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RPG of Witch Hat

Manga by Kamome Shirahama, TTRPG Adaptation by Comprehensible

-ˋˏ 1 ˎˊ-
Introduction
Welcome to RPG of Witch Hat!

TTRPGs (tabletop roleplaying games) are a really special genre. If you’ve never played one
before, you’re in for a treat! Basically, there’s one Game Master (GM) - probably the person who
convinced you to give this a try. Together with the GM, the other players, and two six-sided dice,
you’ll be making your own stories in the world of Witch Hat Atelier.

If you’re not familiar with the Witch Hat Atelier manga, well, first of all, go read it! It’s
awesome and I cannot recommend it enough. If you’re really stubborn and won’t read it, it’s
basically a world where anyone can do magic. All you have to do is draw a glyph with special
ink. But Witches, the people who do magic, keep that a secret from the Unknowing (the people
who can’t do magic) because magic did so much harm to the world.

I tried to keep this super simple - I feel like the magic system should be the crunchiest thing
about it. I’d call this a finished version, but I might come back to it someday.

I really hope you enjoy this! Please, please let me know if you have any feedback. You can find
me on the Witch Hat Atelier Discord Server. And I’d love to expand on the player-made spells
section, so send ‘em my way if you got ‘em!

-Comprehensible

-ˋˏ 2 ˎˊ-
Introduction 2
Stats 4
Moves 5
Friendships/Flaws 7
Character Sheet 8
Magic 9
Starting Magic 9
Learning New Magic 9
Runes Index 10
Sigils 11
Keystones 13
Canon Spells 16
Fire Runes 16
Water Runes 16
Earth Runes 17
Wind Runes 18
Light Runes 19
Other Runes 20
Player-Made Spells 22
Gamemaster Corner 25
Session 0 25
Objectives 26
How to Make A NPC 26
Forbidden Magic 27
GM Best Practices 28
Combat and Higher Powered Games 30
Acknowledgements 32

-ˋˏ 3 ˎˊ-
Stats
Roll 2 six-sided dice whenever you undertake an action with
risk involved.
★ A roll of 10+ is great! You succeed, no strings attached.
★ A 7-9 is often complicated. You might be offered a hard
choice or have to make a bargain, but you’ll still get what you
want.
★ A 6 or less means you’re unsuccessful. Work with the
GM to determine what goes wrong.

You have 4 stats that represent your strengths and weaknesses:


★ Instinct: Your understanding of what is quick and true.
★ Charm: Your gravitas and knowledge of social
contracts.
★ Force: Your willpower and determination.
★ Wonder: Your curiosity and capacity to learn.

Assign one stat a +2, one stat a +1, one a 0, and one a -1.

When you’re going toe-to-toe with another player, both of you


roll, and whoever gets the higher number wins. Reroll ties.

-ˋˏ 4 ˎˊ-
Moves
As you’re moving through the world, sometimes you’ll do risky things. That’s where moves
come in. When you do something involving risk, you’ll pick the move that fits best and roll 2d6
+ the stat that fits best. Then, look at the results and the move to see what happens.

Conceal
When you try to hide something, like a spell, a secret, or yourself, roll + Instinct. On a 10+,
whatever you try to hide is unnoticed. On a 7-9, you manage to keep whatever it is hidden, but
choose one:
★ Someone unimportant noticed you sneaking around. But that just made them important,
right?
★ You must leave something behind or be discovered.
★ You feel suspicious. Any bystanders know something’s up, but they don’t know what.
(Yet.)

Convince
When you try to talk, threaten, or trick someone into doing what you want, roll + Charm. On a
10+, they do what you want - for now. On a 7-9, they go with it, but choose 1:
★ They want some sort of promise or payment in return.
★ They only give halfway and move to protect their agenda.
★ They don’t give in at all, but they let something interesting and helpful slip.
For a player character, on a roll of 7 up, they get to choose whether they go along, but they get an
XP if they do.

Overpower
When you try to overcome a situation with strength or willpower, roll + Force. On a 10+,
choose 2. On a 7-9, choose 1.
★ You don’t exhaust yourself in the process.
★ You 100% succeed at what you set out to do.
★ You look good while doing it.

