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Witch (Patreon)

Published:
2016-09-01 05:17:48
Edited:
2024-10-03 21:20:58
Imported:
2026-06
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Content

The witch gestures at the charging orc, as a tendril of black energy reaches out and seizes it by the neck, bringing it to its knees.

Witches are cursed -- stricken by magic so dark it imprints a lasting shadow upon their essence. Through force of personality alone, they can spin this darkness outward, hexing creatures, casting manipulative spells, and even commanding a familiar with their thoughts.

The witch is the first proper debuff class in 5th edition, and, though it takes inspiration from the Pathfinder class of the same name, it is distinctly an original Mage Hand Press creation. The witch is a master of crippling a single target, exploiting its weaknesses, and allowing your party, or your powerful familiar, to deal the killing blow. Additionally, the witch possesses full spellcasting, creating a support package that is completely unique. 

With time, we'll give the Witch a wider release for free on the Middle Finger of Vecna website, but you, our loyal patrons, get it early! (And, if you're worried about limited subclasses and hexes, never fear: we're already thinking about how to expand this with a Complete class.)

You can find the most up-to-date version of this class here!  

Changelog: 9/1/16: Table: Improved Cauldron changed to Cauldron improvementWitch's Cackle: Paragraph of fluff added; no mechanical changeImproved Familiar: Red faerie dragonWhite Magic: Remedy: Short or long rest, rather than 24 hoursDire Familiar: Casting cooldownDiscord: Melee weapon attacks onlyMire: RewordedPestilence: Witch and familiar are immuneDisrupt Life: Typo fixed, also saves for half damage9/2/16: Spellcasting: Spellcasting focus: Removed reference to Totems

Comments

Eldritch Insights

Kind of ironically, I literally just got done watching The Craft with my girlfriend.

Altanius

Damn, this is definitely an interesting class. I might try to talk my DM into letting me play this in the Giants campaign we're starting up. The way the hexes work actually reminds me of 3.5 warlocks. Cackle? Really? If you wouldn't mind could you add some language in there allowing for other methods of extension (Incantations or something) for those of us who don't want their Witches/Hexers to go around...Cackling... Also, is it specifically cackling? Does it make noise? (It matters if you say wanted to use the 'Go Unseen' hex for an extended period.) Improved Familiar: You might want to specify what the age of the Faerie Dragon it is, since they get more spells as they age. Hexes: Dire Familiar: I'm... not sure how to handle this, but it appears dangerously like a spam heal button, since the familiar gains the HP it grants. Discord: Is this limited to melee attacks? Or could they make a ranged attack too? Mire: Does the mire move with you? Or does it stay in one place? Obfuscate/Pestilence: For pestilence is the Witch immune to the toxic cloud? For both, can they see through it? Disrupt Life: Shouldn't it be +Cha damage, not +Wis? Does it do half damage on a save? Grand Hexes: You might wanna specify which are permanent effects and which are activated. That's made clear in the regular hexes, and it's a tad confusing as is. Witch's Hut: I'm assuming you mean Leomund's Tiny Hut? (What no Mordekainen's Magnificent Mansion? :)

Kristopher Scarbrough

Love the class by the way! Glad I convinced my group to postpone the first adventure! I am curious, however, how this class would tie in with other characters in the group. We currently have a Warmage, and the pdf contains new cantrips for other base classes. Would Witch gain any? Or would it copy what another gains (such as Warlock)? Also, if there is another Witch in the group, how would stacking hexes be handled? I fear Bleeding would get a little out of control... With everything said, though, this is by far my favorite class I've seen in a long time! You all have certainly outdone yourselves.

Mage Hand Press

Cackle: I couldn't resist. I personally love the idea of having to spend your bonus action laughing maniacally. You're right, though, I should clarify in a sidebar that cackling can look very different for different witches. Improved Familiar: You're right on this count as well. I'll have to take another look at the MM to remind myself of which one I wanted to use. Dire Familiar: Oh, I didn't even /think/ about spamming it! This means I either need to put it on a cooldown (you can't use this hex again until your familiar is dismissed, or its duration expires) or have it only heal the first time its used. Nice catch! Discord: For reasons of balance, this is intended to be a melee attack only, and I should clarify that it's a weapon attack in the hex. Disrupt Life: Yup; typo. Mire: This isn't intended to move with you. Obfuscate: Witch can't see Pestilence: Witch is immune Grand Hexes: I can work on that. I think only Slow Death is a conventional type of Hex. Witch's Hut: I did mean Leomund's Tiny Hut, but this spell is just called Tint Hut in the SRD, which is what I'm building on. And Magnificent Mansion is extraplanar! :p I'll work on changes! Thanks for your thoughts, Matt!

