Spellcasting

Drawing on the divine essence of nature itself, you can cast spells to inflict powerful curses and boons. See chapter 10 of the Player's Handbook for the general rules of spellcasting and directly after this feature for the witch spell list.

Spells Known of 1st Level and Higher

You know three 1st-level spells of your choice from the witch spell list.

The Spells Known column of the Witch table shows when you learn more witch spells of your choice. Each of these spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots, as shown on the table. For instance, when you reach 4th level in this class, you can learn one new spell of 1st- or 2nd-level.

Additionally, when you gain a level in this class, you can choose one of the witch spells you know and replace it with another spell from the witch spell list, which also must be of a level for which you have spell slots.

Spellcasting Ability

Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for your witch spells. Your magic comes from the spirit of the forests, the pacts you make with powerful entities, and the dark powers that reside in the world. You use your Intelligence whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use your Intelligence modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a witch spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one.

A Witch's Focus

A witch's focus can take on a variety of forms, though most are typically that of the morbid or the obscene. A witch crafts their focus from objects that are important to them and what helps draw out their power. A few examples are provided:

• Mummified hand of a goblin
• Varnished eye of a nothic
• Severed finger of a hag
• Iron pendant of a devil's face
• Shrunken head of a humanoid
• Withered tongue of a goat
• Wand made of human bone
• Mummified newt
• Shriveled hand of a troll
• Necklace of kobold teeth

Dark Covens

Every witch must pledge themselves to a coven for these covens share knowledge on magic and hexes. They, above all else, keep track of their members so no one wanders too far from the pact. Witches often keep their membership a secret for covens are greatly distrusted by society at large. The following are coven options you can choose from at 3rd level.

Waking Dreams

At 14th level, you can draw on the Plane of Dreams and cause the worst nightmares of a creature to spring forth in front of them. You target a creature within 60 feet of you and they must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or find their worst nightmare standing before them, causing them to be frightened of it. You can decide where this nightmare appears and mentally move it up to 30 feet in a direction of your choice as a bonus action, it must remain within 120 feet of you.

While this nightmare is active, you can use your action to perform one of two actions:

• It grows more horrible and frightening and the target suffers 6d10 psychic damage as the nightmare cripples their mind.
• You can ask the nightmare to reveal a dark and true secret of the creature it is haunting, per the DM's discretion.

After you use your action to command it to take one of those actions, the nightmare dissipates into nothing. If you use neither option, the nightmare remains for 1 minute or dissipates immediately if the target creature dies. Once you use this feature, you must finish a long rest before you can use it again.

The nightmare created by this feature reflects what truly horrifies and scares the target creature, though if a creature is under the effects of a mindblank spell or is immune to the frightened condition, the targeted creature automatically succeeds on the saving throw.

Coven of the Forest

The witches who join this coven are focused on nature and their relationships to beasts. They learn the secrets of summoning creatures to their aid, of making pacts with nature itself and becoming a beast themselves.

As these witches grow ever closer towards nature, many outsiders find these witches to be terrifying beasts. Rumors swirl that these witches can grow wicked claws, blood-stained fangs, they can control entire forests, and that they have lost their souls to nature.

Natural Instincts

Also at 3rd level, you gain proficiency in your choice of two of the following skills: Animal Handling, Insight, Medicine, Perception, or Survival.

Your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability you make that uses either of those skills.

Beastly Nature

At 6th level, you are so in tune with the natural beasts, you begin taking on their aspects. As a bonus action, you can force your body to morph and shape to become more like that of a beast. Choose one of the following options below:

• Your fingers twist into vicious claws like that of a wolf and you become proficient with your unarmed strikes and they have the finesse property. When you take the Attack action, you can attack twice instead of once with your claws. On a hit, your unarmed strikes deal 1d10 slashing damage.
• You grow hollow needles across your skin like that of a porcupine and when a creature touches you or hits you with a melee attack while within 5 feet of you, it takes 1d6 piercing damage.
• Your ears grow double their size like that of a bat and you gain blindsight to a range of 60 feet. If you are deafened, you lose your blindsight.
• You grow webbed hands and feet like that of a frog and you gain a swim speed equal to your walk speed.
• You sprout small hairs across the palm of your hands like that of a spider and you gain a climb speed equal to your walk speed. You must always keep one hand on the climbing surface in order to not fall.

