beast before finally splitting its head in two.

A woman thrusts her hand toward the pack of undead shambling toward her. With a short sign, a wave of fire explodes forth, followed by her cleaving a path through them with her shining sword. The last thing they see is her face, veined from the potions she took, a branching mass of death.

All of these fighters are Witchers, the ideal being for killing monsters. Mutated by ancient arcane rituals, trained in swordplay, and well versed in nearly every type of monster, they are more than equipped to handle being pitted against whatever goes bump in the night. They fill a necessary niche in the world, killing monsters for those plagued by them, and have taken their services throughout the lands. Witchers are grim, cold individuals who have dedicated their life to the eradication of corruption wherever it may be and perform this task with dedication and zeal as they have a great hatred of all things tainted and unpure. Witchers range from the coldly dispassionate, who regard what they do as just a job, to those whose zeal for hunting down the servants of evil knows no end, and who would burn a village to the ground rather than risk letting one cultist go unpunished. As Witchers get older and more grizzled and the number of horrors they have witnessed grows, many become more extreme in their views, believing that everyone is guilty, it’s just a question of how much. The Witcher specializes in finding and defeating evil spellcasters, demons, devils and monsters and fixing the problems such creatures cause. Though Witchers are able combatants against any foes, they excel when facing enemies that draw much of their power from cursing, draining, and charming their opponents. It is uncertain where the term originated from, but the most likely time origin is the times after the great elf Dwarf war when the Inquisition swept across the lands and put a fiery end to many users of magic and servants of evil. For this reason the Witcher is a form of misnomer as they often hunt and destroy all sorts of evil.

Specialized Killers

Witchers are warriors who have trained to recognize, oppose, and sometimes even undo the effects of magic, especially witchcraft. Much of their power comes from an unshakable conviction that magic powers cannot overcome the willpower of someone trained to confront such forces without fear or hesitation. A Witch Hunter is powered by devotion to the idea that free will and normal mortal existence are as powerful and precious as the mystic powers of mages and priests. Witchers are trained in small batches, usually consisting of ten to fifteen kids, the vast majority of which don’t survive the training. They usually die to monsters, but even fewer survive the infamous Trial of the Grasses, the final part of the process, in which the subject is subjected to toxic chemicals which, in addition to making them infertile, mutate them into something more than human, something that is both the evil they face and the silver they banish it with. The majority of witchers carry two swords with them. Silver for monsters, steel for humans.

Witcher Code

Despite the many differences between individual witchers, such as school, personal differences, and general worldview, one thing that unites all of them is the witcher’s code; the idea that a witcher doesn’t work for free. Witchers are not needlessly reckless and value their own lives, but once they are forced into action they waste no time or effort fretting over the risk of failure. A Witch Hunter fights shrewdly and with skill, but his true advantage lies in the reservoir of purpose he can call on when these prove to be insufficient to the task at hand. Usually, such open activity comes late in their investigation. Witchers don’t capture their prey unless they are patient and have all of their facts first. So unless the threat is immediately obvious, the hunter will snoop around the community, looking for suspicious behaviour and clues. During this time, he assembles a group of helpers, locals who know the people and the ins and outs of the community. From this assistance, he can gauge their purity by keeping them close at hand. Witchers will often “befriend” a suspect to keep a close eye on them. Once the corruption is exposed, the Witcher enlists the rest of the town through fear to help bring down the offending mutants or cultists. Then, once captured, the Witcher interrogates, using torture if necessary to tease out the information he needs and to expose any accomplices. Those captives who don’t die from interrogation are cleansed by fire, and anyone who assisted them is either tortured or killed publicly to deter anyone else from aiding the agents of evil.They’re not selfless heroes, they’re businessmen who provide an invaluable service to the community, and if there’s no gold to be had, there’s no witcher to be found. Although they hunt the demons that plague the people, they are hated and feared for their unnatural appearance, a constant reminder of the evils that lurk in the world. You will never find a witcher working a guard post for a fort, they are restless creatures, migrating across great distances, taking contracts as they go, and moving on.

