Witches of Winter Quickstart Guide

Witches of Winter is a modern fantasy role-playing game about witchcraft, community, and climate collapse. It's crowdfunding on Gamefound right now as part of the RPG Party 2026. This quickstart guide is a free rules preview to get a sense of what Witches of Winter is about. It's fully playable for one-shots, but not designed for full campaigns. If you enjoy the quickstart guide, please consider supporting the crowdfunder!

After vicious storms and rising oceans overturned modern society, the survivors retreated into small, closed-off Enclaves. You play as Witches: those who dare to venture out, finding magic and hope in the hidden corners of the Uplands.

Witches of Winter balances narrative focus and mechanical depth, inspired by the escalating stakes of Blades in the Dark, the ecological dangers of The Wildsea RPG, and the unwavering determination of Dream Askew. It uses a unique two-dice system of Skill and Fate, each die ranging from a d4 to a d12.

The game features 12 magical Arts, each offering a unique playstyle and coloring how your witch casts magic. This quickstart guide includes 8 of them:

Witches of Dreams access others' emotions, desires, and fears to connect with them and predict their futures.

Witches of Herbs learn to thrive in the broken climate, growing Reagents and using them more effectively.

Witches of Inks mark themselves with permanent spells, anchoring their magic in their own body.

Witches of Seasons channel storms and elements to shift the weather around them.

Witches of Stars search for patterns in everything, looking to the constellations for guidance and stability.

Witches of Stones channel ancient, entombed powers to eliminate risk and build things that last.

Witches of Threads weave magic into threads of fate that connect people and the things they treasure.

Witches of Words shape stories, songs, and poems into spells that charm and intrigue the people around them.