Uncover the Truth


When you try to uncover the truth, either from a person, a spell, a book, roll + Wonder. On a
10+, you get clear and useful information. On a 7-9, choose 1:
★ You need to pay a price or make a promise to get the information.
★ Your source is not entirely reliable.
★ You don’t have the information - but you know where to find it.

-ˋˏ 5 ˎˊ-
Cast a Spell
When you want to cast a spell, first choose what stat you’ll use.

Instinct is for spells that let you move quickly, hide, or move around.
Charm is for spells that are pretty, help people, or are comforting.
Force is for spells that break things, protect, or overpower.
Wonder is for spells that uncover truths, light the path, or aid learning.

On a 10+, your spell goes off without a hitch! On a 7-9, choose 1:


★ The spell fizzles out after a short time.
★ The spell has an unintended effect.
★ It takes you a lot more time and/or material than usual to cast the spell.

Push Your Luck


When you want to do something risky that doesn’t fit into the moves above, you’re pushing your
luck. Roll + the stat that makes the most sense. On a 10+, you pull it off successfully. On a 7-9,
you succeed, but the GM will make things messy.

-ˋˏ 6 ˎˊ-
Friendships/Flaws
This game is about making friends, working together, and overcoming your weaknesses.
Mechanically, this is represented by Friendship and Flaw points.

You get a Friendship point when you work together as a team or when you are kind and helpful
to someone else. You can spend them on a roll to increase the result of that roll by one.
(Potentially making a failure into a success.) You can have up to three Friendship points at a
time. You must spend the point before you know the consequences of the roll. You can spend
multiple Friendship points at once and you can spend them on other player’s rolls to help them.

When making your character, you’ll think of a Flaw. A Flaw is a short sentence that describes
one of your character’s major weaknesses. It shouldn’t be something easy that a bandaid and a
smile can fix, but it shouldn’t be all-consuming and paralyzing either. “Anger management
issues,” “more magic than common sense,” or “manners of a goat” are some examples.

When you lean into that flaw, roleplaying it out and possibly causing something to go wrong, the
GM will award you a Flaw point. (Alternatively, the GM may ask you to lean into your Flaw in a
situation. You can choose whether you want to, but you get the Flaw point if you do.) You can
have only one Flaw point at a time, and it can be spent to make a failure into a success with
complications, a success with complications into a full success, or a full success into an
extraordinary success. You can spend this at the same time as a Friendship point, but just like
Friendship points, you have to spend them before you know the consequences of your roll.

-ˋˏ 7 ˎˊ-
Character Sheet
(Feel free to copy/paste this!)
Character Name:
Pronouns:
Player:

XP: ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Friendship Points: (Max 3)
Flaw Points: (Max 1)

Assign one stat a +2, one stat a +1, one a 0, and one a -1.
Instinct: / Charm: / Force: / Wonder:

Description: (What do they look like? What’s their personality? What drives them and what are
they afraid of?)
Flaw:

Spells:
Picture Name Effect

Sigils:

Keystones:

-ˋˏ 8 ˎˊ-
Magic

Starting Magic
Everyone chooses 2 Sigils and 5 Keystones to start. You can make as many spells as you like
using a combination of those. You need to create the corresponding rune to have you cast the
spell.

(Side note - feel free to copy/paste from the spells section for spells. “Needing to create the
corresponding keystone” means having a picture of the spell on hand, not having to draw
everything yourself.)

Learning New Magic


When you fail a roll by ending up with a 6 or lower, you gain 1 XP. (Experience point.) You
learn from your failure. When you get 5 XP, you can choose a new keystone to add to your
repertoire.

About every 3 new keystones or whenever the GM feels appropriate, your characters will
undergo a test. If you succeed, you can either choose a new Sigil or increase one of your stats by
1. (Maximum of +3)

At the end of every session, ask yourself:


1. Did I make the world a better place?
2. Did I express my character’s motives, background, and/or flaws?
3. Did I solve a problem with magic?
For each question you answer “yes,” gain 1 XP.

