The Witch in Greyhawk Season 2

I wanted to make some additions and changes to the Witch so that it can fulfill the same basic mechanical role as the Warlock was intended to. Mostly, that's just adding appropriate Invocations to the Hex lists.

I'm also going to codify some possible patrons for the witch within the Greyhawk setting.

### A note on terminology

The class is called the witch. Conceptually, it has a lot in common with the Dungeons and Dragons warlock. In our world, for a long time, and still, to some extent, among people who aren't really into occultism or paganism, there has been the belief that witches are female and warlocks male. Various new age and magic practicing pagans have fought hard against this idea, saying that warlock means "oath breaker" and that witch is not a gendered term.

And I don't want to say that's *wrong*, but... it's not as simple as saying it's *right.*

Etymologies for such old words are hard to pin down. So far as we are aware, the terms which would eventually become "witch," *ƿiċċa* (masc., pronounced "wit-cha") and *ƿiċċe* (fem., pronounced "wit-chie") are merely gendered forms of the same word. Something like how "chicano" and "chicana" are the same word, just with gendered forms. There likely was no non-gendered form, but, in essence, the gender of the subject only mattered in how you *said* it. These words became the Middle English word *wicche,* which did not differentiate gender, and then *witch*. Eventually, the use of the term for male practitioners fell out of use, giving rise to the use of wizard and warlock for male practitioners. This is very likely due to a continuing demonization of women, and magic, but that's speculation on my part. But it is fair to say that, originally, witch was not a gendered word. Sort of.

However, the etymology of *warlock* is not certain at all. The commonly accepted etymology is *ƿǣrloga* (pronounced waerloga), meaning deceiver or oath-breaker. This is uncertain, however, and is basically dictated as the most likely etymology by *a bunch of old white men raised in a christian culture.* So you can see why I don't take the OED's conclusions as gospel. There is an alternate suggested etymology, from the Norse *varð-lokkur,* meaning caller of spirits. There is some complexities in attestation and the use of the hard *-k* in the word which the OED cite to dispute this origin, but that's a bit beyond my depth. What I find interesting is that there is some similarity here in how we don't know where *Loki* came from. Either the figure or their name. And Loki is a Norse word with a hard *-k.* There have been associations between the word Loki and *logi,* meaning flame, and being another connection between a Norse word with a hard *-k* and a Norse word with a *-g*. But *also* there have been suggestions that Loki might derive from the germanic *luk-*, a word root having to do with knots, binding, tangling, and so on. Which is to say, warlock might derive from a term that means spirit *binder.* Or maybe one *bound by* or *to* spirits. This is all just my speculation, though, and, given that I am not trained in linguistics, admittedly, my speculation is worth less than even that of the Old English Dickheads.

But, this is all a lot of words to say- I consider the terms witch and warlock to differ only in semantics, and definitely not in gender. The common person of Greyhawk probably thinks of witches as women in the woods, or on the "bad side" of town, of dubious morality but who can be quite useful to a woman who has found herself pregnant at an inopportune time, and warlocks as evil men who traffick with demons. But the common person of Greyhawk probably refers to all members of the Northern Barbarian tribes as barbarians and berserkers, regardless of the fact that a berserker probably isn't much use in *tending the flock.* An individual person with levels of witch might call themselves a witch regardless of gender. They might call themselves a warlock even if they take oaths deadly seriously and would sooner die than break them, don't traffick with demons, and have no particular thoughts on their gender identity. It is all a matter of semantics, associations, presentation, and *aesthetic.* If they need to not rouse people who might want to tie them to a bunch of pitch-soaked lumber, they may simply say they are an herbalist or sage.

## Additional Spells

### Cantrips

#### Eldritch Blast

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***Evocation***

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**Level:** Witch 0

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**Components:** V, S

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**Casting Time:** Attack Action

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**Range:** 60 feet

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**Effect:** A single bolt of energy

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**Duration:** Instataneous

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**Saving Throw:** No

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**Spell Resistance:** Yes

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A bolt of magical energy flies from your hand and strikes a single target. This is a ranged touch attack which deals 1d6 damage plus 1d6 per two levels beyond the first. (*for example, a first level witch's eldritch blast deals 1d6 damage, while a third level witch's eldritch blast deals 2d6, a fifth level witch 3d6, and so on).*

By default, this cantrip deals force damage, but some hexes may allow the witch to choose other damage types, and specific patrons may grant their witches such hexes.

