Witch

A young human woman, bound to a large stake and standing atop a pile of kindling, is surrounded by scared villagers and angry guardsmen. One of the guards, approaching with a torch ready to set the pile ablaze, stops in his tracks as the woman mutters an incantation under her breath. Head now muddled by the hex, he looks upon the poor, helpless girl and slashes her bindings with his blade. With a smile, the woman uses her now freed hands to whisk herself away with a spell.

A group of warriors fight a large beast with terrible horns and an impenetrable hide. The fight appears to be lost as the creature continues to effortlessly slam the combatants around the battlefield. However, standing behind the warriors, an elf completes his spell causing dark bands of magical energy to restrain the great beast. Rendered almost defenseless, the beast is quickly felled.

Two hill giants loom over a elderly gnomish woman. As they debate whether the small woman is even worth it as a snack, the gnome conjures a wave of psychic energy rattling their weak minds. Thoroughly disoriented, the two giants begin brawling each other as the woman continues on her way.

Witches are powerful casters who glean power from ancient, mysterious sources, such as natural forces or obscure concepts. Through their connection to these sources, they gain their ability to create spells. Expert in controlling the weak-minded, witches tend to use their magic to subtly manipulate their way through obstacles and curse any who dare stand in their way.

Strange Devotion

Some gain power through study, some through worship, others through blood, but the witch gains power through communion with the strange and unknown. Dedicating themselves to a force of nature, a vaguely understood power, or even an intangible concept, witches draw their magic from the target of their devotion. Depending on the witch, these powers may be granted by an unknown being, or simply fueled by the forces of nature and magic around them. Witches learn to use their powers to curse those who oppress them, often giving them a reputation of both mystery and terror.

Feared Hexers

Due to their oft feared nature, witches sometimes hide their magic and strange devotion to coexist in society or live on the edge of civilization to more freely explore their power. Some may even choose to move from place to place in an effort to gain a greater understanding of their abilities.

For their own mysterious purposes, witches sometimes choose to seek out adventure, using their magical powers to curse and debilitate those who get in the way of them and their allies. While many are disinclined to trust witches, their spells and hexes will prove to be a great boon to any adventuring party as their enemies falter and break before them.

Creating a Witch

The first question to consider when creating your witch is what is the target of your devotion? For witches, these are typically forces of nature, such as weather or sickness, or intangible concepts, such as fate or finality. Look ahead at covens for ideas. For example, a witch dedicated to the powers of decay and rot, could thematically fit into the coven of the spreading plague. In addition, consider why you initially dedicated yourself to this particular force?

How did the onset of your powers affect your place in society? Were you ostracized or attacked or did you keep your powers hidden to not draw unneeded attention? On the other hand, maybe people viewed your magic with some wariness but otherwise appreciated its benefits?

Lastly, consider what caused you to set off on adventure. For instance, many witches move place to place to avoid persecution from suspicious villages and groups. Some witches simply seek out greater understanding of the target of their devotion through experience. Whatever the case, determine why you have decided to travel with an adventuring group.

Quick Build

You can make a witch quickly by following these suggestions. First, make Wisdom your highest ability score, followed by Constitution or Dexterity. Second, choose the hermit background. Third choose the toll the dead, minor illusion, and dancing lights
cantrips.

Class Features

As a Witch, you gain the following class features:

Preparing and Casting Spells

The Witch table shows how many spell slots you have to cast your spells of 1st level and higher. To cast one of these Witch spells, you must expend a slot of the spell’s level or higher. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a long rest.

You prepare the list of witch spells that are available for you to cast, choosing from the witch spell list. When you do so, choose a number of witch spells equal to your Wisdom modifier + your witch level (minimum of 1 spell). The spells must be a level for which you have spell slots.

You can change your list of prepared spells when you finish a long rest. Preparing a new list of witch spells requires some time in contemplation of the forces that fuel your magic: at least 1 minute per spell level for each spell on your list.