-ˋˏ 9 ˎˊ-
Runes Index
All magic is made of three pieces: the Sigil, the Keystone, and the Seal. The Sigil sits at the
center of a rune and determines the core element of the magic produced. The Keystones are
arranged around the rune and determine what direction/shape the magic will take. The Seal is a
simple circle enclosing the Sigil and Keystone. Once the Seal is closed, the magic will take
effect.

You (the player) choose your own Sigils and Keystones unless the GM says otherwise. You’ll
have the chance to learn more as the game progresses.

The most interesting part of Witch Hat Atelier’s magic system is that the effects of magic differ
depending on how you draw the rune. Two runes with the same Sigil and the same Keystone may
have wildly different effects based on how it's drawn. For example, a crush Keystone inverted
will repair the intended target. A pull Keystone turned around will push.

The law states that magic cannot be drawn on the living body. Therefore, the vast majority of
magic is used to create magic items - pave stones that light up when you step on them, carriages
that fly, and pots that keep their food forever fresh, for example. Everyone is capable of using
magic, but Witches keep their secrets closely guarded. If a mortal learns the secret of magic, the
Witch is punished and the mortal’s memory is erased.

If you’re new to Witch Hat Atelier or don’t know where to start with your own spells, take a look
at the already made spells! No shame in grabbing a few of those to round out your repertoire.

-ˋˏ 10 ˎˊ-
Sigils

Picture Name Effect

Aeriform Sigil Creates air.

Crystal Sigil Creates crystal.

Earth Sigil Manipulates earth.

Fire Sigil Creates fire.

Light Sigil Creates light.

Size Sigil Affects the size of whatever


this spell is drawn on.

-ˋˏ 11 ˎˊ-
Soar Sigil Enables flight.

Vision Sigil Affects perception of whatever


this spell is drawn on.

Water Sigil Creates water.

Wind Sigil Moves air.

-ˋˏ 12 ˎˊ-
Keystones

Picture Name Effect

Bend Bend warps its Sigil element. When paired with the
eye Keystone and a light Sigil, it can turn the user
invisible.

Billowing Billowing causes its Sigil element to disperse


outwards into a cloud.

Bird Bird manifests its Sigil element in the shape of a bird,


which can fly and swoop around.

Bolt Bolt creates a high-velocity spear of its Sigil element.

Collection Collection collects materials of the same element as


the Sigil. This element can then be harvested or
further used in the spell.

Column Column causes the element to manifest in a


column/beam above the glyph. If the columns aren’t
balanced, the spell will manifest in the direction with
the most columns. The flat, wide part usually faces
outwards.

Convergence Convergence causes magic to become more focused.


Like direction, this Keystone is not used on its own.

Crosshair Crosshair makes the same element as its Sigil


disappear.

-ˋˏ 13 ˎˊ-
Crush Crush, well, crushes together elements that are the
same as its Sigil. It’s usually used with a kinetic Sigil
to disintegrate objects.

Dancing puppet Dancing puppet causes its Sigil element to move and
dart around.

Diamond Diamond determines area of effect. The more


diamonds, the wider the area of effect of a spell will
have.

Direction Direction affects the direction in which the magic


will manifest. This Keystone is not used on its own -
it’s paired with other Keystones to affect their
outcome.

Dispersion Dispersion causes the magic of its glyph to pour or


"disperse" out. It’s similar to column, but instead of
creating a focused beam, it releases magic in every
direction. The curved part can face in or out.

Enlarge Enlarge can have two effects. When used with a


Sigil, it makes the Sigil’s element bigger. When used
with the window Sigil, it makes the object it is placed
on bigger.

Eye Eye affects how its Sigil element is perceived. This


Keystone is not used on its own, as it needs other
Keystones to shape it.

Levitation Levitation can have two effects. If it is drawn with a


Sigil, it causes that Sigil’s element to hover above it.
If drawn without a Sigil, it causes whichever object it
was drawn on to levitate. The arrow typically faces
inwards.

Pull Pull makes anything of the same element as its Sigil


come towards it. The arrow is angled inwards. If the
arrow is angled outwards, it repels the element of the
Sigil.

