Witch Characters, Has anyone played one? Options

[Mana Child]

I was wondering whether anyone has made one before and how they went about making one spell, skill, priority, stats etc wise.

[Shanshu Freeman]

[Mana Child]

why what happened last time? i wasnt around then on dumpshock :P

[Herald of Verjig...]

IIRC, it decayed into a debate of Wicca, "Real Witchcraft", stereotypical witchcraft, and a half dozen other things that people could assume by the term "witch."

Then it went downhill.

[Hecatonchires]

Umm... wouldn't witches be shamans with totems reflecting the Wiccan god(s)? Seems pretty basic to me.

[Shanshu Freeman]

[Shanshu Freeman]

(fails will power roll to resist making a crack about Vanilla Ice's song where he mentions "Cooking MC's like a pound of bacon")

[Mana Child]

I dont believe in witchcraft in real life at all.
I was genuinely asking how youd make one. Via skills etc.
Note that this potential character is also of good alignment.

[Mana Child]

also i didnt mean witch witch per see,

i meant witch style character.
the character was seen as a witch becuase of her talents sorta thing.

[Glyph]

But magic is pretty common in Shadowrun, and the major world religions have all had time to adjust to its presense and revise their theology to account for/explain it. The only places you'd run into the old "Burn the witch!" reaction would be in very backwards communities.

If you are talking about style of magic, a witch/wiccan would definitely be shamanic, since, like Voudoun and Rastafarians, their magic is part of their religion. You wouldn't need any new rules, though. Just pick a totem that fits (MITS has more that would fit the wiccan mold, although I could see a wiccan following some of the basic book Totems like rat, mouse, owl, etc.).

[Shanshu Freeman]

[Synner]

Just for the record, Wiccan's (often referred to as Witches) follow a one of the many variations of the religion known as Wicca. In SR the various sects (no negative connotation implied) include both hermetic and shamanic practioners (most commonly Idol-followers rather than Totemic).

However there are also Witches that practice Witchcraft, which to put it in its simplist terms is a hybrid magical tradition mixing Hermeticism, Judaico-Christian ritual and symbolism, midwife lore, herbalism, divination, pre-Celtic paganism and a bunch of other influences (essentially the pre-20th century Street Mage or Chaos magician in SR terms).

As a rule of thumb the big difference between the two is that Wicca is ultimately a religion and belief system, while Witchcraft is a magical tradition (whose practionners most of the time subscribe to one religion or another independently of their Art). There are other distinguishing differences between their symbols and beliefs but the deal-breaker is essentially the belief/faith aspect.

While in America the divide isn't as clear, in Europe things are different. Their MOs are completely different: Witchcraft practionners are the ones you go to on the sly to put a hex or spell on someone, to read your fortune in the cards or tea, to prepare an elixir or concoction to harm/cure/protect/draw customers; many run "consultation" services (this might be an old woman in a backwater village working out of her living room or a new-age style witch sitting in a fancy room in 4 bedroom flat downtown charging 500$ per hour). These types are especially common in Southern, Central and Eastern Europe and most haven't got the slightest idea what a Wiccan is or does...

Wiccans, over here, are closer to the new age stereotype than they would like us to believe in both style and symbolism. They share ground with Neo-Druidics and smaller Pagan and Revised Classical sects/denominations, but in general would think any of the practices I outlined above for "Witchcraft witches" as abhorrent and as a debasing the Power (sorry, couldn't find a better word).

[Shanshu Freeman]

[Hecatonchires]

So... I was right. Awesome.

When I think of witch I think warts and brooms and lots of black, with pointy hats of course. I know this is going to invite a mountain of scorn from any of our "New Age" posters but I can only blame Hollywood and Terry Pratchett novels for my pre-conceived notions.

[Synner]

The short answer is "researching for SoE"...

But in truth this kind of thing is a hobby for me. I'm nowhere near as knowledgable as say Arcanum V, but I do like to explore the fringes and lesser-known magical traditions and religions of the real world. In this particular case I had it easy because there are a huge number of "Witchcraft" witches in Portugal, while Wiccans are almost unknown. In this country for instance, it isn't uncommon to see these Witches go to Mass every Sunday and deck their consultation rooms in Catholic motifs. Most of them have little or no idea what Wicca is or believes in.

Note - As I said, it's a hobby, don't even get me started on the differences between Hermeticism and Christian and Orthodox Theurgy or between Celtic and Pre-Celtic Druidism.

[Cain]

Okay, I think we have a D20 refugee here.

To answer your question-- in Shadowrun, a mage is a mage is a mage. They're all created in similar fashions, with different "dressings" attached. Some rules change; but in general, you'd create a witch like any other magician. There's no difference between a fireball cast by a hermetic mage, one cast by a witch, or one cast by a cleric of a given faith.

Now, you haven't given us too much to work with. As others have pointed out, a witch can mean pointy-hat-and-warts type (which would be effectively a hermetic mage-- the mechanistic approach to spellcasting and commanding elementals is more hermetic than not); a traditional Wiccan (who would be a shaman, preferably of an Idol totem-- Great Mother or Moon Maiden are the best candidates); or a New-age crystal-waver (who would probably be a shaman, of any totem). Until we know which one you're aiming for, we can't help you out too much.

Other than that-- you're probably looking at a Magic Priority A character, with high Sorcery and Conjuring skills, as well as Enchanting. Since those skills are good for any full mage, you really can't go wrong on this track.

[Drain Brain]

[k1tsune]

MitS has rules for Witchcraft as a magical tradition.

[252]

I'm actaully pretty interested in the more role-playing aspects.

I've got this contact that I'm running that is supposed to be a Bostonian Witch (because the area is more European influenced)

I mean, this is the wicca sort of thing, where it is actually her religion. I don't care about the rules mechanics(because they are essentially the same), perhaps a few knowledge skills to more full her out. She is a some-what important NPC, contact, person. So I have a bit on her.

[k1tsune]

A "Witch" in my mind would probably know about ritual magic, herbs, and almost definitely British Isles Folklore. Candle magic, maybe?

Just bein' kinda stream-of-consciousness, here.

[252]

Hmmmmm, candle magic.

I have NO (sorry about yelling) idea what candle magic is.

Do you burn people with the candle. I believe that is called combustion, and is actually quite scientific, and not very magical at all. (Was supposed to be a joke, but probably sucked.)

[k1tsune]

[Aidley]

okay, guys, i have an EASY way to settle this. Get the latest copy of NSRCG. Create a magic user. Choose the 'wicca' path/totem for your character. voila, you have your witch.

and if I see one more f*cking 'witch/wicca = good/bad' post, I swear I'm going to start posting in character. You remember that satyr poledancer?

now behave, and go post your religious posts on a religious board, and save this place for gamer geekery.

[k1tsune]

WITCHES?! O_O

YOU'RE ALL GOING TO HELL!


(Sarcasm brought to you by someone who was written up in 8th grade for having a book on Wicca)

[Shanshu Freeman]