Spellcasting Ability

Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for your witch spells. You use your wisdom whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use your wisdom modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a witch spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one.

---

Spell Save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus +

your Wisdom modifier

Spell attack modifier = your proficiency bonus +

your Wisdom modifier

Ritual Casting

You can cast a witch spell as a ritual if that spell has the ritual tag and you know the spell.

Spellcasting Focus

        You can use an arcane focus as a spellcasting focus for
                 your witch spells.

Hex

Beginning at 1st level, you use your magical ability to manipulate your foes. You gain two hexes of your choice from the following list. You may choose another hex from the list at levels 7 and 15.

As a bonus action, you may target a creature that you can see and afflict them with a hex. When you do so, you choose one of your available hexes and the target suffers the effects. Maintaining a hex on a creature requires your concentration and lasts up to 24 hours, during which time you cannot concentrate on any other spell.

If a hexed creature drops to 0 hit points within the first minute of your hex's duration, you may use your bonus action on a subsequent turn within that minute to transfer the hex to another creature you can see for the remaining hex duration.

You may use hex once before completing a long or short rest. Beginning at 10th level, you may use two hexes before completing a short or long rest.

Hex List

• Hex of Agony. You curse your target with intense suffering and pain. When the target creature takes damage, you may use your reaction to deal additional necrotic damage equal to your witch level plus your wisdom modifier.
• Hex of Desire. You make yourself appear enticing and attractive to your target. The target creature must make a wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC. On a failure, they are charmed by you until the hex ends or you harm them. On a success, they are immune to this hex for 24 hours and your use of hex is not expended.
• Hex of Envy. You conjure intense feelings of jealousy in your target, causing them to deeply desire everything you have and everything you experience. When you take damage, you may use your reaction to deal necrotic damage equal to half of the triggering damage (rounded down) to the target creature.
• Hex of Fear. Your target sees you as a horrific being made of their worst nightmares. The target creature must make a wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC. On a failure, they are frightened. On a success, they are
               immune to this hex for 24 hours and your
                      use of hex is not expended.

Witch's Familiar

Witches develop a close relationship with a familiar spirit and use it to bestow their hexes on unfortunate individuals. Beginning at level 2, you gain the service of a familiar that is born from the force that you have devoted yourself to. Your familiar is a spirit that takes the form of a small creature of your choice. The creature type of your familiar is either celestial, fey, or fiend (your choice).

You summon your familiar in a ritual that takes one minute to perform causing it to appear in a spot within 30 feet of you. As in the find familiar spell, you can communicate with it telepathically within 100 feet, you can use your action to see and hear through its senses until the start of your next turn, and you can dismiss and resummon your familiar to and from a pocket dimension as an action. Your familiar has an AC of 10, 1 hit point, and a walking and flying speed of 30 feet, regardless of its chosen appearance. Your familiar acts on your initiative count, but cannot attack. Your familiar is automatically dismissed when it drops to 0 hit points or when you choose to dismiss it as a bonus action.

Your familiar may use its action to perform a hex in your place on a creature it can see, allowing you to concentrate on other spells. This expends one of your uses of hex and requires your familiar to maintain concentration. If your familiar is dismissed while maintaining concentration on a hex, the hex immediately ends.

Coven

At 3rd level, you begin to acquire distinct magical powers from the chosen focus of your dedication. Witches that dedicate themselves to similar forces are grouped into "covens". Some witches form loose connections with others in their coven, but many choose to remain fully independent instead. The coven you choose grants you features at levels 3, 6, 10, 14, and 18.

In addition, you gain spells according to your chosen coven at the appropriate witch levels. Each of these spells counts as a witch spell for you. These spells are always prepared and do not count against the number of spells you can prepare.

Witchcraft

Beginning at 3rd level, you imbue otherwise ordinary objects of your creation with your magical power. Using an object that you have created (using your artisan's tools, herbalism kit, etc.) you may select a witch spell and perform a ritual that takes 1 minute per spell level for the chosen spell. The ritual requires any material components the selected spell has and expends a spell slot of the spell's level or higher.

