Hi,

I recently started playing The Witcher, an RPG game where the protagonist is a 'monster hunter', and the character inspired me to try and do something similar in Skyrim. I was hoping people who have played The Witcher 1 or 2 or both could give me some help, as I'm not really that far into the game yet myself. Here is a picture of my attempt at bringing Geralt of Rivia into Skyrim, as Geralt of Riverwood: http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/403/geraltofriverwood.jpg/

There are a couple of principles that I've come up with for this character.

• Wears light armor. I think the Thieves Guild stuff fits almost perfectly, perhaps leaving the hood off. Might use console commands to get it rather than have to do Thieves Guild quests
  
• Alchemy is an integral part of the character. Should always have a variety of potions on him to heal, and modify his abilities for any situation. Will spend a lot of time and money on this
  
• Interested in making a living by doing 'Witcher Work' i.e. eliminating bandits, but especially dragons/undead/monsters of all types. Might see the Silver Hand as 'imposter Witchers' of some sort? Will generally do the right thing, and save innocents, but will be uninterested in politics (Forsworn Conspiracy, Imperial Legion/Stormcloaks)
  
• Will use magic of some sort, but I'm not too sure just what he'll use yet. Would Dragon Shouts be enough to 'simulate' the limited magic that the Witchers use? I would think so, but again I haven't seen too much of it either.
  
• Will probably use two-handed swords, even though I'm not sure I like wearing light armor AND using greatswords. Seems like I'm giving up alot of defense and mobility all at once. Also, in the games Geralt has two swords - a steel and a silver sword, one for men and one for monsters. I'm thinking that this distinction isn't useful for Skyrim purposes, so he'll just use a Silver Greatsword. Might download mods that allow me to smith improvements to silver weapons, or I might just upgrade to, say, Ebony when it becomes available
  
• The Thieves Guild Armor is only for aesthetics. I don't think he'd do more than a little sneaking, only lockpicking as necessary, and no pickpocketing/marksman stuff.

Hoping for people to add things, or make comments on what I've come up with so far.

Light armor + greatsword is like a Barbarian playstyle. It can be done and I think thats what Nords are actually made to use. Lets you run around quick and deliver that one-hit blow to a lot of the weaker characters if you're being mobbed by bandits.

Yeah get a mod that lets you upgrade silver swords and use a silver greatsword and a skyforged steel greatsword.

There's also a mod that lets you make unenchanted thieves guild armor.

Yeah dragonshouts can probably replace much of your magic. Unrelenting Force = Aard and Flame Breath = Igni. You might want to also take Illusion for Axii though. Alteration might also pass for both Yrden (paralysis spells) and Quen (-skin spells).

I think you hit it pretty well. Light armor, two-handed (or one-handed, maybe both), alchemy (big one there), dragon shouts (I think your right in limiting magic to the shouts) and maybe speechcraft (Geralt sure has to do a lot of talking and greasing up of people).

Bump for a little bit more feedback, or maybe ideas for quests/armor/playstyles.

I'm an obsessive Witcher fan and only paused my 6th playthrough of The Witcher 2 on 11/10/11 (for obvious reasons). A build true to Geralt would probably be a Nord, that character design looks good. As for skills/personality...

