Amnestic
2021-06-10, 05:26 PM
Introduction
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Witchraft: Magic of Hereva (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/291872/Witchcraft-Magic-of-Hereva-5e) is a 5e supplement directly inspired, and using artwork from, the webcomic Pepper & Carrot (https://www.peppercarrot.com/en/). Though not directly supported by the author/artist, the original creators do encourage people to adapt their works for commercial use, which is neat. The comic itself is very charming, with vibrant art and a delightful whimsical tone. I'd recommend it to anyone and everyone. All it will cost you is time.
The supplement itself is broken up into 4 major sections – the Witch class, the subclasses for the Witch class (6 in total), Backgrounds and Feats, and then new spells and magic items. It also includes a few monsters, as well as statblocks for the witch's familiar, as they use unique statblocks instead of repurposing existing animals as the wizards do.
Outside of minor flavour indications here and there there's not a whole lot about the setting itself. This information is available on the Pepper & Carrot (https://www.peppercarrot.com/en/static8/wiki&page=README) creator's website, but notably it doesn't have anything like a world map, keeping such things loosey-goosey. Probably in its favour, for such a whimsical story.
Part 1: Witch of Hereva
The core class itself and centrepiece of the supplement. If I had to give my briefest impression of the class, it's that its spellcasting is very potent, but its other features (ignoring the subclasses for the moment) are weirdly restrictive in other ways.
They're a charisma-based full caster working off of spells known. They have d8 hit points, no armour proficiency and limited weapon proficiency. They cap out at 15 spells known total with slightly slower curve compared to sorcerers – their 15th spell known comes at 19th level, instead of 17th. They start with two cantrips, and max out at 4 cantrips by 10th level.
Instead of working off of spell slots or the existing spell points system, they instead use 'Rea' points. Each spell, regardless of spell level, costs 1 Rea point. They start off with 2 Rea points, and max out at 13 by 20th level, recovering them all on a long rest. Notably, however, every spell a witch casts is automatically upcast to your maximum spell level while still only costing one Rea point. They are, however, restricted from casting 6th+ level spells to one of each spell level per long rest – though this doesn't apply to upcast spells, just spells originally of level 6 or above. This is pretty neat, blending warlock auto-upcast scaling with sorcerer limited spells known, though the fact that they scale upcast all the way to 9th(!) is unusual and potent.
They get a familiar at first level, however notably they do not summon familiars from their own soul/elsewhere as wizards and warlocks do, instead they use a 1 hour ritual to bind an existing animal (or spirit) to them. Each special familiar animal is associated with a saving throw and a damage type, and you can use a reaction to gain advantage on one saving throw or resistance to that damage type when attacked with it (once per long rest). I do like this alternate approach to the familiar, and it feels more witchy to bond with an actual animal, however this does rely on some agreeability with your DM to not target them. While a wizard can resummon a dead familiar with a minor gold dump, its explicit that a Witch's familiar is a living creature, and with no cheap or easy way to bring them back if they die, it's a far greater (and sadder) loss if they get into danger.
I'll touch on the six subclasses you get in the next section, but you unlock a subclass at 2nd level, gaining new features at 7th, 11th, 15th, and 20th level. The sidebar for witchcraft houses mentions it “totally changes the role the witch has on her adventuring party” and...it may be overstating it slightly. More on that later.
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At 3rd level a witch unlocks Potion Brewing, with both a 'Recipe Research Time' (scaling from 1 week for a common potion to 20 weeks for a legendary potion) and DC to learn, and then a cost (25gp to 25000gp) and brewing time (2 days to 10 weeks), with a scaled DC to tell you the result of your brew. I like the idea behind this a lot. It essentially gives Witches a class-specific way to use downtime in a manner that makes them better at being a witch. That's cool. That said however it relies on Intelligence (Alchemist Supplies) checks. While you get proficiency in Alch Supplies from your class, Intelligence is going to be a tertiary stat (behind Cha, Dex and Con) meaning it's unlikely to climb beyond 12 or 14 at most. The difficulty of the checks for higher level potions to learn is potentially impossible unless you invest a feat or a level dip in getting expertise in Alch Supplies.
5th level lets them temporarily enchant a broom to become a Broom of Flying, with a 1 hour ritual and a cost of 50gp in materials, lasting for 1 hour, once per long rest. You get additional uses and extended duration at 10th and 15th levels. It doesn't state the materials are consumed but that was my interpretation. If it consumes them it's a little less attractive, considering the time investment required during an adventuring day. Regardless, it's a very witchy feature.
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10th level brings them a slight expansion on your spells known via the Spell Research feature, which lets you nab spells 1 level lower than your current maximum from the wizard spell list, up to a total of four by 17th level, which effectively brings their spells known to 19. This isn't automatic, like a Bard's Magical Secrets, instead it's another use of downtime with a Research Time (2-16 days), cost (150-1200gp) and Intelligence (Arcana) DC (16-23) based off of spell level. Should you fail your check, the next attempts to learn the same spell have halved time and gold cost.
Like potion brewing I like the idea of this, however how useful it ends up being will depend a lot on downtime you get in your campaign, since you might have to take over two weeks out of adventuring to get your stolen 8th level wizard spell. The arcana checks are at least viable even if you don't get expertise in the skill, though they will be a lot easier if you do.
Rea Focus is the final core class feature, gained at 13th level, giving you a way to cast a spell (assuming it's at least one level lower than your max spell level) even if you've expended all your Rea points for the day, though only once per long rest (increasing to two later). You roll a number of d6 equal to the level of the spell you're casting, and any 1s and 6s become 'negative' and 'positive' points respectively. In addition to the standard spell effects, negative points deal 5 damage each and positive points heal 5 damage each, to all creatures in a 60' radius on you. There's also some additional aspects based on the number of negative/positive points.
Overall I like this. It's got enough of a 'desperation' feel while not calling back to the wild magic sorcerer table. The fact that it hits everyone with both the healing and damage feels appropriate too. The damage type isn't specified, simply saying that they “lose” hitpoints. Personally I'd assign it force damage, though it may be intended that it's not 'damage', just a hit point reduction.
I'll touch on the spell list later on, but in summary the core of the Witch class is a solid base, and will thrive well in any campaign where there's downtime between major events, while still being able to contribute handily even if there isn't. I have things I would tweak personally, but it's absolutely workable right out of the box even without factoring in subclasses. With fewer spells per day than most other casters (save the warlock) but automatic upcasting to 9th level eventually, it's an odd duck.
It feels suitably witchy though, which is important.
Part 2: Witch Houses
There are six subclasses (“Witch Houses”) available for the witch. Each house adds additional spells to the spell list they can choose (but not spells known). The brief breakdown of each is Ah (Healing/Spirits), Aquah (Water/Weather), Chaosah (Debuffs/Control, Hippiah (Druid-lite), Magmah (Fire/Support), and Zombiah (Minions!). The additional spells on the spell list are all either new spells included later, or in the 5e SRD, so you don't need any additional books to play the Witch. This supplement and the SRD get you everything you need. I like that.
I will say that in this section I noticed a few more typos. There were also cases where features seemed not quite complete, which was disappointing. While I personally don't have an issue with typos or words being swapped around – I can read over them automatically – it could have definitely done with another readover or two.
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Taking the subclasses in alphabetical order, we'll start with Ah. Their expanded spell list includes some cleric staples like Spiritual Weapon, Revivify, Heal and Raise Dead (among others).
At 2nd level when you cast a healing spell of 1st or above on a creature, you can choose to give them a ward of temp HP equal to witch level+chamod. Its wording is similar to the abjurer arcane ward, but if it gets destroyed to 0 HP you can't create a new one on that creature until the end of your next long rest. As long as it's got 1 or more HP left, any healing on that creature you do is also copied to the ward.
