Hi!

In this development diary, I want to talk about an important decision for version 2.0: why Dawn over Kovir will have a second playable character, why I chose Geralt specifically, and what role he will play in the new version of the story.

No major spoilers — just a general look at where the story is heading.

When I started rethinking the story for version 2.0, it became clear that simply expanding Ciri’s existing storyline would not be enough.

The current version of the mod already introduces an important theme: after the events of the main game, Ciri follows the witcher’s path. She hunts monsters, faces human cruelty, makes difficult choices, and gradually realizes that a witcher’s life is not only about freedom, a sword, and contracts.

But to explore this theme more deeply, the story needs a second perspective.

Not just an ally.

Not just a background character.

But someone who can look at the same story from another side.

That is why version 2.0 will include a second playable story arc.

I spent a long time thinking about who could become the second character in this story.

It could have been Eskel, Lambert, or even a completely new witcher. Each option had its advantages. But the more I thought about the structure of the story, the clearer it became: only Geralt can truly work here. From a lore perspective, only he stands equal to Ciri in terms of scale and legendary status.

People may feel differently about Ciri as a character, but one thing is hard to deny: together with Geralt, she has always been one of the two central figures of the witcher saga. Their stories are connected not only through plot, but also thematically. Geralt is the witcher’s path lived to the end. Ciri is the witcher’s path still being formed.

That is why they work so well as two sides of the same story.

Ciri may see the witcher’s life as a chance to choose her own fate.

Geralt knows that this path almost always demands too high a price for every choice.

Ciri is still searching for the boundaries of her code.

Geralt has seen many times how any code can shatter against reality.

Ciri may still believe that the right choice exists.

Geralt knows all too well that sometimes every choice is bad.

And it is between these two perspectives that the conflict of version 2.0 begins.

I do not really like the endless exploitation of Geralt’s image. He has long deserved peace.

After everything he has been through — after the books, the games, and the ending of the Blood and Wine expansion — I think it is right to pass the torch to other characters. The witcher world should not forever depend only on him.

That is exactly why I did not want to add Geralt just for fan service.

For me, it was important that his appearance would be justified not by the character’s popularity, but by the drama of the story.

If Geralt returns, he should not return simply to “save everyone one more time.”

He should return because only he can go through the specific trial this story demands.

And in version 2.0, he will have such a trial.

At Ciri’s request, Geralt travels to negotiate with the Merchant Guild of Kovir. Formally, everything begins in a fairly familiar way: meetings, political interests, and a new monster contract. But the investigation gradually reveals that behind this contract there is not only a monster, but also people trying to use the situation for their own purposes.

Soon, Geralt is faced not only with a monster that must be killed, but also with a difficult decision — one that could harm Ciri and destroy the very reason she came to Kovir in the first place.

And this is where the real story begins.

Usually, Geralt is forced to choose between the lesser and the greater evil. But in this story, I want to put him in front of a different kind of choice.

Not between two kinds of evil.

But between two parts of himself.

On one side — his own code. His personal sense of justice. His disgust for dirty deals and manipulation.

On the other — his responsibility to Ciri. To the person for whom he entered this game in the first place. To her future, her choice, and her attempt to walk her own path.

Geralt will have to decide what matters more: immediate justice, or a dirty but necessary compromise.

The main principle is not to let Geralt take over the story, while still making his storyline complete and equal in importance.

Version 2.0 does not turn Dawn over Kovir back into a story about Geralt. On the contrary, his storyline exists to reveal Ciri’s storyline more deeply.

Geralt does not replace her. He reflects her.

His arc should work like a mirror: it should show what the witcher’s path can become after many years of constantly choosing between bad options and carrying the consequences of other people’s decisions.

That is why I am building the story so that both storylines feel independent, but connected.

Ciri acts on one side of the conflict.

Geralt acts on the other.

They see different parts of the same problem.

And only together do these two perspectives reveal the full picture.

I want the player to feel that these are not two separate stories glued into one mod, but two parts of the same moral knot.

Ideally, Geralt’s arc should give version 2.0 three things.

First, a greater sense of scale.

Kovir and Poviss should feel not just like a new location, but like a place where the interests of witchers, merchants, politicians, and ordinary people collide.

Second, a stronger conflict.

The story should not only be about whom to kill and whom to save, but about what price the characters are willing to pay for their decisions.

Third, a deeper exploration of Ciri.

Because sometimes the best way to understand a character is not directly, but through someone who has already walked a similar path before.

In this sense, Geralt is not just a second playable character.

He is needed as someone who understands the witcher’s life better than anyone else.

And as someone who, in this story, will have to decide what part of himself he is willing to lose for Ciri.

I do not want to bring Geralt back simply because he is Geralt.

I want to use him carefully — as a character who has already earned his peace, but still cannot fully step away when Ciri is involved.

That is why his arc in version 2.0 will not be about just another heroic contract, but about lassitude, responsibility, compromise, and the price of choice.

For me, this is one of the most important parts of the new script.

Thank you to everyone who supports the development of version 2.0. These are exactly the kind of materials I want to publish here from time to time: not only news, but also more detailed notes about how the story is being created.

If everything works out as planned, Geralt’s storyline will become not just an addition to Ciri’s story, but its second thematic center.