Using Hags as NPCs. How to handle them, and the different kinds?

[shadowkat678]

So, in my D&D game I'm thinking of having a fortune teller NPC and her twin daughters actually be hags in disguise. The main reason I'm not putting this under the D&D tag is because I'm not opposed to hearing about how hags are dealt with in other games.

I'm not quite sure which hag I want to use yet. I'm also not quite sure how to make the characters find out about them, and how to deal with the drawbacks.

Anyone used hags as NPCs before?

[Blackhawk748]

I'm a big fan of hags, hag covens in particular. Basically, Hags know everything, yes, everything. They are cunning and sometimes physically powerful. Toss on some magic and you have a very threatening combo

[Nettlekid]

I think the big thing about Hags is that they're supposed to be totally inscrutable, although there are some constant elements. They cause trouble for fun, they like collecting weird things that usually have magic power but don't have to, and their aesthetic sense is reversed so that ugly is beautiful to them and they love grotesque and creepy things. To run one as a fortune teller I'd do a couple of things.

Firstly, every piece of advice she gives should be 100% truthful. A hag that outright lies is going to be no fun, because then the players just stop listening. But truthful doesn't mean helpful - everything she says should leave out a crucial piece of information that changes the light of the situation. Like if the PCs ask where a legendary weapon is being kept then she could tell them its location and even volunteers that a horrible monster (troll, hydra, whatever) is guarding it, but she doesn't tell them that the weapon was stolen from a kingdom and there's a bounty on the head of whoever collects it, or that it's marking the resting place of an evil entity that will rise if the weapon is removed. The advice she gives should always lead to the PCs getting what they want and then their situation being worse than if they had done nothing, potentially so much so that they go back to the hag to get advice on how to fix the situation.

The second thing to do is have the hag try to manipulate the PCs into doing something she wants them to do. Maybe it's kill a rival hag or other Fey creature, or collect some monster parts, whatever she wants getting done. Work it in somehow so that what the PCs want falls in line with what the hag wants. So again, if they're asking her about a lost weapon she can tell them it's guarded by a troll, but mostly because she wants a troll head. Or if there's some relic that's in another hag's lair she might direct them to that instead and encourage the PCs to kill that hag so she can usurp that hag's power. The PCs should still be screwed over by whatever they get out of the deal.

Finally, the hag should ask for weird payment. Half of the time whatever she asks for should be simple and innocuous, like fifty empty eggshells or a jar of leech vomit. And then the other half of the time it should be something obviously horrible and difficult to obtain, like a fresh baby's skull or the heart of a unicorn. The hag might purposely ask for a payment like this in order to repulse the PCs so that they're more open to a simpler payment like what I described above, which might be what the hag actually wants. Bonus points if the innocuous thing ends up being harmful to the PCs in some way, like if the PCs later face a ninja throwing dust grenades made from the hollow eggshells that the hag sold him or if the leeches came from another hag's swamp and is now chasing the PCs down for her stolen property.

And then every now and again, after the PCs have gotten used to dealing with the hag, she should do nothing harmful at all. Her advice is helpful and doesn't screw over the PCs. Because they won't expect that.

[shadowkat678]

I think the big thing about Hags is that they're supposed to be totally inscrutable, although there are some constant elements. They cause trouble for fun, they like collecting weird things that usually have magic power but don't have to, and their aesthetic sense is reversed so that ugly is beautiful to them and they love grotesque and creepy things. To run one as a fortune teller I'd do a couple of things.

Firstly, every piece of advice she gives should be 100% truthful. A hag that outright lies is going to be no fun, because then the players just stop listening. But truthful doesn't mean helpful - everything she says should leave out a crucial piece of information that changes the light of the situation. Like if the PCs ask where a legendary weapon is being kept then she could tell them its location and even volunteers that a horrible monster (troll, hydra, whatever) is guarding it, but she doesn't tell them that the weapon was stolen from a kingdom and there's a bounty on the head of whoever collects it, or that it's marking the resting place of an evil entity that will rise if the weapon is removed. The advice she gives should always lead to the PCs getting what they want and then their situation being worse than if they had done nothing, potentially so much so that they go back to the hag to get advice on how to fix the situation.