-ˋˏ 14 ˎˊ-
Radial Radial diminishes the effect of its Sigil element. If
facing outward, it amplifies the effect of its Sigil
element.

Rain Rain generates its Sigil element in a way similar to


rain.

Repetition Repetition can have two effects. When used with a


Sigil, it reverts the Sigil’s element to its previous
state. When used without a Sigil, it reverts the object
it is placed on to its previous state.

Weave Weave turns the Sigil element into long, flexible


ribbons.

-ˋˏ 15 ˎˊ-
Canon Spells
(Note - if the picture looks bad, it’s because I drew it in MS paint. Goes to show that anyone can
draw runes, even artistically inept people like me.)

Fire Runes

Picture Name Effect

Kindle Orb Creates an orb of fire that


levitates above the glyph. It’ll
also levitate a small object in
the fire. Perfect for cooking
husk potatoes.

Snug Stone When attached to a stone, it


makes that stone pleasantly
warm.

Unburning Flame Creates an orb of fire that


produces no heat.

Water Runes

Picture Name Effect

Rainmaker’s Rune Creates a shower of rain.

-ˋˏ 16 ˎˊ-
Surging Stage Creates a powerful column of
water that can lift people into
the air.

Watershot Water shoots from this seal. It


will go in the direction of
whichever Keystone is
longest. If they are equal, it
shoots straight up.

Water Bolt Shoots bolts of water at lethal


speeds at a target. Note the
directional Keystones
showing where the bolts
should go.

Water Pen Creates a dagger-shaped glob


of water that can be used as a
weapon and can be saturated
with ink to draw large spells
quickly.

Earth Runes

Picture Name Effect

Boulder Stretch Rope Turns stone into a flexible


ribbon.

-ˋˏ 17 ˎˊ-
Integration Temporarily rearranges
broken matter into the shape
it once took.

Sand Cage Creates a cage made of sand.

Serpent’s Bed of Sand Makes a warm, fluffy,


floating cloud of sand that
one can sleep on.

Wall Breaker Breaks through objects it is


drawn on, reducing them to
dust.

Wind Runes

Picture Name Effect

Aerial Lure Will cause the object it’s


placed on to shoot up into the
sky and dance around.

-ˋˏ 18 ˎˊ-
Gathering Winds Uses wind to pull a selected
object towards the caster.

Skysoaring Seal Creates wind in the direction


the levitation Keystone goes.

Soarboots Spell Causes the object it’s placed


on to fly. Usually used on
Soarboots.

Light Runes

Picture Name Effect

Dancing Lights Creates lights that float in the


air. (Note - the squiggles are
the old version of levitation
Keystones.)

Light Beam Creates an upwards beam of


light.

-ˋˏ 19 ˎˊ-
Phoenix Portent Creates a fiery bird that flies
into the air and swoops
around.

Other Runes

These runes either A) include two or more elemental Sigils or B) their Sigil does not have
enough established spells to warrant its own category.

Picture Name Effect

Billowing Collection Collects the materials for


Dragon’s Bed of Sand and
makes it billow. It’s part of a
bigger spell, which is why the
billowing Keystone works as
a Sigil.

Crystal Shard Makes large crystal shards


erupt from the glyph.

Dispel Water (Drying) Warms and dries the user’s


clothes.

Dispel Water Keeps rain off of the user.

-ˋˏ 20 ˎˊ-
Erase Memory Erases the memory of
whomever it touches.

Floating Drops Creates levitating drops of


water.

Floating Expansion Enlarges the size of the object


it is placed on and allows it to
float. Uses old levitation
runes - the little squiggles.

Gathering Shadows Warps light around the object


it is placed on. Good for
remaining unseen.

Mirror Allows the wearer to look


like something they see when
combined with Gathering
Shadows.

-ˋˏ 21 ˎˊ-
Player-Made Spells

Picture Name Effect

Absorb Light Absorbs light, creating an area of


(by Ok668) darkness proportional to the size of the
rune.

Blazing Earth Shoots a column of superheated sand in


(By Sandy, Chromatic Flare, the direction of the column keystone.
and Ok668)

Cut Cuts a straight line in front of whatever


(By Chromatic Flare) the glyph is drawn on.