7th level gives you essentially Elf Trance as a class feature. You can spend a Rea point to extend it to 1+Chamod other creatures. A bit niche, but potentially very nice if you're in a time sensitive campaign. Taking 4 hours for a long rest for your group instead of 8 hours certainly has its uses though of course the limit of 1 LR/24 hours remains.
11th level lets you choose an elemental resistance for your 2nd level ward, so that as long as a creature has the ward active they have resistance to that damage type. You can swap out the resistance type on a short or long rest. A minor buff.
15th level gets you the perhaps deceptively named Planar Walk. It in fact does not let you go to different planes, it's instead a version of Teleport (with a charisma check instead of % roll for being off target) that only lets you travel to places on the same Plane. Notably there is no limitation on using this ability. It doesn't cost Rea. As written, this means you can essentially teleport whenever you want. Is that intended? I don't know for certain, though they've been good at including usage limitations otherwise, so I expect it's intended.
20th level is the capstone of an Ah Witch, named Terminus, a potent debuff against one creature which lasts for 5 turns. At the start of each turn it makes a Cha save. On a successful save(!) it loses either its movement or its action for that turn. On a failed save, it's essentially Banished for the remainder of the debuff and takes 3d10 force for each turn it was banished. Alternatively, you can make it a multi-target ability, choosing up to 5 creatures. On a successful cha save, they lose their movement and actions for their next turn. On a failed save they're banished and take 3d6 force damage. If killed, the body doesn't return. Fiends and undead have disadvantage on terminus saves, celestial and fey have advantage. It's got a 7 day cooldown.
Taking the subclass as a whole, I like it, though any elf witches might be disappointed by the 7th level feature initially, its Rea point option means you can spread the love and it'll still see use, unless you're somehow in an all-elf party.
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Moving on to Aquah, they're more aligned with close combat. Their expanded spell list is a lot of water, wind and cold-oriented spells like call Lightning, Control Weather and Ice Storm.
2nd level gets them three features – permanent Water Breathing, an AC of 13+Dex as long as they're not wearing armour or using a shield, and 'Water Whip', which you can summon as a bonus action and attack with as an action. It uses Charisma for attack/damage rolls, and its damage scales from 1d4 at 2nd to 1d10 at 15th. At 11th level you can spend up to 3 Rea to unlock Extra Attack, add your spell level to damage dealt and use a reaction to hit someone who damaged you within range.
7th level unlocks Summon Water Snake Elemental, a CR2 Huge(!) elemental that lasts for an hour and follows your commands. Its got a chunky hit point count of 90 and has a Constrict attack. Notably, this does not have a usage limitation on it. As written you can not only summon more than one at a time, you can summon them infinitely without any cost. I do not believe that this is intended. I am unsure if you are meant to be able to cast it repeatedly throughout the day with no more than one at a time. Given its CR and lack of scaling at later levels, that might be the intention, essentially turning it into a pseudo-beastmaster.
11th level gets you Ice Block, which locks you inside ice that has 3x your witch level in hit points. You can't take any actions while inside, except using a reaction to dismiss the ice block. You can spend 1 Rea point when you cast it to let you move the ice block as an action, and when you dismiss the enhanced version it deals cold damage in a 10' AoE around you.15th level nets you permanent resistance to cold, lightning, and non-magical B/P/S damage.
20th level unlocks Summon Abyssal Monster, which lets you choose from 4 different creatures to summon – Megashark, Hereva Kraken, Giant Whale, and the Abyssal Turtle. Only the turtle can breathe air or water, with the other three being limited to just water. Each is slightly different in their own way but they're all CR8. There is no duration listed for these summons, but using it has a 7 day cooldown. Like Summon Water Snake Elemental I'm unclear if a 20th level Aquah Witch is meant to be able to amass a vast army of loyal megasharks and abyssal turtles but given that it's their capstone I don't think that's a problem really. They still need to feed them if they don't disappear, after all...
Aquah on the whole is, of course, going to be at home in any sea-based campaigns. Some potential gaps in wording for the Summon abilities leave them feeling not quite 'complete', and it would benefit from their limitations being made explicit rather than implied. Water Whip feels a bit too weak compared to cantrip damage, and having to invest potentially 2 Rea (which at 11th level is equivalent to 2 6 level spells) just to get it Extra Attack and Spell Level to damage is a costly bargain. I can see how it's oriented as a more 'martial' witch, using Water Whip in place of a martial weapon, however like some other spellcasters-with-martial elements, it still feels like you'd be better off staying at a distance and using cantrips, with the defensive bonuses only coming up when someone breaks through to you.
It feels like Aquah needed another editing pass or two just to iron out some balance and wording problems. I can see the core of it, it's just not quite fully realised.
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Chaosah is our third witch house, and the one that the main character Pepper follows. Ah was focused on 'support', Aquah as 'martial', and Chaosah is described as 'control', using illusions and enchantments to weaken enemies. Their expanded spell list includes things like Confusion, Polymorph, Feeblemind and Major Image. It's a solid enough list, though most of them don't seem to upcast, or upcast to any noticeable degree.
Their 2nd level feature is 'Chaos Confusion' (though the features table simply calls is 'Confusion'). It lets you cast a version of the Confusion spell with a slightly modified table, and lasting only one round, on a single creature ChaMod/LR. Doesn't have Concentration requirement, it's a short term debuff.
7th level is Chaos Control, though any relation to a certain black hedgehog is unclear. Also ChaMod/LR, it lets you use your bonus action to buff a creature based on a d10 roll ranging from d6 to the next roll they make, advantage on the next roll they make, advantage on all rolls they make until the end of your next turn, and advantage on all rolls they make...but they're also a tiny animal until the end of your next turn.
11th level gives you immunity to Charmed and the confusion spell, and advantage vs. any illusion spells. 15th level is 'Underworld Ally' which is similar to Planar Ally with a gold cost in exchange for services. The demons summoned are listed later, being either CR6 or 7. There's no action requirement for using this (which is probably a mistake) and you can use it twice per long rest.
Finally is their capstone, Dimensional Fracture, which creates an area of 'total chaos' 100' around you, making all the area difficult terrain. Creatures inside the area make a wis save at the start of their turn. On a fail, they take 4d10 force damage and roll on the Confusion table. You are immune to this, your allies have advantage on the save, and your enemies have disadvantage on the save. It doesn't say how long the dimensional fracture area lasts, nor does it state an action requirement. This may imply that it's just a permanent area of chaotic energies. Like other capstones, it's got a 7 day cooldown.
Chaosah is...fine. Like Aquah it feels let down by a few things missing from the ability descriptions. A lower level, directed Confusion ability at 2nd level is good, I like that, and the 7th level buff is fine too. In short, I think it works in earlier levels but its higher level features don't leave me feeling particularly inspired. It could do with another editing pass.
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Fourth in our list of subclasses is the Hippiah witch. If Ah were Cleric-Witches, then Hippah are Druid-Witches. They're all about nature and the description says they can play the role of melee fighter or summoner of combat creatures, which feels remarkably similar to Aquah. They get things like Conjure Animals, Conjure Woodland Beings, Druidcraft, and Shapechange on their expanded spell list.
At 2nd level they get Nature Blessing, which is an action to heal 1d4 to four creatures that can see you within 30', once per LR. At 10th level it refreshes on a short rest, and you can expend a Rea point to add your max spell level to the healing. 7th level is 'Feral Self', which as an action lets you become a pseudo-monk for a number of minutes equal to half your witch level. 1D6 unarmed strikes, Dex instead of Strength, and 13+Dex for AC as long as not wearing armour/shield. You can spend a Rea point to enhance it, at which point it essentially becomes Wild Shape with a few tweaks here and there.
