Month: October 2023

VOID WITCH

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Medium humanoid (human?)
Hit Dice: 4 to 9 (10 to 22 hit points); saves as a magic-user. A void witch has advantage on all saving throws versus cold-based effects and is impervious to vacuum.
Armor: Low (Space Age-y robes + average Dexterity); once per round, the void witch can generate a force shield to increase their Armor to medium against one attack.
Movement: As a normal unencumbered human. A void witch can stand and walk on vertical surfaces and ceilings.
Demeanor: Either ominous and imperious, or a spaced-out weirdo. Voice sounds distorted and echoey, as if through a vocoder.
Attack: Gravity pulse (as melee attack: 1d6 damage + target is pushed back 5 feet, must succeed Strength check or knocked prone; as ranged attack: 1d4 damage to all targets in 15-foot cone, must succeed Strength check or knocked prone)
Special:

  • Cosmic Filament: As their action, the void witch projects a strand of luminous star-stuff out to a maximum length of 5 feet per hit die. It can be used as a prehensile limb with a Strength score equal to 10 + the witch’s hit dice. A void witch with 7 or more hit dice can have two cosmic filaments active at once.
  • Earth’s Embrace: As their action, the void witch creates an area of magnified gravity with a radius equal to 5 feet per hit die. Creatures within the area of effect must succeed a Strength saving throw or be crushed to the ground. Within the affected area, a creature must succeed a Strength saving throw to perform any action. All action rolls are made with disadvantage and all movement speed is halved. A void witch is unaffected by this ability. The area lasts for one minute or until dismissed by the witch.
  • Spatial Rift: As a full round action, the void witch tears open the space-time continuum, which occupies a 5-foot square area within a 30-foot radius of the witch. The rift is as bright as a bonfire and blocks line of sight. Creatures within 5 feet of the rift must succeed a Strength- or Dexterity-based saving throw or be sucked in. Creatures within 15 feet of the rift must succeed a Strength-based saving throw or be pulled 5 feet closer to the rift. The rift stays open for 1 minute or until dismissed by the witch.

Familiar (Roll 1d4, roll 1d6 for witch with 7 or more HD):
1 – Luna moth
2 – Albino raven
3 – Black cat
4 – Flying polyp
5 – Classic gray alien
6 – A talking coyote that sounds like Johnny Cash

I Loot the Body (Roll 1d8):
1-3 – A pouch containing 1d10x10 translucent green marbles that glow in the dark.
4 – A dagger made from a dull gray, super-dense material that treats armor as one step lower.
5 – An 8-inch diameter plate of transparent, yellow-green glass. If held up against a wall or other solid surface up to 5 feet thick, it creates a one-way window to the other side.
6 – A metallic cylinder the size of a roll of quarters. Clicking a button on its side causes it to extend, with a maximum length of 10 feet.
7 – A headband made from a lightweight material impregnated with golden wires. Enhances comprehension of motion and spatial relationships. The wearer can use their Intelligence modifier in place of Dexterity.
8 – An intricate mechanical device that looks like a compass except that it has seven points.

GLOOM WITCH

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Medium humanoid (human?)
Hit Dice: 5 to 10 (12 to 25 hp); saves as a magic-user.
Armor Class: Low (Black on black clothing + Average Dex); ranged attackers beyond 30 feet suffer disadvantage.
Movement: As a normal, unencumbered human. When standing motionless within a shadow, a gloom witch is invisible.
Demeanor: Unnerving and imperturbable. A chill will ripple through any room the gloom witch enters.
Attack: Minor melee weapon (1d4 damage)
Special:

  • Black Bile: As their action, the gloom witch projects a stream of bitterly cold, corrosive fluid at a visible target within 30 feet. On a failed Dexterity saving throw, the target suffers 2d4 damage plus 1d4 additional damage at the end of their next turn. Whenever a creature takes damage from this ability, they also suffer disadvantage on their Strength-based roll.
  • Ebon Mark: As their action, the gloom witch attempts to touch a target they can see. If the witch succeeds a melee attack roll, a black handprint appears on the target. Until the mark is removed, the witch can sense the presence of the target while within a number of miles equal to their hit dice. Additionally, the target cannot benefit from healing magic while the mark exists and suffers disadvantage on attack rolls to strike the witch that marked them. The mark lasts for a number of days equal to the witch’s hit dice or the witch is slain.
  • Murky Step: As their action, or as a reaction to an attack, the gloom witch becomes dim and intangible, invulnerable to non-magical harm. They can immediately move up to their normal movement rate, ignoring all difficult terrain or barriers. The intangibility lasts for a number of rounds equal to the witch’s hit dice.

Familiar (Roll 1d4; 1d6 for a witch with more than 7 HD):
1 – Tarantula
2 – Vulture
3 – Black mastiff
4 – Elk stag
5 – A black-eyed child
6 – Wise-cracking imp

I Loot the Body (Roll 1d8):
1-3 – 1d3 carved agate vials for collecting tears; 50% chance a vial is full.
4 – 2d4 sticks of musky incense. Living creatures that inhale the smoke must succeed a Wisdom saving throw or become drowsy, suffering disadvantage on Wisdom/Perception checks. After three consecutive failed saves, a creature falls asleep.
5 – Fossilized chrysalis. Once per day, it can absorb one spell or effect that would forcibly alter a creature’s shape (in whole or in part). Every time it’s used, there’s a cumulative 1-in-20 chance the chrysalis will hatch…
6 – A humanoid skull that emits heat-less light from its eye-sockets like a bullseye lantern.
7 – Alabaster eye. Spherical white stone with faint carvings resembling an eye. When inserted into a living creature’s eye-socket, the stone grants the creature the ability to see in the dark, but only works in the dark.
8 – Black-lacquered box decorated with lotus motif. Inside is a quantity of silky-smooth gray powder. A living creature that inhales the powder and fails a Wisdom saving throw falls into the Sleep of the Black Lotus. For a number of hours equal to the gloom witch’s hit dice, the creature exists in a highly suggestible trance; they can tell no lies and will follow any spoken commands they can understand. When the sleep wears off, the creature will have a vague impression of what they did under the influence of the powder, like it was a dream. The box contains enough powder for 1d6+1 uses.

SWAMP WITCH

/ Zack / 1 Comment
photo by Jaime Erin Johnson

Medium humanoid (human)
Hit Dice: 3 to 7 (10 to 25 hp); saves as a cleric
Armor Class: Low (rugged clothes + average Dexterity)
Movement: As a normal human. An excellent swimmer that can hold their breath for a number of minutes equal to their max hp.
Demeanor: Amiably standoffish, but receptive to polite appeals to hospitality. Conditionally sympathetic to fugitives, depending on who or what they’re running away from.
Attack: Light melee weapon (1d6 damage) or crossbow (1d8 damage, takes an action to reload)
Special:

  • Killer Kudzu: As their action, the swamp witch can summon clinging vines to engulf an number of visible creatures equal to their hit dice. A targeted creature can avoid the vines with a successful Dexterity saving throw. Targets that fail the saving throw are paralyzed; at the start of their next turn, they take 1d6 damage as the vines begin constricting. A successful Strength saving throw halves the damage suffered. A target that succeeds three consecutive saving throws becomes free of the vines.
  • Spawn Frog: As their action, the swamp witch can transform a creature they can see into a bullfrog (or similar sized creature). A target that succeeds a Constitution saving throw is unaffected by this ability. At the start of their next turn, roll 1d6; on a result of 5 or 6, this ability recharges.
  • Swamp Gas: As their action, the swamp witch, conjures a cloud of noxious vapors that fills a volume equal to 10 cubic feet per hit die. Creatures within the cloud become sickened, suffering disadvantage on all rolls. Spending one round in fresh air removes this condition. The gas is also highly flammable – an open flame will cause an explosion dealing 1d12 damage to everything within the cloud and 1d6 damage to everything adjacent to it. A successful Dexterity save halves the damage.