Though officially without any allegiance, their operations are sanctioned by many churches of non-evil gods as well as nobility of the various kindgoms who occasionally support them with gold and other assistance. They are known as being intimidating as well as overzealous in their cause. Many Witchers work closely with a church or order of knights, seeing themselves as being part of a holy crusade. Others are baser in their motives, hiring themselves out to cursed or bewitched villages to hunt down and destroy the witches that plague them. What unites Witchers is not their motivation but their dedication. Whether drawn from holy verve, staunch individualism, or naked greed, Witchers are driven by the conviction that they can overcome such magics because they choose to do so. Many consider magic to be as much mummery and illusion as true power. None are so foolish as to claim fireballs don’t burn, but they do believe that their inner resolve to quell the flames is as powerful and impactful as the force of will a pyromancer uses to ignite them.

Such unwavering resolve aids Witchers against mundane foes as well. A Witcher is willing to pit his doggedness against any threat, and will often stand fast where a more pragmatic man would retreat.

Like Rangers and Paladins, a Witcher is a solid combatant who does best when facing specific situations and types of foes. A well-equipped Witcher can slice through slavers, kick down the doors of the giant’s hall, and chop through brigands as well as any other sword-swinger can, filling the role of primary combatant in parties without members of other fighting classes. But when facing cultists of an evil god, ferreting out succubi, and opposing hag covens, the Witcher has advantages over less specialized fighters. The Witcher’s tremendous devotion allows him to land blows that otherwise would miss, clearly identify mystic threats, and even overcome magic through pure force of will. Witchers are most effective when dealing with practitioners of witchcraft, but have an edge over other warriors when facing any type of spellcaster.

Race: Only humans have been described as being able to undergo the process of becoming a witcher. It is unclear whether or not an elf or a dwarf could survive the process and also become a witcher, though there are plenty of theories out there as to whether or not it is possible.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A Witcher is proficient with all simple and martial weapons, as well as armor.

Witcher Abilities

Witchers have the following abilities/bonuses:

Witcher Trials

During the Trial of the Grasses, your body underwent amazing and horrifying mutations leaving you sterile, but granting you the following starting at level 1:

• You gain Darkvision, if your race did not already possess nightvision, up to 60 ft. If you already have nightvision, double it.
• Plus 10 to speed
• Immunity to disease and Poison
• Cannot be surprised
• Witchers are not known to be able to die from old age

Witcher Artifacts: All Witchers have a pendant in the shape of the symbol of their Witcher school, as well as a Witchers Bestiary.

• While wearing the pendant, it vibrates if a magical creature or object is within 30 feet.
• The Witchers Bestiary is where a Witcher records the strengths and weaknesses of all enemies faced. When facing a beast or monster that has been recorded in the bestiary, the witcher adds +1 bonus to hit and saving throws in regards to that creature After the Witcher is in combat with a creature and kills/subdues it, they take 5 minutes to study it before adding it to the Witcher Bestiary.

1. Starting at level 1, a Witcher moves like the wind and strikes swifter than a coursing river. Any unarmed strike can have your dexterity modifier instead of strength. Also, any Versatile weapon a Witcher wields that they have proficiency in is considered a Finesse weapon. Additionally, switching weapons or switching from one-handed to two-handed on a Versatile weapon requires no action or bonus action
2. Additionally at first level, the witcher gains access to signs, a form of magic only usable by Witchers. All signs require the use of one free hand for somatic gesturing. Sign casting is a very strenuous task and requires lots of concentration. At level one, the Witcher can only prepare 2 signs for use for the day. This increases with level following the table.

   Level	Signs Cast
   1st	2
   2nd	4
   3rd	6
   4th	8
   5th	10
   6th	12
   7th	14
   8th	16
   9th	18
   10th	20
   11th	22
   12th	24
   13th	26
   14th	28
   15th	30

   • At level 5, you gain the ability to empower your signs.
   • At level 10, you gain the ability to empower your signs with greater potency.
   • At level 15, you gain the ability to empower your signs to mythic potency.
   • Sign Save is a standard save vs Magic