They gain Sylvan Aura at 11th level – advantage on saving throws against beast/fey/plant creatures and resistance to poison damage for you+allies within 15'. At 17th level, this enhances to give you immunity to poison damage, and your allies the advantage on saving throws.Their 15th level feature is Summon Natural Ally, letting them summon a beast of CR equal to your max spell level of lower for a number of minutes equal to your Witch Level, as an action. There is no usage limitation on this.
The capstone is Mother Earth Embrace, which summons a bunch of vines as an action in an area of 120' radius around you, dealing damage of different amounts for 10 turns. Again, 7 day cooldown.
In contrast to Chaosah in that I think Hippiah's early level features are very weak and they only really get going after 11th level. The lack of usage limitation on Summon Natural Ally probably needs reviewing. Hippiah is probably going to be kept going early level thanks to the strength of its spell list – Conjure Animals on its own is too good to pass up, especially since it automatically upcasts as you gain more and more levels.
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Our 5th subclass to look at is Magmah, witch is the “house of cooking, baking, grilling, boiling, frying, steaming, and toasting.” Its description notes its intended as a range attacker with some buff support. Their expanded spell list is more fireballs than buffing, though it does have a few things in there like Heroes' Feast.
At 2nd level they gain cooking tool proficiency, they can create a fire merely by touching flammable materials, and they can imbue a meal with power to give any who eat it a buff for 24 hours depending on your level. These add up, starting with just WitchLevel+Chamod temp HP at 1st, but at 5th it gives advantage on all ability checks of one score (Dexterity gets your entire party Initiative advantage all day every day!). At 11th they get cured of all poison and disease, immunity to poison and frighten, and make all wis saves with advantage, and at 17th they gain resistance to one damage type of their choice.
7th level has two features – Burning Geas and Alchemical Temperature. Burning Geas feels like it's not finished being written. It's a slight variation on the Geas spell, but there's no fiery aspect to it, the damage clause has been removed and there's no action requirement. At the very least it specifies you can use it once per SR/LR. Alchemical Temperature is essentially Heat Metal, without a concentration requirement, and you can choose to either heat them as normal or freeze them to do cold damage. Again, once per SR/LR, though you get to do it twice per SR/LR once you hit 17th level.
At 11th level you get 'Dragon Magic' which gives you immunity to fire damage, and you can choose any number of creatures to be unaffected when you cast an area spell – essentially sculpt magic, except better. Their 15th level feature is Alchemize Spell. Chamod/LR you can change the damage type on any spell you cast to acid/cold/fire/lightning/thunder.
Magmah's capstone is Phoenix Resurrection. When you drop to 0 hit points you use a reaction to explode in a 40' radius. Dex save for 20d6 fire and 20d6 force, half on success. After that you recover half hit points but remain unconscious, waking up either on a successful chasave or if someone slaps you awake or damages you. 7 day cooldown.
Magmah on its own feels like the most powerful subclass so far. Its spell list upcasts well and has a number of good spells on it. With the exception of Burning Geas its class features are all very potent. It's let down by a less 'proactive' and more 'reactive' capstone if that matters. It has fewer issues with wording that we saw previously, though as noted Burning Geas feels incomplete. While Hippiah maybe needed a balance pass to buff its low level features, Magmah could probably do with a nerf.
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The final Witch House subclass is Zombiah, and as the deliciously on-the-nose implies is all about undead, though it also animates objects – a spell that is on their expanded spell list, along with animate dead, simulacrum(!), Awaken, and some other things.
Hint of Life is their 2nd level feature, letting you imbue a tiny object (or larger, at later levels) to serve you. It's basically a single object version of the Animate Objects spell. It lasts for 24 hours, but you can use the feature once per short or long rest, so you could potentially stack up a number of these objects, especially if you're an elf and the rest of your party is not. 7th level gives a passive buff to objects or undead you animate – your PB to attack/damage, hit point boost equal to your witch level, and you can choose one undead to become a 'permanent' minion that you don't need to reassert control over.
11th level's feature is Repair Damage, which lets you heal undead/objects as an action 3d8+ChaMod, ChaMod/LR. Zombiah's 15th level feature is Command Animated Being. Use an action to force a ChaSave on an undead or construct within 60'. If it fails you can't use the feature on it again. Creatures of 8-11 intelligence get advantage on the save, and if they've got 12+ intelligence they also make a new saving throw once per hour to end the effect. You can only have this active on one creature at a time.
The final feature is Breath of Life, Zombiah's capstone. It's essentially a True Resurrection without a material cost but a 7 day cooldown.
Zombiah is a good subclass to end on. Its features are all thematically coherent, I didn't notice any action requirement issues or stacking problems like we saw with Aquah for instance. Hint of Life is potentially very strong, maybe netting you half Animate Objects at 2nd level without any concentration requirement, and only getting stronger from there. I think Magmah still takes the cake for power overall, but Zombiah isn't very far behind. One thing I will say I like is that, despite the name and aesthetic you don't have to use undead at all, relying solely on animated objects and constructs. This is a good option to provide for a number of reasons, and one I'm glad the creator chose to do.
And with that, the subclasses have been looked at in full. They're a mixed bag overall. If I were bringing this to a table (or offering it from behind the DM's seat) there's definitely suggestions I'd have on fixing some of the absent wording. I don't think ranking each subclass by total power is useful, but I will say that Aquah and Chaosah are probably the weakest options, with Hippiah only saved by its druid-y spell list.
Part 3: Player's Options
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There's two major sections for the Player's Options chapter – Backgrounds and Feats.
I won't go over every background, but I will note that they had some formatting issues here as well and broke the mold on a number of them. Backgrounds are meant to be two skills and then two tools or languages, along with a feature. This set of backgrounds doesn't follow that. They all get two skills at least, but some get two tool proficiencies, some get one, and some get none. All backgrounds get two languages of your choice (which is listed twice, as 'Languages: Two of your choice, Two of your choice'), with the exception of Squirrel's End Urchin and Witchcraft House Outcast, which get 'One of your choice, One of your choice' for languages. Their words, not mine.
Featurewise some are similar to existing ones – Great War of Hereva Veteran is essentially just Soldier from the PHB. Others are more...esoteric. Hereva Scholar gives you advantage on intelligence-based skill checks related to magic or the world of Hereva. This could interact with the Witch's spell research feature.
Magical Beast Researcher can make a survival check whenever it encounters a new creature to deduce 'one of its special attacks'. Mystic Archivist can make an intelligence check to essentially Identify an item as an action, once per object. I will say that I like Nomad's feature a lot. When in the wilderness you can find a safe place to short/long rest, preventing you and your party from being found except by magical means. This honestly feels like a better (by which I mean, more balanced) version of the Wanderer trait from the PHB Outlander background.
The 'best' background feature however is that of the Witchcraft House Outcast, and may explain why they didn't get any tool proficiencies. It gives you one of the Witchcraft Magic Feats that are in the feat section, which are similar to Magic Initiate except more directed. This is, of course, well out of the balance line for a background feature.
The backgrounds, in summary, are...iffy. Inherently I don't think there's a problem with 'more powerful backgrounds (like the Ravnica ones) if everyone's on the same page about them and they're all internally equal, but this isn't the case here. Some features are bog standard, some are way too strong, and some are balanced in a new way. Is two tool proficiencies equivalent to a cantrip, two spells known, and two free spell casts per long rest? Not even slightly. Between that and the formatting problems with languages, this section needs a revision. There's some neat ideas in here held back by a few balance outliers and formatting.
We move onto feats, of which there are 13 in total, a suitably witchy number. I don't know if that was deliberate or coincidental but I choose to believe it was deliberate.
