If you were a witch...

[papillon]

Loli Abigail, or aged up?

[Jake]

Loli Abigail, or aged up?

All the times I've seen it performed she's been played by a girl in her mid-twenties, so she'll always be in her mid-twenties to me.

[LVUER]

Ah, interesting, the first evil witch to come up so far . How many others would like to be a subjectively hexing witch with minions and stuff, wreaking havoc on villages and cursing most?
I was mostly thinking of a cute and nice witch in a very quiet atmosphere so far, but hey, why not

So, you want an evil one, eh? Heheheh... Then...

Daily lives:
- Cursing rival witch's pet (perhaps talking cute owl). Or bully it whenever chance appears.
- Hunting for cute talking animals (to be eaten or enslaved). Luckily, they are very smart and always outwitted the witch.
- Do mischievous things to elders (enraging them) or children (makes them cry) in next village. She does no harm to teenager or adults.
- Stealing under-wears, hexing them, returning them when asked. if you wears them, you will have very high libido ^_^
- Stealing life force to strengthen and make new spell or potion, in hilarious way, like forcing villagers to laugh uncontrollably, luring them to say yes to a contract, etc. Luckily for us, the rival witch always appears in the nick of time to save the day.
- Planting lots of padi fields since the villagers prefer corns (or vice-verse).
- Growing flowers/plants out of their seasons to freak out the villagers.

Event:
- A handsome knight comes and says that the witch must marry him and be a good witch. The witch only has 2 months before answering the knight. So the witch only has 2 options: give up and say "yes" or practice like hell to beat the crap out of the knight ^_^
Actually, the knight is pretty weak (or you could make him ridiculously strong but very very kind and honest), but he is backed up by the rival witch...

[monele]

All things considered, I'll leave the evil to someone else ^^;... It would make things too complex and not as peaceful as I want it for what I have in mind, sorry :/

What about familiars? Would everyone go with a black cat or are there other thoughts?

[chronoluminaire]

I'd prefer to play a game as a good witch rather than an evil witch.
Familiars? I'd probably choose a cat, but that's because I love cats (and have two ubercute kittens!). But owls, lizards, bats, or other things could work. A cat has a higher chance of being a SarcasticTalkingCat, too

[musical74]

chronoluminare: those are VERY CUTE kittens! <I'm a little biased because I love cats though >

Maybe have twin sisters be witches......with one witch wanting very much to follow the path of light and the other witch wanting to follow the path of darkness? And they supposedly can't stand each other...yet if one is in serious trouble, the other unhesitantly helps out.

I agree that a cat would be a good familiar...sp many people have cats so it wouldn't be obvious <at first!> that the cat is a familiar...at least until the cat starts talking Add that bit of mystery to things

[Nebi]

Too complex, huh. Well then, what about a witch who can only use black magic? The witch wants to be a good witch but ends up alienating herself because her attempts to help usually lead to bigger problems - because of black magic. (kind of like Hancock, or other examples where good intentions go wrong)

A giant python as a familiar would be...nevermind.

Something different? A giraffe, maybe? An imaginary creature would work too, or an element, like Calcifer in Howl's Moving Castle.

[Showsni]

Calcifer's

a star.

Actually quite a major spoiler...

[monele]

I'd prefer to play a game as a good witch rather than an evil witch.

I think I'm on that side too ^^;. I might still play an evil witch (or at least a *very* mischievous one), it's very hard for me to be creative with anything evil.

Also, kitties! I suppose you're allowed to have two familiars, but only because they're so cute ;p

If possible, I'd appreciate familiars with various edges. For example, cats would be clever, would help you when hunting (for animal components, ne?) but would have solitary moods from time to time where you're left alone to deal with problems.
Owls would be wise and help you spot things (ingredients or animals). They might be a bit stuck up about what you should do and stuff.

I'm not sure what else would familiars be able to do for a witch. I mean, in a practical way more than in a talkative way .

musical74 : I see you've posted this idea in the Ideas Dump, too . This is the kind of idea I wouldn't mind seeing done, but I'm stumped as to how to deal with it myself o_O.
As for talking familiars, I've seen takes on witches were familiars only talk to the owner witch... and sometimes to other witches, but not to "regular" people. And sometimes, even the owner can't understand what the familiar says until she grows a deeper bond with it.

Nebi : Well, too complex AND too dark for me . Good idea, though, and somewhat close to an idea I had, of being a witch capable of summoning help from some shadowy plane of existence... and it turning awry if too weak to contain the dark powers. Is this actually what you had in mind?
But otherwise, I'm thinking of things with a "nice" orientation and a more simulated approach instead of specific plots. As what has been said so far : what could a witch do? Gather stuff, make potions, charms, rituals, study magic, keep evil stuff at bay...

As for the giant python, related to above, what would it do that other familiars don't? I suppose the "bad" side to it is that not many people would be keen on meeting a giant python, even with a nice witch next to it XD
Giraffe might work in a savanna environment I suppose. African witches anyone? (and if we go that way, Shugenjas from the East, voodoo priestesses and all that jig ^^)
Some imaginary creatures might be nice too, and it would be easier to make up good and bad sides for them .