Earth Bridge Makes a bridge of earth about the same


(By Chromatic Flare) width as the glyph. It has small walls on
either side.

Fire Step Neutralizes fire and heat, allowing one


(By Sandy, Chromatic Flare, to walk safely on hot surfaces.
and Ok668)

-ˋˏ 22 ˎˊ-
Firework of Light Creates a heatless firework made only
(by Ok668) of light. Pretty!

Light Lasso Creates a lasso of light that can pull a


(By one of Bird’s players) target towards the user.

Light Trail Creates a trail of light to the nearest


(by Ok668) light source.

Light Warp Warps light around the user to render


(By one of Bird’s players) them invisible.

Stone Bird Gathers rock to create a bird of stone


(By Sandy, Chromatic Flare,
and Ok668)

-ˋˏ 23 ˎˊ-
Vacuum Cleaner Spell Sucks up air through the center hole.
(by Chromatic Flare) Make sure to put a bag on the back -
otherwise, the dirt will fall right back
down to the floor!

Whirlwind Creates a small, contained ball of air


(By one of Bird’s Players) that can be thrown or ridden. (Think the
air ball from Avatar!) Can be made into
a full tornado with the size rune.

-ˋˏ 24 ˎˊ-
Gamemaster Corner
So you’ve decided to be a gamemaster! That’s awesome, hats off to you. I’d highly recommend
reading Witch Hat Atelier before diving in, just to get a feel for the world and how things are, but
if you don’t want to, hey, that’s your call! It’s your world now. And your players certainly don’t
have to read WHA to enjoy this game.

A QUICK NOTE: Do not nitpick players on their runes. I know that in WHA, even the smallest
imperfection in a rune can affect its outcome, but we’re not all artists. If a line is (accidentally)
longer than another or if it’s not symmetrical, that’s okay! As long as you can get the gist of the
rune it should work.

Session 0
So, you gather up some friends, meet up on Discord or in person or wherever you meet up to
play games. Great! What happens next?

Well, first off is a Session 0. This is where you get together and talk about what kind of game
you and your players want to play. It is very important. This isn’t a game of D&D - you aren’t
constructing any stories in advance or mapping out encounters. Your players are going to make
the story with you.

1. Decide the premise of the game. This game is about being a group of Witch apprentices.
Maybe you’re on an important journey. Maybe you’re going to stay at one Atelier and
explore the surrounding area. Find something unifying to bring the characters together.
2. Make characters! It can be together or apart, with 5 page backstories or vague ideas.
Just go for it.
3. Go around and ask everyone 1 thing they’d like to see in the story. It can be as simple
as “soarboots,” or as complex as “a political assassination with wide-ranging implications
(yes, my players asked for that once.) This is a super good way to get a feel for what sort
of game your players want. Plus, you’ll make them super happy by throwing in the thing
they want!
4. Play out a day in the life! Have everyone introduce their characters (names, pronouns,
what they look like, etc.) Then, ask what their character is doing on a normal day. Let
their characters talk to each other. If you’re going to be playing their teacher/watchful
eye, introduce them. Throw in a problem. Give them a chance to make magic. And make
sure to take notes! You might come up with an NPC on the fly that they get invested in.
Or a rival you can bring back later. Or maybe they do something cool or mess something
up.
5. That’s it! Go play and have fun!

-ˋˏ 25 ˎˊ-
Objectives
As a gamemaster, you have three main objectives:

1. Keep things fun. That’s what you’re here for! Games should be fun for the GM and the
players. Different groups may have different ideas of what’s fun. If it’s not fun,
something needs to change. Go on, absolutely wreck this game. I don’t mind. :)
2. Keep things safe. Your player’s comfort and wellbeing is your first priority. Ask them if
anything is off-limits before they start playing and respect those boundaries. Make sure
they know they can contact you if they ever need to say something. And when they do
reach out, take them seriously.
3. Fill the world with magic and wonder. The world of Witch Hat Atelier is so cool.
Embrace it! Fill the skies with flying carriages and the streets with glowing pavestones.
Magic weaves through everything in this world so make sure to show it where you can.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let me give you some tools to help you with those
objectives:

How to Make A NPC


NPCs! The bread and butter of an RPG world. For the uninitiated, an NPC is a non-player
character. Basically, any person that isn’t the players. It’s your job to come up with them and
play them. Sometimes, they walk into a shop and you just spitball a shopkeeper called Flagreus
Zagreus and the next thing you know one of the players is engaged to him. But usually you’ll at
least start with a vague idea of who they are and here’s some tips:

★ Start with a concept. Like, “Test Proctor Who Was Paid To Make Sure The Characters
Don’t Pass The Test.” Now, make them interesting. Let’s call this character Jerry. He has
a nasal voice and makes snide remarks about the players. Usually this is an easy character
for the players to hate.
★ Next, give him some abilities. If this is the first test, the one where they have to climb the
Dada Mountains and get that flower, we can gear his abilities to that. He won’t outright
attack them, but he will “accidentally” splash them all with water to ruin their runes. And
if asked for help, he will mislead them.
★ You can give an NPC stats if you want, but they don’t tend to have them. For example, if
you have a rival in a magic competition, they’re not going to roll against the player. If the
player rolls well, they beat the rival. If they roll poorly, the rival pulls out some amazing
spell that the judges just adore.
★ Great! Now you have an NPC. As a rule of thumb, don’t force love interests, mentors,
rivals, etc, on players. If a player isn’t engaging with an NPC, drop ‘em!

-ˋˏ 26 ˎˊ-
Forbidden Magic
These spells are absolutely forbidden to Witches. Only Brimhats, the evil ones, use these. Once
forbidden magic affects a person’s body, it cannot be undone without resorting to forbidden
magic.

Picture Name Effect

(No image Anti-Scalewolf Curse Turns someone who has been


available) turned into a scalewolf back,
but only when this rune is
touching the rune that cursed
them.

Cloak Spell I don’t know exactly what


this does. I know it does
manipulate the cloak of the
invisible Brimhat to make it
seem like someone is there.
He can also cast from his
cloak’s space. But given the
bend and eye Keystones and
the vision Sigil, I’d take a
guess that this spell also
renders him invisible as well.

Illusory Labyrinth A spell that traps people in an


endless labyrinth outside of
the physical world. The only
escape is destroying the rune,
but it reacts quite violently
when destroyed. Given the
complexity of this glyph, I’d
guess it’s old magic.

(No image Petrification Turns everyone in a large


available) radius to stone.

Scalewolf Curse Turns the person whom this is


embedded into a scalewolf.

-ˋˏ 27 ˎˊ-
GM Best Practices
GMing is hard. Whether it’s your first time or your hundredth time, running a game is a
challenge. So here I’ve gathered some tools and strategies for hopefully making it a little easier
on you. Hope this helps!

-ˋˏ 28 ˎˊ-
Hard Moves and Soft Moves
When you come to a lull in the story, when your players look to you for what happens next, or
when you want to move things along, make a soft move. The soft moves for this game are:
★ Have an unknowing ask for help
★ Reveal an impending threat to something that is beautiful and good
★ Introduce a rival
★ Bring to light what is wrong with magical society
★ Expose a character’s secret pains

When someone fails a roll, if the players don’t


act in time to address a problem, or when you
want to add a lot more tension and drama, make
a hard move. The hard moves are:
★ Irreversibly change someone
★ Destroy something beautiful
★ Force the players to choose between
being a good Witch and being a good friend

Take Notes
Oh boy do I struggle with this one! But notes are
really, really helpful for GMing. You can refer to
them while planning or in the middle of a session
and it’s going to save your bacon. I’d go for
jotting down shorthand notes while playing and a
more detailed write-up after you’re done.

At the very least, for detailed notes, I like to do


people, places, and plot hooks. (Thanks Johnn
Four Roleplay for the idea!) When you come to
any unanswered questions or unsolved
mysteries, those are especially important to write
down.

It’s not my jam, but I know some people like to


do index cards for in-person play so that players
can organize and pass them around.

Pick the Safety Tools that Are Right for You


Some spectacular ones are Lines and Veils, the Script Change RPG Toolbox by Beau Jágr
Sheldon, the X-Card by John Stavropoulos, and Stars and Wishes by Lu Quade.