> **Aside- Force Damage**
>
>

> Force damage and effects are often believed to be super special and beyond elemental and energy damages. In reality, it's more that a lot of force effects have special specific rules. In reality, with no additional effects outlined by the source, force is just pure magical damage or substance which can affect incorporeal and ethereal targets. It can be understood as the magical equivalent of smacking someone with a blunt object, or putting a solid wall in front of them, with the caveat that people who are normally resistant or immune to bludgeoning damage, or not inconvenienced by solid walls, are still subject to force.
>
>

> Ie, for all intents and purposes, a force effect, such as *eldritch blast,* is a blunt solid object that can hit ghosts and still hurts people who ignore being hit by normal clubs.
>
>

## Additional Hexes

### Hexes

#### Baleful Utterance (Sonic)

As a standard action, you speak a word of the Dark Speech, affecting an object or area as if by the *shatter* spell. If a creature is holding or wearing an object destroyed by this hex, they must make a Fortitude save or be dazed for 1 round and deafened for 1 minute.

#### Benightening Curse

You cloak an area in magical darkness as the spell *darkness.*

#### Brimstone Blast

When you use the cantrip *eldritch blast,* you may choose for its damage to be dealt as fire damage. If you take a Swift action, any target struck by your Brimstone Blast for the rest of the turn must make a Reflex save or catch fire.

#### Flight (modification)

In addition to the standard effects of the Flight Hex, at 7th level, a Witch may take a standard action to use Fell Flight. When doing so, a streaming, wing-like cape of shadows sprouts from their shoulders and allows them to fly at a speed equal to their land speed with good maneuverability for the next 24 hours.

#### Frightful Blast (Mind-Affecting, Fear)

As a swift action, you may turn your Eldritch Blast cantrip into a Frightful Blast for one turn. For the rest of your turn, any creature struck by a Frightful Blast must succeed at a Will save or become shaken for 1 minute. If a shaken creature is struck by a Frightful Blast only takes normal damage and does not need to save against fear escalation.

#### Hellrime Blast

When you use the cantrip *eldritch blast,* you may choose for it to do cold damage. If you take a Swift action, any target struck by your Hellrime Blast for the rest of the turn must make a Fortitude save or suffer a -4 penalty to their Dexterity score for 10 minutes. The Dexterity penalty from multiple Hellrime Blasts do not stack.

#### Hideous Blow

As a swift action, you may transform your *eldritch blast* cantrip into a Hideous Blow. For the rest of your turn, when you use *eldritch blast,* you may channel the damage through a melee attack made as part of casting the spell instead of making a ranged attack.

#### Sickening Blast

As a swift action, you transform your Eldritch Blast into a Sickening Blast. Any living creature struck by your Eldritch Blast for the rest of the turn must make a Fortitude save or become sickened for 1 minute. If a sickened creature is struck by a Sickening Blast takes only normal damage from it.

#### Sight of Devils

You may see normally in all forms of darkness, both magical and mundane.

#### Spider Legs

As a Standard Action, you may invoke this hex, causing four large spider-y legs to sprout from your back. This mimics the spell of the same name (BoVD 105), but also allows you to make four attacks per turn with the legs as if they were large long spears.

#### Spiderwalk

As a full-round action, you may grant yourself the ability to *spider climb* as the spell and immunity to both magical and mundane webs for a number of hours equal to your Witch level.

#### Summon Swarm

This hex allows you to cast the *summon swarm* spell, with a duration of concentration.

#### Virulent Blast

As a Swift Action, you turn your eldritch blast into a virulent blast. For the rest of your turn, your eldritch blast exposes targets struck by it to a contact poison with Fort DC (10+caster level), and which deals 1d6 strength initial and secondary damage.