-Level Two-Handed as fast as possible. Get all the good perks. Geralt would not limit himself to the 'silver greatsword', he would easily use an enchanted Ebony greatsword, not that different from the Sword of the Dun Banner or D'Yaebl. Sure, he is supposed to have two swords, but that's more of a gameplay mechanic since monsters and men die equally in Skyrim.
-Light armor for sure. Always wear some light jackboots of some sort - and Geralt would never equip glass armor, doesn't match his visual style. The rest of the light armor is probably okay. Geralt would retain light gloves throughout, and would certainly wear rings and amulets. Only hoods for headgear though!
-Get the spell for Night-Eye and use it often, Geralt has a mutant's night vision.
-Geralt's magic are the five signs, simple magic tricks which he can improve to very, very powerful levels. Igni is best represented by powerlevelling Destruction, Firebolt, Fireball, Flames, Incinerate are all okay. Yrden is a magical trap - a lightning rune is most accurate. Axii is mind control - command daedra, agent of subterfuge, or any other comparable allegiance altering spell is legal. Aard is a force push/blast - Fus Ro Dah suffices. And Quen would be a lightning shield spell. MAYBE oakflesh line of spells but that is iffy. NOT Wards, that would be for Triss.
-Alchemy constantly, potions for every occasion. Geralt does not use poisons but I wouldn't say it is beyond the realm of possibility, given that there are no bombs in Skyrim.
-Take no followers, Geralt works alone.
-Avoid Mage's Guild completely. Could do some work for the Thieves' Guild. Companions okay up until they ask you to become a Werewolf, a big no-no. Geralt inevitably gets dragged into national conflicts (Witcher 2, it's unavoidable) and would side with whoever you believe in more. Geralt would probably lean more towards the stability of the Legion and the Empire, they resemble Temeria more than the Stormcloaks.
-Daedra are from other dimensions and Geralt hates stuff from other dimensions. The Wild Hunt is from a parallel dimension and are the cause of all his memory loss, troubles and issues. Butcher Daedra worshippers, mess up their plans and kill them wherever possible. However, the more benevolent ones (The Break of Dawn, Azura's Star) are okay. And Sanguine's is definitely legal, given there is a similar quest in Witcher 2, "Hung Over".
-Hunt down vampires with a passion. And amateur spellcasters are fodder for Geralt.
-Bounties, bounties, bounties. Do them again and again, this is the Witcher's pride and joy.
-The Dark Brotherhood are Assassins of Kings. The Witcher 2 pits Geralt against the Assassins of Kings. It should be pretty clear that Astrid must not leave the Abandoned shack alive, and the Dark Brotherhood must be purged ASAP.
-Geralt could do a little thievery but is not a common thief. He will sneak when he has to but prefers a straight fight and would not pickpocket.
-However, Geralt happily takes peoples' stuff from their homes at random.
-Geralt is generally law abiding, but if it is urgent guards are merely pawns to be chopped down. However, if Geralt starts getting hit with guard's arrows, he would yield (as arrows = cutscene death in Witcher 2 with lawbreaking).
-Geralt would not draw his sword in a populated area unless there was an attack by monster or man.
-Geralt is a crafter and would not hesitate to use the grindstone, smelter, forge and tanning rack.
-Geralt would harvest any alchemical ingredient from the corpse of a monster and leave the rest, unless the pelts or trophies would bring solid cash.
-The Witcher is not a man who settles in one place. Avoid buying a house. If this cannot be avoided, get the cheap house in Whiterun. Also, make sure if you must have a follower, she is attractive, female, and married to you if possible. Human preferred but Geralt is not picky, an elf race will do. Spellcaster preferred, and make sure she wields a staff of fireballs.
-Fetch quests are okay, Geralt is of superhuman endurance and used to backtracking. Resolving any relationships disputes is out of the question, however, as he makes quite clear in Vergen in Chapter 2 of The Witcher 2. A Witcher is, self-described by Geralt, a "Problem Solver". For monstrous, magical and mythic missions.
-Geralt does not hesitate to kill any human in cold blood if it is crucial to his mission or they challenge him. Bandits are of special priority, Geralt will elegantly butcher highwaymen, thugs and brigands to clean the streets and forest alike.
-Ghosts, Skeletons and Draugr are the closest enemies resembling the Wild Hunt, Geralt's ultimate nemeses. Butcher them with special fury and root out every tomb you find. Dragon Priests in particular are enemies Geralt would hold hatred for, as with the application of Witcher lore they would be the spectrally possessed avatars of the evil elves of the Wild Hunt.
-Speaking of Elves, the Thalmor are utterly foreign to Skyrim like the Wild Hunt Elves are foreign to Temeria. Both have agendas of slavery and domination. Butcher the Thalmor.

I was just about to have a crack at this. +1 to your ideas and the other commenters. All I would add is that Geralt's silver swords are one handers. This works better with using Illusion/Alteration spells to represent signs, as you don't have to unequip your silver sword to cast them. Maybe you should post a video or something when you get him up and running.

I would think Geralt dual-wields magic and a sword, no?

Or you could just start an attack with magic, draining all your magicka in the process and then proceed to kill the remaining enemies with your two-handed swords (one for humanoids and another for monsters -- two different enchantments maybe). IMO that's Geralt's style.

Though I do not agree with some of the points, you really seem like a true fan. :wink_smile:

Btw, I think the speech craft perk "Allure" is a must. :foodndrink:

I didn't play TW2 very much, but Geralt definitely uses spells.

Weren't blade oils poisons? At least work sort of the same way? I'm not a big Witcher fan so maybe not.

