The Sage’s Answers, Part 19
This is a special, extra The Sage’s Answers which addresses a topic we’ve gotten a lot of questions about: Quen.
As always, we’ll be posting each The Sage’s Answers on our blog, our Facebook, and on the r/WitcherTRPG subreddit. On our blog, I’ll be tagging each entry with “sagesanswers” to make them easy to find.
Hey, everybody! Cody here for a real quick update! I wanted to address this last week but it took a bit of tinkering over the weekend. One of the other big issues we wanted to tackle was the Quen Sign! I realized that Quen had been created with a low vigor threshold in mind but when cast at higher vigor thresholds it was a complete monster. To keep Quen from being a perfect defense and to make sure it reflects the games, we are changing it a bit. Here’s the new version of both Quen and Active Shield, the advanced Sign which builds on it.
Quen (Earth)
STA Cost: Variable
Effect: Quen creates a shield with 5 Health Points per point of Stamina spent helps to protect you. If you fail (or choose not to or are unable to) to defend against an attack or effect which causes damage the damage is first applied to the Quen shield. Lethal and non-lethal damage reduce the Quen shield’s Health Points equally. If the shield is reduced to 0 Health any remaining damage is applied to you as per normal and must penetrate your armor and damage resistances to impact your Health Points or Stamina just like any other attack.
Quen can be used to defend against any spell which can be Blocked but is ineffective against damage caused by already being poisoned, having a disease, or suffocation due to a lack of oxygen in the surrounding area.
You cannot cast Quen again until your current Quen shield has been exhausted or the duration ends.
Range: Self
Duration: 10 rounds or until exhausted
Defense: None
Active Shield (Earth)
STA Cost: Variable
Effect: Quen now creates a glowing shield around you. The shield has 10 HP for every Stamina point spent. Each round after the first, you must spend a number of STA points equal to the initial STA cost to maintain the shield. Active Shield only covers you, but you can fit one other person into it if you are pressed together. While in the active shield nothing tangible can pass in or out without destroying the shield first and you must move slowly to keep the shield up, meaning you cannot run. When the shield is expended or dropped, anything adjacent to you is pushed back 2m and takes 1d6 damage to the torso. This includes objects, furniture, and allies. Anything rooted to the ground or heavier than 226kg is not pushed back but still takes damage.
Range: Self
Duration: Active (Initial STA)
Defense: None
And that’s it for tonight! We’ll have more later.
Keep your blades sharp!
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Hey Cody! Just wondering 5 pv is not too low i mean a witcher Will only block 10 pv with his quen which is nothing compared with most weapon damages . In my opinion you should consider 10pv per sta spent. So a mage would block 70 pv ( two strong attacks by a kord) nas the Witcher would block 20 pv (1 kord attack). The active Shield could be 15 pv per attack. What you think?
If a player wants their starting Witcher to get more out of Quen, they will need to focus on Signs to begin with (for example, by picking the Gryphon school). This lets them spend up to 4 Stamina per Quen easily, and create a shield with up to 20 points of HP. Even at 2 Vigor, Quen adds extra protection against even a good, solid hit from a larger creature (since after it gets through Quen it still has to get through armor). This means Quen is not a “get out of jail free” card which allows the Witcher to dance around the battlefield without consequence but a tool in their toolbox to be used strategically. That being said, you are always in charge of your game. If you feel the Sign needs to be adjusted at your table, please do so! Only you and your players can know what’s best for your home game.
Better answer than that is impossible! Thx, Cody.