The Best Witches’ Besties

It is an undeniable truth that the Witch gets a lot of bad press. Not necessarily within the roleplaying hobby, but from without, for the Witch is seen as a figure of evil, often—though not necessarily—a female figure of evil, and a figure to be feared and persecuted. Much of this stems from the historical witch-hunts of the fifteenth, sixteenth, seventeen, and eighteenth centuries, along with the associated imagery, that is, the crone with the broom, pointy hat, black cat, cauldron, and more. When a Witch does appear in roleplaying, whether it is a historical or a fantasy setting, it is typically as the villain, as the perpetrator of some vile crime or mystery for the player characters to solve and stop. Publisher The Other Side has published a number of supplements written not only as a counter to the clichés of the witch figure, but to bring the Witch as a character Class to roleplaying after being disappointed at the lack of the Witch in the Player’s Handbook for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, First Edition. However, there is a tradition of telling stories about witches, often aimed at younger readers, such as in the Harry Potter stories or The Worst Witch series by Jill Murphy, and if your players are fans so either, a book like The Children of the Gods: The Classical Witch for Basic Era Games is probably not going to the most appropriate option. In which case, Tales of the Village from Arion Games might.

Familiars of the Village is a supplement for Tales of the Village which helps to bring to life an aspect of witch life which give every witch a permanent companion who can act as guide, sage, conscience (for good or ill), and friend. A familiar is first defined by its animal type, which can be anything from rabbit, bat, and mouse to guinea pig, tortoise, and hedgehog, but surprisingly does not include owl. Second, it is defined by its Background, which is broken down into Origin, Age, Skill, Trait, and Drawback. Thus, for example, a Familiar’s Origin can be ‘Wild’, meaning that it was raised in the wilderness or ‘Lineage’, meaning that it comes from a long line of Familiars; Age runs from young to old; Skill can be ‘Curiosity’, ‘Talkative’, or ‘Teeth & Claws (Beak& Claws)’; Trait can be ‘Eager’, ‘Healer’, or ‘Wise’; and Drawback can be ‘Apprentice’, ‘Excitable’, or ‘Slow’. Third, a Familiar has five Abilities which are Strength, Speed, Communication, Hiding, and Knowledge. These are either Untrained, Trained, or Master.

Creating a Familiar is a simple matter of choosing an animal type and the different elements of its Background. The player then divides two points amongst the familiar’s Abilities. This can either be to have two that the Familiar is Trained in or one that it is a Master in. If Untrained, a player must roll five or more to generate a Success; if Trained, four or more; and if a Master, three or more. Lastly, the player can give his Familiar a name and as little or as much backstory as is needed. The process is easy enough, but four examples are included.

Where Familiars of the Village gets interesting is in its suggestion as to who might roleplay the Familiars in a game of Tales of the Village. This is the parents of the players, but it could be other responsible adults too. The role of the Familiar is guide and mentor the Witch it is companion to, so not that dissimilar to the role of a parent. The aim is to give advice and make suggestions, but not take the lead, so the young player has room to roleplay and explore without being led or told what to do by a parent. This works better in smaller groups so there is a balance between parents and children, Witches and Familiars.

Unfortunately, there is no real advice on how to run such a situation and no doubt that such advice would have been useful for both veteran roleplayers and those new to the hobby. Similarly, there are no scenario ideas or writing advice for scenarios involving Witches and their Familiars. Given that the Familiar Character Sheet is printed twice, this is a major omission.

Physically, Familiars of the Village is neatly and tidily presented. It is lightly illustrated, but the artwork is cute.

Just as Tales of the Village is not an introductory roleplaying game, the ideas suggested by Familiars of the Village are not introductory either. They can be worked through by an experienced Game Master, but anyone else is left to their devices when it comes to implementing them in play. The means for creating Familiars for Tales of the Village are fine, but everything else could have done with a page or two of advice and scenario ideas, leaving Familiars of the Village underdeveloped.