The second thing to do is have the hag try to manipulate the PCs into doing something she wants them to do. Maybe it's kill a rival hag or other Fey creature, or collect some monster parts, whatever she wants getting done. Work it in somehow so that what the PCs want falls in line with what the hag wants. So again, if they're asking her about a lost weapon she can tell them it's guarded by a troll, but mostly because she wants a troll head. Or if there's some relic that's in another hag's lair she might direct them to that instead and encourage the PCs to kill that hag so she can usurp that hag's power. The PCs should still be screwed over by whatever they get out of the deal.

Finally, the hag should ask for weird payment. Half of the time whatever she asks for should be simple and innocuous, like fifty empty eggshells or a jar of leech vomit. And then the other half of the time it should be something obviously horrible and difficult to obtain, like a fresh baby's skull or the heart of a unicorn. The hag might purposely ask for a payment like this in order to repulse the PCs so that they're more open to a simpler payment like what I described above, which might be what the hag actually wants. Bonus points if the innocuous thing ends up being harmful to the PCs in some way, like if the PCs later face a ninja throwing dust grenades made from the hollow eggshells that the hag sold him or if the leeches came from another hag's swamp and is now chasing the PCs down for her stolen property.

And then every now and again, after the PCs have gotten used to dealing with the hag, she should do nothing harmful at all. Her advice is helpful and doesn't screw over the PCs. Because they won't expect that.

Hm. Which Hag do you think would be the least likely to make deals just to see pain and chaos, and instead just for intrigue? Like, maybe they don't see most races as equal, kinda like the Mind Flayers, but sometimes they have favorites and just take joy in watching the interaction and things happening? Even if it doesn't have to be something ending up bad. Kinda Chaotic Neutral.

[Blackhawk748]

Hm. Which Hag do you think would be the least likely to make deals just to see pain and chaos, and instead just for intrigue? Like, maybe they don't see most races as equal, kinda like the Mind Flayers, but sometimes they have favorites and just take joy in watching the interaction and things happening? Even if it doesn't have to be something ending up bad. Kinda Chaotic Neutral.

I'd say a Green Hag, they always came off as the manipulative type to me.

[FabulousFizban]

I ran a sidequest where the PCs killed a hydra so a hag could get her swamp hut back. In return, she agreed to make potions and provide information to the party. also to stop eating babies...

The next time the came back for potions, she had formed a coven and there were three hags! Though they were all still friendly to the party, my players got a little nervous about what was brewing in the swamp north of castle town.

what should my hags do next?

[Honest Tiefling]

what should my hags do next?

Attempt to marry one of the PCs! Give him some rotted flowers, some frog organ stew...But it's really just a ploy to get the party to go away and stop pestering her for potions. She agreed to make potions for them, not to deliver them, right? So she has a stockpile of potions that no one has come to collect...

She could also hint at someone far more beautiful then her that they'd much rather rescue, because they're shallow and horrible people? Why, she bets they'll take these potions and go off and attempt to rescue her because of her flawless skin, beautiful voice and long black hair. Jerks.

Of course, said princess was captured by fey. Taking care of that issue ought to keep the PCs tied up for a few months at least to get some darn peace and quiet and find out whatever happened to more of her coven...

As for the OP...Use whatever Hag you want. There's not a lot binding them to one sterotype or another, or you could even make up your own hags. I feel like hags are a creature type that lends itself well to customization, because who knows how more hags are created. Using a type of hag more associated with brutality and violence and having her use people's assumptions to mask her own plots does sound quite appropriate to me.

[Dalinale]

An oldy but a goodie; have the hag provide the party with locations of troll and giant lairs, but have them eventually learn that she's using the PCs to kill off some of her old lovers/errent male children.

[Nettlekid]

I'd say a Green Hag, they always came off as the manipulative type to me.

Agreed. Green Hags are like the classic hag, which the others then deviate from. They're good for tricky crones, not rough fighters. Night Hags are too one-dimensionally fiendish, they're basically like any Demon. Sea Hags are the gimmicky aquatic version, used about as often as people use Scrags. Annis Hags are too brutish, they're like the Orcs and Ogres of hags. And Bhuer Hags are too niche, dealing only with things somehow pertaining to the freezing cold. Green Hags are where it's at, for like a classic "wicked witch in the woods" vibe.