   The Witcher Signs

   • Aard

     Prestidigitation: Out of combat, the Witcher can create disturbances in the air that extinguish small flames like torch and bonfires. As a bonus action, you blast a 15ft cone with telekinetic force dealing 1d6 force damage .The first two creatures hit within the area must make a strength saving throw against your Sign save DC. On a failed save the creature is knocked back 10ft, On a successful save the they are only dealt the damage.
     Empowered: You are able to use your reaction to reduce the damage dealt by a ranged weapon by 1d8 + your level + your Dexterity modifier . If the damage is reduced to 0 you can spend 1 vigor point for each ranged shot in order to make a ranged weapon attack and return the projectile with Aard if you possess that sign.
     Greater Empowered Aard: You Empower your Aard sign to blast out in a 15ft radius emanating from you in all directions. All creatures caught in the blast must make a strength saving throw against your Sign save DC. Upon a failed save the creature is thrown back 15 ft, knocked prone, and dealt 3d6 force damage. On a successful save the target is pushed back 10ft and takes half damage.
     Mythic Empowered Aard: When you empower your Aard sign you can choose for it to have this effect instead. You condense your telekenetic blast into 5 smaller bursts of energy designed to pulverize flesh and break bone. You can shoot these at any creatures within a 60ft area. A creature hit by this blast must make a Strength saving throwing or be knocked prone and dealt 4d6 damage. On a success they take half damage.

   • Yrden

     As a bonus action, you place a magical trap on the ground (20 ft range) in a 10ft radius, lasting 1d4 turns. All non-allies within the area of the trap have half movement speed. You can place a number of traps equal to your wisdom modifier plus 1.
     Empowered: When you Empower either your preexisting Yrden trap, or a new one, the movement speed decrease becomes quarter movement speed, If you empower a preexisting Yrden trap it resets its duration.

     Greater Empowered Yrden When you empower either your preexisting Yrden trap or a new one it's duration increases by 1d6 turns,in addition any ethereal or invisible creature within or passing through your trap become corporeal/visible.
     Mythic Empowered Yrden When you can empower your preexisting Yrden trap or cast a new Yrden trap, the radius of your Yrden trap increases to a 60ft. While you are inside of the the Yrden trap radius you are hasted. While you are hasted your movement speed is doubled, and you gain an additional action. The trap has all effects of the lower levels of the Yrden sign.

   • Igni

     Prestidigitation: Out of combat, the Witcher manages to create small flames that light candles, torches and bonfires. As a bonus action you send out a burst of flames in a 10 foot cone, all creatures within the area make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed saving throw the target takes 1d8 fire damage or half damage on a successful save.
     Empowered: You empower your Igni sign, to linger and set a target ablaze. In addition to the original Igni sign's effect the Witcher chooses a target who is in the area of the Igni sign and sets their armor or skin ablaze. The target burns for an extra 1d6 fire damage. This damage occurs every round at the start of their turn for 1d4 rounds. The creature can use an action to put out the flames ending the effect on itself.
     Greater Empowered Igni You gain the ability to focus the energy of the Igni blast into a fire stream to hit a single target to devastating effect. The range of the fire stream is 30ft. An enemy hit by this stream immediately takes 3d10 fire damage. Roll a percentile die, on a 55 or above, the enemy is set ablaze. If set ablaze, the enemy takes 1d8 fire damage per round for 1d4 rounds. The enemy on their turn can use their action to put out the fire. They will continue to take fire damage every round on their turn until the fire is put out or until the effects of the sign ends.
     Mythic Empowered Igni When you Empower your Igni sign you can use the sheer heat of your fire to melt armor and reduce defenses. In addition to the effects of the lower levels of this sign, creatures hit by Igni have their armour class lowered by 2 for the next minute. This does not stack.

   • Quen

     As a bonus action, you can cast Quen. You cast a protective ward around yourself, gaining resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage until you are hit for the first time. This effect last for 2 hits at level 6 and 3 hits at level 10. As a reaction to a melee attack that hits but before damage is rolled you can activate this base level of Quen for 2 vigor point, this costs your reaction.

     
     Empowered: You empower your Quen sign to create a more powerful shield around you which grants you 5 plus your vigor point maximum in temporary hit points. The temporary hit point last till a long rest or until depleted. Temporary hit points from this version of the sign do not stack.

     
     Greater Empowered Quen In addition to the benefits of regular Quen, you gain resistance to all types of of magic damage as well. Additionally, if you take damage from any resistances granted by Quen, your enemy takes half the damage dealt to you.

     
     Mythic Empowered Quen You create a bubble of potent energy around yourself. You gain immunity to all damage for one round. If you are hit by any melee attacks, ranged attacks,breath weapons or spells, you gain 1d8 temporary hit points. These hit points last until used or once you've taken a long rest. Walking while using this sign is considered as being over difficult terrain.