Also, should take Fists of Steel perk to simulate the cheesy mechanics of fist fighting... Geralt never loses one lol.

I love the witcher and have played the games and read the books i myself have started a witcher type character.

One handed and two handed
Sneak
alchemy
illusion
destruction
alteration
light armor

he has 2 swords one silver for monsters and one steel for man and his silver is a one handed weapon. i could see him using daedric or ebony for the greatsword.

I'm a fan of the Witcher lore and haven't thought of this idea before. :facepalm: Anyway great ideas guys, I'm defently trying this out tonight.

Don't forget about Block perks and enchaniting (kinda like weapon runes).

Also, as someone pointed out, Witchers use a 2h steel sword but 1h silver sword for monsters.
Here is a video of Geralt wielding Aerondight (silver sword): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOac7t4kSUI&feature=BFa&list=PL3F5AA8F0791675DE&lf=results_main

I'd recommend this mod for better 2h weapon animations: http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=859

Personally, I'll go with 1h to be able to cast magic/signs in combat.

Actually, both are most likely Bastard swords.

Witcher 2 makes it appear that way because they used same animations for both swords but silver sword is considerably smaller and Geralt used it as a one handed weapon in the first game. Also,
"The techniques for fighting with a silver sword derive from traditional swordsmanship, yet with a few essential differences. No parries and ripostes, mainly steps, evasive moves, pirouettes, and other acrobatics." - Lambert
Source: http://witcher.wikia.com/wiki/Witcher_fighting_styles



As for Geralt of Riverwood, this is what I'll probably go with:

http://skyrimcalculator.com/#23678

AARD - FUS RO DAH (probably only FUS)
IGNI- Incinerate (expert destruction)
YRDEN - Fire Rune (apprentice destruction)
QUEN - Ebonyflesh (expert alteration)
AXII - Frenzy (adept illusion)

MODS
http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=3507
http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=1002
http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=635
http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=611

It's funny you mention Geralt because I saw a character in one of the taverns that I'm pretty sure was supposed to be him. I can't remember what tavern it was though. I think it was one of the one's that is just out in the wilderness by itself. The guy looked exactly like Geralt from what I've seen, white hair, pony-tail, leather armor, etc. I'll post if I can remember which one it was.

One comment on leveling... you level up based on skill progress. If you choose to focus on a few of the skill trees, you're going to find progress up the levels very slow. While you might not want to use magic, you need to train in it if your goal is to level up to 50+. There's nothing wrong with playing below the level cap in this game... but if your goal is to reach higher levels, you have to level up more than just four or five skills.

This is pretty good, although some of the points I disagree with, and some of them a not really a "witcher thing" but more likely just a game mechanism in TW games.

If you want to go 100% witcher, then you do not kill for money (no go on bandit bounties)

Wonder how many PC players got sick watching that video ...

You need a six mod or else it's impossible to truly be Gerault.

What? No heliotrop?

I am just going by the books of A. Sapkowski, but I gotta correct myself: they seem more like 2 handed swords or bastard swords to me
For example, the Sihill used in the books is described as weighting 35 ounces, with a blade 40 inches long and a 12-inch long hilt.

Mind you, that was before the whole game image kicked in.

oooh, what a great idea! I'm going to do this too.

The way witchers actually work, they wouldn't be using a greatsword in the way its presented in Skyrim; they're known for their speed and incredible reactions. Until a modder makes bastard swords I'd go with 1h swords and alteration/illusion/destruction magic. I've been doing a similar thing with one of my characters and those magic types can illustrate the signs reasonably well.

Flames = igni
Stoneflesh = Quen
Calm = Axi

and Unrelenting force can obviously represent the Aard.

The only problem with playing a Witcher in skyrim is their ethics. You kind of have to be willing to let that part slide as they're purely monster hunters and not mercenaries; Geralt in particular has a big problem with killing men for money (hinted at in the games and explicitly said in the books). But, like I said if you consider yourself a little 'loose' on the ethical side (like the Kingslayers in TW2) then it's totally doable.

EDIT: and yes Geralt could use the wards. In the books he has a sign known as the heliotrop, which is used to block spells.

Oh, in that case you're absolutely right. I've read two books translated to English some time ago but couldn't recall any info about his swords so I was relying on the first game.



Correct, but so long you avoid taking bounties, which serve only too earn more money, it's fine. Bandits are hostile and Geralt would kill any human in self defense.