Witch
A hedge-magician of herbs, hexes, and old bargains: cunning, wise in strange ways, and feared.
| Role | Difficulty | Key stats | Hit points | Mana | Spells given |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caster, hexes | Hard | Intelligence, Willpower | 1 | 10 | 14, from level 1 |
Plays like: Frail; lays hexes from afar and lets her familiar harry what she has hexed.
Starts with: a dagger (wielded); a wool cloak (being worn); one of a gown or a kirtle (being worn); a bone amulet (being worn, perhaps magic); 2 angelica roots; one of a potion of healing or a potion of mana; 2 wax candles; 2 apples; 6 gold coins; 1d3 random spell scrolls (each the scroll of one of the 45 spells of spell level 9 or below, as likely as any other) (see Starting kit).
See also: Familiars, the witch’s familiar in full.
How to play
You have almost no hit points of your own, so keep your distance. Lay
Evil eye on a foe and strike with Grave breath, from
the abilities menu (a). Your familiar, with you
from the first turn, goes for what you have hexed, and its touch lays your evil eye.
Rest to get your mana back. From level 6 Cackle makes
your hexes last longer for no mana.
Levels
A bonus talent at levels 10, 20, 30, 45, 55, from Scholar or Grit.
| Level | Ability | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Herb lore | sickness from rotten food −50 % (rounded down); a fresh corpse’s own harm (its sickness and its vomiting) never touches you; eating angelica root heals 1d6 hit points besides |
| 1 | Evil eye | the spell Evil eye (level 0, a cast, 4 mana): a hostile you see suffers Hexed (1) |
| 1 | Grave breath | the spell Grave breath (level 1, a cast, 6 mana): 2d4 necrotic damage |
| 1 | Familiar | a familiar from the first turn: a small beast whose touch is your evil eye, that goes for what you have hexed, always comes along, and grows with your level |
| 3 | Hex of weakness | the spell Hex of weakness (level 3, a cast, 4 mana): a hostile you see suffers Weakened (1) |
| 6 | Cackle | active (the time of a spell; no mana, cooldown, or check, as often as you like): a cackle, a voice of loudness 60; every hex you laid (Asleep, Silenced, Stunned, Transfixed, Hexed, Weakened, Sluggish, Drowsy, Webbed, Frightened, Pinned) on a creature you see grows 1 degree, up to its maximum, and its degree’s time starts again (one at its maximum only starts again). Another’s hex and a creature out of sight are untouched. With no creature in sight under a hex of yours it is refused, with no time spent |
| 8 | Flay | the spell Flay (level 8, a cast, 8 mana): 2d4 necrotic damage; everyone it harms suffers Bleeding (2) |
| 12 | Poison lore | Poisoned eases 100 % faster; +2 damage on hits and spells against a creature Poisoned |
| 12 | Cause wounds | the spell Cause wounds (level 4, a cast, 3 mana): 2d6 necrotic damage |
| 14 | Grave feast | the spell Grave feast (level 6, a cast, 4 mana): 2d6 hit points and 1d6 mana back, from a corpse beside you, used up |
| 16 | Soulglass | the spell Soulglass (level 11, a cast, 11 mana): 3d6 necrotic damage; what it kills leaves crystals, not a corpse |
| 18 | Malison | +3 damage on hits and spells against a creature Hexed; +3 damage on hits and spells against a creature Weakened; +3 damage on hits and spells against a creature Sluggish; +3 damage on hits and spells against a creature Drowsy; +3 damage on hits and spells against a creature Webbed; +3 damage on hits and spells against a creature Pinned; +3 damage on hits and spells against a creature Frightened; +3 damage on hits and spells against a creature Stunned; +3 damage on hits and spells against a creature Silenced; +3 damage on hits and spells against a creature Transfixed; +3 damage on hits and spells against a creature Asleep; when a creature dies under a hex you laid, whoever killed it, your mana rises by its level divided by 2 (rounded down, at least 1), never past your maximum |
| 18 | Charnel burst | the spell Charnel burst (level 9, a cast, 16 mana): 4d6 necrotic damage, from a corpse you see, used up |
| 24 | Leech | the spell Leech (level 10, a cast, 10 mana): 4d6 necrotic damage; 50 % of the hit points it takes come back to you |
| 25 | Second sight | notices hidden things in passing, +2 to the check; searching +2 |
| 25 | Familiar’s sight | you see what your familiar sees, by its own eyes, and the foes its nose finds, through the dark and closed doors |
| 28 | Rouse the dead | the spell Rouse the dead (level 24, a cast, 24 mana): the corpse’s own creature stands at 50 % of its hit points to serve for 10 minutes, 2 at most at once; 10 % rise berserk, against everyone; +8 to the difficulty of learning it |
| 32 | Curse of sloth | the spell Curse of sloth (level 3, a cast, 4 mana): a hostile you see suffers Sluggish (1) |
| 36 | Fear | the spell Fear (level 10, a cast, 18 mana): everyone it reaches but you, friend or foe, suffers Frightened (2) |
| 40 | Blight | the spell Blight (level 7, a cast, 17 mana): 4d6 poison damage; everyone it harms suffers Poisoned (1) |
| 44 | Beguile | the spell Beguile (level 18, a cast, 18 mana): a hostile you see is your ally for 5 minutes, then hostile again where it stands; ends at once when you leave its level; never a unique, an animated thing, or a mindless creature (undead, construct, vermin) |
| 50 | Cauldron | a fresh corpse’s own harm (its sickness and its vomiting) never touches you; a fresh corpse’s chance to raise each stat +100 % (at most 100 %); eating a fresh corpse heals 1d4 hit points besides |
| 60 | Hag’s bargain | once in a life, what would kill you (not starving or choking) leaves you at 1 hit point, Worn thin, and Presence −2 for good |
Abilities
The witch’s familiar (Familiar, from level 1) is a small beast at her heel. Its touch lays her evil eye, and it goes for what she has hexed. If it is lost, another comes to an hour’s calling. From level 30 that may be an imp. All of it is on Familiars.
The witch’s cackle (Cackle, from level 6) keeps her hexes on. It costs no mana and takes the time of a spell. Every hex she laid herself on a creature she sees grows a degree, up to its maximum, and the time of its degree starts again. The hexes are hexed, weakened, sluggish, drowsy, and webbed. A hex already at its maximum only starts again.
Another caster’s hex and a creature out of sight are untouched. With no creature in sight under one of her hexes, she does not cackle at all, and no time is spent. The cackle is loud: a voice of loudness 60, louder than talk. Whoever hears it comes to look.
The witch’s malison (Malison, from level 18) works by itself. A creature under a hex, anyone’s, takes 3 more damage from her blows, shots, and spells for each hex it is under, before its resistances. When a creature dies under a hex she laid herself, whatever killed it and wherever it is, she gains mana equal to half its level (rounded down, at least 1), never past her maximum: “The hex comes home.”
The witch’s soulglass (Soulglass, from level 16) is a ray of necromancy. A creature it kills leaves no corpse but magic crystals of its nature, for an enchanter to bind or for her to consume.