Six of these thirteen feets are a Witchcraft Magic House Feat, and they each follow the same pattern. One cantrip, one 1st level spell, and one 2nd level spell. You can cast the 1st+2nd level spells once before requiring a long rest without expending Rea points (though Ah magic mentions spell slots instead of Rea points, a mistake). Their prerequisite is that you can't be that house – for instance if you're a Chaosah witch, you can't take the Chaosah Weird Magic feat. These are fine as far as feats go – similar to Magic Initiate but they're more limited in what choices you can make since the spells you learn are set instead of wild card.
Three of the feats are half feats. Demonic Resilience gives you +1 Con, and when you take 10 or more damage from a single weapon attack that doesn't take you to 0, you immediately heal for ChaMod hit points. Mystic Bibliophile is +1 Int/Wis, gives advantage on spell research checks and reduces cost/time by half. Broom Racer gives you +1 Cha/Dex, drops the broom ritual from 1 hour to 10 minutes and ups its fly speed by 20'.
They've also got Combat Witchcraft, which is a variant on Warcaster – no advantage on concentration saves but you can disengage as a bonus action. Creature of the Night gives you and your familiar Darkvision 30' and you get advantage vs. Frightened. There's two wand-based feats as well, but those aren't particularly gripping to me.
Overall the feats – save the minor typo in Ah magic – are fine. There's nothing particularly out of balance here, though I will say that I wish there was a potion brewer feat. I expect it could be a half feat even if you gave it tool expertise, advantage on potion brewing checks and halving cost/brew time.
Part 4: Witchcraft Magic
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This section contains the Witch spell list, including roughly 60(!) new spells, and a number of magic items.
Notably, the witch as standard gets no offensive magic for their first level spells, instead getting Illusory Script, Comprehend Languages, Unseen Servant and new spells Mind Bond and Stroke of Genius. The former is limited telepathy, the latter grants some intelligence to a beast. This means that you can't spend Rea on offensive spells at 1st level, and potentially can't at 2nd level if your subclass doesn't have any offensive spells – and indeed Ah, Hippiah and Zombiah do not. Aquah gets Water Expulsion, which deals no damage but can push someone 10' and knock them prone, Chaosah gets Hideous Laughter and Grease, and Magmah gets Burning Hands and Charm Person.
Once you get your 2nd level spells this isn't an issue however. All witches get access to shatter, at the very least. Notably this is also on the Chaosah spell list, but since they don't automatically learn the spells from their class spell list (or at least the text doesn't seem to indicate as such) this is a 'dead' entry on the Chaosah spell list. This is also true for Banishment, which appears on both the witch spell list and the Ah spell list.
With roughly 60 new spells in total to go through I won't touch on them all, just mention the ones that are particularly cool or bad. On that note, Conjure Water Elemental, a 5th level Aquah spell, is a water elemental version of conjure animals, but it says “the GM has the creature's statistics” and...uh, do they? I'm not sure they do. They're not in the supplement and I don't believe there's CR 1, 2, 3 and 4 water elementals in the monster manual. Create Evil Pumpkin is of course an excellent spell. It's similar to the Awaken spell, but 4th level instead of 5th, it doesn't consume the (500gp) material component and it can only be used on pumpkins to create a CR3 creature.
Flambé is a Magmah witch cantrip that buffs a piece of food. When a creature eats a buffed piece of food their max hit points are increased by 1d4, which increases by +2 at 5th/11th/17th (maxing at 1d4+6). Notably the duration in the spell is Instantaneous and the health increase doesn't have a specified duration, indicating it may be permanent (but cannot stack with itself?), so it's effectively a permanent +4 to +10 HP max HP to your party at the cost of a cantrip slot. Seems worth. Also the food provides enough nourishment for a whole day, akin to a goodberry. Nuclear Chaos is a very potent 9th level spell on the Chaosah spell list, with a suitably long explanation that detailing it here would feel excessive, but it's cool, it feels like a 9th level spell, excellent work.
Phoenix Egg Shell...less so. It looks like they copy/pasted some of the text from Shield since it has a casting time of 1 action but gives you +4 to AC “including against the triggering attack, and you take no damage from magic missile.” It's also an instantaneous spell but you get fire resistance for the duration of the spell which I guess either means permanent fire resistance or no fire resistance. Either way, this one needs to be checked again.
Power Word Create is a 9th level spell that creates a “mundane” object of up to 50,000gp in value for 1 hour... but then specifies you can create a magic item with it, up to very rare rarity, and instantly attune it to someone. Alternatively, you can create an undead or construct with a CR of up to 8 under your control. Neat idea for a 9th level spell, just needs a review on wording I think. Sword of the Lake is thematically very neat but ultimately it's a 7th level concentration spell that makes an attack with your bonus action for 1d10 force and 2d10 cold. There's definitely better uses for your Rea and your concentration.
Witch Blast is a neat 3rd level spell that lets you do 2d6 fire+2d6 necrotic damage in a 20' radius, but while you maintain concentration you can choose to take 5 necrotic damage at the start of your turn to deal the same damage again at a point within range, at no apparent action cost. Balance notwithstanding, I like the idea of a more potent damage spell with a concentration requirement that 'burns' you for maintaining it.
While there are many more spells in this section, those are the ones that jumped out at me. Some good, some bad, some poorly written, which is a fairly common thread at this point.
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The second section of this chapter is Magic Items. There's roughly 75 of these, so I won't be going through them all, but they start off very strong with the Best Coffee Ever, a wondrous item that gives you advantage for 24 hours on rolls to create magic items. Very rare, so prohibitive to acquire a lot of it, but it's narratively satisfying and not overpowered. Good item.
Crystal Ball of Environment is a tiny demiplane in essentially a snowglobe that you can shake to change the weather. Creatures one inch tall or smaller can enter it...but I don't see a way to get that tiny, which is a shame. I like it otherwise. Potion of Mega Hair Growth gives you enormous fur growth for one hour that gives you cold resistance, that's cute.
They have a lot of robes, staffs, wands and rods that are all fairly reasonable – nothing particularly “notable” but also not broken or a problem. Just solid, which makes them not interesting to talk about. A chunk of the robes are just the same item but duplicated six times – one for each Witch House and restricted by subclass, which is fine, but they could've cut down on word count by having it be one item and just noting that the item will be witch house specific.
The last item in their list is also a strong one – Witch Cauldron, which you can make the perfect temperature to cook or prepare a potion in with a command word. It also specifies “any perishable inside the cauldron will stay fresh indefinitely until taken out”. Dead bodies are perishable...
Part 5: Appendices
The appendices are statblocks for creatures either used as familiars for the Witch or summoned/created by witch spells. Nothing particularly notable here except for the Ancient Evil Pumpkin, which is a better version of the Evil Pumpkin, but doesn't get mentioned anywhere else in the supplement – it seems for more DM use as a monster than witches to summon. Still, never so no to evil pumpkins.
Part 6: Conclusion
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This supplement isn't perfect. The subclasses and player options sections especially could do with a thorough review/rewrite to clear up wording problems or some balancing issues. That said, I do not think it's bad. A DM and player who wanted to use a Witch from this supplement could make a few minor tweaks here and there, clear up some wording between them, and there and have zero issue whatsoever. I do think it's a potent class, with the auto-upcasting allowing them to unleash significant amounts of hurt, but a limited spell list combined with limited spells known means they're going to be niche, and lack the widespread utility of other casters like clerics or wizards, unless you give them lots and lots and lots of downtime for potion crafting and spell research.
The core features are solid, I believe it stayed faithful to both what a witch is in the cultural zeitgeist and its inspiring material.
Would I recommend this supplement? Only if you can deal with the caveats I've mentioned above. If not, I can certainly understand it. It's frustrating for a product to have these issues. That said, with tweaks, I'd let it be run at my table, and I'd be interested in playing one myself.
