Witcher Schools - Fan Edition

[Kinley]

Witcher Schools - Fan Edition

We all love our witcher schools. While they share many common traits amongst each other, they also have a fair share of uniqueness to them. Ever wondered if there are other witcher schools out there? And if there are, how would they look? What would their fighting style be?
Well, a friend and I decided to give way to our imagination and came up with a couple of ideas. For fun mostly, while we wait for The Witcher 3. We don't want the boredom to settle in now do we?

We've come up with an interesting way of showcasing it, a mix of fan art and a little bit of storytelling.
So, without further ado, here's our first idea we would like to share with all of you:

In their pursuit of contracts on the unforgiving terrain of Skellige, the witchers of the Bear school are trained in the harshest of conditions. These brawny monster hunters are able to resist the frigid weather and advance through the high snow with ease, for days on end, needing little to no sustenance at all.

While they are indeed slower compared to witchers from other schools, such as those of the Wolf or Viper, do not be mistaken, they are twice as devastating, rarely needing more than one blow to finish off a foe.
And are able to resist the most forceful attacks thanks to their thick skin and trusty oaken shield; all the while planning their next move.

Their increased strength allow them to carry weapons and shields that are extremely durable, but would also be considered to be too heavy for battle by any common folk. Their stamina, unheard of; people telling tales of witchers of the Bear that have defeated large monstrosities, considered unbeatable.
How you may ask? By simply wearying them out, battling them for hours and hours, sometimes even days.

​

Because of their increased strength and stamina, the witchers of the Bear school specialize in double bearded axes, designed to be used in one hand. Made out of meteorite steel these axes take quite an edge, one beard of the axe is also coated in silver. Coating weapons in silver is common practice among witchers, due to a myriad of monsters being susceptible to this particular metal.
The other quintessential item in a Bear witcher's arsenal is, of course, their shield. Made of oak, these shields are designed to take quite a beating.​

Potions

While they carry most potions common among witcher schools, like Swallow or Cat; they also have some that accommodate their fighting style or the harsh landscape of Skellige.

Twymder - a medium toxicity potion that helps the witcher survive through especially cold areas. Thickens the skin and gives a general sense of warmth and well-being for extended durations.

Arlliwiau - a medium toxicity potion that reduces sensitivity to light. Think of it as a reverse Cat; it helps the witcher reduce the glare from reflected sunlight when travelling through the snowy regions of Skellige.

Derw - a high toxicity potion that aids the Bear witcher in their particular fighting style. It increases his stamina so he can fight for extended periods of time without getting fatigued.​

Hope you all like it and of course criticism is welcomed and encouraged!
If you want to see the images in this thread in higher res, or other awesome works my friend does, you can visit his deviantArt or GCHub profiles.

What are your ideas of a cool witcher school? Share away!

 

[Sagitarii]

Great post, I would give you 2 redpoints if I could.

So my feedback - already told you a couple things.
Shields don't quite make sense for me, they are heavy (even wooden ones), limit the movement. Yes, bear witchers are slower and stronger, than wolf witchers, but they still need to be very fast to slay monsters effectively (avoiding deadly attacks, like poison for example).

So my take on this would be to give them:

- two axes (or axe and a sword) - one silver, one steel - main reason for this would be practicality, it would be hard to focus on using one side of the blade in hectic battle.

- extra durable parts of armor, like plate bracers for a shield-like protection (since they are a bit slower)

- Oak: a potion making your skin as strong as a bark of an oak, increasing pain tolerance and durablity

These would be my 50 cents to the discussion

 

[Kinley]

Great post, I would give you 2 redpoints if I could.

So my feedback - already told you a couple things.
Shields don't quite make sense for me, they are heavy (even wooden ones), limit the movement. Yes, bear witchers are slower and stronger, than wolf witchers, but they still need to be very fast to slay monsters effectively (avoiding deadly attacks, like poison for example).

So my take on this would be to give them:

- two axes (or axe and a sword) - one silver, one steel - main reason for this would be practicality, it would be hard to focus on using one side of the blade in hectic battle.

- extra durable parts of armor, like plate bracers for a shield-like protection (since they are a bit slower)

- Oak: a potion making your skin as strong as a bark of an oak, increasing pain tolerance and durablity

These would be my 50 cents to the discussion

Loving the ideas. Main reason for the shield, to be honest, was to give them more uniqueness, since there's already a school that does dual wielding (Viper School). Plus the shield can double as a weapon as well, you could daze the enemy with it and so forth. And also for me, at least, the shield gives them more of a "bear" feel than dual wielding or two handed swords.

Also for the choice of coating a side of the axe in silver has to do with their fighting style, they do one hit at a time, precise and devastating, after which they cover behind the shield.

 

[ReptilePZ]

Eh, you call him witcher of the bear school, I call him Jed the Dragonborn

Cool art.

