Most DnD parties would be right at home in the world of The Witcher – after all no one depopulates a local monster population like your average roving band of Dungeons and Dragons heroes. Now, one budding DM has created a class inspired by The Witcher series, complete with Witcher school subclasses, potions, bombs, and spells.
10 months into DMing his first campaign, 31-year-old Neil Wooten decided it was time to try homebrewing. Intending to put gruesome Witcher monsters into his gritty fantasy world, Wooten also aimed to include the monster hunters themselves. “That developed into the desire to build them a proper class, and it took off from there”, he says.
Wooten’s homebrew Witcher class comes pretty feature-complete, with 24 pages including the main class features, eight bombs, 12 potions, 15 unique spells, and six Witcher schools. Still, it’s a great deal shorter than his first 40-page attempt, which apparently turned into “a bloated mess of a class”, due to the trickiness of finangling a spellcasting system. He thanks Reddit user Leuku for help reviewing and balancing the content.
Of course, courtesy of Critical Role’s Matt Mercer, D&D already has its own Witcher-inspired monster fighting class – the Blood Hunter. But Wooten says the two classes differ wildly. “Where the Blood Hunter relies on hemocraft and blood curses, the Witcher relies on preparation by brewing potions and crafting handbombs.”
“I think my favourite part of the class is the Witcher Preparation feature, and how it scales between the spell slot progression so that you always feel you’re getting stronger,” Wooten adds. “With all the potions and handbombs, there’s plenty of variety and versatility you bring to any party you’re in.”
Another clever feature of this homebrew is that each Witcher school subclass draws inspiration from existing DnD classes. “The base class sets itself apart from the other classes, while the subclasses help provide links back to them, whether it’s the School of the Bear feeling similar to a Barbarian/Fighter, or the School of the Griffin feeling closer to a full caster with its cantrips, greater number of spells, and additional spell effects,” Wooten explains.
In the future, Wooten would like to create a full Witcher-themed compendium, complete with monsters and stat blocks. But if you’d like to roleplay as a Geralt of Rivia type and deal with DnD’s standard bestiary of fiends through quick wits and reflexes, plus a good deal of research and prepwork, this class should see you right. You can find Wooten’s Witcher homebrew class here.
And if you enjoy looking at homebrews, why not roleplay as a Nazgul or dive into the worlds of One Piece or MTG Kamigawa reimagined as 5e settings?