     
     Axii

     As a bonus action you blast a target's mind with psychic energy, the target must make a Wisdom saving throw against your Sign save DC. Upon a failed save the target is stunned until the start of your next turn and dealt 1d6 psychic damage. If the target succeeds the save they are unaffected by the Sign and gain advantage against this Sign for 1d4 rounds. Empowered Axii: When you make a charisma check, you can use the mind-altering powers of Axii to influence the conversation. You gain advantage on your charisma check.

     
     Greater Empowered Axii You empower your Axii sign, to instead control the target's actions. The target must make a Wisdom saving throw against your Sign save DC. Upon a failed save the target is under your control. You can command the target as a single free action. The target can remake the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, a successful save ends this effect on itself. When the Sign ends the target is dealt 2d6 psychic damage. If the target succeeds their saving throw they are only dealt half the psychic damage and have advantage on the save against this Sign for 1d4 turns.

     
     Mythic Empowered Axii You assault up to 2 targets minds with psychic energy. Targets must make a Wisdom saving throw. They take 6d6 psychic damage upon a failed save, and half damage upon success. If this damage would kill the target they are instead put to sleep for 1 hour. If they are put to sleep they must make a Wisdom saving throw against your Sign save DC. Upon a failed save the targets memory of the past 24 hours is erased.

   • Detect Evil: At will, the witch hunter can use detect evil as a spell-like ability.
   • Intimidating Dedication: The witch hunter may add his M.E. modifier in addition to his M.A. modifier to Intimidate checks.
   • Bias Against the Arcane: A witch hunter recieves a +3 bonus to all magical saves at levels 2, 6, 10, 14.
   • Smite Evil: at levels 2, 6, 10, 14, a witch hunter may use an attack to smite an evil opponent (eg: 1 smite at lvl 2, 2 smites at lvl 6 etc...). Add a +4 bonus on attack roll and deals 2 extra points of damage per level. If the witch hunter accidentally smites a creature that is not evil, the smite has no effect but it is still used up for that day.
   • Detect Curse: At 3rd level a witch hunter gains detect curse. The witch hunter detects and receives information about curses rather than magic. Once a witch hunter has focused this ability on a cursed creature or object for 4 rounds, he may make a Lore: Magic check to determine the effect of the curse.
   • Aura of Courage: Beginning at 3rd level, a witch hunter is immune to Horror factor (magical or otherwise). Allies within 10 feet of the Witch hunter gain a +4 bonus on saving throws against Horror factor.
   • Resist Evil Magic (Ex): At 4th level, a witch hunter gains a specialized spell resistance equal to 20% + 2%/level. This spell resistance applies only to evil spells or spells cast by an evil creature.
   • Witch Sense: Starting at 5th level, After a witch hunter spends time in a terrain, wilderness area, or community, he can determine if a witch has been in the same area recently. A witch hunter must be in a specific terrain, wilderness area, village, town, or city for 24 hours in order to use witch sense. After that time, the witch hunter makes a Perception Roll. On a successful check, the witch hunter is aware that one or more witches have been present during the past day. The witch hunter does not learn any further information about the witch or witches other than the certainty of their recent presence. The witch hunter may use witch sense twice per day.
   • At 6th level the witch hunter is immune to penalties to stats from any curses, spells, spell-like ability, or supernatural ability.
   • Casterbane: at 8th level gains the ability to dispel a spell or curse cast against the Witch Hunter once per day.
   • Distracting Wound: If the witch hunter hits a target with a distracting wound, it becomes more difficult for the target to cast spells. The target must make a concentration check against M.E. to cast any spell. This effect lasts for 10 minutes.
   • Cursebreaker: At 9th level the witch hunter can use the cursebreaker power as a standard action. The witch hunter makes a melee touch attack. If it is successful, the target is affected by the cursebreaker, which functions as the remove curse spell. Witch Focus (Ex)
   • The witch hunter is always studying lore regarding witches and, in time, learns their powers and weaknesses better than anyone else. At 9th level the witch hunter gains a +2 bonus to all attack rolls, Knowledge checks, and saving throws made in regards to a witch or a witch’s powers. These bonuses increase by +1 at each additional level.
   • Grim Determination: At 10th level, the witch hunter can focus his will to overcome the mystic energy of a potentially lethal magic attack to take less damage than he otherwise would. Once per day, when he would be reduced to 0 or fewer hit points by damage from a spell, spell-like ability, or supernatural ability (not a weapon, trap, or mundane affliction), the witch hunter can attempt to suppress the magic damage by sheer force of will. To use this ability the witch hunter must attempt a M.E. save as an immediate action. If the save succeeds, he takes only half damage from the attack; if it fails he takes full damage. The witch hunter must be aware of the attack and able to concentrate to use this ability. If the witch hunter is flat-footed or prohibited from taking standard actions, he cannot use this ability.
   • Dumbfounding Blow: at level 10, A witch can deliver blows that baffle and bedevil his targets. A target struck with a dumbfounding blow takes 2 points of M.E. damage and 1 point of I.Q. damage in addition to the attack’s normal damage.
   • Witch Tracker: At level 11 the witch hunter gains the ability to track a witch by scent, but may only use it on witches.
   • At 13th level the witch hunter gains the backlash ability. Whenever the witch hunter is the target of a spell from the divination or enchantment schools of magic, the creature casting the spell must make a M.E. save. On a failed save, the caster takes 2d6 points of damage. Because the backlash takes effect after the spell is cast, it cannot disrupt the spellcaster.