If you like the art, go support the original artist and creator who inspired this piece. As requested by the artist/writer Dave Revoy, the art used here is used under the Creative Commons License 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). All credits go to him. (https://www.peppercarrot.com/en/static7/author)
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Witchraft: Magic of Hereva (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/291872/Witchcraft-Magic-of-Hereva-5e) is a 5e supplement directly inspired, and using artwork from, the webcomic Pepper & Carrot (https://www.peppercarrot.com/en/). Though not directly supported by the author/artist, the original creators do encourage people to adapt their works for commercial use, which is neat. The comic itself is very charming, with vibrant art and a delightful whimsical tone. I'd recommend it to anyone and everyone. All it will cost you is time.
The supplement itself is broken up into 4 major sections – the Witch class, the subclasses for the Witch class (6 in total), Backgrounds and Feats, and then new spells and magic items. It also includes a few monsters, as well as statblocks for the witch's familiar, as they use unique statblocks instead of repurposing existing animals as the wizards do.
Outside of minor flavour indications here and there there's not a whole lot about the setting itself. This information is available on the Pepper & Carrot (https://www.peppercarrot.com/en/static8/wiki&page=README) creator's website, but notably it doesn't have anything like a world map, keeping such things loosey-goosey. Probably in its favour, for such a whimsical story.
Part 1: Witch of Hereva
The core class itself and centrepiece of the supplement. If I had to give my briefest impression of the class, it's that its spellcasting is very potent, but its other features (ignoring the subclasses for the moment) are weirdly restrictive in other ways.
They're a charisma-based full caster working off of spells known. They have d8 hit points, no armour proficiency and limited weapon proficiency. They cap out at 15 spells known total with slightly slower curve compared to sorcerers – their 15th spell known comes at 19th level, instead of 17th. They start with two cantrips, and max out at 4 cantrips by 10th level.
Instead of working off of spell slots or the existing spell points system, they instead use 'Rea' points. Each spell, regardless of spell level, costs 1 Rea point. They start off with 2 Rea points, and max out at 13 by 20th level, recovering them all on a long rest. Notably, however, every spell a witch casts is automatically upcast to your maximum spell level while still only costing one Rea point. They are, however, restricted from casting 6th+ level spells to one of each spell level per long rest – though this doesn't apply to upcast spells, just spells originally of level 6 or above. This is pretty neat, blending warlock auto-upcast scaling with sorcerer limited spells known, though the fact that they scale upcast all the way to 9th(!) is unusual and potent.
They get a familiar at first level, however notably they do not summon familiars from their own soul/elsewhere as wizards and warlocks do, instead they use a 1 hour ritual to bind an existing animal (or spirit) to them. Each special familiar animal is associated with a saving throw and a damage type, and you can use a reaction to gain advantage on one saving throw or resistance to that damage type when attacked with it (once per long rest). I do like this alternate approach to the familiar, and it feels more witchy to bond with an actual animal, however this does rely on some agreeability with your DM to not target them. While a wizard can resummon a dead familiar with a minor gold dump, its explicit that a Witch's familiar is a living creature, and with no cheap or easy way to bring them back if they die, it's a far greater (and sadder) loss if they get into danger.
I'll touch on the six subclasses you get in the next section, but you unlock a subclass at 2nd level, gaining new features at 7th, 11th, 15th, and 20th level. The sidebar for witchcraft houses mentions it “totally changes the role the witch has on her adventuring party” and...it may be overstating it slightly. More on that later.
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At 3rd level a witch unlocks Potion Brewing, with both a 'Recipe Research Time' (scaling from 1 week for a common potion to 20 weeks for a legendary potion) and DC to learn, and then a cost (25gp to 25000gp) and brewing time (2 days to 10 weeks), with a scaled DC to tell you the result of your brew. I like the idea behind this a lot. It essentially gives Witches a class-specific way to use downtime in a manner that makes them better at being a witch. That's cool. That said however it relies on Intelligence (Alchemist Supplies) checks. While you get proficiency in Alch Supplies from your class, Intelligence is going to be a tertiary stat (behind Cha, Dex and Con) meaning it's unlikely to climb beyond 12 or 14 at most. The difficulty of the checks for higher level potions to learn is potentially impossible unless you invest a feat or a level dip in getting expertise in Alch Supplies.
5th level lets them temporarily enchant a broom to become a Broom of Flying, with a 1 hour ritual and a cost of 50gp in materials, lasting for 1 hour, once per long rest. You get additional uses and extended duration at 10th and 15th levels. It doesn't state the materials are consumed but that was my interpretation. If it consumes them it's a little less attractive, considering the time investment required during an adventuring day. Regardless, it's a very witchy feature.
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10th level brings them a slight expansion on your spells known via the Spell Research feature, which lets you nab spells 1 level lower than your current maximum from the wizard spell list, up to a total of four by 17th level, which effectively brings their spells known to 19. This isn't automatic, like a Bard's Magical Secrets, instead it's another use of downtime with a Research Time (2-16 days), cost (150-1200gp) and Intelligence (Arcana) DC (16-23) based off of spell level. Should you fail your check, the next attempts to learn the same spell have halved time and gold cost.
Like potion brewing I like the idea of this, however how useful it ends up being will depend a lot on downtime you get in your campaign, since you might have to take over two weeks out of adventuring to get your stolen 8th level wizard spell. The arcana checks are at least viable even if you don't get expertise in the skill, though they will be a lot easier if you do.
Rea Focus is the final core class feature, gained at 13th level, giving you a way to cast a spell (assuming it's at least one level lower than your max spell level) even if you've expended all your Rea points for the day, though only once per long rest (increasing to two later). You roll a number of d6 equal to the level of the spell you're casting, and any 1s and 6s become 'negative' and 'positive' points respectively. In addition to the standard spell effects, negative points deal 5 damage each and positive points heal 5 damage each, to all creatures in a 60' radius on you. There's also some additional aspects based on the number of negative/positive points.
Overall I like this. It's got enough of a 'desperation' feel while not calling back to the wild magic sorcerer table. The fact that it hits everyone with both the healing and damage feels appropriate too. The damage type isn't specified, simply saying that they “lose” hitpoints. Personally I'd assign it force damage, though it may be intended that it's not 'damage', just a hit point reduction.
I'll touch on the spell list later on, but in summary the core of the Witch class is a solid base, and will thrive well in any campaign where there's downtime between major events, while still being able to contribute handily even if there isn't. I have things I would tweak personally, but it's absolutely workable right out of the box even without factoring in subclasses. With fewer spells per day than most other casters (save the warlock) but automatic upcasting to 9th level eventually, it's an odd duck.
It feels suitably witchy though, which is important.
Part 2: Witch Houses
There are six subclasses (“Witch Houses”) available for the witch. Each house adds additional spells to the spell list they can choose (but not spells known). The brief breakdown of each is Ah (Healing/Spirits), Aquah (Water/Weather), Chaosah (Debuffs/Control, Hippiah (Druid-lite), Magmah (Fire/Support), and Zombiah (Minions!). The additional spells on the spell list are all either new spells included later, or in the 5e SRD, so you don't need any additional books to play the Witch. This supplement and the SRD get you everything you need. I like that.
I will say that in this section I noticed a few more typos. There were also cases where features seemed not quite complete, which was disappointing. While I personally don't have an issue with typos or words being swapped around – I can read over them automatically – it could have definitely done with another readover or two.
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Taking the subclasses in alphabetical order, we'll start with Ah. Their expanded spell list includes some cleric staples like Spiritual Weapon, Revivify, Heal and Raise Dead (among others).
At 2nd level when you cast a healing spell of 1st or above on a creature, you can choose to give them a ward of temp HP equal to witch level+chamod. Its wording is similar to the abjurer arcane ward, but if it gets destroyed to 0 HP you can't create a new one on that creature until the end of your next long rest. As long as it's got 1 or more HP left, any healing on that creature you do is also copied to the ward.