Mage Hand Press

Thanks for the kind words! I had a blast writing and perfecting this class. If you're playing with the Warmage cantrips, you should be able to convince your DM to allow you to use the Wizard, Warlock, or Sorcerer cantrips (which I believe are the same list) for the Witch. I need to check my rules, but is Hex-stacking covered in some form of general rule? Like something that says effects of the same name don't stack? If it's not, I'll include a clause that clarifies this for Hexes.

Kristopher Scarbrough

There isn't a clause, but it's good to know they aren't stackable. One last thing. The Remedy Hex in White Magic is something I look forward to using, but my first impression is that it's a little on the weak side (of course that may change in practice). Unable to use it to a certain creatures benefit for 24 hours seems like a long time. Could it be something like the Healer feat (PHB), where the target cannot benefit from it again until they take a short or long rest? Edit: What is the benefit of Improved Familiar?

Altanius

There is that naming clause, but it's in the PHB somewhere. I'll track it down and list a page number later tonight (assuming someone hasn't done it already.)

Kristopher Scarbrough

Ah, I misunderstood! Yeah, there is a clause in the PHB on what happens when the same spell targets the same enemy. Didn't know Hexes were treated as spells in that regard, but it makes things easier to understand.

Mage Hand Press

I looked it up -- the actual ruling is in DMG errata, but its an official ruling nonetheless. The section is Combining Game Effects, and it states that two features of the same name don't stack (see here: <a href="http://media.wizards.com/2015/downloads/dnd/DMG_Errata.pdf)." rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">http://media.wizards.com/2015/downloads/dnd/DMG_Errata.pdf).</a> So I'm in the clear! Thanks for bringing it up, regardless. Edit: Also, Improved Familiar, in addition to giving you rad new familiar types, expands on your ability to channel spells through your familiar. Rather than only being able to use spells with range Touch, you can use spells with range Self, and even some other spells, provided that your familiar is affected. Naturally, this is designed to allow you to cast spells to mega-buff your familiar, and let your familiar concentrate on them.

Altanius

Should disrupt life do half damage on a save? Also why the red faire Dragon? The rest of the improved familiars are CR 2.

Altanius

I find it ironic that the post number contains '666' :P

Mage Hand Press

You can summon your familiar without expending spell slots, so I was worried about granting a familiar that has spells of 1st level or higher. Seems abusable. Like, if your familiar dies, and you summon a new one, you could reasonably argue that the new familiar has fresh spell slots. Yeah, Disrupt Life probably should save for half.

Altanius

I see your reasoning. I actually reasoned out the same thing then kind of dismissed it because I'd never try it (and if one of my players did I'd whack them with the rulebook.) Hmm... I'm not sure how to handle that since I'm assuming you don't want to throw a clause in.

Mage Hand Press

I mean, it's a pretty underhanded exploit, but I figured that it might happen accidentally if you're familiar dies often enough. Plus, some of those spells are pretty powerful to be getting for free, so I probably won't clause it in either.

Altanius

Fair enough. I look forward to your eventual familiar subclass. :D

Mage Hand Press

I've got it about half-finished XD. Green Magic, as it were.

Andrew Six

What's the rationale behind limiting Witches to Totems as spellcasting foci? Orbs, crystals, and many Druidic foci could definitely also work, in my mind. Even if Witches somehow have an affinity for totems, that's not really justification enough; I mean, Warlocks have an affinity for rods, and they still get other arcane foci as well. I'd be interested in seeing a nature-based Witch subclass sometime in the future as well.

Andrew Six

Anyways, love the class! It's nowhere near as expansive as the Warmage, but then again, not every class needs to be.

