A remix of Witchburner inspired by Cthulhu Dark and improvised mystery games.
This game uses six-sided dice.
Version: 0.4.0
Content warnings: Animal harm/death (domestic and/or wild), betrayal, class struggles, immolation, mob violence, occultism, persecution, religious violence, religious horror, torture (off screen, only occurs if pc’s introduce it), xenophobia.
As usual we can line/veil most of these, but the game will feature: immolation, persecution, religious violence, and religious horror.
Witchburner (page 6):
Limestone gravel crunched under the iron-bound wheels with a hollow sound, like bones snapping. The Rightmaker had come.
“Who summoned justice?” asked the clerk.
The Mayor walked forward. Her fur stole quivered as she lowered herself for the regal official.
“The council of the Bridge of Saint Cleareyes begged me, the Mayor, to summon justice,” she said.
The clerk regarded her for a long minute, before walking back to the black carriage with the red triangle.
He bent to the latticework window and murmured, “Lord Rightmaker, the Mayor and her council are here to bend their necks and summon justice.”
The carriage rocked and was still. The clerk nodded and returned to the front of the entourage.
“The lord accepts your summons. Lead the way to your square of three truths.”
Edna scrambled up, beads of sweat sparkling in the fox fur, as she stumbled across the ancient bridge that gave her town life. Her flock of terrified councilors flapped after.
The carriage rolled after them, clerk and beetling soldiers flanking it. It stopped again besides three stones supporting a fourth. Two soldiers ran forward with a portable stair as the clerk opened the side door.
A hush fell on the square; even the birds in the lindens lost their song.
“The Lord Rightmaker takes the stones of the Bridge of Saint Cleareyes and brings the truths of sky, earth, and underworld to the sinful flock!” intoned the clerk.
Supple leather shoes and silken robes swirled as the lord descended onto the stones. She surveyed the small crowd with her empty sockets and the red stone of her third eye.
“My friends, good citizens, I have listened to your list of calamities, and I understand your plight,” her voice was warm, “you have a witch.”
She looked around and smiled, “You have a witch, and we’re going to burn the bitch.”
The folk call it Bridge.
The clerks call it Saint Cleareyes.
Built, burnt, and rebuilt. There has always been a town at this opalescent bridge. Its metal struts resist the weight of years though the river below shifts from swift flow to murky mire and back again carving its way to the sea.
The town has always been small. Important but limited by geography to always be the pawn, at best the rook, of either the Western City or the Eastern City.
When the burners come the natives fly to the thick-wooded hills like carrion crows from their carcass at the coming of a catamount.
Always the burners leave and the natives return.
Always some stain of the old days remains in the brooding woods, in the buckled mountains, in the banshee caves.
Always the witches remain.
Remain, and sometimes return. Like this October.
The fish of the river floated upturned upon the water, handprints burned into their putrefying flesh.
A black cat was found, gutted and nailed upon the doors of the Schoolhouse.
A child was born with a third eye, and when he cried, he cried, “Amimam!” — Eater of Virility.
The council put the monster spawn to death, as is proper.
The buckwheat wilted black in the fields and the pumpkins bled red under Plum Orchard Hill. It was going to be a hungry winter.
Winterwhite is a dangerous god, and a wise mayor does not play games with the granaries. It is time to call the witchburner.
Witchburner (page 10):
There are four major social groups in the town:
The Lodge Members represent the artificial trades and are organized around rituals and magic to appease and supplicate the Firebringer. The Innkeeper is the current mistress of the lodge, and the lodge meets in a back room at the inn. The lodge supports the Three Avatars wholeheartedly, but is more progressive and will openly ‘assent’ to other religions from the cities. The lodge will only resort to violence if absolutely necessary.
The Cult Members represent the natural professions and are focused on the Waterdrinker. The Priest is the leader of the cult which meets in the holy caves of Black Goat Pool. The cult fanatically supports the Three Avatars but is traditionally hospitable, though it becomes markedly colder in the face of proselytation. The cult will resort to violent assassination in the backwoods if pushed.