7th level gives you essentially Elf Trance as a class feature. You can spend a Rea point to extend it to 1+Chamod other creatures. A bit niche, but potentially very nice if you're in a time sensitive campaign. Taking 4 hours for a long rest for your group instead of 8 hours certainly has its uses though of course the limit of 1 LR/24 hours remains.
11th level lets you choose an elemental resistance for your 2nd level ward, so that as long as a creature has the ward active they have resistance to that damage type. You can swap out the resistance type on a short or long rest. A minor buff.
15th level gets you the perhaps deceptively named Planar Walk. It in fact does not let you go to different planes, it's instead a version of Teleport (with a charisma check instead of % roll for being off target) that only lets you travel to places on the same Plane. Notably there is no limitation on using this ability. It doesn't cost Rea. As written, this means you can essentially teleport whenever you want. Is that intended? I don't know for certain, though they've been good at including usage limitations otherwise, so I expect it's intended.
20th level is the capstone of an Ah Witch, named Terminus, a potent debuff against one creature which lasts for 5 turns. At the start of each turn it makes a Cha save. On a successful save(!) it loses either its movement or its action for that turn. On a failed save, it's essentially Banished for the remainder of the debuff and takes 3d10 force for each turn it was banished. Alternatively, you can make it a multi-target ability, choosing up to 5 creatures. On a successful cha save, they lose their movement and actions for their next turn. On a failed save they're banished and take 3d6 force damage. If killed, the body doesn't return. Fiends and undead have disadvantage on terminus saves, celestial and fey have advantage. It's got a 7 day cooldown.
Taking the subclass as a whole, I like it, though any elf witches might be disappointed by the 7th level feature initially, its Rea point option means you can spread the love and it'll still see use, unless you're somehow in an all-elf party.
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Moving on to Aquah, they're more aligned with close combat. Their expanded spell list is a lot of water, wind and cold-oriented spells like call Lightning, Control Weather and Ice Storm.
2nd level gets them three features – permanent Water Breathing, an AC of 13+Dex as long as they're not wearing armour or using a shield, and 'Water Whip', which you can summon as a bonus action and attack with as an action. It uses Charisma for attack/damage rolls, and its damage scales from 1d4 at 2nd to 1d10 at 15th. At 11th level you can spend up to 3 Rea to unlock Extra Attack, add your spell level to damage dealt and use a reaction to hit someone who damaged you within range.
7th level unlocks Summon Water Snake Elemental, a CR2 Huge(!) elemental that lasts for an hour and follows your commands. Its got a chunky hit point count of 90 and has a Constrict attack. Notably, this does not have a usage limitation on it. As written you can not only summon more than one at a time, you can summon them infinitely without any cost. I do not believe that this is intended. I am unsure if you are meant to be able to cast it repeatedly throughout the day with no more than one at a time. Given its CR and lack of scaling at later levels, that might be the intention, essentially turning it into a pseudo-beastmaster.
11th level gets you Ice Block, which locks you inside ice that has 3x your witch level in hit points. You can't take any actions while inside, except using a reaction to dismiss the ice block. You can spend 1 Rea point when you cast it to let you move the ice block as an action, and when you dismiss the enhanced version it deals cold damage in a 10' AoE around you.15th level nets you permanent resistance to cold, lightning, and non-magical B/P/S damage.
20th level unlocks Summon Abyssal Monster, which lets you choose from 4 different creatures to summon – Megashark, Hereva Kraken, Giant Whale, and the Abyssal Turtle. Only the turtle can breathe air or water, with the other three being limited to just water. Each is slightly different in their own way but they're all CR8. There is no duration listed for these summons, but using it has a 7 day cooldown. Like Summon Water Snake Elemental I'm unclear if a 20th level Aquah Witch is meant to be able to amass a vast army of loyal megasharks and abyssal turtles but given that it's their capstone I don't think that's a problem really. They still need to feed them if they don't disappear, after all...
Aquah on the whole is, of course, going to be at home in any sea-based campaigns. Some potential gaps in wording for the Summon abilities leave them feeling not quite 'complete', and it would benefit from their limitations being made explicit rather than implied. Water Whip feels a bit too weak compared to cantrip damage, and having to invest potentially 2 Rea (which at 11th level is equivalent to 2 6 level spells) just to get it Extra Attack and Spell Level to damage is a costly bargain. I can see how it's oriented as a more 'martial' witch, using Water Whip in place of a martial weapon, however like some other spellcasters-with-martial elements, it still feels like you'd be better off staying at a distance and using cantrips, with the defensive bonuses only coming up when someone breaks through to you.
It feels like Aquah needed another editing pass or two just to iron out some balance and wording problems. I can see the core of it, it's just not quite fully realised.
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Chaosah is our third witch house, and the one that the main character Pepper follows. Ah was focused on 'support', Aquah as 'martial', and Chaosah is described as 'control', using illusions and enchantments to weaken enemies. Their expanded spell list includes things like Confusion, Polymorph, Feeblemind and Major Image. It's a solid enough list, though most of them don't seem to upcast, or upcast to any noticeable degree.
Their 2nd level feature is 'Chaos Confusion' (though the features table simply calls is 'Confusion'). It lets you cast a version of the Confusion spell with a slightly modified table, and lasting only one round, on a single creature ChaMod/LR. Doesn't have Concentration requirement, it's a short term debuff.
7th level is Chaos Control, though any relation to a certain black hedgehog is unclear. Also ChaMod/LR, it lets you use your bonus action to buff a creature based on a d10 roll ranging from d6 to the next roll they make, advantage on the next roll they make, advantage on all rolls they make until the end of your next turn, and advantage on all rolls they make...but they're also a tiny animal until the end of your next turn.
11th level gives you immunity to Charmed and the confusion spell, and advantage vs. any illusion spells. 15th level is 'Underworld Ally' which is similar to Planar Ally with a gold cost in exchange for services. The demons summoned are listed later, being either CR6 or 7. There's no action requirement for using this (which is probably a mistake) and you can use it twice per long rest.
Finally is their capstone, Dimensional Fracture, which creates an area of 'total chaos' 100' around you, making all the area difficult terrain. Creatures inside the area make a wis save at the start of their turn. On a fail, they take 4d10 force damage and roll on the Confusion table. You are immune to this, your allies have advantage on the save, and your enemies have disadvantage on the save. It doesn't say how long the dimensional fracture area lasts, nor does it state an action requirement. This may imply that it's just a permanent area of chaotic energies. Like other capstones, it's got a 7 day cooldown.
Chaosah is...fine. Like Aquah it feels let down by a few things missing from the ability descriptions. A lower level, directed Confusion ability at 2nd level is good, I like that, and the 7th level buff is fine too. In short, I think it works in earlier levels but its higher level features don't leave me feeling particularly inspired. It could do with another editing pass.
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Fourth in our list of subclasses is the Hippiah witch. If Ah were Cleric-Witches, then Hippah are Druid-Witches. They're all about nature and the description says they can play the role of melee fighter or summoner of combat creatures, which feels remarkably similar to Aquah. They get things like Conjure Animals, Conjure Woodland Beings, Druidcraft, and Shapechange on their expanded spell list.
At 2nd level they get Nature Blessing, which is an action to heal 1d4 to four creatures that can see you within 30', once per LR. At 10th level it refreshes on a short rest, and you can expend a Rea point to add your max spell level to the healing. 7th level is 'Feral Self', which as an action lets you become a pseudo-monk for a number of minutes equal to half your witch level. 1D6 unarmed strikes, Dex instead of Strength, and 13+Dex for AC as long as not wearing armour/shield. You can spend a Rea point to enhance it, at which point it essentially becomes Wild Shape with a few tweaks here and there.