 

[Kinley]

Eh, you call him witcher of the bear school, I call him Jed the Dragonborn

Cool art.

Well we had to fit him the setting of Skellige, and since both Skellige and Skyrim take inspiration from the same things there's bound to be SOME similarities. I personally don't think it bears too much of a resemblance to a dragonborn, does it?

 

[ReptilePZ]

I personally don't think it bears too much of a resemblance to a dragonborn, does it?

...

Anyway, I'm mostly joking around. I liked the potions bit, that was very witchery. Maybe add in some Signs talk.

 

[Kinley]

I think they have enough signs already. Plus I like to think that these witchers wouldn't focus on signs that much. Or maybe they would specialize in Quen and Igni since the whole shield theme and ice monsters.

 

[ReptilePZ]

Anyway, we of the Viper school have learned the hard way that blocking a monster's blow is generally a bad idea:

Don't know what the result would be if that mighty northern witcher tried to block this:

 

[Kinley]

Don't know what the result would be if that mighty northern witcher tried to block this

It's not an easy feat, but I bet a witcher of the bear school might handle it. (Also, Skellige is not in the north.)

 

[ReptilePZ]

It's not an easy feat, but I bet a witcher of the bear school might handle it.

Better stack up on those Derw potions

(Also, Skellige is not in the north.)

Seeing that our School is located in Nilfgaard, Skellige is indeed to the north.

 

[Kinley]

Seeing that our School is located in Nilfgaard, Skellige is indeed to the north.

Hah, got me there.

 

[KingHochmeister]

That's damn good art right there.


Well done, absolutely well done.

 

[Ðarkstar]

10/10 would definitely play a mod surrounding this.

Since they're skellige d00ds they'd fit well into a story encompassing the past, perhaps a proto-witcher school? Since this school seems incredibly overpowered it would seem that they would take intense variations of the "modern" witcher trials, for instance; Their version of the trial of the grasses would involve consuming twice as many magical herbs that 3/10 people would only be able to survive (Which would grant: full control over nervous, respiratory, muscular, endocrine and circulatory systems). Additionally, their trial of the dreams would be tripled in how painful it would be (lack of advanced equipment and understanding of mutation) therefore resulting in intensified results; glowing blue eyes that are practically telescopes but with harder to control pupils, super-regenerative and strong bone marrow and the appropriate changes in hormones because witchers and shit.

But that's just my take on it, I'm sure somebody would have a better outline :O

 

[Kinley]

That is some good stuff Ðarkstar. I like it.

 

[Glaroug.531]

Very cool to see the protectors of Skellige use shields. Do these shields have protective runes or other magics to assist? I bet the Witcher's of the bear school's shield is no ordinary slab of oak :yes

 

[Ðarkstar]

Very cool to see the protectors of Skellige use shields. Do these shields have protective runes or other magics to assist? I bet the Witcher's of the bear school's shield is no ordinary slab of oak :yes

Magically altered oak trees that produce sap with regenerative properties capable of restoring broken shields that have come from the same tree?
Highly toxic when consumed but is a rare and essential alchemy ingredient for the Oak potion.

 

[RSIK_4]

i read somewhere there r 4 witcher schools somewhat
1griffin 2 viper 3 wolf 4 cat
is dat ri8 ?

 

[Seeker.217]

yes those are the 4 schools if I am not mistaken

 

[Servia]

I don't think it reminds of Skyrim - it's an awesome art of a brutal character. Those were before and hopefully will be after the Skyrim!))

Great work!:cheers:

 

[Kinley]

Very cool to see the protectors of Skellige use shields. Do these shields have protective runes or other magics to assist? I bet the Witcher's of the bear school's shield is no ordinary slab of oak :yes

Well imbuing weapons with runes is common practice among witchers, so I don't see why they wouldn't do that to shields as well. Hmm, maybe Quen might interact directly with the shield, through a technique that makes the witcher one with his shield?

Magically altered oak trees that produce sap with regenerative properties capable of restoring broken shields that have come from the same tree?
Highly toxic when consumed but is a rare and essential alchemy ingredient for the Oak potion.

I like the idea of using it in potions or mending slightly broken shields. But if the shield would shatter, which would rarely happen, don't think you would be able to restore it to it's full strength, even with the sap.

i read somewhere there r 4 witcher schools somewhat
1griffin 2 viper 3 wolf 4 cat
is dat ri8 ?

yes those are the 4 schools if I am not mistaken

Yes, three of them appear in the books, the Griffin school is only mentioned once I think and they don't go in depth. And we have the Viper school that was created by CDPR with W2.

I don't think it reminds of Skyrim - it's an awesome art of a brutal character. Those were before and hopefully will be after the Skyrim!))

Great work!:cheers:

Thank you! My friend is thrilled that you guys like his art.