#### Web Bolt

As a swift action, you change your *eldritch blast* into a web bolt. For the rest of your turn, when you use *eldritch blast,* it takes the form of thin lines of spider-silk. These lines can be used to strike a foe, dealing bludgeoning damage, and you may choose to reduce the damage by half but also entangle the target, or reduce it to one-fourth and render the target's arms useless until the webbing is removed. The webbing created by this hex is physical, and lasts for about an hour before disintegrating. It can support 25 lbs of weight per caster level, and can be broken with a Strength check (DC 10+witch's charisma). With a called shot (-4 to hit), you can target a foe's eyes or mouth, reducing damage by half if you hit, but also blinding or gagging the target until the webbing disintegrates or is broken. A gagged target cannot be suffocated this way. Webbing that hits a surface can, at the witch's option, act like a rope with a grappling hook, automatically sticking to the surface, and allowing creatures to climb or swing on the web line as they would a rope.

### Major Hexes

#### Bewitching Blast (Mind-influencing)

As a Swift action, you may transform your Eldritch Blast into a Bewitching Blast. For the rest of your turn, any target struck by your Bewitching Blast must make a Will save or be *confused* for 1 round in addition to the normal damage from the blast.

#### Chilling Tentacles

As a Standard Action, you conjure forth a field of rime-rimmed tentacles which ooze forth from the ground, searching for victims. This hex functions as the spell *Evard's Black Tentacles*, save that creatures within the area affected by it take 2d6 cold damage each round, whether grappled by the tentacles or not.

#### Devour Magic

As a Standard action, you may deliver a targeted *Greater Dispel Magic* with your touch. If you successfully dispel a magical effect, you gain 5 temporary hit points per spell level of the effect. These temporary hit points fade after 1 minute and do not stack with other temporary hit points. If you devour a new spell, replace any remaining previous temporary hit points and reset the duration. You cannot devour your own hex effects.

#### Tenacious Plague

With this hex, you may summon a swarm as the spell *Insect Plague.* Add your charisma modifier to the Fortitude DC to resist the swarm's distraction, and any attacks made by this swarm are treated as magical weapons.

#### Vitriolic Blast

When you use the *Eldritch Blast* cantrip, you may choose to do acid damage with it. If you take a Swift action, for the rest of your turn, your Vitriolic Blast ignores Spell Resistance, and targets struck by it suffer an extra 2d6 points of acid damage on following rounds (1 round per 5 Witch levels).

#### Wall of Perilous Flame

With this hex, you may conjure a *Wall of Fire*, as the spell. Half the damage dealt by this wall of flame results from supernatural power rather than mundane fire, and is therefore not subject to resistance or immunity to fire. If a creature is reduced to 0 hp by these flames, their remains are completely consumed 1 round later, as if by the *Destruction* spell.

### Grand Hexes

#### Dark Discorporation

As a Standard action, you abandon your physical form and become a swarm of batlike shadows which fills 8 contiguous 5-foot squares, shapeable as you desire. In this form, your Strength becomes 1, but your Dexterity increases by 6, you lose any natural armor or armor/shield bonus to your armor class, but gain a +4 size bonus to AC and a Deflection bonus to AC equal to your Charisma modifier, you gain a fly speed of 40 ft with perfect manueverability and can pass through openings a diminutive creature can, and gain Swarm traits, a swarm attack which deals 4d6 points of damage which occupies your space at the end of your turn and strikes as a magical weapon of your alignment. All of your worn and carried equipment are absorbed into your new form and become useless while you maintain it. You may stay in this form for a maximum of 24 hours before returning to your normal form.

#### Eldritch Doom

As a Full-Round action, you may invoke your *eldritch blast* as a 20-foot radius burst. All creatures within 20 ft of you must make Reflex saves or take the damage of your *eldritch blast.* Any creature who succeeds at their save takes half damage.

#### Path of Shadow

This hex allows you to use *Shadow Walk* as the spell. Each hour that you spend shadow walking with this hex you regain hit points as if you had rested for a full day.

#### Utterdark Blast

When you use your *eldritch blast* cantrip, you may choose to deal its damage as negative energy (which heals undead instead of damaging them). If you take a Swift action, any target struck by your Utterdark Blast for the rest of the turn must make a Fortitude save or gain two negative levels which fade after one hour (if a creature ever has as many negative levels as hit dice, it dies and rises as a wight).

