"Kiri kiri kiri kiri kiri..." (3.5 Monster, PEACH)

[The Tygre]

Misery Hag (Yandega)



"Words create lies. Pain can be trusted."

Misery Hag
Medium Monstrous Humanoid (Hag)
Hit Dice: 3d8+3 (15 hp)
Initiative: +1
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares)
Armor Class: 11 (+1 Dex), touch 11, flat-footed 10
Base Attack/Grapple: +3/+8
Attack: Dagger +4 melee (1d4+1, 19-20/x2)
Full Attack: Dagger +4 melee (1d4+1, 19-20/x2)
Space/Reach: 5x5/5
Special Attacks: Love Hurts, Spell-like Abilities, You Belong to Me
Special Qualities: Bonus Feats, Darkvision 60 ft., Innocence, Never Let Go, Silk Noose, Spell Resistance 12
Saves: Fort +4, Ref +2, Will +2
Abilities: Str 13, Dex 12, Con 12, Int 11, Wis 10, Cha 16
Skills: Bluff +9, Diplomacy +7, Intimidate +6, Knowledge (Local) +1, Hide +2, Listen +1, Move Silently +2, Open Lock +2, Sense Motive +3, Sleight of Hand +1
Feats: Negotiator (B), Persuasive (B), Skill Focus (Bluff), Spell Focus (Enchantment)
Environment: Any Urban
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 5
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Advancement: 4-6 HD (Medium)
Level Adjustment: -

You awaken to a horrifying sight. The young woman that you had had such an enchanting evening with last night is hunched over your chest. Her face is a terrible mask of cold rage, pure malice darkening her eyes to almost black in the shadow of her flowing raven hair. With wicked dispassion, she hisses, “You don’t love me. Not enough. Not yet. You lied. I heard you call for another in you sleep. You faithless wretch…” Slowly, she spreads open a pair of barber’s shears and places them next to your eye, cursing, “-I’m- your dream now.”

Lurking in the wild places of the world, hags represent all that is irredeemably corrupt and hideous. Yet even hags must breed and bring new daughters into the accursed revels, and so it is that hags take on pleasing shape to mate with mortal men. The daughters of these unions are seemingly normal young women and girls with terrible dispositions and an innate talent for witchcraft. It is not until adolescence that their heritage becomes evident; their skin altering its tone, warts and moles burst forth, hair thins, the back hunches, and teeth blacken. At the age when most women would be courting suitors for marriage, a young hag looks to have already seen a century too much of life, and yet has only begun her path to power. But this is not always the case, for universal among hags is an abnormality, an accident of birth and eternal youth known as the Misery Hags.

Misery Hags, or as they are sometimes known, yandega, are exceptionally rare mutant variants of normal hags. There appears to be no particular pattern or reason behind their birth, nor does any one type of hag birth more yandegas than others. Regardless, Misery Hags are shunned by other species of hags. They would be pitied if such an emotion was common among hags, but yandegas are mocked at best and reviled otherwise. For when other hags would begin their metamorphosis into misshapen crones, Misery Hags are beset by a terrible affliction for hag-kind; ever-lasting youth and enchanting beauty.

To hags, ugliness is their true nature. They revel in their hideousness, and embrace it as part of their racial heritage and culture. Disgust is a gift from the dark goddesses of the Hells. The very notion that any creature would call itself a ‘hag’ and then walk in beauty is sheer blasphemy. As such, yandegas are pariahs. Cursed with the long-life span of other hags and gifted with grace and refinement, Misery Hags are living incarnations of weakness, a betrayal to their own race by birth. But beauty is only one of the Misery Hag’s faults in the eyes of her deformed sisters; yandegas are also completely sterile. They can never sire more hags or hag-spawn, or even humanoid servants and cattle. Indeed, the only advantage Misery Hags appear to have over others of their race is an innate propensity to enchantments. Individually, they are far stronger than the lowest tiers of hag ranking. However, their rarity and social isolation make them weak as a whole, and few advance into the higher ranks of witchcraft and sorcery with other hags.

The heart and soul of the Misery Hag still match her species, however. With time, her spirit begins to twist in on itself, growing ever fouler and viler at the same rate as her sisters and mothers. Soon after the onset of her curse, the yandega is a hag in all but appearance. This spiritual growth displaces the hag from any society that would accept her. She is never truly at ease with humanoids or civilization, always seeking to give in to her darker base nature.

