The Ways of a Witch

"Way of the Witch" by Janet Pack, Jean Rabe, Megan Robertson, and Christina Styles Printed and Distributed by Citizen Games ISBN-10: 1-929474-39-3 -- 104 Pages "Way of the Witch" is a D20 sourcebook that adds Witches as a playable character class. Although set in the fictional world of "Myrra", it can be plugged into any D20 type campaign. Nine chapters make up the body of this work: 1) Introduction 2) Witch Classes 3) Skills and Feats 4) Witch Magic 5) Candle Magic 6) Familiars 7) The Way of Witches 8) Witch Organizations 9) Witch Adventure Ideas No index, but a very good Table of Contents. The front cover shows a witch with two wolf companions. According to this work, only Witches may have two familiars. The art throughout the book is black and white but does an extremely good job of conducting to the viewer a mood for this volume. I was very impressed by the art, and it added a lot of 'color' to the book, even if all the art is black and white. Like most more modern volumes, the first chapter is an introduction to the book in the form of a fictional portrayal of events, including a world timeline. Classes, the second chapter, has the usual 'how to create a character' part, but presents it in a very unusual way. Items about Witch language, definitions of Witch creation, good and bad karma, and creation of a spellbook before the Witch levels table, the Witch spells per day table, and the spells known table. Classes are next, with four entries: Black Witches (your evil-aligned sort), Brown Witches (almost like druids), Gray Witches (almost True Neutral in nature), "Vitae" Witches (who serve as guardians of covens), and finally White Witches (your good-aligned kind). The skills and feats you can take are most of the Third chapter. A small set of new skills and what each does, a collection of new feats, and a table for poisons. The Witch spell list is Fourth, describing all-new spells with a handy list of Witch spells by level. The remainder is just a list of spell definitions. Candle Magic, the Fifth chapter, is one of the ones I found very useful, not only for Witches, but as something you could pull out and place in your campaign even if you decide to not have Witch in it. Candle color properties and what each does is described. I may allow Witch player characters in my next Fantasy campaign, but I will use this section even if I decide to not allow players to have Witch characters. Sixth is Familiars, another chapter that could also serve in campaigns that do not allow Witches as PCs. There are tables for normal Witch familiars and what they are and what each can do. I can't even begin to tell you what this chapter will do to my next fantasy campaign, but I can tell you that I will use this info regardless. The ways of Witches is Seventh, and contains Coven membership and formation, a great section of musical and moon goddess types, clothing, holidays, and accessories. Witch Organizations - called "Gatherings" is Eighth, and gives large sets of covens specific names and what each believes and does. Seventeen gatherings are described. These large international groups could really spice up the various Witches that belong to them, each with their own ends, means, and ways. Characters do not have to belong to any of these groups, and could even decide to start their own. Finally, in the Ninth chapter are eight possible adventures and some sample characters probably best used as NPCs. These six NPCs are good examples. The appendix has a glossary and the Open Gaming License. I did not know quite what to expect from this book before purchase. The back cover, strangely enough, has a fiction component as well as a short bit about what lies inside. There was one sentence that made me hesitate - it indicated that this book had its own setting. But, I've always wanted to use Witches as NPCs or PCs. so I bought it and took it home and read it. Now, I =really= want to use this book as a resource for PCs and NPCs. The mood of this book was set by the art, which was drawn by Thomas Denmark. It stood out as a wonderful work, and I may go so far as to look for other art by Thomas. If you are thinking of adding Witches to a campaign, I can't think of a better choice than this one. Highly Recommended.