Tabletop RPG fans are a weirdly dedicated bunch. Seriously. You give them a system they love, like the Chronicles of Darkness, and they will spend a decade rebuilding it from the ground up just to tell a specific type of story. That’s basically how we got Witch: The Subversion. It’s not an official Onyx Path book. You won't find it sitting on a shelf at your local hobby shop next to Vampire: The Requiem or Werewolf: The Forsaken. But if you hang out in the deeper corners of the RPG community, specifically the fan-development circles, this project carries a massive amount of weight.
It’s about power. Specifically, the kind of power that comes from a social contract—or a spiritual one—gone wrong.
What Witch: The Subversion Actually Is
Let's clear the air. When people hear "witch" in a gaming context, they usually think of Mage: The Awakening. They think of high-concept hermetic seals and rewriting the laws of physics with a flick of the wrist. Witch: The Subversion is the polar opposite of that. It’s a fan-made "fan-splat" designed to fit perfectly into the Chronicles of Darkness (CofD) 2nd Edition framework. It isn't about being a scholar of the arcane. It is about the "Subverted"—people who have made a Bargain with a Tier, a powerful, often alien entity, in exchange for a way out of a desperate situation.
✨ Don't miss: How to Play Free Texas Hold'em Poker Online Without Download and Actually Get Better
You’re not a wizard. You’re someone who was drowning, and something reached out a hand. You took it. Now you owe.
The game thrives on the "Social Horror" genre. While Vampire is about the loss of humanity and Changeling is about trauma and recovery, Witch focuses on the toxicity of debt and the complexity of communities. It asks a very uncomfortable question: what are you willing to do for the entity that saved your life?
The Mechanics of the Bargain
Mechanically, the game is a masterclass in how to use the CofD 10-dice pool system. The core of a character is their Bargain. This isn't just flavor text; it dictates your entire power set, known as Creeds.
Unlike many fan projects that feel like "Mage-lite," this feels distinct. You have Witchcraft, which is fueled by a resource called Will. But it’s the Favors that really define the gameplay loop. You don't just "cast a spell." You call in a Favor from your Tier. This creates a fascinating tension because every time you use your power, you’re deepening your entanglement with something that doesn't share your moral compass.
The Tiers themselves are diverse. Some feel like ancient gods, others like urban legends or sentient concepts. They aren't "evil" in a cartoonish sense, but they are transactional. Everything has a price. If you want to heal your dying mother, the Tier might grant that, but now you have to ensure that three other people in your neighborhood lose something precious. It’s a zero-sum game.
💡 You might also like: Dragon's Dogma 2 Hunt for the Jadeite Orb: How to Handle the Game's Most Stressful Choice
The Problem with Magic
In Witch: The Subversion, magic is dirty. It’s messy. It’s not the clean, clinical Paradox you see in Mage. Here, the consequences are social.
If you use your powers too flagrantly, you risk Exposure. This isn't just "the Masquerade" breaking; it’s the way the mundane world reacts to something that shouldn't exist. People get suspicious. Relationships fray. The game uses a "Debt" system that tracks what you owe your Tier versus what you’ve paid back. If your Debt gets too high, the Tier starts taking what it’s owed. Usually, it takes from your life, your loved ones, or your sanity.
Why This Project Still Matters in 2026
The tabletop world has moved on in a lot of ways. We have 5th Edition everything now. So why are people still talking about a fan-made supplement for a system that many consider "legacy"?
Because it hits a nerve.
Most official games struggle to handle the concept of "the witch" without making them feel like a generic spellcaster. This project understands the folklore. It understands that historically, a "witch" was a social outsider—someone who lived on the fringes and had a power that the community both feared and secretly relied upon. By leaning into the "Subversion" aspect, the writers tapped into modern anxieties about debt, gig economies, and lopsided power structures.
It feels modern. It feels grounded, despite the literal demons and spirits.
Comparing Witch to Official Chronicles of Darkness
If you're a Storyteller (GM), you’re probably wondering how this actually plays at the table compared to something like Mage or Beast: The Primordial.
- Power Level: Witches are generally "weaker" than Mages in terms of raw reality-warping, but they are much more versatile in social settings. They manipulate the "connective tissue" between people.
- Themes: Where Mage is about Hubris, Witch is about Entanglement. You aren't trying to ascend to a higher throne; you're trying to keep your head above water while your landlord is a literal eldritch horror.
- Integration: It plugs into the CofD 2e "Conditions" and "Beats" system flawlessly. The developers spent years iterating on the PDF, and it shows. The layout looks professional. The art choices are evocative. Honestly, it looks better than some official books from the mid-2010s.
The Community Behind the Subversion
You can't talk about this game without mentioning the community on Discord and RPGnet. This wasn't a one-and-done PDF. It has undergone multiple "open betas" where players provided feedback on balance and lore. This is why the game feels so "tight."
The lead developers and contributors (often known by handles like HoldenShearer or Satchel in the wider fan-splat community, though specific credits vary by version) focused on making sure the game didn't just copy-paste mechanics from Vampire. They built unique systems like The Coven, which allows players to pool resources and Debt. It encourages group play in a way that many "loner-focused" World of Darkness games struggle with.
How to Get Started
If you want to run Witch: The Subversion, you’re going to need the Chronicles of Darkness core rulebook. Since this is a fan project, it doesn't reprint the basic rules for things like combat or skill checks.
Once you have the core rules:
- Find the latest PDF: Look for the "Witch: The Subversion 2nd Edition" files. They are widely shared in fan circles and through the project's dedicated development blogs.
- Focus on the Bargain: Don't let your players just pick powers. Make them roleplay the moment they made the deal. What was the "Subversion"? What did they give up?
- Embrace the Small Stakes: This game works best when the "horror" is local. Don't try to save the world. Try to save a community center or a single family from a predatory Tier.
It's a dense read. You'll need to spend an afternoon wrapping your head around how the Tiers interact with the mundane world. But the payoff is a game that feels significantly more personal and "human" than most supernatural RPGs.
Actionable Insights for Players and Storytellers
Don't treat your Tier like a quest-giver in an MMO. In Witch, the Tier is a character. It has its own weird, incomprehensible desires. If you treat it like a vending machine for superpowers, you're missing the point of the game and you'll probably end up with a dead character pretty quickly.
💡 You might also like: Mad Catz Life Support: What Really Happened in That Scott the Woz Bit
For Storytellers, the biggest tip is to keep the "Debt" visible. Use a physical tracker on the table. When a player sees their Debt dice increasing, the tension in the room naturally spikes. It reminds them that their power isn't free.
Ultimately, the brilliance of this project is that it isn't trying to be "balanced" in a competitive sense. It’s balanced for drama. It's built to make you make bad decisions for good reasons. And honestly, isn't that why we play these games in the first place?
To dive in, start by defining the "Tier" that haunts your specific city. Is it a ghost of a failed industry? Or a spirit of the local internet infrastructure? Build the world from the Bargain up, and the story will practically write itself.