Upon completion of the ritual, the object is imbued with the magic of the chosen spell and is considered a magical item. You choose what triggers the magic to be cast; the object casts the spell either upon being touched or when a creature passes within a certain distance of it (maximum range of 30 feet). Other triggers are possible at your DM's discretion. You can exempt creatures of your choice from triggering the object when you perform the ritual. Alternatively, you (or friendly creatures of your choice) can choose to cast the spell from the object at any time as an action. Once an imbued object casts its spell, it cannot be triggered again until at least 24 hours have passed.

Spells that require concentration, when triggered from an imbued object, still require concentration as the object draws from your magical connection. If you are concentrating on another spell when your object is triggered, its effects still occur but last only until the following round on the initiative count it was activated.

You may have one object imbued with a witch spell at a time. Imbuing another object causes the original to lose its magic. You can also remove the magic from your imbued object through a ritual that takes 1 minute to perform.

Ability Score Improvement

When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.

Using the optional feats rule, you can forgo taking this feature to take a feat of your choice instead.

Curse of the Occult

Beginning at 20th level, your hexes become exceptionally powerful and impairing. When you use your bonus action to target a creature with a hex, choose two of your hexes instead of one. Both hexes affect the target creature.

Coven of the
Spreading Plague

Fascinated with the powers of sickness and poison,
witches of the plague coven are amongst the most
reviled and feared. Like the flame coven, plague
witches can be vengeful but prefer to enact their plans
in more subtle ways. A witch seeking revenge on a village might seed infestation or plague amongst the villagers and allow the virulent diseases that result to run their course.

Of course, not every plague witch has such dark intents. Many with power over sickness choose instead to purify
and cure those afflicted with disease.

Plague Coven Spells

Witch Level	Spells
3rd	Detect Poison and Disease, Ray of Sickness Blindness/Deafness, Ray of Enfeeblement
5th	Protection from Poison, Stinking Cloud
7th	Aura of Purity, Blight
9th	Cloudkill, Contagion

Infection Vector

At 3rd level, you learn to summon small parasites as a means to seed infection and disease. You learn the infestation cantrip which does not count against your number of cantrips known.

Infectious Flow

Beginning at 6th level, your understanding of plague allows you to protect yourself against poisons and disease as well as make them more potent to your enemies. You gain resistance to poison damage and immunity to being diseased.

In addition, you may choose to ignore resistance to poison damage when you cast a spell or use a witch feature.

Sickening Magic

Beginning at 10th level, you infuse your spells with particularly virulent magical poison. This grants you the following benefits:

• Whenever you hit a creature with a spell that deals poison or necrotic damage, they must make a constitution saving throw against your spell save DC (creatures you are hexing automatically fail). On a failure, they are poisoned until the end of your next turn.
• If a creature fails a saving throw against one of your spells that deals poison or necrotic damage, they are poisoned until the end of your next turn.

Plagued Soul

Beginning at 14th level, your plagues and poisons have ascended beyond afflicting flesh alone. Your poison magic can wear away at anything from inorganic material to a creature's very soul, allowing you to poison creatures such as constructs or undead who would typically be unaffected. You gain the following benefits:

• While you are hexing a creature, you
  treat their poison immunity as resistance that
  cannot be bypassed further, and you can poison them even if they are immune to the poisoned condition.
• You are immune to disease, poison damage, and the poisoned condition.

Virulence

At 18th level, you learn to magically spread plague from one creature to the next. You may use your bonus action to attempt to spread the poisoned condition or a disease that currently afflicts one creature to another.

To do so, choose two creatures that you can see within 60 feet. One of the creatures must be poisoned or afflicted by a disease. The other creature must make a constitution saving throw against your spell save DC. On a failed save, the creature is now poisoned or diseased by the same effect that afflicted the original creature.

