@sirjackthereaper
There is a system/algorithm that manages hunters (information about its assumptions can be found in the link at the bottom of the FAQ).
Why does the current system work this way? There are several reasons:
1) The concept of hunters has evolved over time. This meant that at some point I had to reconcile the old mechanics with the new ones, which meant I had to find some kind of compromise.
2) This is not a mod about hunters. I admit that this topic is not crucial to me, which is why I did not devote enough time and effort to it. To be honest, I don't think I could give hunters what they deserve, because I always act according to what my creative inspiration allows me to do ;) And somehow I've always preferred to explore the supernatural/mystical realm. Hunters are essentially playable only because the community asked me to make them so.

So, the way hunters work is not entirely satisfactory to me, but that's because I've always preferred to focus on other aspects of the mod.

Sudden events that are not very subtle stem somewhat from the way the schemes work in CK. If the scheme is not discovered, the target will not receive any warning. But I understand what you mean, and I agree with you that subtle hints about the hunters' actions against you would be something cool and desirable. I just try to use the core mechanics of the game for my own purposes as much as possible - I could come up with my own, but that always takes a lot more time, and time is my most limited resource ;p

Witch Hunter Duel - Actually, that's a cool idea :) Admittedly, it wouldn't be a fair fight - even an average mage can incinerate an ordinary opponent with a single spell. But I imagine that a well-trained and skilled hunter could cause some trouble. Either way, I'm not likely to be able to implement something so ambitious. But perhaps something simpler, like a chain of events simulating a fight with a hunter or hunters, would be possible.

As for imprisonment and trial, I simply assume that hunters know ways to pacify a mage and cut him off from his magic. Just as a sorcerer has an advantage in a confrontation with a non-magical opponent, hunters have an advantage once they manage to imprison a mage. Fantasy literature knows such cases - dimerite or other metals that deprive magic, zones of dead magic, anti-magic runes and the like.

However, it would be nice to develop the mechanics of hunters hunting mages in some way, give both sides more options and make it more natural. For now, though, I don't know how to do that with little time investment on my part. There are other priorities. Your ideas could work, but it's not something I could do well in a week or even a month. It often turns out that new things that are introduced have unexpected consequences and spoil other elements of the game. Needless to say, that's something I'd rather avoid ;)

If the answer for Hunters is that they just exist for whatever reason, and that they can imprison you just because you can't make time to make a mechanic for it.. I think that's more reason that the gamerules surrounding those things should be more free. Those aren't mechanics, that's just a purposely made nuisance.

Hunters exist mainly as one of the fundamental obstacles for player-mages, as well as a reminder that even a powerful magic-wielding character can become a victim if they lose vigilance. Hunters exist because it makes sense within the world’s realities (provided we assume that the existence of magic in those realities also makes sense).

Hunters can imprison you because the game’s creators added a kidnapping mechanic, which I decided to use. Could a better mechanic be introduced here? Sure. Just as one could make a better game than CK… and yet here we still are. The current system works well enough, and the fact that it could be better is simply a true observation. Which, moreover, is just as true in the context of the entire mod, the entire game, and the entire universe. Cheers.

Is it the blocking of achievements related to hunters that bothers you so much?

It does, because sometimes you add mods to create other obstacles for yourself if you self-balance (which I do alot). And if your content isn't fleshed out, I need the ability to turn them completely off without following the way you specifically want to force me to play.

I respect that you want to keep balance and have a really fun mod, but as a developer myself if you want something like that I feel you must be dedicated to developing those features. If you aren't then they're considered beta to me as well and should be able to be turned off without following a restriction you set arbitrarily.

Does that kind of make sense?

I don't necessarily have a problem with achievements themselves directly, but that you are instead forcing your playstyle onto others without considering what other possibilities might be there in a modded playthrough. That is my main problem with it, since you're doing it for content you absolutely haven't added more to yet. It just isn't sufficient enough justification to provide arbitrary blockages if they aren't limiting me in the first place.

Sure I might be a witch without anything fighting back in your mod. But what about in my modded playthrough where i'm facing off against 10 conquerors and micro managing nations as a adventuring Werewolf-Vampiric bloodline using my magic to barely fend off a couple at a time so I have enough time to get to the next?

With your mod by itself, one witch hunter doesn't really do much to me either. Neither do the metagame demons. They only really serve as a really heavy nuisance on the role-play and story telling I do on my own with my own, harder, limitations set. They don't achieve the purpose you wanted them to in the first place.

Hunters undergo minor or major changes with every major update. Witchcraft has reached version 2.0, so you can imagine that the hunters have gone through a long evolution to their current form - they work much better and more rationally than before. And they can be effective if the player lets their guard down. Perhaps on their own they are not a sufficient challenge, but I believe they fit quite well into the overall landscape of Witchcraft.

Whenever I design a system, I take several factors into account: whether adding it will be fun for me, whether the final result will be fun for players, the balance of gameplay, the time cost (design, implementation, debugging), and I also check whether the system will fit with the rest of the existing elements. I also consider consistency with the lore and the credibility of the universe. Once I analyze these factors, I choose the optimal solution - the one that delivers the best effect at the lowest cost (whether in terms of time, logic/consistency of the world, or game optimization). If an element makes it into the mod, it means it has been thought through and was worth including in its current form. Perhaps this is its final version, or perhaps one day the system will undergo further evolution.

I understand that the hunter system is not sufficiently satisfying for you. I'm sorry to hear that. Personally, I believe it could be better, but in its current form it meets my expectations. I will treat your words as a complaint, which I will take into account when producing the next major update. Perhaps I will be able to improve something, provided I find the time and a good idea for this particular system. Thinking about it does cause me some discomfort, though, because in my opinion there are many more important aspects that require my attention and will yield greater 'returns' in the context of the factors I mentioned earlier.

You accused me of my mechanics potentially limiting a player's playstyle. That's true. I believe that restrictions can sometimes be beneficial, for various reasons. However, these restrictions are not too strict, and objectively speaking, Witchcraft offers far more possibilities than it takes away. In addition, there are of course game rules that can be adjusted, as well as other tools (ruler designer, commands, other mods).

Achievements are an abstract concept that exists in a different world than the realities of the game. They are… hm, a completely arbitrary thing :> I don't have a particular attitude toward achievements and earning them, so I decided to adopt the same strategy as PDX. Some game rules include the option to block achievements, because apparently PDX considered that sometimes achievements should not be available to the player - especially when the gameplay is made excessively easier as a result. I'm just sticking to the same line as the game developers - I extended PDX's philosophy to my own custom game rules that I added. (Honestly, I didn’t expect I would ever have to explain myself about this ;) ).

I think I partly understand your problem, but I don't have a good solution for it. The Achievement block is important for other rules (e.g., starting the game with a magical artifact or source), in the context of hunter activity it has somewhat less significance. I will think about it.