Character Creation: Witch: Fated Souls 2nd Ed

Must be the season, I guess.

The Game: Witch: Fated Souls
The Publisher: Angry Hamster Publishing
Degree of Familiarity: I ran a one-shot of the 1st edition many years ago, but that's pretty different than this
Books Required: Just the one

Many years ago, in the Before Times, I wrote a review of Witch: Fated Souls, because I was doing one-shots and reviews of games by fellow IDGN members. That review was post on RPGnet, but their reviews seem to be all be down? And I don't seem to have the draft copy. Oh, no, wait, I do! Why didn't I do a write-up for my blog on the one-shot? That's weird. 

Well, anyway, having now reread my review, it's pretty much as I remembered: I was down on the game because it seemed like it was including trad systems for the sake of them, when the real innovation in the game was in the magic systems and using magic and dealing with our demons was clearly what the game wanted us to be doing. I'm happy to say that basically everything I mentioned as a criticism in that review got addressed, including that it needed a clarity pass (I don't for a moment take credit for anything, obviously, and I'm sure the people involved in making the game would as soon spit on me as look at me, I'm just saying I'm excited about the 2nd Ed). 

So what's this game? You're playing Fated, or witches, people who sold their souls to demons for magical power. There's a robust and intricate, though not complicated, system for tracking that descent into magical power via doing favors for a demon (the short form is that you can ask your demon for more power or just service and it trades you for something it wants you to do), and the magic system looks a bit more streamlined and...not homogenized, exactly, but the systems are bit cleaner. We're using d6s instead of d10s (and only d6s, the 1st ed used a bunch of other dice for combat), the mechanics are reminiscent of Blades in the Dark in some ways, and the writing is much clearer. 

Actually, this edition is a pretty good reflection of a particular school of current(ish, the game came out in 2025 but after a fairly long publication cycle) game design. That is, it clearly takes influence from PbtA and FitD games, and it spends a little too much time harping on safety concerns. Although on the other hand, maybe a game that straight-up has the PCs owe their souls to demons does need that. 

Anyway, I'm toying with the notion of pitching this game to one of my groups, so let's make a character and see how easy that process works. 

The first thing we'd normally do is build the coven, but as it's just me we'll skip that bit. Getting into character creation, I actually do have kind of a concept. If you've been reading my game write-ups for Chill and D&D of late, you'll note that djinn have figured in to both. I didn't do that on purpose, but it has kind of brought out the notion in my brain that having wishes is a curse, not a blessing. So I think I'm gonna make a character who is a djinni (that's one of the Fate options). They can grant wishes, kind of; they actually act as intermediaries between the wisher and the Quiet. 

So first, we say before my fating... I was bored. Spencer Cross, for 'tis his name, had an associates degree and a good, but boring, job (let's say shipping/receiving for some company, it hardly matters). And he was Fated because... I didn't believe it would work. One of my buddies at work had made a wish for lots of money (he's dead now, drug overdose) and shared with me the mechanism by which one makes wishes. Spencer, always the kind of guy that wants to take something apart and see how it works, dug a little too deeply and the Quiet made him an offer. He accepted because, like, what's a soul anyway? (Oops.)

My relationship with my demon is... Vague. The Quiet is barely a demon, it's more like the oblivion at the end of all things. As such, it doesn't really have conversations with Spencer, which unfortunately has the effect of making this whole situation a little less immediate. 

Today I am... Just doing my thing. I see Spencer as the kind of guy who kind of trips into an adventure rather than going out and finding it. Or, y'know, he grants a wish that blows up. (By the way, for every seven wishes a Djinn grants, he gets one of his own! I love that detail, it's amazing and insidious.)

It just occurred to me that I watched Obsession not long ago and that might be influencing my creative process a little. 

Anyway, Stats! I get 6 points in Core, but I have to put one in each, so really I get three. Um. I guess we'll go 2 across the board.

I get 5 points in Attributes, and these can be 0, which is good because there are nine of them. Let's see here. I think I'll put 1 point in Apply, Percept, Reason, Charm, and Understand.

Concepts are Gauze, Occult, and Aether, and they're equal to their core stat + the lowest linked Attributes, which means I have Gauze 2, Occult 3, Aether 3. No, wait, Aether 2. 

Vitality Pools (Health, Composure, Power) work the same way, except with the highest linked Attribute, so 2, 3, 3, respectively. 

Influence, I get 6 points to split between Contacts, Means, and Reputation. Let's put 3 in Contacts, two in Means, one in Reputation. Spencer knows a lot of people's names and has an extensive LinkedIn list (or whatever), though people don't necessarily remember him. 

Magic! I get 4 levels of magic stuff to split between Spells, Potions, and Rituals. I have to take Level I stuff before Level II, but I don't think I have to spend two of my points on a Level II spell (though there isn't an example of chargen, so I could be wrong). I can't take a Level III during chargen, but is that because it's mathematically impossible (which it would be if these cost their level out of my four points) or just a rule? Hrm. Let's assume I get four "things", I just have to take them in sequence and I can't go over II. 

Well, anyway, I get the level 0 "Summon Demon" for free, since that's how I got into this mess. I want the level one Dukhan spell Tacit, which lets me turn invisible. I'll take the level one potion Sacro; when someone drinks it they're compelled to go protect the thing or person they love most for 24 hours. I'll take Phase (also level 1 Dukhan), because it lets me go incorporeal and that's pretty cool. And I'll take the level 1 Sah spell Read, which lets me read a person's true desire.

And then I can take a level one artefact if I want. Ugh, I'll take a corpse tooth, and say it came from my rich buddy (let's call him Ian, just to lean in a little). If I put his tooth in my mouth, I can appear as him for an hour. Ew.

That's it! Spencer is in his late 20s, thick wavy hair, soft body, brown eyes. He wavers between being willing to grant wishes and thinking it's a real bad idea but kind of being willing anyway. Maybe the Quiet has its hooks in him deeper than he thinks.