This sense of isolation is what drives the Misery Hag to a form of madness. Yandegas are desperate for any kind of connection they can make, for any scrap of honest affection that might be thrown to them. When they find such a source of companionship, usually in the form of a romantic relationship, they cling to it obsessively. That affection becomes not just the purpose of the yandega’s life, but life itself. The Misery Hag will defend the relationship against all threats and foes, going to the most maddening of measures to keep her emotional connection.

What constitutes a threat, however, can be horrifying. Family, friends, work, or even complete strangers can all be perceived as interferences between the hag and her beloved. Such obstacles are dealt with brutally, the yandega showing ‘mercy’ only by trying to discreetly hide the deed from her object of affection. It is only a matter of time, however, before the Misery Hag finds fault with her lover. Perhaps it was some unimagined infidelity, perhaps it was the crux between hiding her hag nature and beautiful mask, or perhaps it was simply a bad day. One way or another, the hag’s beloved dies terribly by the yandega’s hands. Afterwards, the hag does not mourn, nor does she feel any form of regret; only a mounting frustration at the inherently disgusting nature of people for not living up to her psychotic standards. If she needs them, the Misery Hag takes some of the victim’s resources for herself, disposes of anyone or anything that might implicate her actions, and the moves on, ready to begin the cycle anew.

Misery Hags stand between five and six feet tall, and are usually quite petite, weighing around 90-110 lbs. They speak Common and Giant.

Combat
The Misery Hag tries to avoid combat with experienced warriors and adventurers at all costs. If one of the yandega’s thralls is present, she attempts to send them in to fight for her. Otherwise, if reduced to combat, the Misery Hag will try to use her enchantments to turn allies against one another, and her touch of fatigue against anything that comes in range.

Bonus Feats: The Misery Hag gains the Negotiator and Persuasive feats as racial bonus feats.

Darkvision (Ex): A Misery Hag can see in total darkness up to sixty feet away.

Innocence (Su): A yandega is a master of deception and trickery. She is rarely caught in a lie, and can even disguise her true nature from magic. Misery Hags are granted an inherent +4 racial bonus on Will Saves made against alignment detection spells and effects. Similarly, a yandega has +4 racial bonus on Use Magical Device checks, but only in the application of emulating a non-Evil alignment. In addition, characters attempting to uncover information about the Misery Hag through Knowledge or Gather Information checks do so at a -4 penalty.

Love Hurts (Su): The Misery Hag is not a forgiving mistress, and her paramours suffer the scars for her affections. The yandega dispenses brutal punishment to the pathetic filth around her with terrifying ease. To use this ability, the Misery Hag must grapple and pin her opponent. As a full round action, the yandega may torture her victim, inflicting 1d3 Strength and Wisdom drain per round.

Love Hurts has a secondary effect to those affected by the Misery Hag’s You Belong to Me ability. Victims that are subject to that ability’s effect may have any ability drain or damage, not necessarily just from the Misery Hag, restored as a standard action, so long as the yandega is within sixty feet of the victim. A Misery Hag can restore two points of ability drain or damage per round.

Never Let Go (Ex): Misery Hags are disturbingly strong for their size, possibly drawing on powers from such nightmarish ancestors as Annis Hags and ogresses. Whenever a Misery Hag is subject to a size modifier or special size modifier for an opposed check (such as during grapple checks, bull rush attempts, and trip attempts), the yandega is treated as one size larger if doing so is advantageous to her, similar to the Powerful Build special quality. However, unlike Powerful Build, the Misery Hag cannot wield Large-sized weapons or count as Large for special attacks based on size.

Silk Noose (Su): A Misery Hag draws strength and vitality from her admirers. The comfort their presence and adoration provides invigorate the yandega to new heights of power. For every victim which has failed their Will save against the Misery Hag's You Belong to Me ability, the yandega gains a +2 bonus to her Strength and Constitution scores. These bonuses last only as long as the victims of You Belong to Me are alive, and immediately disappear upon the victim's death. They are not restored if the victim is resurrected or returned to life by any other means, though the Misery Hag may re-establish the curse for You Belong to Me.