This transformation lasts for 1 minute, and once you use it, you must wait until you finish a short or long rest to use it again.

Forest Nature

At 14th level, the forest follows your every command and you can call on the forest to aid you. Over the course of 10 minutes in a location with twigs, trees, shrugs or similar terrain, you can summon forth up to 4 Twig Blights, 2 Needle Blights or 1 Vine Blight.

On each of your turns, you can use a bonus action to mentally command your blights so long as they are within 60 feet of you, giving the same command to each of them. You decide what action the blights will take and where they will move during their next turn, or you can issue a general command, such as to guard a particular location. If you issue no commands, the blights only defend themselves against hostile creatures. Once given an order, the blights continue to follow it until their task is complete.

The blights are under your control until you finish a long rest, after which they crumple into twigs, vines and other natural debris. Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.

Coven of Graves

Those enamored with death and the bleakness of life are naturally drawn to the power of the Shadowfell. There, lost spirits wander as they search for meaning in their lives with the lucky ones passing on to their eternal rest.

Witches who join this Coven make a pact with the plane of the Shadowfell, blending their soul into its dismal and dreary influence.

Death Becomes Us

Also at 3rd level, your learn the spare the dying cantrip, which doesn’t count against the number of witch cantrips you know. When you cast it, you can give a number of your hit points to the unconscious creature up to your Witch level. You can not reduce your own hit points below 0, and a creature can not gain more hit points than the number of hit points you are able to give.

Shadow Step

At 6th level, you can move through the shadows as if you were on the Shadowfell. As an bonus action on your turn, you push your physical body into the Shadowfell while keeping your spirit in the Material Plane. You can move up to twice your speed without provoking attacks of opportunity, once you finish your movement your physical body returns to the Material Plane.

Once you use this feature, you must wait until you finish a short or long rest to use it again.

Deathly Hands

At 14th level, you can pluck at the strands of death and create servants to assist you. As an action, you can target a humanoid corpse within 10 feet of you and cause the corpse's hands to transform into Crawling Claws. If the corpse has more than two hands, it only turns two of them into claws, if the corpse has less than two hands, it turns any available hands into claws but can not make the claws out of nothing.

Whenever you create a Crawling Claw, you can have up to two at a time, and they are under your control until you use this feature again or they are reduced to 0 hit points. In combat, they share your initiative count, but they take their turn immediately after yours. They can move and use their reaction on their own, but the only action they take on their turn is the Dodge action, unless you take a bonus action on your turn to command them to take one of the actions in its stat block or the Dash, Disengage, Help, Hide, or Search action.

If you have multiple claws under your control, they follow the same orders or you can specify that an individual claw should follow your order while the other does nothing.

In addition, a created claw gains these additional benefits:

• The claw gains a number of temporary hit points equal to half your witch level.
• The claw adds your proficiency bonus to its claw attack and damage rolls.
• The claw can cast spare the dying, this destroys the claw.

You can't use this feature again until you finish a long rest.

Coven of Spirits

Reaching out to the forces of death and life, you can touch the spirits of those who have come before you. These spirits guide you, teach you, and help you to protect those who are important to you. Witches who make this coven are often called white witches, their healing magic is said to be blessed by the gods and that they have power over death itself.

Hexes

If a hex has prerequisites, you must meet them to learn it. You can learn the hex at the same time that you meet its prerequisites. Certain hexes can only be learned when you gain access to a Major Hex or a Grand Hex. You can not learn a hex multiple times.

Commune with Spirits

Prerequisite: Coven of Spirits, Coven of the Forest
You invoke the spirits and gain proficiency with any skill that requires Charisma, Intelligence or Wisdom. You can invoke a different spirit over the course of a long rest to change the skill to another.

Evil Eye

As an action, you can glare at a creature within 30 feet of you, and if they can see you, you place a powerful hex on them. Choose one of the following features: Ability Checks, Armor Class, Attack Rolls, Damage Rolls, or Saving Throws.