===

Now, seeing most posts, I guess most everyone *is* thinking "witch VN/game" by now ^^;... To be honest, yes, that's what I have in mind... BUT... no getting your hopes up or anything ^^;... I'm just poking at the water to see if I like the ripples.

Actually, just talking on such topics is fun, I might do it more often, in a... Ideas Dump kind of way ^^

Also, I realize I'm forcing the topic towards nice witches, but since this is no specific game thread, I'll try to refrain from this ^^;... Let's discuss all types of witches and what's cool about them. If game concepts come out of it, all the better

[yummy]

Would your witch only have to have ordinary animal familiars?
I mean, you could include some "enhanced familiars", like a neko-tan. You'd have to collect some special objects, moon drops for example, and if you get enough of them, your familiar would transform into a neko-tan! (plus it's cute and would look like a plushie)

And you could then introduce some original features, like familiar relationships to boost their capabilities in whatever domain you need (night activities for example :p).

Your familiar would evolve along with your actions, reflecting your alignment with good/neutral/bad and be the mirror of your character.

[LVUER]

Would your witch only have to have ordinary animal familiars?
I mean, you could include some "enhanced familiars", like a neko-tan.

Agree. It would be nice if the witch has a pet that can transform to human, that learns magic (but ends up blowing up things and the witch must clean up the mess afterwards).

And Why don't use animals that not usually used as witch familiars, like :
- Turtle or snail? Or perhaps animal like "Gerry" know who I mean? You tie a string to its neck and you ends up dragging the pet along since it's too slow.
- Eagle that likes to "wham!" at people faces, especially those who anger its master (the witch).
- Mouse, oh wait, it's too ordinary, may be hundreds of white cute little mouse? And all of them are perverts.
- A living toys, may be truck toys, living dools (teddy bear!) or even LEGO toys (so it could be costumized).
- Slime, a cute one please...
- Walking plant, an eggplant or even human-eating plant.

[yummy]

You would then have event CGs when your familiar "upgraded"!

Much like this sketch!

[monele]

Monyan! says neko-tan . Is she human-sized of plushie-sized?
While it's not mandatory to have only regular familiars, I just never thought of irregular ones. I was even only going for cats, to simplify everything, but I also know how fun it is to choose a Familiar in Dungeons & Dragons, so.... ^^ D&D actually has non-conventional familiars, but they're always living creatures (imps, tiny dragons, faeries). In that sense, I'd say it doesn't have to be an *animal*, but it might be hard to deal with constructs or plants or... err, something else. Again, while the aesthetics count, I'd prefer each familiar to bring something unique. It could be as simple as a faery producing 1 unit of pixie powder per day (makes sleepies or makes you fly depending on your lore ;p) but being otherwise "normal".

I did think of familiar relationships, but as animals, and.... no night activities, thus . The familiar could be a good help, but only if you take good care of it (spending some time playing with the familiar, grooming it if appropriate, giving it food, etc... instead of doing regular activities). Some familiars could be easily vexed if you ignore them for too long. Others could be quite lazy, requiring lots of attention everytime you require something of them.

Another thing to keep in mind (strictly game-wise), is that the deeper the familiars can be, the less choice for them there'll be. If most familiars work the same except for a few unique bonuses and one specific behavior, it might be easy to put in a dozen of them. If they all have two forms, specific dialogues and all that... just making 3 of them will be a feat ^^;

[Nebi]

Is this actually what you had in mind?

Well...let's use Zero no Tsukaima as an example. Instead of being inept at magic, the witch would only be good at using black magic. By black magic, I mean magic that by its nature is chaotic and is not pretty to see.

But it does not mean black magic cannot be used for "good" things. It just means that the outcome might not be what you would normally expect.

Here is a wiki article on black magic:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_magic

Compare the following:

Making flowers grow
Good witch: Does a cutesy twirl and casts a spell - with many many sparkles - and causes beautiful flowers to grow all around her.

"Good" witch with black magic: Does a cutesy twirl and casts a spell - with many many sparkles - and causes beautiful flowers to grow all around her. But the flowers are all black and their roots are covered in thorns..or they smell really, really bad.

See what I mean? This would cause the "good" witch to be really embarrassed all the time because everything she does goes wrong because of her inherent affinity for "black magic". :|

---

What about a groundhog familiar?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groundhog

[denzil]

I'm kind of surprised, that no one mentioned the Discworld Witcheds yet. And talking about Discworld, the cat doesn't have to look cute.

And who said you have to have animal as familiar. There is magical world after all...
/me imagines having cute little fairy as familiar:

The fairy walks on the table with strict look in her face:
"I told you thousand times, that you're doing it wrong."
"You have to spell that rune byo not pyo in that spell."
"But no, you say it wrong again."
Witch: "S... sorry."