Mage Hand Press

Originally, I wanted to make 'totem' as basically the witch's own type of arcane focus, but it ended up getting abandoned as the project developed. I think I'll just switch this back to being a normal arcane spellcasting focus. The entire idea of the witch was stepping back from the complexity that came with the warmage, and building something a little more conventionally '5e' and I'm pretty happy with the result. Part of the effort to scale down was releasing only two archetypes at the beginning, to make sure I could keep things contained and focused. Currently, there are more in the works, including a Green Magic one, focused on nature and expanded familiar stuff, and a Red Magic one, focused on blowing things sky-high. I'm not sure what other colors of magic I can play with, however. Blue? Yellow? Indigo?

Kristopher Scarbrough

My original thought process was FF magic groupings. White Magic = Healing Black Magic = Hurting Red Magic = Bit of Both (though I'd love to see things blown sky high!) Green Magic = Buffs for team such as haste (Though I like the familiar one better for sure.) Blue Magic = Copy Cat (like breath attacks or troglodyte stentch. Monster abilities)

Mage Hand Press

Blue Magic is tricky. Final Fantasy does copy cat, but Magic the Gathering does anti-everything. Lots of other places make that the illusion/charm color (I'd like to see how a possession hex plays out if I go this last route.) Green makes the most sense as a nature thing, for obvious reasons, and I like the idea of merging that with familiar stuff, since familiars are animals and all that. What's Ladies of the Wood? You'll have to explain that one to me.

Kristopher Scarbrough

Basically one of the main villains you have to face in Witcher 3, also named the Crones. They did things like lure children to plump them up and eat them, classic fairy tale stuff. What was interesting is that they did things like take ears as payments for favors and protection, and would nail and hang ears across their bog and it would let them hear everything that happened in their domain. They also spoke through paintings and made powerful elixers. After writing it out, it would be a better villain than an antihero, but interesting nonetheless. They were content living in their bog forever, eating people and protecting and cursing them.

Eldritch Insights

The Crones would generally be covered by the Black Magic witch with the Coven Grand Hex, but a lot of their powers are a little beyond the scope of a single class. When we put out a book filled with villain archetypes (our Tome of Horrid Blackness, if you will), I think that going into more detail as a Coven Master would be prudent, as well as a hex or two devoted to taking blessing and curses levied by appeased or scorned witches.

Mage Hand Press

That totally sounds like a fun type of character, and I'll be thinking about them as I write more Hexes and Grand Hexes, but I don't know how to wrap them into a more general Craft.

Kristopher Scarbrough

That would be wicked! Yeah, as I wrote it out I came to the conclusion that they would be better left as VIP NPCs rather than PCs.

Patrick van der Linde

I have a question about the With's Curse "Possessed". The DM and I were talking about it and we were wondering if the Cleric's Channel Divinity Turn/Destroy undead actually works on this spirit seeing it is kinda undead?

Mage Hand Press

That's not the mechanical intent, but it's a fun interpretation. If this came up at my table, I would grant disadvantage for a round. (Though a hollow witch probably fits this even better, since it's a reference to the undead of Dark Souls.)

Patrick van der Linde

Yeah that sounds good, we just wanted to make the spirit a real thing with some real possession features! Because why not right?

Mage Hand Press

The DM can send an NPC with the Exorcist feat or the Witch Hunter feat (both found in the Book of Binding) after you. Hours of fun!

Ash

If the red magic is to be a more arcane blasty type, the parallel being abjuration focused makes sense. Fitting abjuration into Witch thematics is definitely not about counterspells and direct shields. Protection from good/evil/elements, warding spells and circle casting type spells very much suit an archetype of Witch, and for features there could be elements making use of crystals, incense, all the good witchy stuff.

Ash

With illusions/charming I'd more see it as a less 'clear' color. Both aspects deal with obscuration, so seem like they'd have a more murky aura. Purple or some technical color like wysteria would also nicely capture the mystique of illusion

Mage Hand Press

I would probably rule that it doesn't have an effect on you. Also, this makes an excellent Witch origin story.

Grand Moff Xela

Rules question, just clarifing. If I have the Novice Occultist feat from the Book of Binding, can I concentrate on the vestige and a hex at the same time?

Mage Hand Press

Yes, but the vestige counts as a spell, so no concentrating on spells as well.