A team of modders, operating under the moniker "The WAR Project," are diligently working to restore a significant cut questline from The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, focusing on a plague-related narrative that was never fully implemented in the released game. This ambitious undertaking by modders, led by veteran tweaker MerseyRockoff, aims to bring CD Projekt Red's discarded content to life.
The project centers on a questline involving the Catriona plague and a Nilfgaardian-allied medic named Hector Kraft-Ebbing. Dataminers previously unearthed evidence of this cut content, which would have seen Geralt collaborating with familiar characters to confront the medic's dubious activities. Elements of this narrative were partially integrated into existing quests, such as 'An Eye for an Eye' and 'Reason of State,' featuring characters like Vernon Roche, Ves, and Thaler, who were originally intended to play more prominent roles in the plague quests. Characters like Iorveth from The Witcher 2 and Vincent Meis from The Witcher 1 were also planned for inclusion but ultimately omitted.
The WAR Project is rebuilding the plague questline from the ground up, while also revising 'An Eye for an Eye' and 'Reason of State' to align with the restored content. Their efforts are based on the last known iteration of the questline before its removal from development.
A demo version of the mod is currently available, featuring four playable quests: 'Partisans And Vultures,' 'No Man's Land Investigation,' 'Unusual Impressions,' and the revamped 'An Eye for an Eye.' An additional eight quests are either in progress or still in the planning stages.
MerseyRockoff and the team intend to complete the full restoration by 2027, estimating that the final product will rival a full expansion in scope, offering over 10 hours of gameplay. They have also indicated the possibility of adding more quests in the future.
To experience the demo, players will need the latest version of The Witcher 3 and must follow the specific installation instructions provided on the mod's page. The modders have made adjustments to several main game quests to ensure seamless integration, including the removal of two quests (one of which was added in the game's next-gen update) and the postponement of the starting points for the 'Hearts of Stone' and 'Blood and Wine' DLCs.