Starting at level 3, you can now use your alchemist's kit to craft specialized Witcher potions and concoctions. These potions are incredibly toxic for non-Witchers. You need to finish a long rest before you can use this feature again. If you pass the toxicity limit, you gain 1 point of exhaustion per potion taken after that.

Swallow

The process takes 1 hour to gather materials and craft 1d6 vials of a potion called Swallow. You need to finish a long rest before you can use this feature again. Swallow potions, if consumed by a Witcher, heal 1d6 + your Constitution modifier at the end of your turn for 4 turns. Toxicity: 2 Enchanced: At level 8 you can craft Enhanced Swallow, which heals for 2d6 + your Constitution modifier.

Elixir of the Cat

The Witcher can produce 1d4 potions which double the Witcher's natural dark vision range to 120 feet, and allow the sight of color in the dark for one day. The process takes 1 hour to gather materials and craft 2 vials. You need to finish a long rest before you can use this feature again. Toxicity:1 Enchanced: At level 8, You can produce enhanced "Elixir of the Cat" potions which heighten your Hexer senses to the point that even magical darkness doesn't hinder you: gain Truesight up to 60 ft. This allows you to see invisible creatures and objects, automatically detect visual illusions and automatically succeed on saving throws against them. The material costs include 250 gold pieces and one hour of gathering materials to produce d6 potions which last for 8 hours duration each.

Black Blood

Duration: 30 minutes Any creature that attacks with claws, Bite or Beak, or any undead that attacks without a spell or weapon, takes 1d8 poison damage upon dealing damage to the witcher, this increases by 1d8 at 10th and 15th level. The process takes 1 hour to gather materials and craft 2 vials. You need to finish a long rest before you can use this feature again. Toxicity: 2

Enchanced: At level 8, any creature afflicted by your normal Black Blood potion must make a constitution saving throw versus your Constitution modifier + Proficiency Bonus + 8. On a failed saving throw, they are subjected to the poisoned condition and take 1d4 damage at the end of their turn for a number of turns equal to your Constitution modifier.

Killer Whale

Duration: 15 minutes. You can breathe underwater. The process takes 1 hour to gather materials and craft 2 vials. You need to finish a long rest before you can use this feature again. Toxicity: 1

Enchanced: At level 8, your fingers and toes become webbed, giving you a swimming speed double your walking speed. The duration is doubled.

White Honey

Regain all of your toxicity points, cancels active potion effects. Only one dose per brew made. You may not take any potions for 1 hour after you drink this. The process takes 1 hour to gather materials that costs 100gp and craft 2 vials.

• If any Witcher potion is consumed by a non-Witcher, they must pass a DC 18 Constitution saving throw. Or it will damage them 3d6 + 5 per hour for 4 hours, Enhanced damages for 3d10 + 5 per hour for 8 hours. This can be removed through lesser restoration. If they succeed the constitution saving throw, they gain the benefits of the potion for half the duration.

• You can only carry up to 3 of each potion on your person at any one time