Approximatedly 1 in each 100,000 shows the genetic markers to become a Witch and manipulate arcane powers that defy comprehension (35,000)
Add that the ratio of arcane powers between women and men is 1000:1 (35,035)
This is a world where 90% of the wealth is accumulated on 10% of the people.
When these Witches awoke, be it because solar activity, climate change, pollution or cosmic alignments, how many of these were born in the 90% of the world who struggled to make a living?(31,532)
And... how many of those, having gained reality bending powers overnight, sought to overturn their situation?
The world as we knew... was torn aside in what we know as the Great Awakening, the Walpurgisnacht.
- Extract from the handwritten notes of a scientist found in Geneva, Switzerland
Witch Hunter - Apocalyse, as its name indicates, will be about hunting witches. But it will also be set in a world that is very much like our own, except it was turned upside down by the surgence of the supernatural, long thought to be just an old wives' tale.
As a result of a lot of people (the eponymous Witches, often women, but very rarely men) gaining game-changing power overnight, Governments collapsed, and the world was turned around in a state of disrepair and anarchy, where Witches like ages old warlords, or in this case warladies compete fiercely for resources and thralls, much like the ones before them. With this surgence of magic unto the world, creatures of myth that were thought to not have existed (what we will be calling supernals for the sake of simplicity, even if it's an eclectic group that includes from unicorns to undead) have returned.
However, not everything was destroyed. The embers of civilization still are lit, in the form of the Global Response Anti Magic troops, or GRAM troopers for short, who defend the very last stronghold of the old world order against the descent into anarchy and chaos.
You will be one of them.
You will hunt witches.
This is a tentative interest, we're not at the level of character submissions yet.
I will allow to play normal hunters as well a pool of magic-users. Supernal creatures are meant to be unplayable, but i am open to suggestions. I want to keep a demographic balance.
Themes are supposed to be dark. This is not a good vs evil setting, it's more Order vs Chaos.
I don't know much about guns and related, so the details on the militar side will be left quite vague.
Magic will be a "sky is the limit" kind of setting where any magic user is able to do anything without no rules or restriction... however there is a catch. I will also place the "fickle" rule. I reserve my right to make any kind of magic fail or even bounce back without warning nor explanation whatsoever. Magic is powerful, but dangerous. Also magic among GRAM ranks is both a boon and a curse. Magic users the best counter to witches, but they also face heavy discrimination and paranoia.
Play nice, play cool. I am not interested in antagonistic roles nor people who go solo for the time being. The whole world will be the enemy, no need to make more. Also, I doubt it needs to be said, but please be polite and respectful to fellow players.
I will stick to a bare minimum of a single paragraph every two weeks. I would also like to ask that if for some reason you are unable to post, please give me notice. Same for losing interest for whatever reason.
The world has suffered a tremendous geopolitical shift and even climate shift due to the sudden upsurge of magic. Humanity has suffered severe depopulation to an unprecedent scale due to the massive cataclismic clashes between the countries of old and the new powers of Witches and Supernals. Ironically, this seemed to allow nature to heal from the scars of the self-destructing consumism spiral of the late 20th and early 21st centuries... but barely any safe place is left, and people can die from plagues, disease or even predation by supernals at night. Practically no country has survived, except Australia and New Zealand. The combination of natural resources, sparse population and relatively developed lifestyle allowed them to agglutinate the last remnants of the old World's order in Strongholds, walled cities that are under the control of the United Nations (or what's left of it). These strongholds is where the GRAM draws its resources, funding and recruits.
Apparently, some Witches have managed to get something resemble societies working too, but they're hapzard, pale imitations of what used to be at best. (With the exception of Johannesburg, but that's a exception to the rule) Tales of hunters talk about dens of vice and abased debauchery, where life can be snuffed at the candle of the mighty and powerful, and sometimes inhumane, witches.
Despite how dire the situation is, strongholds still have access to the main commodities of modern life, and there's little if any shortage of anything. However it comes with a terrible price. Big brother is always watching, and regulations and rules are everywhere. The greater good is used as umbrella term to trample over even the most basic personal freedoms. Because witch genes are among the populace, there is no small sheer amount of paranoia and distrust among people. So, while the society is modern, it is also oppressive and stale, and makes many people join the high-risk high-gain ranks of GRAM, the only ones who venture outside the Strongholds to fight witches.
Sometimes, people aren't even given an option. Any confirmed witch match in the strongholds is forcefully recruited in their magic ranks, and kept under tight controls with electronic shackles. Supernals, who are even rarer, are vivisected usually... Even the mere thought of one joining the GRAM ranks is rare.
The Global Response Anti Magic forces are pretty much the only force capable of trading blows with witches and not suffer the fate of the sundered armies before them. With cutting edge technology boosted by their own magic forces, these daredevils thread into the chaotic anarchic world of today to restore what once was. They have a looser structure than most forces, and at times they're little more than adventurers or guerrilla. Casualties are high, as expected, but successful GRAM veterans enjoy many boons that normal citizens cannot.
There are two branches in GRAM. The magic users, sometimes called the Sorceresses and Sorcerers (to distinguish themselves from the Witches and Warlocks) are often kept separated and trained by their own, and then lent to the normal branches, the Troopers, to offer their magical expertise as backup. There is no small amount of friction because of this formula, but this was the most sensible solution to avoid infighting that was discovered.
In this chaotic world, there are countless threats and war-drunk witches to count and classify. The usual formula is that a cluster of witches rules over a certain are like a city-state of old, and keeps acolytes and supernals under their thumb. Some witches are even nomads, which raid the corpses of the cities of Old and unguarded settlements for a living. It is worth noting, however, that there are four witches who have rose to prominence and notoriety due to their sheer power and followers.
The Witch of the North: Also known as the Winter Sorceress. Her stronghold is Iceland. She has relatively few people and followers, but has many dangerous supernals and beasts under her control. She is infamously for her ability to warp the weather and the climate to such an extent that men are frozen where they stand, as well as the only witch in the world capable of commanding an entire flock of dragons.
The Witch of the West: Also known as the Bloody Dawn. Her stronghold is Mexico. A sadistic woman who has a disturbing penchant for human sacrifice and blood magic. West is the most warmongering of all the great four, and the people she comands are feral reavers and pirates who abduct people for the mesoamerican gods of old, clad in feathers and pelt. She has a great cult and is worshipped as High priestess.
The Witch of the East: Also known as the Dead Queen. Her stronghold is Beijing. A powerful necromancer and spirit summoner, East is an eerie slippery opponent that rules a city where few denizens have a pulse, and can summon demons and spirits from unspeakable places. Dead Queen and Bloody Dawn have a long standing rivalry as they both compete for human sacrifices.
The Witch of the South: Also known as the Lady of the Flames. Her stronghold is Johannesburg. South is the only witch who has managed to retain a level of followers and management that match the strongholds of the the Old World order. Johannesburg can boast a large population and even trade, but it is a rotten city, a den of vice where all the worst cravings of men and women are sated, all overseen by the eyes of South and her retainers. South is also the most industrious witch, and is locked in an arms race with the Old World order. She also has a feud with North for unknown reasons.
The Fifth Witch: Also known as Morgan le Fay. An enigmatic Welsh woman who is currently the head of the GRAM sorceresses. For some reason she decided to side with the Old World order rather than start her own city country. While not widely acknowledged, many people think that Morgan was a keystone that allowed the survival of the Old World order in Australia and New Zealand and the creation of GRAM. To this day, Morgan is the only person who can strike any kind of fear in the other great Four witches (other than themselves).
Besides that, the world is pretty open ended, so don't hesitate to put forward ideas as long as they make sense. Other than that, i will push this rp forward if there's enough interest.
Hey there, just passing by to say that I find this idea remarkably interesting and will be 100% on board if you manage to make it work. I kind of originally planned to wait till there was some interest to voice my own, but since no one seems to have noticed this in spite of it being one of the few genuinely interesting interest checks in the thread at the moment, I felt I should say something if only to assure you that it is a fairly good (though somehow unpolished) idea and you shouldn't get demotivated by the lack of interest. :)
I think this looks really interesting, getting some nice F.E.A.R-vibes from this. I also enjoy that it is not simply a good vs evil-thing, order vs chaos is a lot more interesting and it really helps the setting that we have magic users in the GRAM and the mention of witches out in the world having established societies.
However, magic is described as extremely powerful, a basic "do anything"-ability but with the fickle-rule applied to it. So I am wondering about exactly what a trooper (non-magic user) can do against a witch?
I think this looks really interesting, getting some nice F.E.A.R-vibes from this. I also enjoy that it is not simply a good vs evil-thing, order vs chaos is a lot more interesting and it really helps the setting that we have magic users in the GRAM and the mention of witches out in the world having established societies.
However, magic is described as extremely powerful, a basic "do anything"-ability but with the fickle-rule applied to it. So I am wondering about exactly what a trooper (non-magic user) can do against a witch?
Well, it is theoretically do anything... so it basically boils down to three factors that can affect a witch powers: talent, discipline and experience. You can cross the discipline bit, they are an anarchic lot. Talent is an even spread: there are monsters but the vast majority is middling. And experience, only few have enough of it.
The reason they ruined the world was less of the sheer firepower and more of the world descending into chaos all at once.
A normal GRAM trooper has discipline, teamwork, intel and material weapons at their disposal. It's safe to assume that a team can dispose without much problem of the average run-of-the mill witch as long as they are sensible and aren't caught on their back foot.
(I will allow PC troopers to be better than average. After all, they should be a viable choice.)
GRAM have also sorceresses and enchanted armaments if the target is tough enough.
Also interested but I'd just like to ask at what level the technology is. Like apparently society collapsed so how much did technology devolve? Is there magictech? How common are enchanted weapons and is there the possibility that they could appear out of normal weapons after the witches woke? Like a normal ancient weapon turning into a magical one a few years after magic started happening. What about vehicles? Does GRAM have any interesting ones or just like HMMVEEs? Do they still have Tanks and Strykers? Is it even worst and now they only have guntrucks?
To answer your question: I am too lazy to go into further details. Tech hasn't devolved as GRAM has been concerned (but they live in perpetual martial law). The rest of the world is a Mad Max funhouse where you're lucky if you have AKs and factories. Magical gears are crafted. The ones dones by witches and supernals have better enchantments but are quite old-fashioned. Weapons don't turn magical, they're made.
GRAM's enchantments are usually more limited due to both lack of magical users and magical resources, but they're high tech.