They gain Sylvan Aura at 11th level – advantage on saving throws against beast/fey/plant creatures and resistance to poison damage for you+allies within 15'. At 17th level, this enhances to give you immunity to poison damage, and your allies the advantage on saving throws.Their 15th level feature is Summon Natural Ally, letting them summon a beast of CR equal to your max spell level of lower for a number of minutes equal to your Witch Level, as an action. There is no usage limitation on this.
The capstone is Mother Earth Embrace, which summons a bunch of vines as an action in an area of 120' radius around you, dealing damage of different amounts for 10 turns. Again, 7 day cooldown.
In contrast to Chaosah in that I think Hippiah's early level features are very weak and they only really get going after 11th level. The lack of usage limitation on Summon Natural Ally probably needs reviewing. Hippiah is probably going to be kept going early level thanks to the strength of its spell list – Conjure Animals on its own is too good to pass up, especially since it automatically upcasts as you gain more and more levels.
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Our 5th subclass to look at is Magmah, witch is the “house of cooking, baking, grilling, boiling, frying, steaming, and toasting.” Its description notes its intended as a range attacker with some buff support. Their expanded spell list is more fireballs than buffing, though it does have a few things in there like Heroes' Feast.
At 2nd level they gain cooking tool proficiency, they can create a fire merely by touching flammable materials, and they can imbue a meal with power to give any who eat it a buff for 24 hours depending on your level. These add up, starting with just WitchLevel+Chamod temp HP at 1st, but at 5th it gives advantage on all ability checks of one score (Dexterity gets your entire party Initiative advantage all day every day!). At 11th they get cured of all poison and disease, immunity to poison and frighten, and make all wis saves with advantage, and at 17th they gain resistance to one damage type of their choice.
7th level has two features – Burning Geas and Alchemical Temperature. Burning Geas feels like it's not finished being written. It's a slight variation on the Geas spell, but there's no fiery aspect to it, the damage clause has been removed and there's no action requirement. At the very least it specifies you can use it once per SR/LR. Alchemical Temperature is essentially Heat Metal, without a concentration requirement, and you can choose to either heat them as normal or freeze them to do cold damage. Again, once per SR/LR, though you get to do it twice per SR/LR once you hit 17th level.
At 11th level you get 'Dragon Magic' which gives you immunity to fire damage, and you can choose any number of creatures to be unaffected when you cast an area spell – essentially sculpt magic, except better. Their 15th level feature is Alchemize Spell. Chamod/LR you can change the damage type on any spell you cast to acid/cold/fire/lightning/thunder.
Magmah's capstone is Phoenix Resurrection. When you drop to 0 hit points you use a reaction to explode in a 40' radius. Dex save for 20d6 fire and 20d6 force, half on success. After that you recover half hit points but remain unconscious, waking up either on a successful chasave or if someone slaps you awake or damages you. 7 day cooldown.
Magmah on its own feels like the most powerful subclass so far. Its spell list upcasts well and has a number of good spells on it. With the exception of Burning Geas its class features are all very potent. It's let down by a less 'proactive' and more 'reactive' capstone if that matters. It has fewer issues with wording that we saw previously, though as noted Burning Geas feels incomplete. While Hippiah maybe needed a balance pass to buff its low level features, Magmah could probably do with a nerf.
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The final Witch House subclass is Zombiah, and as the deliciously on-the-nose implies is all about undead, though it also animates objects – a spell that is on their expanded spell list, along with animate dead, simulacrum(!), Awaken, and some other things.
Hint of Life is their 2nd level feature, letting you imbue a tiny object (or larger, at later levels) to serve you. It's basically a single object version of the Animate Objects spell. It lasts for 24 hours, but you can use the feature once per short or long rest, so you could potentially stack up a number of these objects, especially if you're an elf and the rest of your party is not. 7th level gives a passive buff to objects or undead you animate – your PB to attack/damage, hit point boost equal to your witch level, and you can choose one undead to become a 'permanent' minion that you don't need to reassert control over.
11th level's feature is Repair Damage, which lets you heal undead/objects as an action 3d8+ChaMod, ChaMod/LR. Zombiah's 15th level feature is Command Animated Being. Use an action to force a ChaSave on an undead or construct within 60'. If it fails you can't use the feature on it again. Creatures of 8-11 intelligence get advantage on the save, and if they've got 12+ intelligence they also make a new saving throw once per hour to end the effect. You can only have this active on one creature at a time.
The final feature is Breath of Life, Zombiah's capstone. It's essentially a True Resurrection without a material cost but a 7 day cooldown.
Zombiah is a good subclass to end on. Its features are all thematically coherent, I didn't notice any action requirement issues or stacking problems like we saw with Aquah for instance. Hint of Life is potentially very strong, maybe netting you half Animate Objects at 2nd level without any concentration requirement, and only getting stronger from there. I think Magmah still takes the cake for power overall, but Zombiah isn't very far behind. One thing I will say I like is that, despite the name and aesthetic you don't have to use undead at all, relying solely on animated objects and constructs. This is a good option to provide for a number of reasons, and one I'm glad the creator chose to do.
And with that, the subclasses have been looked at in full. They're a mixed bag overall. If I were bringing this to a table (or offering it from behind the DM's seat) there's definitely suggestions I'd have on fixing some of the absent wording. I don't think ranking each subclass by total power is useful, but I will say that Aquah and Chaosah are probably the weakest options, with Hippiah only saved by its druid-y spell list.
Part 3: Player's Options
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There's two major sections for the Player's Options chapter – Backgrounds and Feats.
I won't go over every background, but I will note that they had some formatting issues here as well and broke the mold on a number of them. Backgrounds are meant to be two skills and then two tools or languages, along with a feature. This set of backgrounds doesn't follow that. They all get two skills at least, but some get two tool proficiencies, some get one, and some get none. All backgrounds get two languages of your choice (which is listed twice, as 'Languages: Two of your choice, Two of your choice'), with the exception of Squirrel's End Urchin and Witchcraft House Outcast, which get 'One of your choice, One of your choice' for languages. Their words, not mine.
Featurewise some are similar to existing ones – Great War of Hereva Veteran is essentially just Soldier from the PHB. Others are more...esoteric. Hereva Scholar gives you advantage on intelligence-based skill checks related to magic or the world of Hereva. This could interact with the Witch's spell research feature.
Magical Beast Researcher can make a survival check whenever it encounters a new creature to deduce 'one of its special attacks'. Mystic Archivist can make an intelligence check to essentially Identify an item as an action, once per object. I will say that I like Nomad's feature a lot. When in the wilderness you can find a safe place to short/long rest, preventing you and your party from being found except by magical means. This honestly feels like a better (by which I mean, more balanced) version of the Wanderer trait from the PHB Outlander background.
The 'best' background feature however is that of the Witchcraft House Outcast, and may explain why they didn't get any tool proficiencies. It gives you one of the Witchcraft Magic Feats that are in the feat section, which are similar to Magic Initiate except more directed. This is, of course, well out of the balance line for a background feature.
The backgrounds, in summary, are...iffy. Inherently I don't think there's a problem with 'more powerful backgrounds (like the Ravnica ones) if everyone's on the same page about them and they're all internally equal, but this isn't the case here. Some features are bog standard, some are way too strong, and some are balanced in a new way. Is two tool proficiencies equivalent to a cantrip, two spells known, and two free spell casts per long rest? Not even slightly. Between that and the formatting problems with languages, this section needs a revision. There's some neat ideas in here held back by a few balance outliers and formatting.
We move onto feats, of which there are 13 in total, a suitably witchy number. I don't know if that was deliberate or coincidental but I choose to believe it was deliberate.
