Baba Yaga

In the *Dungeons & Dragons* fantasy role-playing game, **Baba Yaga** (/ˈbɑːbə ˈjɑːɡə/ *BAH-bə YAH-gə*) is a powerful antagonist and resident of a mobile hut which travels via either a single or a pair of massive chicken legs jutting from its underside.

Baba Yaga is based upon the **Baba Yaga** of Slavic legend.

## Publishing history

Baba Yaga was first mentioned in the *Dungeons & Dragons* game in the 1979 *Dungeon Master's Guide*, where her hut appears as an artifact. Baba Yaga herself would appear briefly in Dragon Magazine #53, and in much greater detail in *The Dancing Hut*, a 1984 adventure in *Dragon* magazine #83. An AD&D gamebook, *Nightmare Realm of Baba Yaga* appeared in 1986. In 1988, Baba Yaga had a brief cameo in *Castle Greyhawk*. Baba Yaga's hut was once more described in 1993's *Book of Artifacts*. A full-length adventure module, *The Dancing Hut of Baba Yaga*, was released in 1995.

In *Dragon* #290, author Paul Leach said, "the origin of Baba Yaga (who does not necessarily represent just one witch) is likely to be the Death Crone, a common figure in most pagan mythologies." Leach described the Death Crone in more detail in the same issue. Baba Yaga has since been mentioned in two articles in *Dragon* (2005 and 2006), and an adventure in *Dungeon* (2007).

In the 4th Edition *Manual of the Planes* (2008), Baba Yaga was re-imagined as a hag and an arch fey of the Feywild disguising herself as an old woman in the Murkendraw swamp and still living in her bird-legged hut. She and her hut were described in the *Dungeon* #196 article *Baba Yaga's Dancing Hut* (2011).

## Description

Baba Yaga appears as a hideous, old, human-like woman, some five feet tall. She walks crouched over, and her limbs are almost skeletal. Her skin is grayish brown, and tattooed with magical runes. She has a protruding chin, a long nose covered in warts, and ice-cold black eyes framed by stringy white hair. Her fingers end in sharp iron claws, her stony teeth are filed to sharp points, and two large, tusk-like teeth protrude from her jaw.

## Relationships

Baba Yaga is the foster mother of Iggwilv, originally known as *Natasha the Dark*, and by extension, the grandmother of Iuz and Drelzna. She has another foster daughter named Elena the Fair. Baba Yaga is also responsible for providing Kostchtchie the means to become a demon lord.

## References

{{#vardefine:numCol|2}}

1. ↑ Mentzer, Frank. "Ay pronunseeAY shun gyd" *Dragon* #93 (TSR, 1985)
2. ↑ Gary Gygax (1979). *Dungeon Master's Guide*. TSR.
3. ↑ Moore, Roger E (1984). "The Dancing Hut". *Dragon*. TSR (83).<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
4. ↑ Michael Breault (1988). *Castle Greyhawk*. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR.
5. ↑ David Cook (game designer) (1993). *Book of Artifacts*. TSR.
6. ↑ Lisa Smedman (1995). *The Dancing Hut of Baba Yaga*. TSR.
7. ↑ Leach, Paul. "Red Sails Fell and Forlorn Bestiary: Monsters of Eastern Europe." *Dragon* #290. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2001
8. ↑ Leach, Paul. "Red Sails: Bright Sun, Mother Earth." *Dragon* #290. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2001
9. ↑ Campbell, Craig (2011). "Baba Yaga's Dancing Hut". *Dungeon*. Wizards of the Coast (196).<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>

## Further reading

* Baur, Wolfgang. "Enemies of my Enemy." *Dungeon* #149 (Paizo Publishing, 2007).
* Bulmahn, Jason, James Jacobs, and Erik Mona. *Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk*. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2007.
* Holian, Gary, and Owen Stephens. "The Demonomicon of Iggwilv." *Dragon* #336 (Paizo Publishing, 2005).
* Jacobs, James. "The Demonimicon of Iggwilv: Kostchtchie." *Dragon* #345 (Paizo Publishing, 2006).
* Mona, Erik, ed. "Unsolved Mysteries of D&D." *Dragon* #359. Bellevue, WA: Paizo Publishing, 2006.
* Nalle, David. "Larger Than Life." *Dragon* #53. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1981.
* Stephens, Owen K.C., and Gary Holian. "Spellcraft: The Demonomicon of Iggwilv." *Dragon* #336. Bellevue, WA: Paizo Publishing, 2005.