Coven of the
Verdant Woodlands

The coven of verdant woodlands has a mixed reputation. More so than the other covens, woodlands witches tend to be more peaceful or at least reclusive when it comes to outsiders. Most often, these witches focus their efforts and powers towards maintaining their corner of nature. However, those that dare harm the land or beasts under the protection of a witch will face their unbridled wrath.

Coven of
Uncertain Destiny

Many diviners hold fate in the highest regard and see struggling against destiny as fruitless and unwise. However, witches of the destiny coven view fate as a tool to be manipulated and controlled. This coven seeks understanding of what is to come through their magic and divination, because they believe that gaining a deeper understanding of a creature's destiny grants the power to change it.

Often these witches offer their fortune reading services with the tantalizing promise that everyone's destiny is malleable; only fools would ignore the opportunity to tweak it in their favor.

Weaver of Fate's Strings

At 18th level, you learn to see, pull, cut, and weave the strings of fate that pull everyone towards their uncertain destinies. You roll two d20s for your twisted portent feature, rather than one, when you take a long rest.

In addition, you roll one d20 when you finish a short
rest and add it to your current pool of reshaped fate
rolls. You may have up to three reshaped
  fate rolls stored
     at any time.

Coven of the
Looming End

Death is the ultimate end, a destiny to be accepted and embraced. Respect for death is a core principle for witches of the coven of the looming end. These witches believe that one's death is a sacred event, one that should not be delayed beyond its natural time nor hurried along. Their great cognizance of death grants witches of the coven the ability to wield the powers of life and death to harm foes and heal allies. However, beseeching the powers of death to delay or reverse one's death is something that must be undertaken with only the utmost solemnity, and only when you firmly believe it was not their time to pass on.

This does not mean that this coven will not slay their enemies. In fact, many of these witches see death as the natural and unavoidable consequence for crossing them.
If someone gets in their way, it must have been their
                                                   foreordained time to
                                                                perish.

Looming End Coven Spells

Witch Level	Spells
3rd	Cause Fear, False Life, Gentle Repose, Wither and Bloom
5th	Animate Dead, Revivify
7th	Blight, Aura of Life
9th	Danse Macabre, Enervation

Touch of Death

At 3rd level, you begin to grasp the magic of necromancy and death. You learn the chill touch cantrip which does not count against your number of cantrips known.

Reap Life

Beginning at 6th level, your attunement to death allows you to draw lifeforce from those who meet their end. As a reaction, whenever a hostile creature within 30 feet of you dies, you may choose to gain a number of temporary hit points equal to your witch level or the creature's hit point maximum (whichever is lower). You gain double the temporary hit points if you were hexing the creature when it died.

You cannot use this feature to gain temporary hit points
  from constructs or undead.

Deathly Visions

            At 10th level, you learn to conjure omens of death to
           assault the minds of your opponents. When you hex a
          creature, you can choose to force that creature to make
        a wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC. On a
          failed save, the creature is stunned and frightened as
       they suffer visions of their own death. A creature may
     repeat the saving throw at the end of each of their turns,
     ending the effect on a success.

Spirit Walk

         Beginning at 14th level, you can magically manipulate
        bodies and souls. Once per long rest, as an action, you
     can shed your mortal form to become incorporeal and
    invisible. While in this form, you can move in any direction,
    pass through solid objects, and are resistant to nonmagical
   damage, but you cannot perform actions, bonus actions, or
   reactions. You remain in this form for up to one minute or
  until you use your action to end the effect.

In addition, while you are hexing a creature, your spells
       and features can frighten them even if they are immune
         to the frightened condition.

Harbinger of the End

  Beginning at 18th level, your magic brings the fear of death
   and mortality to your foes, granting you the following
benefits:

• When you use your deathly visions feature, a creature is paralyzed instead of stunned.

• Once per round, when you deal necrotic damage to a hostile creature, you regain a number of hit points equal to half the damage dealt and the creature is frightened of you until the
     end of your next turn.

Witch Spell List