The targeted creature must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or they take a penalty to the feature you chose equal to half your Proficiency bonus (rounded down). This penalty lasts for 1 minute, or if they succeeded on their saving throw, until the end of their next turn. They can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of their turns, ending the effect on a success. This ability has no effect if a creature can't be charmed.

You can only target a creature once per day with this ability and you can use this feature a number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier, regaining all spent uses on a long rest.

Familiar Rituals

Prerequisite: Witches Familiar hex
Your familiar becomes a way for you to store certain spells into them. Over the course of a short rest, you can feed a spell scroll containing a witch's spell, and is a ritual, to your familiar. They then consume the scroll, destroying it, and they learn the spell. You can then cast that spell as a ritual so long as you have this hex active and your familiar stays within 5 feet of you over the course of casting the spell. You must be able to cast the same level spells as that spell in order to feed it to your familiar.

If you lose this hex, you lose any ritual spells stored in your familiar. If you later gain this hex again, you must re-feed your familiar any lost ritual spell scrolls before you can use them again.

Fiendish Appendage

Prerequisite: Coven of Devils
As a bonus action, you can transform your arm into a horrifying limb, it appears as if it is blackened by fire and ends in twisting claws. On the same turn you summoned it, and on subsequent turns as a bonus action, you can hurl magical flames at a creature of your choice that is within 30 feet of you. Make a ranged spell attack, on a hit you deal fire damage equal to a number d6s equal to half your proficiency bonus (rounded down).

You can make this attack a number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier, regaining all spent uses on a long rest. Your arm only returns to normal after you use have used all available uses or after you finish a long rest.

Good Fortune

As a bonus action, you can expend a 1st level spell slot or higher and bestow good fortune on the tasks of others. You touch a creature and they have advantage on all ability checks, attack rolls and saving throws until the end of their next turn. A creature can only benefit from this once per day.

If a creature is immune to being charmed, they are not affected by this ability.

Lodestone

As an action, you choose a target within 30 feet of you and you begin weighing their muscles down with supernatural forces. They must succeed on a Strength saving throw or become encumbered and their speed decreases by 10 feet. It must repeat the saving throw at the end of its next turn. On a success, the effect ends. On a failure, the creature is heavily encumbered and their speed is reduced by 20 feet and they have disadvantage on ability checks, attack rolls, and saving throws that use Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution.

This effect lasts for a minute and the creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of their turn, ending it on a success. Once you used this ability, you must finish a short or long rest to use it again.

Misfortune

As an action, you can expend a 1xt level spell slot or higher and make an unholy sign and target a creature within 30 feet of you. That creature must succeed on a Charisma saving throw or they have disadvantage on all ability checks, attack rolls and saving throws until the end of their next turn. A creature can only be targeted by this effect once a day.

On a successful save, they suffer disadvantage on their next ability check, attack roll or saving throw only. If a creature is immune to being charmed, they are not affected by this ability.

Rabbit's Foot

As an action, you can touch a creature and expend a 1st level spell slot and bestow on them the blessing of the rabbit. Their speed is doubled and their movement does not provoke Attacks of Opportunity, this effect lasts until the end of their next turn.

If you expend a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the effect lasts for a number of additional rounds for each slot level above 1st.

Rotting Wound

As a reaction when a creature is struck by an attack you can see, and you are able to touch them, you can reach out and expend a 1st level spell slot and send necrotic energies into their wound causing it to rot. The creature must make a Constitution saving throw, on a failed save their wound begins festering. At the start of their turn, they take 1d8 necrotic damage. This effect lasts until the end of their next turn.

If you expend a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the effect lasts for a number of additional rounds for each slot level above 1st. This effect can be ended early by casting lesser restoration or by a similar spell or effect that removes disease.

Poisoned Heart

As an action, you can expend a 1st level spell slot and wrap poison around the heart of your foe, targeting a creature within 30 feet of you. They must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or they have disadvantage on their first attack roll each round as the poison begins seeping into their heart. On a success, the effect ends immediately. If a creature is immune to being poisoned, they automatically succeed on the saving throw and nothing happens.