Six of these thirteen feets are a Witchcraft Magic House Feat, and they each follow the same pattern. One cantrip, one 1st level spell, and one 2nd level spell. You can cast the 1st+2nd level spells once before requiring a long rest without expending Rea points (though Ah magic mentions spell slots instead of Rea points, a mistake). Their prerequisite is that you can't be that house – for instance if you're a Chaosah witch, you can't take the Chaosah Weird Magic feat. These are fine as far as feats go – similar to Magic Initiate but they're more limited in what choices you can make since the spells you learn are set instead of wild card.
Three of the feats are half feats. Demonic Resilience gives you +1 Con, and when you take 10 or more damage from a single weapon attack that doesn't take you to 0, you immediately heal for ChaMod hit points. Mystic Bibliophile is +1 Int/Wis, gives advantage on spell research checks and reduces cost/time by half. Broom Racer gives you +1 Cha/Dex, drops the broom ritual from 1 hour to 10 minutes and ups its fly speed by 20'.
They've also got Combat Witchcraft, which is a variant on Warcaster – no advantage on concentration saves but you can disengage as a bonus action. Creature of the Night gives you and your familiar Darkvision 30' and you get advantage vs. Frightened. There's two wand-based feats as well, but those aren't particularly gripping to me.
Overall the feats – save the minor typo in Ah magic – are fine. There's nothing particularly out of balance here, though I will say that I wish there was a potion brewer feat. I expect it could be a half feat even if you gave it tool expertise, advantage on potion brewing checks and halving cost/brew time.
Part 4: Witchcraft Magic
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This section contains the Witch spell list, including roughly 60(!) new spells, and a number of magic items.
Notably, the witch as standard gets no offensive magic for their first level spells, instead getting Illusory Script, Comprehend Languages, Unseen Servant and new spells Mind Bond and Stroke of Genius. The former is limited telepathy, the latter grants some intelligence to a beast. This means that you can't spend Rea on offensive spells at 1st level, and potentially can't at 2nd level if your subclass doesn't have any offensive spells – and indeed Ah, Hippiah and Zombiah do not. Aquah gets Water Expulsion, which deals no damage but can push someone 10' and knock them prone, Chaosah gets Hideous Laughter and Grease, and Magmah gets Burning Hands and Charm Person.
Once you get your 2nd level spells this isn't an issue however. All witches get access to shatter, at the very least. Notably this is also on the Chaosah spell list, but since they don't automatically learn the spells from their class spell list (or at least the text doesn't seem to indicate as such) this is a 'dead' entry on the Chaosah spell list. This is also true for Banishment, which appears on both the witch spell list and the Ah spell list.
With roughly 60 new spells in total to go through I won't touch on them all, just mention the ones that are particularly cool or bad. On that note, Conjure Water Elemental, a 5th level Aquah spell, is a water elemental version of conjure animals, but it says “the GM has the creature's statistics” and...uh, do they? I'm not sure they do. They're not in the supplement and I don't believe there's CR 1, 2, 3 and 4 water elementals in the monster manual. Create Evil Pumpkin is of course an excellent spell. It's similar to the Awaken spell, but 4th level instead of 5th, it doesn't consume the (500gp) material component and it can only be used on pumpkins to create a CR3 creature.
Flambé is a Magmah witch cantrip that buffs a piece of food. When a creature eats a buffed piece of food their max hit points are increased by 1d4, which increases by +2 at 5th/11th/17th (maxing at 1d4+6). Notably the duration in the spell is Instantaneous and the health increase doesn't have a specified duration, indicating it may be permanent (but cannot stack with itself?), so it's effectively a permanent +4 to +10 HP max HP to your party at the cost of a cantrip slot. Seems worth. Also the food provides enough nourishment for a whole day, akin to a goodberry. Nuclear Chaos is a very potent 9th level spell on the Chaosah spell list, with a suitably long explanation that detailing it here would feel excessive, but it's cool, it feels like a 9th level spell, excellent work.
Phoenix Egg Shell...less so. It looks like they copy/pasted some of the text from Shield since it has a casting time of 1 action but gives you +4 to AC “including against the triggering attack, and you take no damage from magic missile.” It's also an instantaneous spell but you get fire resistance for the duration of the spell which I guess either means permanent fire resistance or no fire resistance. Either way, this one needs to be checked again.
Power Word Create is a 9th level spell that creates a “mundane” object of up to 50,000gp in value for 1 hour... but then specifies you can create a magic item with it, up to very rare rarity, and instantly attune it to someone. Alternatively, you can create an undead or construct with a CR of up to 8 under your control. Neat idea for a 9th level spell, just needs a review on wording I think. Sword of the Lake is thematically very neat but ultimately it's a 7th level concentration spell that makes an attack with your bonus action for 1d10 force and 2d10 cold. There's definitely better uses for your Rea and your concentration.
Witch Blast is a neat 3rd level spell that lets you do 2d6 fire+2d6 necrotic damage in a 20' radius, but while you maintain concentration you can choose to take 5 necrotic damage at the start of your turn to deal the same damage again at a point within range, at no apparent action cost. Balance notwithstanding, I like the idea of a more potent damage spell with a concentration requirement that 'burns' you for maintaining it.
While there are many more spells in this section, those are the ones that jumped out at me. Some good, some bad, some poorly written, which is a fairly common thread at this point.
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The second section of this chapter is Magic Items. There's roughly 75 of these, so I won't be going through them all, but they start off very strong with the Best Coffee Ever, a wondrous item that gives you advantage for 24 hours on rolls to create magic items. Very rare, so prohibitive to acquire a lot of it, but it's narratively satisfying and not overpowered. Good item.
Crystal Ball of Environment is a tiny demiplane in essentially a snowglobe that you can shake to change the weather. Creatures one inch tall or smaller can enter it...but I don't see a way to get that tiny, which is a shame. I like it otherwise. Potion of Mega Hair Growth gives you enormous fur growth for one hour that gives you cold resistance, that's cute.
They have a lot of robes, staffs, wands and rods that are all fairly reasonable – nothing particularly “notable” but also not broken or a problem. Just solid, which makes them not interesting to talk about. A chunk of the robes are just the same item but duplicated six times – one for each Witch House and restricted by subclass, which is fine, but they could've cut down on word count by having it be one item and just noting that the item will be witch house specific.
The last item in their list is also a strong one – Witch Cauldron, which you can make the perfect temperature to cook or prepare a potion in with a command word. It also specifies “any perishable inside the cauldron will stay fresh indefinitely until taken out”. Dead bodies are perishable...
Part 5: Appendices
The appendices are statblocks for creatures either used as familiars for the Witch or summoned/created by witch spells. Nothing particularly notable here except for the Ancient Evil Pumpkin, which is a better version of the Evil Pumpkin, but doesn't get mentioned anywhere else in the supplement – it seems for more DM use as a monster than witches to summon. Still, never so no to evil pumpkins.
Part 6: Conclusion
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This supplement isn't perfect. The subclasses and player options sections especially could do with a thorough review/rewrite to clear up wording problems or some balancing issues. That said, I do not think it's bad. A DM and player who wanted to use a Witch from this supplement could make a few minor tweaks here and there, clear up some wording between them, and there and have zero issue whatsoever. I do think it's a potent class, with the auto-upcasting allowing them to unleash significant amounts of hurt, but a limited spell list combined with limited spells known means they're going to be niche, and lack the widespread utility of other casters like clerics or wizards, unless you give them lots and lots and lots of downtime for potion crafting and spell research.
The core features are solid, I believe it stayed faithful to both what a witch is in the cultural zeitgeist and its inspiring material.
Would I recommend this supplement? Only if you can deal with the caveats I've mentioned above. If not, I can certainly understand it. It's frustrating for a product to have these issues. That said, with tweaks, I'd let it be run at my table, and I'd be interested in playing one myself.
If you like the art, go support the original artist and creator who inspired this piece. As requested by the artist/writer Dave Revoy, the art used here is used under the Creative Commons License 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). All credits go to him. (https://www.peppercarrot.com/en/static7/author)