-ˋˏ 29 ˎˊ-
Combat and Higher Powered Games
Okay, let me just start this section by saying that this section is not how this game is intended to
be played. This game is about helping others and experiencing the wonders of magic and living
your best cottagecore life.

When I first made this game, I was way too


entrenched in the D&D mindset of hrrrrgh fight
enemies make big epic story, so I made these
rules for combat and harm. And as a result, I
found that when I included rules for violence in
the main ruleset, players tended to use violence
as a solution. Not ideal. So I decided to take
them out completely. But like… I wrote them
and I don’t want to waste them.

So maybe your group wants to play in the world


of Witch Hat Atelier, but with a bit of a darker
tone. Maybe you’re a secret sect of the Magic
Security Council that hunts down and defeats
Brimhats. Maybe you’re a group of apprentices
trying to protect a powerful, forbidden magical
artifact from evil people who want it to destroy
the world. These rules are for you.

First of all, players now have a health bar, called


Harm. They can take 3 points of Harm before
bad things happen. Once they hit 4 Harm, they
risk losing their character forever. For reference:
★ 1 Harm: A punch to the face, pushed
down a flight of stairs, or comparable injury.
Will recover in time without medical attention.
★ 2 Harm: Knife wound, badly burned, etc.
Needs medical attention to recover but can hold
on for a bit.
★ 3 Harm: Fell off a cliff, hit by a car,
close to death. Needs medical attention right
now.

-ˋˏ 30 ˎˊ-
You’ll also add these moves to the existing moves:

Hurt Someone, Bad


When you want to hurt someone, like, seriously hurt someone, either physically or with a spell,
roll with Instinct or Force. On a 10+, you deal them harm. On a 7-9, you deal them harm, and
choose 1:
★ The GM decides how bad the harm turns out.
★ The opponent decides you’re the biggest threat and reacts accordingly.
★ You cause significant collateral damage.

Face Oblivion
When you get to 4 points of harm, roll with no stat. On a 10+, you recover to 3 harm, but
describe how the experience marked you in some way. On a 7-9, you’re out until your character
gets help. On a 6-, your character is out of the game. Work with the GM to figure out what
happens.

When you start combat, have the character with the highest Instinct stat roll with Instinct. On a
10+, the players go first. On a 7-9, the players go first, but with some sort of disadvantage. On a
6-, the opponent goes first.

Also, if you’re going to be big, powerful people, maybe start your characters with some more
Sigils and Keystones. Heck, maybe even all of them. It’s up to you!

-ˋˏ 31 ˎˊ-
Acknowledgements
First and foremost, I’d like to thank Kamome
Shirahama for writing Witch Hat Atelier! The
love, care, and dedication she has poured into
Witch Hat Atelier truly shines through every
page. Without her, I’d never have had the chance
to make this game and play it with wonderful
people.

Speaking of wonderful people - my playtesters!


Anegasaki, Chromatic Flare, Natycloud, Ok668,
and Sandy, thank you for sticking with me as I
work through all the bugs. It’s been a joy to play
with you all!

I’d like to thank the folks at the wiki who’ve put


in a ton of work to meticulously document every
character, location, spell, magic item, and
chapter of Witch Hat Atelier. Like holy cow,
that’s dedication. You guys saved me hours of
pouring through the manga to find spells and
magic items - thank you so much!

Thanks to Apocalypse World, Monsterhearts,


Stonetop, Hogwarts: an RPG, Blades in the
Dark, and Wanderhome! I “creatively borrowed”
quite a bit from these awesome games. If you
like this game, you should totally check those
ones out!

Finally, I’d like to thank you! Yes, you specifically. Thank you for picking it up, for reading it
through - even the acknowledgements. I really hope you like it!

Disclaimer: The transformative work featured on these pages is not for sale. Neither it nor this
page is in any way authorized, approved, licensed, or endorsed by Kamome Shirahama,
Kodansha, or Kodansha USA. All copyrights and trademarks referenced herein are the property
of their respective owners.

-ˋˏ 32 ˎˊ-

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