Bitter Watches of the Night (BWOTN) is a captivating tabletop role-playing game that shares some similarities with Dungeons and Dragons. Set in a medieval fantasy world, BWOTN encompasses all the classic tropes and adds some delightful surprises along the way. What truly sets BWOTN apart are three standout features:
Let's explore each of these aspects in more detail.
The Dungeons and Dragons Players Handbook emphasizes that combat is the most structured aspect of play. It provides numerous combat stats and abilities but only a few social skills, indicating a focus on "hack-and-slash" gameplay: facing dangers, defeating enemies, and collecting treasure.
Unlike many games, _Bitter Watches_ offers a much broader range of scenarios than just action-adventure. While you can still enjoy the classic "hack-and-slash" gameplay, BWOTN also supports genres like drama, thriller, horror, romance, and even comedy. This diversity is partly thanks to the game's rich Social Combat system, which allows characters to specialize in various persuasion techniques. Unlike _Dungeons and Dragons_, social combat in BWOTN is highly structured. Both characters and villains have a reserve of "will-power" known as quit points, which are depleted by social attacks and defended by social defenses. Once the Quit Points are exhausted, the battle concludes, and the loser must comply with the winner's wishes to the best of their ability. While this system may sometimes deprive a player of free will, it is a small price to pay—after all, so does death.
Despite what Dungeons and Dragons might suggest, your character isn't as unique in the D&D world as you'd hope. Every dwarf receives the same bonuses, and all fighters possess identical class abilities. While player choices introduce some variation, your character may only stand out within your particular group. Yet, at a convention, finding a nearly identical character would be a breeze.
Bitter Watches of the Night operates on a versatile point-buy system, offering templates for dwarves and fighters that you can choose to follow or completely disregard. In BWOTN, classes and races are merely suggestions, not restrictions. Game masters have the freedom to maintain traditional racial traits or encourage players to break the mold. This flexibility ensures a unique and customizable experience for every adventurer.
In addition to race and class, our system introduces an exciting third option: heritage. While your race represents your biological identity, your heritage reflects the culture you were raised in, which might differ from your race. This means that some of your abilities will be influenced by the culture you grew up in rather than your biological race. And there's more to come!
We introduce a fourth intriguing option: Formative Events. These are life-altering experiences your character had before embarking on their adventuring journey, which profoundly shape who they are. Imagine being orphaned at an early age, surviving a near-drowning incident, or being forced into labor by an evil stepmother. And that's just the beginning. Most of these Formative Events are interactive, playable encounters that your character can live through—not just invent. Mix and match as many or as few Formative Events as you want, up to the level your GM allows.
All Player Characters (PCs) and Non-Player Characters (NPCs) in Bitter Watches of the Night (BWOTN) benefit from immense creative flexibility, leading to an exciting side-effect. In Dungeons and Dragons, when mid to high-level adventurers face goblins in a forest, they usually anticipate an easy victory. Unless the Dungeon Master (DM) has put considerable effort into making these goblins distinct from those in the Monster Manual, the goblins are typically outmatched. In Bitter Watches of the Night, however, such predictable outcomes are a thing of the past. Here, every encounter is dynamic and unpredictable, making even the most minor skirmish a thrilling challenge.
BWOTN makes it easy for every PC and NPC to be truly unique. BWOTN provides online tools to help Game Masters swiftly create a variety of formidable enemies. As a result, any creature could pose a genuine threat. Unlike Dungeons and Dragons, where the excitement can wane if players know their enemies' strengths and weaknesses, BWOTN maintains high intensity by making it risky to rely on such assumed knowledge.
In Dungeons and Dragons, your character's rolls are straightforward: saving throws, a single attack roll score, and a static armor class that remains unchanged if you wear the same armor. This simplicity allows for quick resolution but often reduces combat to a repetitive "I swing, I hit, I did X points of damage." While nothing stops you from adding your own flair to combat descriptions, there isn't much encouragement to do so.
In contrast, _Bitter Watches of the Night_ offers a richer storytelling experience. Although it may take a bit longer, but the use of technology keeps things moving well. The trade-off is well worth it, as you gain far greater narrative depth and detail for a more immersive and engaging adventure.
BWOTN is skill-based, offering dozens of attack and defense skills. Each skill provides unique benefits beyond mere damage, and defenders can actively parry, block, and more. Combat is inherently colorful and engaging because it’s. built-in, making it far more enjoyable. Instead of just describing something interesting, it actually happens! There are hundreds of skills to choose from and your character will have some points in almost all of them, though you mainly improve in the skills you use and very little in the skills you don’t.
With a plethora of skills that improve gradually, Bitter Watches of the Night (BWOTN) allows for long-term character development, providing fresh challenges week after week. One fundamental flaw of Dungeons and Dragons lies in its d20 system. Adding just 2 points to a d20 roll offers a substantial 10% boost towards success. With an average roll of 12.5, even first-level characters start at a relatively high ability level. As you level up, the random factor in each roll diminishes, making die rolls less significant except for critical hits. Consequently, your abilities eventually cap out.
BWOTN, however, uses a d100 system and goes even further. Every roll is opposed, whether by an immediate adversary, an ancient roll made long ago, or even the fates themselves. Your skills never cap out as long as you face challenges near your level. These principles and mechanics create an unparalleled role-playing experience. There's so much more to explore, but to see it all, you must become a member and subscribe.