#### Word of Changing

This hex allows you to cast the spell *Baleful Polymorph*, with the addition that 24 hours after being transformed, the subject may make a second saving throw to spontaneously resume its normal form. If this second save fails, they are stuck in this form until restored by other means.

## Witch Patrons

Rather than a generic patron, a witch may choose to serve one of the following specific patrons. Each swaps out some of the spells granted by its patron type, and grants a specific hex and a drawback at 1st level.

### Asmodeus

*Asmodeus is the king of devils of the Nine Hells, and some say the first devil created, originally to be a champion of the gods against the chaotic hordes of the Abyss.*

You gain the Sight of Devils and Brimstone Blast hexes at level 1, but divinity is bane to you. If you are struck by a flask of holy water, you take 1d4 damage, and if holy water is sprinkled in a line or over a door, you must make a Will save (DC 10+your Witch level) to cross it. This same Will save must be made to enter *consecrated* ground. Asmodeus only makes deals with Lawful or Evil creatures, and as a recipient of his power, you gain a fiendish trait.

**Available Patron Themes:** Death, Decadence, Elements, Occult, Portents; **2nd**-- *Produce Flame,* **4th**-- *Fiery Runes,* **12th**-- *Planar Ally (*Lawful Evil creatures only)

### Iggwilv

*Iggwilv, known also as the Witch Queen of Perrenland, Mother of Witches, and, recently, to be Tasha of the Company of Seven, is a powerful witch and archmage with a storied history of dealing with and dallying with fiends. She sees herself as a adopted mother to her beneficiaries, but learned her ideal of motherhood from her own adoptive mother, and can be a stern patron to those who fail or disappoint her, but rewards handsomely those who make her proud.*

You gain the Frightful Blast and Cauldron hexes, a pall of darkness falls upon you, and regardless of your actual alignment, you are treated as evil for all effects that care about such things (smite evil, detect evil, magic circle against evil, and so on). Iggwilv has no concern for the alignment of her witches, but they do tend to bend towards evil over time, regardless of what alignment they were before accepting her patronage.

**Available Patron Themes:** Deception, Jynx, Occult, Portents, Shadow; **2nd**-- *Disguise Self*, **10th**-- *Lesser Planar Binding*, **16th**-- *Greater Planar Binding*

### Vasha

*Vasha is the ancient obyrith fiend who was offered succor in her time of truest need by the First Human, and, in time, gave birth to the Vasharan people. The followers of the gods regard her and her children as the foulest fiends in existence, set on the destruction of the divine realms and subjugation of mortal life. The Vasharans say, yes, we, as our immortal parents, wish to kill the gods, but for liberation of mortal life, not their subjugation.*

You gain the Seduction and Sickening Blast hexes, but your essence becomes tied to the ancient demonic lineage of the Obyriths. You gain the Chaotic and Evil subtypes, and are considered to be an outsider for any effect which cares about Outsiders of one of those subtypes.

**Available Patron Themes:** Ancestors, Entropy, Revenge, Transformation, Vengeance; **2nd**-- *Touch of Blindness,* **4th**-- *Obscure Object*, **18th**-- *Cursed Earth*

### Zagyg

*Zagyg is the mad demigod of chaos and the occult. He was once a mortal archmage, and is regarded as the greatest Lord Mayor Greyhawk ever had, but, perhaps due to his apprenticeship to the lich Lyzandred the Mad, his own sanity gradually unraveled, until, in a moment of clarity, he abdicated his chair and retreated to his castle to pursue his studies and leave the Directing Council to oversee Greyhawk. There, he set to work imprisoning nine deities of differing alignments, and ascended to demigodhood.*

You gain the Cackle hex at first level, and the Bewitching Blast hex at 10th level, but the insanity of your patron touches your mind at all times, providing a -2 penalty (growing to -4 at tenth level) to Persuasion and Concentration checks as the whispers almost on the edge of hearing grow loudest at times of focus.

**Available Patron Themes:** Conspiracies, Entropy, Insanity, Nightmares, Trickery; **4th**-- *Touch of Idiocy,* **8th**-- *Dimensional Anchor*, **18th**-- *Imprisonment*