When Witchbloods first came out, they filled a clear niche as special permission anti-Magic characters, with magical powers of their own. Witchblood was a semi-permanent condition, like Vampirism, and had a cure. Existing characters became Witchbloods as a form of character development.
Over time, the cure for Witchbloodism was removed.
The undead aspect were replaced by true Undead.
And the "anti-magic" aspect was replaced with… magic-eating Vampire and Silven muters.
Suddenly, Witchbloods had lost their niche, as their unique aspects were spread to other groups. Hallowblood was released, in order to create Holy Knights, for players who wanted some kind of Paladin niche, with Witchblood as a stepping stone.
However, with custom magics, two vampire reworks, a possession re-release, and a Silven rework, I think it's time to consider bringing back Witchblood as a dedicated anti-magic/anti-aberrant niche, rather than a mere stepping stone toward Hallowblood.
Phantasma are fine as they are, if they're intended to be only a temporary state, but that's not the case for most of Phantasma players, and this causes a great deal of issues, including this one:
Silven clump together, and cannot be dispersed by an individual Witchblood. One solution suggested was to make a Witchblood group. However, A group of Witchblood turns a simple feeding into a battle royale, which is problematic because Witchblood aren't looking to be an antagonist niche-- just to get by until they can become Hallowblood. A group of Witchbloods and allies terrorizing Silven and mages makes sense if Witchbloods are designated as antagonists, rather than mere pre-Hallowbloods.
In my opinion, Hallowblood should be its own path, and Witchblood should be a separate, dedicated anti-magic state. The "Deep Lore" is already there to support that! Witchblood could go back to being Binral-based anti-Silven with dragon lore tie ins, and Hallowblood could be its own special religious honor.
This could work in 2 ways:
Hallowblood could be separated from Witchblood entirely, and just be an honor given to especially pious characters for being especially pious, rather than to especially pious Phantasma.
OR
Current Phantasma should be a steppingstone to true Witchblood OR Hallowblood. True Witchblood could be achieved through progression missions, just like Hallowblood, or both could be made special perm, like Silven and mages, or simply balances and both could be made application approval based, like possessed and vampires.
With this, remove all anti-magic powers from vampires, giving that solely to Witchbloods, and just make vampires able to absorb/redirect magic, like Silven can now.
A few other things:
* Because Phantasma feeding is covered under maim perms, AND has to be done IC, I support that Phantasma should be able to sense any aberrant, but that the aberrant sensing should be more clearly defined. What's the radius it works in? Does having multiple aberrants scramble the signal? Do different aberrants sense differently? That kind of thing.
*I support keeping all feeding IC. It actually drives roleplay. It gives your character motivation to build relationships with their prey, or just do hit-and-run feedings. However, Phantasma feeding should be made less punitive and story-killing for the other parties, and antimagic powers saved for true Witchblood.
In summary, I think it's time for a Witchblood/Hallowblood rework. Or at least, a consideration of a rework, with these issues in mind.
edit: 12 million thank yous to @lizman1000 and others who took a look at this and gave their input
Over time, the cure for Witchbloodism was removed.
The undead aspect were replaced by true Undead.
And the "anti-magic" aspect was replaced with… magic-eating Vampire and Silven muters.
Suddenly, Witchbloods had lost their niche, as their unique aspects were spread to other groups. Hallowblood was released, in order to create Holy Knights, for players who wanted some kind of Paladin niche, with Witchblood as a stepping stone.
However, with custom magics, two vampire reworks, a possession re-release, and a Silven rework, I think it's time to consider bringing back Witchblood as a dedicated anti-magic/anti-aberrant niche, rather than a mere stepping stone toward Hallowblood.
Phantasma are fine as they are, if they're intended to be only a temporary state, but that's not the case for most of Phantasma players, and this causes a great deal of issues, including this one:
Silven clump together, and cannot be dispersed by an individual Witchblood. One solution suggested was to make a Witchblood group. However, A group of Witchblood turns a simple feeding into a battle royale, which is problematic because Witchblood aren't looking to be an antagonist niche-- just to get by until they can become Hallowblood. A group of Witchbloods and allies terrorizing Silven and mages makes sense if Witchbloods are designated as antagonists, rather than mere pre-Hallowbloods.
In my opinion, Hallowblood should be its own path, and Witchblood should be a separate, dedicated anti-magic state. The "Deep Lore" is already there to support that! Witchblood could go back to being Binral-based anti-Silven with dragon lore tie ins, and Hallowblood could be its own special religious honor.
This could work in 2 ways:
Hallowblood could be separated from Witchblood entirely, and just be an honor given to especially pious characters for being especially pious, rather than to especially pious Phantasma.
OR
Current Phantasma should be a steppingstone to true Witchblood OR Hallowblood. True Witchblood could be achieved through progression missions, just like Hallowblood, or both could be made special perm, like Silven and mages, or simply balances and both could be made application approval based, like possessed and vampires.
With this, remove all anti-magic powers from vampires, giving that solely to Witchbloods, and just make vampires able to absorb/redirect magic, like Silven can now.
A few other things:
* Because Phantasma feeding is covered under maim perms, AND has to be done IC, I support that Phantasma should be able to sense any aberrant, but that the aberrant sensing should be more clearly defined. What's the radius it works in? Does having multiple aberrants scramble the signal? Do different aberrants sense differently? That kind of thing.
*I support keeping all feeding IC. It actually drives roleplay. It gives your character motivation to build relationships with their prey, or just do hit-and-run feedings. However, Phantasma feeding should be made less punitive and story-killing for the other parties, and antimagic powers saved for true Witchblood.
In summary, I think it's time for a Witchblood/Hallowblood rework. Or at least, a consideration of a rework, with these issues in mind.
edit: 12 million thank yous to @lizman1000 and others who took a look at this and gave their input
