When CDProjektRED released the REDkit for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, we knew we'd be seeing some pretty awesome creations from it. What we didn't expect to see was a mod that not only replaced the iconic main character, Geralt of Rivia, but also added an entirely new class to play as. Well, that's exactly what's happened with the Custom Player Characters mod, which lets you not only create your own witcher character, but also play as a magic-flinging sorceress.
News in brief:
- Custom Player Characters mod lets you, shockingly, create a custom character
- Modders can choose between playing a witcher or a sorceress
- Expect a bit of "jank" during this early release period
We're very much in the early days for Witcher 3 modding, and you should expect to have to dive into some settings files to get this mod to work, and the installation process includes downloading four different files and merging them together with a tool — it's a far cry from the modding tools we've come to expect from games like Skyrim. But once it's done, Custom Player Characters is save game-compatible and should work in any save game you try.
How it works is it plonks a "Chameleon potion" into your inventory, which, once drunk, launches you into a character creator. Here you can pick between a male witcher or a "witcheress" (also known as a "witch", surely?) and switch between the various character models available in the Witcher 3. Voice packs are handled by AI, which isn't great, but it only uses performances from the Witcher 3, so it's straddling a thin line of sorts. Witcheresses get the chance to ditch the witcher's way altogether and become sorceresses through a questline, giving up the twin swords in favor of throwing spells at distant foes. It's a different way to play the game, and it's impressive how well the modder has included this very different way to play.
Want to give it a try? You can find the mod and instructions on Nexusmods. You will, unsurprisingly, need a PC to play, as console players aren't going to be able to mod their games in this way for some time, if ever.