Spell-Like Abilities (Sp): Caster Level 3rd level.Save DCs Charisma based.
At-Will: Charm Person, Lesser Orb of Acid (Spell Compendium pg. 150-151), Lullaby, Ray of Weakness (Spell Compendium pg. 168), Silent Portal (Spell Compendium pg. 190), Touch of Fatigue
3/day: Bands of Steel (Spell Compendium pg. 24), Detect Thoughts, Hypnotism , Mesmerizing Glare (Spell Compendium pg. 140)
1/day: Suggestion, Love's Lament (Spell Compendium pg. 134)

You Belong to Me (Su): The Misery Hag is the embodiment of possessive madness, a clinging, murderous parasite hidden beneath a gentile façade of sweetness. When a yandega claims a person as part of their life, that being is forevermore bound to the psychotic will of the Misery Hag. A Misery Hag must select a victim for this effect. After the victim is selected, the Misery Hag begins to stalk and observe the chosen victim obsessively, all the while continuously interacting with them. After 1d3 months, the victim is entitled to a Will Save of DC (10 + 1/2 Misery Hag’s HD + Misery Hag’s Cha. Modifier + number of months spent as Misery Hag’s chosen victim).

If the victim fails this Will Save, then they are supernaturally linked to the Misery Hag. This link can be detected with a detect magic spell as a faint aura of necromancy. The link itself is essentially a modified curse and can be severed with a remove curse or break enchantment spell. The curse itself allows the yandega to be able to sense the emotional state and what general direction the victim is in at will. In addition, the Misery Hag will be instantly aware of whenever the victim ‘betrays’ the yandega. ‘Betrayal’ usually constitutes showing affection to another character or NPC, though the exact parameters are up to the DM.

If the victim succeeds on the Will Save, then they are unaffected by the Misery Hag, though the yandega may continue stalking them for a time.

- Plot Hooks -

+ Admirer: During an adventure, the PCs rescue a beautiful stranger. Whoever was directly responsible for the stranger’s release now has a very special admirer!

+ Irony: A covey of hags (perhaps several) are staging a witch hunt. Word has reached the monstrous humanoids of a Misery Hag in the community, and they demand her head on a pike.

+ Walk Softly: The PCs are diplomats in a hostile nation. During negotiations to end a war, one of the PCs catches a duke’s wife at the scene of several gruesome crimes. To act directly against the Misery Hag would be seen as an act of war, while a lack of evidence keeps her above the law. It’s up to the PCs to find a way to peacefully remove the Misery Hag before murder hits the royal court, upsetting the delicate balance of power.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

This has been another Tygre Production of Things-That-Shouldn't-Be. Critique mercilessly. I know for a fact those Special Abilities could use some polish.

[Amechra]

I see someone likes Japanese horror movies.

All in all, I like it, but I do have to say that this is a "special occasion" monster; I actually am thinking of starting a list, if you would like this to be on it, of monsters that you don't just toss in willy-nilly.

Especially since a Yandega would be wonderful for a little scenario I have literally been planning for years...

[The Mentalist]

MUST USE!!!!!

Although as for the stat-block itself, how does it justify its CR 5? I've always assumed it to be a function of combat prowess that this thing doesn't have. As a flavor creature I love it and have ideas for it but to fight this thing seems absurdly easy, No AC, low hit-points, no real damage dealing, even "Love Hurts" requires a grapple that it will probably never win.

Perhaps give it some spell-casting if that fits the flavor here. (It is mentioned a bit in the fluff)

I like it, A lot, but it's CRed a bit high.

[Steward]

I got chills just reading the monster description, which I've only felt a couple of times before. Exceptionally well done!

Innocence (Su): A yandega is a master of deception and trickery. She is rarely caught in a lie, and can even disguise her true nature from magic. Misery Hags are granted an inherent +4 racial bonus on Will Saves made against alignment detection spells and effects. In addition, characters attempting to uncover information about the Misery Hag through Knowledge or Gather Information checks do so at a -4 penalty.

Can you see this ability also granting a bonus on Use Magic Device checks, to emulate a Good alignment? I have this image of a Paladin basing his trust of some beautiful, innocent-looking stranger based largely on the fact that she could hold a sacred relic without having it burn through her flesh. ("She can't be evil! How then could she have read from the Book of Exalted Deeds?")

Although as for the stat-block itself, how does it justify its CR 5? I've always assumed it to be a function of combat prowess that this thing doesn't have. As a flavor creature I love it and have ideas for it but to fight this thing seems absurdly easy, No AC, low hit-points, no real damage dealing, even "Love Hurts" requires a grapple that it will probably never win.

I think boosting the "Love Hurts" ability would be the best way of strengthening this monster's combat power. She

[The Tygre]

I see someone likes Japanese horror movies.

All in all, I like it, but I do have to say that this is a "special occasion" monster; I actually am thinking of starting a list, if you would like this to be on it, of monsters that you don't just toss in willy-nilly.

Especially since a Yandega would be wonderful for a little scenario I have literally been planning for years...

