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View Full Version : D&D 5e/Next Grandmother Hag (Warlock Patron)



Steampunkette
2017-03-01, 01:38 AM
This patron is meant to provide players with a curse-centric bog witch archetype. The kind of character who the locals fear, but dare not anger. Whom they avoid unless the circumstances are dire, whether for aid or for vengeance.

Otherworldly Patron: Grandmother Hag

Whether you made the pact with the Hag, yourself, or are the result of her twisted magicss at the behest of her parents, you are a truly accursed wretch to whom a powerful and malignant ugliness has bestowed power. Her machinations are best served by your powers creating misery and sorrow in the world, but whether you'll serve her ends or find a brighter path remains to be seen.

Expanded Spell List
1st: Entangle, Fog Cloud
2nd: Beast Sense, Moonbeam
3rd: Animate Dead, Call Lightning
4th: Dominate Beast, Polymorph
5th: Insect Plague, Scrying

Level 1: Evil Eye
With a baleful glare you impart one of the simplest, and cruelest, of all curses upon your target. As a Reaction to being the target of an attack, spell, or Charisma skill check you may apply the Evil Eye to the person who has wronged you. The target cannot benefit from Critical Hits and any such result made by the target is treated like a standard hit. Further, any damage they deal is reduced by an amount equal to your proficiency modifier, as are any Ability Check results. This ability lasts for 10 minutes and can be moved as a reaction to taking damage, moving this ability to a new target does not reset the duration. The new target must be the person who triggered the reaction and caused you to take damage. You may use this ability once per short rest.

Level 6: Witch's Curse
At level 6 you gain the ability to imbue certain spells with greater power and deeper cruelty. Whenever you cast one of the following spells, it is improved accordingly.

Bane: Increase the size of the die by 1 step (1d4 becomes 1d6).
Bestow Curse: You automatically gain the 1d8 necrotic damage on your target, and may choose a second, different, effect.
Hex: You may choose two different targets for your Hex effect, maintaining it as normal. Each bonus action spent to move the Hex to a new target only changes one target at a time.

Level 10: Witch's Brew
At 10th level you have learned to create a dangerous concoction, safe only in small amounts. At the end of a Long Rest you create one dose of the Witch's Brew. If you drink the brew you do not age, magically or Naturally, until the end of your next long rest and gain resistance to bludgeoning, slashing, or piercing damage (your choice). Further, you may appear to be any age you choose for the duration though this has no effect on your statistics or size category. However, the potion can be gifted to another or used as an ingested poison. If gifted to another, it mimics the effects of a Feign Death spell. If used as a poison, it mimics the effects of the Phantasmal Killer spell upon anyone who consumes it.

Level 14: Double Toil and Trouble
You may now use the Evil Eye an unlimited number of times per day.

zeek0
2017-03-01, 06:35 AM
As a note, warlocks don't have bestow curse bane on their spell list. They only have access through invocations.

As with Hunter's Mark, it would be too to mention that the duration of Evil Eye does not reset with a new target.

Evil Eye (esp. at 14th level) has an odd consequence in that you want to be hit by your opponent in order to curse them. Can Evil Eye be used otherwise? What if a creature wrongs you not by damage, but by deed?

clash
2017-03-01, 08:55 AM
Another note is that giving animate dead to a warlock opens up all kinds of short rest shenanigans of raising far more undead than was intended.

Steampunkette
2017-03-01, 11:29 AM
As a note, warlocks don't have bestow curse bane on their spell list. They only have access through invocations.

As with Hunter's Mark, it would be too to mention that the duration of Evil Eye does not reset with a new target.

Evil Eye (esp. at 14th level) has an odd consequence in that you want to be hit by your opponent in order to curse them. Can Evil Eye be used otherwise? What if a creature wrongs you not by damage, but by deed?

For the Bane and Bestow Curse: That's the point. The actual power increase of those two spells is pretty massive, so taking them as invocations pays off, but your invocations become locked, you only get it once per day per invocation, and it's costing some of the power of the core ability. Having two hexed targets doesn't really increase your damage or anything important to combat, compared to a target that takes an extra 1d8 from your attacks and spells and has disadvantage to all saving throws.

Good point on the duration note.

The Evil eye can, initially, be placed by being wrong. Specifically if you're the target of a spell, an attack, or a Charisma Skill Check (Deception, Intimidation, Persuasion). Once it's active, though, the only way to move it is through taking damage. Though I should probably have the Proficiency Bonus also apply as a penalty to skill checks, for non-combat use.


Another note is that giving animate dead to a warlock opens up all kinds of short rest shenanigans of raising far more undead than was intended.

That is definitely a problem. The intent was that it be a corruptive spell the Hag gives you... though you're right. I forgot that casting it to maintain control allows you to maintain control over 4 targets, not just the one.

I might want to put Plant Growth in it's place, but that's already part of the Fey patron's abilities. What do you all think I should do?

clash
2017-03-01, 12:54 PM
I would switch it out for another spell. Not sure which one. And If you like them ahving access to animate dead spell just add an invocation for it in the lines of "you can cast animate dead using a warlock spell slot 1/long rest" similiar to the other ones.

zeek0
2017-03-01, 03:07 PM
For the Bane and Bestow Curse: That's the point. The actual power increase of those two spells is pretty massive, so taking them as invocations pays off, but your invocations become locked, you only get it once per day per invocation, and it's costing some of the power of the core ability. Having two hexed targets doesn't really increase your damage or anything important to combat, compared to a target that takes an extra 1d8 from your attacks and spells and has disadvantage to all saving throws.


I think my concern is not the power of the ability - my concern is that, in order to fully actualize my subclass feature, I am required to take two different invocations. I dislike it for the same reasons I dislike feat chains.

As a side note, I've made a Hag Coven patron, if you want to compare the expanded spell lists (the features are incomparably different). It's in my signature.

Edit: Oh, and I'd like to note that scrying is already a warlock spell.