GURPS: The Witcher - Monstrum Released!

[Grunker]

This thread is no longer relevant. Find the new thread HERE.

Hi all!

For the last two years, I have been working on a GURPS supplement intended for use in setting of The Witcher. It is both based on the books by Sapkowski and the two video games we have been graced with in the last couple of years.

The first one, GURPS: Witchers and their World - Characters, is a weighty tome which still has one-four months work left before it is complete. For now though, I have finished GURPS: Witchers and their World - Monstrum, which is a bestiary for playing The Witcher in GURPS.

It contains info on monsters and herbs.

Of course, there are one or two concepts in Monstrum that won't make complete sense without Characters. Don't hesitate to ask if you want some details. Most of Characters is complete, it just needs layout work.

I would love some feedback on Monstrum, and will release a new edition in time that includes this feedback. Perhaps I'll also include some more monsters. I wouldn't hesitate to include other GURPS-fans' monsters if anyone is feeling creative and want to contribute their work to this fan-based project either :D

Note that there are a lot of people who deserve credit for their help in the work with Witchers and their World. Specific credit and foreword will be present in Characters, but for now, tons of praise and thanks should be given to the communities of sjgames.com and The Witcher Wiki, which were two invaluable resources in creating these supplements. Specific credit should be given to Bruno, Gnomasz, Langy and vierasmarius from these forums.

Anyway, as I said, I'd love some feedback if you've got it. Otherwise, enjoy :)

[Langy]

Very nice! That's a lot of work you put into this, and the monsters are nicely statted up.

One niggle - I'd have really preferred it if you used the standard SJGames format for either character or monster write-ups. It would have flowed better with other GURPS products.

Still, this was a goodly amount of work and it looks like these monsters could be quite useful, even in non-Witcher games. I especially like the alchemical ingredients/mutagens and the write-ups for taking them.

If I ever start up a fantasy game again, I'll almost certainly be stealing these guys and adapting them to my game world. Good work.

[JMD]

Amazing! Thanks for this great piece of work. I'm running a fantasy campaign right now and some of these monsters will definitely make an appearance!

[Grunker]

Thanks for the kind words, they help me excuse all the man-hours that went into this! ;D

Originally Posted by Langy

One niggle - I'd have really preferred it if you used the standard SJGames format for either character or monster write-ups. It would have flowed better with other GURPS products.

You know, as a somewhat perfectionist it haunted me too - and still does. But the fact was, I was making this for my own use too. And GURPS' monster write-ups are not good for quick reference, in my opinion. I always had to convert write-ups to a more handy format before combat really flowed. I know it'll annoy some GURPSians that my monsters are pretty much laid out in a D&D-fashion, but I just find that layout very handy for reference.

So yeah, I'm a bit niggled by this decision myself, and in the end I'd like to have it ready for the recipository too... I just can't get around the fact that above all I need this document for handy reference :)

[Langy]

Originally Posted by Grunker

Thanks for the kind words, they help me excuse all the man-hours that went into this! ;D



You know, as a somewhat perfectionist it haunted me too - and still does. But the fact was, I was making this for my own use too. And GURPS' monster write-ups are not good for quick reference, in my opinion. I always had to convert write-ups to a more handy format before combat really flowed. I know it'll annoy some GURPSians that my monsters are pretty much laid out in a D&D-fashion, but I just find that layout very handy for reference.

So yeah, I'm a bit niggled by this decision myself, and in the end I'd like to have it ready for the recipository too... I just can't get around the fact that above all I need this document for handy reference :)

Really? I find the GURPS monster write-ups to be excellent for referencing. Mind you, these are the write-ups from the actual monster books (DFM:1, MH3, etc), not the write-ups from the Basic Set, which aren't anywhere near as good.

[AchyuthC]

This is a godsend for me, the effort you've put into this is very apparent and I can't wait for the characters section. If there's one comment I can make, I think it'd be interesting if the effects of mutagens were a little more variable, ingesting monster parts seems too risky to know exactly what to expect!

[OldSam]

Really nice work, it looks great! :)
I will definitely use this for some of my fantasy game sessions and I think it will be most welcome for new GMs searching for a graphical monster manual - thanks a lot for your work!

[Styar]

Greetings! You folk have done a great job! I am seasoned fan of Sapkovsky and I have known about witcher world long before game was appeared.It is very nice worck you have done thought i have to do some remarks about necrophage template. One need consider that necrophage is't undead! They are relict creachers, magic waste affected creachers or somthing like that, but they still living beings. They had vitals thought different from humans (this are weak points whitchers know to exploit), they need to breath (with lungs like gouls and their kin or with gills like drowned and their kin). Ghoul kind is resistant to pain but no immune (as we can see from books), they can bleed, althow their tough skeen and muscles layer made is less likely. The most close to classical undead are drowners that can't bleed but steel had vitals. Sincerely yours, Styar.
P.S. Sorry for my broken english.

[Grunker]

Originally Posted by Styar

Greetings! You folk have done a great job! I am seasoned fan of Sapkovsky and I have known about witcher world long before game was appeared.It is very nice worck you have done thought i have to do some remarks about necrophage template. One need consider that necrophage is't undead! They are relict creachers, magic waste affected creachers or somthing like that, but they still living beings. They had vitals thought different from humans (this are weak points whitchers know to exploit), they need to breath (with lungs like gouls and their kin or with gills like drowned and their kin). Ghoul kind is resistant to pain but no immune (as we can see from books), they can bleed, althow their tough skeen and muscles layer made is less likely. The most close to classical undead are drowners that can't bleed but steel had vitals. Sincerely yours, Styar.
P.S. Sorry for my broken english.

Hi Styar! Great stuff! Thanks for the praise, and thanks for the points on the Necrophages. Been a long time since I read the books, but at the moment you said it I recalled having read Sapkowski's words on it. So yeah, that'll change for the next version.

:)

[Orochi-art]

Grunker how come every adversary has a Defense penalty(-3 vs. attacks other
than thrusting)?