In my gaming group the most successful RPG in our repertoire other than 1^st edition D&D is Witch Hunter: the Invisible World (WH). Paradigm Concepts has kept a slow but steady pace in publishing support for WH. They recently released The Grand Tome of Adversaries and I purchased it to see what the WH “monster manual” might hold.

The book itself is appealing and well illustrated. The WH line has a consistent and evocative production design with high quality illustrations.  Creatures are depicted in black and white and share an antique look- laden with scales, horns and fur they’re generations away from Giger’s Alien. Text is nicely formatted with readable charts arranged in useful and intuitive order. Sadly there is no index. The content is written in two voices. The first is that of a major villain from the WH universe. His narration provides the majority of the description of the creatures and foes within. I had my doubts about this at first suspecting that it could come across as precious. In fact it works quite well. I think this is because any writer is inclined to express to the readers how excited they are about a given creature. If they use their own voice to explain why this being is especially awesome the results can sound chatty or unprofessional. On the other hand, if a character from the game explains why this being is “the most feared demon from the lowest pit of hell”, somehow it comes across as authentic. The book switches to textbook voice for any game-related information and stats.

The Grand Tome of Adversaries is divided into three sections. The first introduces several organizations that the witch hunters may encounter. Each organization is presented with a history, the group’s methods and goals, and several sample characters. You may also be told how this group interacts with other villainous organizations. In the context of the WH game this section was fairly welcome. Each group represents a potential campaign, and the goals and methods section gives you possible plot hooks and lead-ins. I also found the groups to be interesting and varied but still believable. They range from witch covens to criminal gangs and any or all could be introduced easily into an ongoing campaign.

The second section of the book gives you stats for thirty five creatures or beings the players may encounter. Many of the creatures have additional “strains,” sub-varieties that may be found in one locale or another. These often relate to the game’s major settings- Europe, European North America, indigenous North America, and South/Central America. For example the Faerie entry includes European and Native American varieties. The text also includes stats for weaker or stronger versions of the creatures and in some cases stats for “boss level” opponents. The beings described cover a wide spectrum of power, from weak opponents to creatures that would exist in a game as something to avoid or banish rather than confront outright. Examples include witch’s familiars, demons and imps, wyverns, and animated dolls.

From a GM’s perspective I was very happy with the creature list. A monster manual can run the risk of presenting esoteric or unlikely opponents, creatures that have no clear reason ever to appear in a game or game world. On the other extreme you might find a list of stats for dogs, zombies, and other beings whose stats and powers you could probably come up with on the fly. The Grand Tome walks the middle ground perfectly. The entries show internal consistency- they appear to “fit” well in the WH milieu. They exist in some appropriate ecological setting- whether in the natural or invisible world. And even the strongest beings have some weakness that makes them manageable.

This concept of the weakness is another nice element which The Grand Tome elaborates on. All of the creatures have one or more weaknesses or limitations.  In other words, a ghost may be a capable opponent but is vulnerable to cold, or broken mirrors, or holy symbols. The weakness will be consistent for that creature’s species, and can be discovered through use of research or lore-related skills.  The benefits from this concept are two fold. It allows the players to manage high power opponents assuming they play carefully. If players encounter a sixty foot long demon they may attempt some research before rushing headlong at it. This in turn gives players a motivation to run more academic characters. Many games allow for a research-oriented or non-combatant character but not every game allows them to be so helpful to the group.

The third section of the game presents advice for the GM and a list of all powers and abilities available to NPCs. Much of the information is related to creating NPCs quickly and effectively. WH characters can have a long list of skills and abilities and the potential for ungainly NPC creation is certainly present. The authors recognize this and give good advice on how to design adversaries who are interesting but can be effectively described in a few lines of text. The GM’s section also summarizes all powers and abilities specific to villains. WH players are aware that this is a long list, and The Grand Tome adds to it. I appreciated the summary and it lets me populate my scenarios while referring to only one text.  

In conclusion I was very happy with The Grand Tome. It delivered a good number of adversaries, and virtually all of them could be integrated into a typical campaign. Further, the creatures are interesting without being outrageous or ridiculous. The majority have some weakness which allows the strongest to be defeated by careful play, although trigger happy parties could blast through many with sheer firepower as well. The villainous organizations in the first section are varied, well conceived, and helpful. And the GM’s section at the end actually did offer useful tips and information. I would certainly recommend The Grand Tome of Adversaries to any Witch Hunter GM.