‘Sickest Witch’ — A Fun And Frightening TTRPG For You And Your Friends

Welcome to the table,

Times are pretty dark right now. The news seems eternally colored by horrors the likes I thought we would never see again. Additionally, a publisher I once worked for has behaved so badly that it has shaken my faith in my fellow man and made your old pal Anton feel pretty down.

If you are like me, you probably think that every day seems to bring fresh horrors.  I could tuck myself under a rock and rot as those who leech off others grow even fatter off things they did not create. I would much rather take the energy I may use to loath and wallow and galvanize to spread the love of this hobby that means so much to me.

Today I want to tell you about the rad tabletop role-playing game known as Sickest Witch.

The brainchild of artist, author, and all-around creative savant Justin Sirois, Sickest Witch is a low-fantasy system coupled with a series of adventures that drives home that dark fantasy at the table does not have to be dated.

Too often, the darkness of some TTRPG can come across as stale or slanted towards and audience that may have issues with progressive thinking or anything resembling a core book put out after 1993. Sickest Witch‘s Severed System, however, feels a bit less crunchy and a bit more pickup and play than what some may be used to.

Unlike a magic system that gives you spell points or slots to pull from, in Sickest Witch, you are harvesting body parts from your enemies to make use of your magics. Additionally, almost all harvested magic is shared in a collective pool with your other players, known as the Cauldron.

I love this element of the system. Mechanically, it forces you to talk to the other players at your table and take an active role in how the bits and pieces you worked so hard to hack off those in your path get used to further your own goals and the goals of the other players.

It seems simple until you consider the implications of how this will shift and direct a party dynamic. It can pull your more laid-back players into the conversation alongside the item hoarders and the power gamers at the table.

Not all witches are the same in Sickest Witch, mind you. There are currently six Witch Classes to choose from, each with their own special abilities and skills. What I dig about these classes, though, is that each class can use most weapons, magic, and armor.

Additionally, there are currently two non-witch classes you can try your hand at as well. The Butcher and the Fighter serve as more melee-focused classes that can blend in more easily with non-witch society.

Tonally, Sickest Witch has a lot of potential as both a long term campaign setting or something you could run as a four-hour one-shot or over a long camping weekend. Depending on how long you plan on playing the characters going into it, there is a lot of opportunity to play fast and loose, knowing you are going to meet your bloody end, or set yourself up for the long, grim-dark grind in a story that feels as much like Elden Ring as it does Willow.

Visually Sickest Witch harkens to indie album covers and notebook sketches from a class you should have been paying attention to, but you were too busy sketching with a Sharpie to care what the biology teacher was saying that day.

Much like the game mechanics themselves, the whole vibe of this game is cobbled together from the best bits of half-remembered horror and folklore-laced nostalgia. It neatly sidesteps the baggage of possibly problematic elements that make picking up something that looks like ‘this so hard.’

It’s not a heavy system. It does not have a ton of bells and whistles, but you can sure strap on a ton of bells and whistles and come away with a great time at the table with your friends.

Sickest Witch is the kind of game I want to play as much as I want to run. As someone who spends hours of his time each week working on TTRPGs as both a developer and as someone who is writing campaigns for his tables, this is the kind of game that makes me pause and say, “I want to play that.”

Additionally, from a collector and art enthusiast side,  the phenomenal Tania Herrero and my super talented friend Marie Enger, along with the Sickest Witch creator, Justin Sirois, have created wooden player figures to go along with your tabletop game.

This whole thing is moody and atmospheric and honestly really rad if you are looking for something to do with your friends. You can get your own copy at the site.

Until next time, don’t let the gloom get you down. Go find something that makes you smile, even if it’s building someone else up. Sometimes the good we do in this world does not have to serve us; sometimes it just helps if we help others because it’s a rad thing to do, and when things are at their darkest, if we are all helping someone, the world becomes a better place. Stay safe out there. Stay hydrated. And never forget to love one another.

You matter.