This poison lasts for 1 minutes and the targeted creature can repeat their save at the end of each of their turns, ending the effect on a success.

If you expend a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the target suffers poison damage when this hex is first cast equal to a number of d6s for each slot level above 1st. On a successful save, they take half damage.

Twist of Fate

When you see an ally within 30 feet of you is struck by an Attack of Opportunity you can see, you can use your reaction to force the enemy to reroll the attack roll, they must then use that second roll. If the creature still hits, your ally gains resistance to that damage.

Once you use this feature, you must wait until you finish a long rest to use it again.

Warded

As an action, you can expend a 1st level spell slot and touch one creature, warding them from harm for the next hour. While they are warded, you are aware of where they are and their emotional state so long as they stay within 1 mile of you.

The next time the creature takes damage in the next hour, the ward explodes around them and they gain a number of temporary hit points equal to your proficiency bonus, which takes as much of the triggering damage as possible. Once the ward is activated, you can no longer locate them or sense their emotions.

If you expend a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the target gains additional temporary hit points equal to your proficiency bonus times the level of the spell slot. You can only have one ward active at a time, if you attempt to ward a second creature, the first ward dissipates and the warded creature gains no benefits from it.

Witch's Familiar

You gain the aid of a familiar that helps you unlock the secrets of your power. The familiar is bound to you and will obey all your commands.

In combat, the familiar shares your initiative count, but it takes its turn immediately after yours. It can move and use its reaction on its own, but the only action it takes on its turn is the Dodge action, unless you use a bonus action on your turn to command it to take an action in its stat block or the Dash, Disengage, Help, Hide or Search action.

If your familiar dies, you can perform a special ritual over the course of a long rest, regrowing their bodies and inviting their spirit back.

Your familiar uses the statblock below, but you can choose one of the following options to infuse your familiar. This provides a physical form that they take on along with a special ability they can use. You can change the physical form of your familiar whenever you gain a level in this class.

Fox. Your familiar takes on the form of a fox and gains advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell.

Imp. Your familiar takes on the form of an imp and gains darkvision out to a range of 60 feet.

Sprite. Your familiar takes on the form of a sprite and gains proficiency on Stealth (Dexterity) checks.

Toad. Your familiar takes on the form of a giant toad and gains the ability to breathe air and water.

Major Hex

Improved Evil Eye

Prerequisite: Evil Eye hex
You regain all uses of your Evil Eye hex on a short or long rest and you can target creatures within 60 feet of you with this hex.

Improved Familiar

Your Witch Familiar supernaturally grows more powerful and now gains an additional number of Hit Points equal to your witch level times two. Additionally, it no longer needs your bonus action to take the Attack action and its damage increases from 1d6 to 1d8.

Also, if your familiar dies, you can choose to expend a spell slot of 3rd level or higher to resurrect them with all their hit points after 1 minute instead of over the course of a long rest.

Improved Ward

Prerequsite: Ward hex
Your wards have grown in power and while a creature is warded by you, you are aware of their location while they are within 10 miles of you and can talk to them telepathically while they remain within that range.

When your ward is activated, all creatures of the warded creature's choice within 10 feet of them must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or take force damage equal to the number of Temporary Hit Points the warded creature gains. They take half damage on a successful save.

Summon Locusts

As an action, you can summon a swarm of insects to coalesce at a point of your choice within 30 feet. The swarm acts as your ally and remains until you dismiss it as an action, they fall to 0 hit points, you take a short or long rest, you fall unconscious or you summon another swarm using this feature.

You can use this ability a number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier, regaining all spent uses on a long rest.

Grand Hex

Are Hexes Magical?

Yes and no. If a hex is considered magical, it will specify that it has a magical effect for the purposes of magic resistance and anti-magic fields. If there is any confusion, most hexes default to being a supernatural force that is powered by a creature's superstitions and cultural beliefs.

A DM may decide that a creature has resistance or immunity to these effects if they are especially strange to this world, like aberrations who hold none of the superstitions of the planes or its occupants. A new trait is provided for monsters.