The Councilors are the town’s leaders including representatives from both the lodge and the cult. They represent diverse views and often bicker but are united in their desire to preserve the town and local customs. The councilors abhor violence unless overwhelming public opinion demands it.
The Outsiders are ‘strangers,’ ‘foreigners,’ and any people outside the town’s informal moral network. Even people who have lived in the town for twenty or thirty years may be considered outsiders. The outsiders are a diverse group, united by dependence on the goodwill of the lodge and cult. Their position is precarious, and they will quickly side with the group that looks likelier to protect them. However, if they are accused, few people will move to protect them.
You are a towns person of no great stature or importance. The witchburners have come to burn a witch, and they will “find” one among you — if you don’t deal with the problem first. You’re regular people. Fighting the witchburners is certain death. How will you handle this bloody farce?
The game cycles between three phases.
During the discovery phase you search for clues, make connections between them, and build a hypothesis. As you discover clues, you place them on the investigation diagram, and connect them to other clues. At the end of this phase you make a witchcraft roll to discover if your hypothesis was right.
After the witchcraft roll the game enters the response phase. During this phase you figure out what to do in response to the truth of the witchcraft, and the state of the witchburners.
Will you:
After a response has been reached, the game enters the downtime phase. During this phase you recover from conditions by sharing intimate moments with each other. A night out drinking, a contemplative walk through the woods, a heartfelt apology, a trip to the town spa, working on a project together, and so on.
Backgrounds describe broad swaths of life experiences. A job you held, a hobby you focused on, a culture (or subculture) you are (or were) a part of, and so on.
When a background is relevant to an action roll or investigation roll, you get an extra die. They can also let you:
Conditions describe injuries or other status ailments which last longer than a scene. You can have up to three.
Where you go to relax and recuperate. A home, haunt, vista, and so on.
To stoke the embers of mystery, the guide describes the discovery of the mystery, starting with three clues. They add those clues to the investigation board, drawing connections between them, and describes each connection. They then ask the players leading questions about their characters’ ties to the mystery.
When the guide asks you a leading question, add your answer to the investigation board as a clue, and connect it to another clue. Then describe the clue and connection.
Heat represents the situation in the town getting worse. For example:
As you investigate the witchcraft, the witchburners are working to burn someone — anyone — they can pin the “witchcraft” on, and your efforts are bound to draw their ire.
Heat is shared amongst the group, starts at 1, goes up to 6, and resets to 1 with each immolation.
When you risk drawing the attention of the witchburners, you make a heat roll. Roll one die, and if it is greater than the current heat, the situation gets worse, and the heat level rises by one.
When the heat level rises, the guide chooses one:
When heat reaches 6, the witchburners burn their suspect. Whoever they have the most “evidence” on, or they think will cause the least blow back for them — which could be you.
You can reduce heat by:
When you investigate the witchcraft you find clues, which you connect to other clues to form a diagram. Examples of clues are: physical evidence, information, motives, possible causes, and locations.
You can connect a clue by returning to investigate it again after you find other clues.
Anything you think is important. Something the guide said, or even another player.
When you add a clue to the investigation board, choose another clue on the board and connect the new one to it. Draw a line between them, and describe how the two are related.
After you add a clue to the investigation board, the guide chooses one:
When you take a risky action and the outcome is uncertain, gather your dice. Take:
On a:
When everyone comes together, have a discussion about what is really going on, and agree on a hypothesis, gather your dice. For each of the following questions, take a die if you answer it using one or more clues.
The player who most fears the outcome rolls the dice, and keep the highest die. On a:
When characters cooperate:
When characters compete against each other:
Conditions describe injuries or other status ailments which last longer than a scene.
The guide can give you a condition when appropriate. Usually as a consequence from an action roll, investigation roll, or when your heat goes up.
You can have up to three conditions. Conditions can worsen over time, or as consequence from rolls. If you have three conditions and taking another is appropriate, the guide chooses one:
To recover from a condition, you must deal with it during downtime.
Examples:
Describe or play out a scene showing your recovery. For long time periods use a montage. The guide can impose costs if appropriate.
If your character dies, or won’t be playable for a long time, you can: