CJ. Carella's WitchCraft

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C.J. Carella's Witchcraft, also known as simply WitchCraft for short, is an Urban Fantasy Horror roleplaying game setting for Unisystem, in which the players take the role of witches and other magical beings and attempt to battle various evil forces, ranging from fellow supernaturals that you don't get on with to eldritch abominations from an alternate reality of pure corruption and spiritual taint, even fouler than the fiends and vampires that you ordinarily rub shoulders with and having more in common with Lovecraftian monsters. It has a spin-off/sequel called Armageddon: The End Times.

Character Types

Like all Unisystem Games, there are a couple of different... "races" you can choose to play in a game of WitchCraft, although they're not really races as you'd find in, say, Dungeons & Dragons, for the most part. The Corebook only introduces four "Character Types", as they're called.

Obviously, the basic choice of choices is a Mundane, just a regular old normal human. You don't have any supernatural powers, but you get higher skills and "mundane" type benefits to make up for your lack of things like regeneration or throwing fireballs.

The Gifted are the premier supernatural "race" of the world of WitchCraft. This is a catch-all moniker for any human who has supernatural powers, represented by taking the core quality "The Gift" and then taking other qualities to represent things like superhuman physical abilities, magic, etcetera. Mages, psychics, divinely inspired beings, consciously reincarnating souls and more are all folded into this umbrella.

Lesser Gifted are the intermediary point between Mundane and Gifted. You still have some supernatural abilities, but you lack out in terms of raw mojo. Still, this gives more points to spend on skills and gear, so ideally you're the jack-of-all-trades guy or gal.

Basts are the most overtly supernatural character type in the corebook, and are the closest thing to a different race in the D&D sense. Basts are two different kinds of magical feline; Common Basts are the descendants of ancient magical rituals that bound elemental spirits to cats, creating telepathic and fully sapient felines who have since spread across the world. The more powerful High Basts are effectively werecats, being Basts who can transform into the form of a human being for a short period of time. Whilst they can sprout claws and fangs for self-defense in this form, they don't have a true hybrid form. Both kinds of Bast reincarnate upon their death by possessing unborn kittens in the womb of a pregnant cat.

Lesser Supernaturals were introduced in the Abomination Codex as a weaker analogue to the Supernatural character type that had been introduced in Armageddon: The End Times. Intended to represent younger, more inexperienced Supernaturals who could thusly fit into Heroic-tier games, they're basically the Supernatural analogue to the Lesser Gifted.

Ferals were introduced in the Abomination Codex, and are the therianthropes of the WitchCraft world. Once humans, their souls have become enmeshed with a beast spirit, leaving them part human, part beast, part flesh and part spirit - long before Werewolf: The Forsaken did it. While there are several species of Feral, they are all based on predatory mammals.

True Immortals were introduced in the Abomination Codex; whilst the Gifted can achieve longevity that might as well be immortality to the eyes of Mundanes, True Immortals are all but impervious to death - they never age, never sicken, and can regenerate all but the worst wounds, though this comes at the price of being unable to learn any form of Metaphysics other than Invocations, which they can only release through ritual magic. True Immortals are haunted by hazy memories of an alien... time? Place? World? Where science and sorcery are as one, and where men fly the sky in flame-covered vessels, fight with swords and beam weaponry, and walk side by side with gods and angels. Most refer to this otherworld as "Atlantis", and believe it is the origin of their kind.

Ghosts are the souls of departed human beings who have chosen to remain in the world of the living. Phantasms are the ghosts of the Gifted, and thus possess even greater mystical abilities than regular ghosts. Both spirits were presented as playable characters in the Mystery Codex.

Vampyres are the undead, and somehow even more pretentious than those of Vampire: The Masquerade. Theser undead must feed on Essence, not blood, and can attain this by manipulating humans into feeling intense emotions - positive or negative - and then siphoning off their spiritual energy through physical content. Originally debuting as monsters in the corebook, they got promoted to playable in the Mystery Codex.

Relentless Dead are better thought of by another name: Revenant. Dying whilst consumed by tragedy, madness or both, the sheer strength of their passion led them to defy the grave and rise again, determined to achieve a goal that may be impossible. Originally debuting as monsters in the corebook, they got promoted to playable in the Mystery Codex.

Greater Gifted appeared in the Book of Hod, and are basically the inverse of the Lesser Gifted. These are the natural born prodigies and the great old masters, the archmages and the psi-lords - in short? The meanest mojo-molding mothafuckers in the world.

Metaphysics

What's an Urban Fantasy setting without magic? Based on the Unisystem rules, the world of WitchCraft has many different distinct "schools" of magic, which are individually known as Crafts or Arts and collectively known as Metaphysics. Each "school" has its own library of powers, so whilst it's technically possible to play a character who can wield multiple kinds of Metaphysics at once, most don't bother because that shit gets expensive.

The corebook offers four Metaphysical Crafts:

Magical Invocations are the "arcane magic" of the setting, using raw willpower augmented by rituals to bend and shape the metaphysical Essence of reality to affect all manner of effects. Practitioners of this Craft are known as Magicians. Invocations are the broadest array of potential applications of mystic might, ranging from summoning spirits to manipulating the elements to spiritual cleaning to blessings and curses to hurling bolts of soulfire, so that means Magicians have the widest array of potential abilities.

The (Second) Sight covers psionics, psychic powers, esper disciplines, whatever you want to call them. Practitioners of this Craft are known as Seers, Psychics or Espers. Seer powers are divided into three broad schools; Telepathy, Psychokinesis and Clairvoyance, with Seers focusing on specific applications of those three schools - one Psychokinetic may use Mindfire (pyrokinesis), whilst another has Mindhands (telekinesis) and a third is capable of both.

Necromancy blurs the line between Magic and the Sight, and covers all the eldritch abilities to commune with or command the dead and the energies of death. Practitioners of this Craft are known as Mediums or Necromancers. Necromancy is broken into four distinct schools that govern different aspects of the Craft, with levels in each school granting increased ways to apply necromancy. Death Lordship grants dominion over spirits, Death Mastery grants the ability to heal and kill, Death Speech allows one to commune with the dead, and Death Vessel is the power to temporarily discard one's body and operate like a ghost.

Divine Inspiration is the divine magic Craft of the game. Fueled by faith and filtered through ones personal beliefs, Divine Inspiration may not technically prove that God is real, but their wielders sure don't lack for faith. Practitioners of this Craft are known as Inspired. It functions the closest to Invocation, with an array of different individual manifestations like Exorcism, Holy Fire, and Strength of Ten.

The Keys of Solomon were introduced in the Abomination Codex, and are a unique Craft wielded by the Knights Templar. Blurring the line between Invocation and Inspiration, these are a set of mystical powers that grant dominion over the many mystical entities of the WitchCraft world, from ghosts and elementals to angels and demons.

Voodoo Magic, as described in the Abomination Codex, is actually a blending of select spirit-focused Invocations and a natural talent for Necromancy, marking Voodoo Gifted as a rare exception to the "master one Craft, shun the rest" paradigm.

Taint Powers are dark, twisted powers fueled by an unclean energy, the "Anti-Essence", a magical energy that is utterly inimical to all reality. Wielding these powers is playing with fire; body and mind both crumble in the end, the only question is how long it takes for one or both to utterly dissolve.

Atlantean Arcana is a Craft exclusive to the True Immortals, and like them was introduced in the Abomination Codex. Immortals who can wield this Craft retain an unusually strong grasp on their memories of the lost world of Atlantis, and thus can recreate at least some of the miraculous blendings of magic, psionics and technology that was capable in that distant era. This basically lets Immortals create a number of strange magical artifacts.

The Disciplines of the Flesh are a reviled Craft that only Gifted individuals who have been physically and mentally abused for years can develop, their loathing twisting and warping their power until their hatred and disgust renders their flesh malleable as clay and allows them to express their anguish on the world through their own bodies. It is an art powered by anger, humiliation, helplessness, and one's own memories of abuse and betrayal. This Craft was introduced in the Mystery Codex.

Tao-Chi is... well, it's mystical martial arts. These are Gifted individuals who decided that they didn't want to be a wizard or a psion or a cleric, they wanted to be an /a/-style monk. This Craft was introduced in the Mystery Codex. Healing one's self through sheer will, punching out ghosts, that's the sort of thing this art offers. The Society of Assassins from the Book of Hod have their own version of this Craft, called Baraka Sabil.

Shamanism, similar to Voodoo Magic, isn't a proper Craft in its own right, but instead a philosophy and a life calling that can be paired with different Metaphysics. It's discussed in the Book of Hod.

Abhijna are a Craft unique to a specific kind of Gifted - the Enlightened - and honed by the Tibet-dwelling Covenant known as the Order of Shambala. It has similarities to Tao-Chi, but offers more esoteric abilities focused on mastering the mind and spirit as well as those of the body. This Craft is found in the Book of Hod.

Associations

Naturally, being an Urban Fantasy game from the late 90s and early 2000s, WitchCraft is full of different factions for you to potentially join.

Firstly, there are the Wicce; this being a setting written with a basis in Neo-Pagan mythology, the Wicce are naturally full of the largest concentration of real magic users and the secret heirs to lost traditions from before the Abrahamic faiths slaughtered the wisdom keepers of old. They tend to be a hodgepodge of different casting arts and styles, but their versatility comes at the cost of strength - the majority of Wicce are Lesser Gifted.

Rosicrucians are the members of the Order of the Rose Crose, and the closest thing that the setting has to wizards. They are knowledge-seekers and power brokers focused on ritual magic, typically translating this into mundane wealth and power as a result. A Rosicrucian is never less than a Lesser Gifted, and often a full-fledged Gifted; they are overwhelmingly Magicians, with a handful of Necromancers and Seers, but are never Divinely Inspired.

The Sentinels are a secret society of monster hunters and witch fighters whose ranks draw from across the Abrahamic faiths. Made up equally of Mundanes and Gifted (Seers and Inspired only, as Magicians and Necromancers are considered inherently evil), they are the "Well-Meaning But Ultimately Evil Faction" of the setting, similar to the old-school view of the Technocracy in Mage: The Ascension, with the corebook openly describing them as "slaves and fanatics".

As the Rosicrucians are to Invocation, so are the Twilight Order to Necromancy. Made up almost entirely of Necromancers, with a minority of ghost-focused Seers, they work to study the Lands of the Dead and to prevent the dead from harming the living - or vice versa! One thing separating them from the Rosicrucians is that Mundane members have a fairly strong presence in the society, drawing from the ranks of paranormal investigators/researchers and haunting survivors.

The Cabal of the Psyche are a secret society of Seers who are dedicated to preserving psychics from the dangers posed by a world largely dominated by Mundanes, striving to cover up psionic powers whilst studying and honing their mysterious mental arts.

Finally, Solitaires is the catchall term for any Gifted or Lesser Gifted who does not belong to one of the "big boy's clubs", choosing to walk their own path in life. They may have their own small cults and conspiracies, but they don't kowtow to the bigwig Covenants, so that marks them as "loners".

The Knights of the Temple of Solomon, more commonly called the Knights Templar, were introduced in the Abomination Codex. Heavily embedded in the media, law enforcement and politics, this highly secretive society is dedicated to battling the dark organization known as the Combine, using its own weapons against it; manipulation of the media and the masses, political assassination, and covert operations. Many suspect they may actually be a front for the Combine inteded to lure out other Covenants, but the Knights Templar take their code to root out the Combine and protect humanity from the shadows with utmost seriousness.

The Covenant of Legba were introduced in the Abomination Codex, and are essentially Voodoo's answer to the neo-pagans of Wicce. Drawing their ranks from the Gifted and Lesser Gifted of African heritage and its derivatives, the Covenant is an alliance of Magicians, Necromancers and even a few Seers who seek to act as mediators and defenders for the living, the dead, gods and men alike.

The Nomads were introduced in the Abomination Codex, which is only justified because this is a Feral Covenant, made up of werebeasts who have sworn to follow the commandments of the ancient moon deities, the first and foremost of which is that they must forever roam the land without settling down. Though there are hangers on, made up of a variety of Mundanes, Gifted and Supernaturals, it is the the Ferals who make up the core of the Nomads.

The Mockers are a Covenant made up of those who have encountered the Mad Gods and survived, despite being touched by the foul energy known as Taint. And they're really pissed off about it. Shunned, hated and feared by others, largely because of their willingness to embrace Taint both directly and indirectly through twisted Invocations and the Disciplines of the Flesh, the Mockers are bitter enemies of the Mad Gods and dedicated to fighting their encroach. This Covenant was introduced in the Abomination Codex.

The Lodge of the Undying were introduced in the Abomination Codex, and like the Nomads are a Covenant made up of a new race introduced in that book - the True Immortals. Whilst primarily focused on just giving True Immortals a chance to rub shoulders and be with their own kind, they also wish to unearth the truth behind visions that hint at a mysterious lost civilization from which their kind sprung. Only other supernaturals who can experience eternity in close to the same way as True Immortals are welcomed into their ranks.

The Fellowship of Judas, also known as the Iscariots, is a Covenant of undead created from souls who wish to repent for the evil things they did in life - vampyres, ghosts, phantasms and relentless dead, whatever they are now, they are willing to risk it all to amend for their sins. This Covenant was introduced in the Mystery Codex.

The House of Thanatos is an alliance of powerful undead, Necromancers and spirit-focused Magicians determined to fully master the secrets of life and death, and to unlock the key to become truly immortal. This Covenant was introduced in the Mystery Codex.

The Pariahs are a loose alliance of those Gifted unfortunate enough to have suffered the physical and mental torment needed to channel their supernatural powers down the dark direction needed to unlock the Disciplines of the Flesh, the unholy ability to warp one's body like clay and shape one's self into a living nightmare, and Seers who have been scarred by their psychic exposure to the ugly underside of humanity's psyche. This Covenant was introduced in the Mystery Codex.

The Storm Dragons are an alliance of super-powered martial artists who have learned to harness psionics and the Craft known as Tao-Chi to achieve preternatural feats. Thus empowered, they consider it their duty to hunt down the supernatural predators of the world, particularly the Mad Gods. This Covenant was introduced in the Mystery Codex.

The Ghost Dancers debuted in the Book of Hod and represent the united mystics of the Native American population; shamans, spirit-patronized warriors and werecoyotes, all united behind the vision of a bright, shining future in which the First Nations will be freed from the reservations to reclaim tehir ancestral lands, whilst the White Man will be driven to the east of the Mississippi and forced to stay there.

The Society of Assassins are a secret Conclave of Islam-worshipping assassins who have, unbeknownst to themselves, been split into two sects; the Ruya'ha, allied with the Knights Templar, and the Alamut, vassals of the Combine.

The Order of Shambala is a Covenant of Buddhist mystics whose roots lie in Tibet, using Tao-Chi and the Second Sight to pursue the path to spiritual enlightenment.

Splats=

Sadly, with the death of Eden Studios, WitchCraft never got to live up to its full potential. Outside of the Core Rulebook (which did at least get a Revised edition), only four splatbooks were published:

• The Mystery Codex
• The Abomination Codex
• Power and Privilege (an expanded guide to the Rosicrucians Covenant)
• The Book of Hod (a guide to the Land of Dreams)

Planned books that were cancelled with the death of the studio consist of Honor and Blood (details Yosod, the Society of Sentinels, the angels and the demons), Grace and Guidance (details the Storm Dragons) and the Book of Geburah (details the Land of the Dead).