Well, that was the intended feel. So I'd love it to be on your list. And now you have me curious about this scenario of yours...

MUST USE!!!!!

Although as for the stat-block itself, how does it justify its CR 5? I've always assumed it to be a function of combat prowess that this thing doesn't have. As a flavor creature I love it and have ideas for it but to fight this thing seems absurdly easy, No AC, low hit-points, no real damage dealing, even "Love Hurts" requires a grapple that it will probably never win.

Perhaps give it some spell-casting if that fits the flavor here. (It is mentioned a bit in the fluff)

I like it, A lot, but it's CRed a bit high.

Admittedly, I was rather generous with my calculations for the CR. But yes, she definitely needs to be made more combat-worthy for adventurers. Any suggestions on spells? The only thing I'm sure on is some kind of ranged spell. The word 'beam' keeps entering my head.

Can you see this ability also granting a bonus on Use Magic Device checks, to emulate a Good alignment? I have this image of a Paladin basing his trust of some beautiful, innocent-looking stranger based largely on the fact that she could hold a sacred relic without having it burn through her flesh. ("She can't be evil! How then could she have read from the Book of Exalted Deeds?")

That was actually something I had thought of earlier, and had been considering for a couple of other humanoid monsters. I just thought that might be overdoing it, but that just sounds silly now.

I think boosting the "Love Hurts" ability would be the best way of strengthening this monster's combat power. She

Originally I had thought of replacing the ability damage with ability drain. Could that work?

[Amechra]

I'll PM you the basic concept... it really has never advanced past the planning stage, but with all my tweaking, it should be a rather lovely horror-intrigue dungeon crawl.

[Steward]

Originally I had thought of replacing the ability damage with ability drain. Could that work?

That's good! I'm not sure if it's enough though. The Mentalist suggests that the problem with the ability is that the Misery Hag will have a hard time succeeding at the grapple check in the first place. I'm not really good enough with the grapple mechanic (I've never actually used it in a game!) to understand how to improve it.

[The Tygre]

I'll PM you the basic concept... it really has never advanced past the planning stage, but with all my tweaking, it should be a rather lovely horror-intrigue dungeon crawl.

I look forward to it.

That's good! I'm not sure if it's enough though. The Mentalist suggests that the problem with the ability is that the Misery Hag will have a hard time succeeding at the grapple check in the first place. I'm not really good enough with the grapple mechanic (I've never actually used it in a game!) to understand how to improve it.

I was thinking that maybe she could have the same beneficial ability as Goliaths, where she would count as size Large for all beneficial purposes? Something to do with Annis Hag blood, or just more weird hag genetics. Or maybe her Strength and Constitution scores increase the more people she charms.

[Bhu]

Ah know what moveh you been watchin'

[Steward]

I look forward to it.



I was thinking that maybe she could have the same beneficial ability as Goliaths, where she would count as size Large for all beneficial purposes? Something to do with Annis Hag blood, or just more weird hag genetics. Or maybe her Strength and Constitution scores increase the more people she charms.

I like that last one. That could easily be a supernatural ability, in which the misery hag gets a bonus to grapple checks (+1? +2?) for each creature affected by "You Belong To Me!". Take that, in addition with Powerful Build, and I definitely think that this lady would be well-equipped to act as a CR 5 melee challenge.

If you're looking for new spell-like abilities for her, check out Spell Compendium. Two spells in particular, Mesmerizing Glare and Love's Lament sound thematically and mechanically appropriate. The former fascinates people that you look at, and the second manipulates the victim's emotions (mechanically, causing Wisdom damage).

[Debihuman]

Love Hurts has a secondary effect to those affected by the Misery Hag’s You Belong to Me ability. Victims that are subject to that ability’s effect may have any ability damage, not necessarily just from the Misery Hag, restored as a standard action, so long as the yandega is within sixty feet of the victim.

How much ability damage can she restore in a standard round?

Debby

[The Tygre]

Okay, next round of updates finally up. Think I might have gone a little overboard with the Spell Compendium spells. What can I say? You see a good spell, and you're just supposed to let it go? Anyway, I think she lives up to CR 5 now. Hopefully. Please.

[Yitzi]

-The most basic alignment-detecting spells provide no Will save, so they will work as normal.
-You forgot to add the bonus from Never Let Go to the grapple modifier entry.

[Cardea]

I saw this was by you, and I smiled.

I saw the picture, and grew concerned.

I read the fluff, and like how you did it.

I remembered I'm in a game you're DMing, and NOPE.JPG.