 

Skeptical. The creature has advantage on saving throws against hexes and other supernatural effects.

Waxen Form

As an action, you create a crude and disturbing waxen doll of a creature you can see within 60 feet of you. They must succeed on a Charisma saving throw, or you gain a modicum of control over them. On subsequent turns, you can use an action to cause one of the following effects. This waxen doll is destroyed after a hour, or you use the doll a number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier. A target can repeat the saving throw after every time the doll is used.

Attack Self. You cause the target to strike itself with a weapon it is wielding. This attack automatically hits.

Attack Other. You cause the target to strike another creature within their range. Make a melee spell attack against the creature's AC, on a success the target hits the creature.

Drop Equipment. You cause the target to drop everything it is holding.

Forced Movement. You cause the target to walk up to its speed in a direction of your choice, if it can fly you can cause it to take off and fly or stop its wings from moving, plummeting it to the ground.

Pain. You can rip at the waxen figure, causing great tides of pain to course through the creature. You deal 6d10 necrotic damage to the figure, they can make a Constitution saving throw to take half.

You can use this feature once per long rest and you need 5 gp worth of special wax per use of this feature. A creature that is immune to being charmed automatically succeeds on their saving throw.

Witch's Hut

Over the course of 10 minutes, you can animate a hut, tent, wagon, or similar object that is no greater than 15 feet on any side. This is as if you had cast the animate objects spell on the object, no concentration required. The hut gains an additional number of hit points equal to your witch's level and it gains the ability to attack twice if it takes the Attack action.

This animated hut remains animated so long as you have this hex and only ends early if the animated hut is reduced to 0 hit points or if you animate another hut using this ability. If the animated hut is reduced to 0 hit points, the hut is completely destroyed and can not be targeted by this ability again.

When you animate a hut, it does not gain a fly speed, but rather grows a set of appropriate legs of your choice to allow it to walk around. This could be massive tree roots, chicken legs or undead skeletons that carry the hut.

Any entrances to enter the hut are under the effects of an arcane lock spell while the hut is animated, you set the password when you use this ability.

Witch Sight

You can see the true form of any shapechanger or creature concealed by illusion or transmutation magic while the creature is within 30 feet of you and within line of sight.

Witch Spells

Becoming a Witch

This section seeks to help you come up with reasons for why your character became a witch. Were you cast out of society due to your fascination with the graveyard? Did the other kids pick on you for your obsession with books? Not every witch hates society, but often they have no choice but to leave their childhood homes when their fascination with magic and the supernatural forces them out.

Multiclassing

To qualify to multiclass into a witch, you must qualify for your first class, per the rules of multiclassing, and your other class you wish to multiclass into.

Errata

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Why Create This Class

I created this class after yet another re-listen to the Glass Cannon Podcast and I've always loved the character Gormlaith, created and played by Matthew Capodicasa, and loved how fascinating she was as a character and the concept of a witch in a RPG.

This means I was heavily inspired by the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game in the creation of this class, but this isn't merely just a copy and paste from their Advanced Player's Guide. This is influenced by them, as evident by the Hexes that this class gets with just a few of them being inspired by what's in that game, but also fueled by pop culture's view on witches.

Most people see witches as hooked nose crones with big pimples growing all over them, pouring over spell books and making strange concoctions in their cauldrons, and while that might be a fair idea about them, I wanted something a bit more geared towards the Buff/Debuff class. As of right now, D&D 5e has few choices if you want to be a true Buff/Debuff class with Bard being really your own option. Sure you could do some stuff as a Cleric, but then why do you have heavy armor if you aren't going to get it dinged up in combat?

No, I wanted something that was all about messing with the monsters you face and trying to do something different with the mechanics. Pathfinder got a witch very close to what I would want, but I wanted more debuff options and I wanted it to be in 5e as that is the system my groups like the most.

Now, some may freak out upon seeing a full Debuff/Buff caster. The Bard comes close to this, but they are mostly focused on the buffing of their allies and doing a few minor debuffs like vicious mockery and cutting words. The witch brings that debuffing to a whole new level.