Familiar (Roll 1d4, or 1d6 for witch with more than 5 HD):
1 – Water moccasin
2 – Big, slobbery mutt
3 – Long-necked heron
4 – Nutria of unusual size
5 – Skunk ape
6 – Juvenile grindle

I Loot the Body (Roll 1d8):
1-3 – Satchel containing 2d3 hand-rolled cigarettes, 1d10 silver coins, and a mouth harp.
4 – 1d3 bottles of moonshine (strong enough to be used as molotov cocktails).
5 – An especially sharp machete (+1 to damage rolls, has a name carved into the handle).
6 – Bullroarer decorated with arcane sigils. The sound will attract spirits to the user’s location.
7 – A necklace of human(?) ears. The wearer can detach one of the ears and hear everything in its vicinity from a distance of up to 30 feet per hit die of the witch.
8 – Alligator skin jacket. Equivalent to light/leather armor. While motionless, the wearer can choose to appear as an inanimate part of the landscape, but only when in a swamp or at least partially submerged in water.

CANDLE WITCH

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photo by By Nikolay Tikhomirov

Medium humanoid (human?)
Hit Dice: 4 to 8 (10 to 20 hp); saves as a magic-user
Armor Class: Low (average Dex + wax-stiffened clothing)
Movement: as a normal, unencumbered human. A candle witch has Advantage on rolls to hide and move stealthily in forests and other wooded terrain.
Demeanor: Eerily contemplative. Does not speak unless spoken to, and then only sparingly in hushed tones. Will absentmindedly run their fingers through open flames.
Attack: Minor melee weapon (1d4)
Special:

  • Emberspray: As an action, the candle witch can project a 15-foot wide cone of fiery sparks. Creatures within the area of effect suffer 1d4 points of damage per hit dice of the witch, or half as much with a successful Dexterity-based saving throw. At the start of the witch’s next turn, roll 1d6; on a result of 5 or 6, this ability recharges
  • Sealing Wax: As an action, the candle witch flings a glob of molten wax at a target they can see within 30 feet. If the target fails a Dexterity-based saving throw, their face becomes covered in wax, blinding them and making breathing and speech impossible. A standard action is required to remove the wax from a target.
  • Snuff: As an action, the candle witch can extinguish a number of light sources equal to their hit dice; magically-generated lights count twice for the purposes of this ability.

Familiar (Roll 1d4, or 1d6 for witch with more than 6 HD):
1 – Mangy fox
2 – Sinister goat 
3 – Barn owl
4 – Will ‘o’ the wisp
5 – Swarm of bees
6 – Waxen homunculus

I Loot the Body (Roll 1d8):
1-3 – Wax-spattered grimoire. Requires successful Intelligence check to read.
4 – Ritual knife with a handle carved from a deer’s antler.
5 – Clay pot of psychotropic red honey.
6 – 1d4+3 black candles. When at least three of these candles are arranged into a circle and lit, creatures within the area defined by the circle cannot leave so long as all the candles are burning. This includes incorporeal and extra dimensional beings.
7 – Battered tin containing 1d4 applications of magic tallow. When rubbed over a creature’s entire body, the tallow (roll 1d4): 1. Provides protection equal to heavy armor. 2. Renders the creature undetectable by magic. 3. Allows the creature to squeeze through any space a mouse could pass through. 4. Grants the power of flight. The benefit of an application lasts for 1 hour per hit die of the witch that made it. 
8 – Hand of Glory: The preserved severed hand of a criminal executed by hanging tightly gripping a candle. Living creatures (except for the bearer of the hand) are rendered immobile within the light of the candle. A lit hand will also unlock any door the bearer encounters.