User:Cedric/Witch

Witch

Ordinate/Subordinate trait: INT/ASM

Tier Path: Stalker -> Hedge Witch -> Witch -> Elder Witch -> Coven Elder

Skills:

• Head: Hexes and Charms Can set DICE effects which act like a perpetual spell.
• Hands: Potioncraft Witches can leave effects that can bury and take root far from time by concocting potions and placing them in the way of their victims.
• Health: HP co-option Can take 1 HP from people(women?) they don't like, just by turning on them. This can give the player an extra HP or be converted to XP. Does not work on surprise enemies. (They took one of yours, probably.)
• Heart: Biting Wit (capable of assigning a tag to higher-level players without a single blow or dazzling special effects). Gain an HP (or XP).

XP gained by: Something like EMU: how much did the hex change the course of events? It might have affected 50 different events by 100mana. That’s 5000XP for the hex. OR one can tabulate the dice rolls, difference 20*LVL per pip/point effected. OR by finding the actual effect of the hex and the target's losses/gains. (Assume 2x that the DM doesn't know.)
Mana goes to: any intention they have that utilizes one of the elements, otherwise powers their hexes and charms active, providing results either more frequently or more intensely, otherwise the dice have no affect.
Dice Mechanics: Rolls d20s to give dis/advantage on all affected players for a full moon cycle. When there is a large discrepancy between the LVL of the affected character and the witch, XXXthis value is a fraction of the larger persons, if it is another female witch. simply subtractedXXX from their DC rolls. Archimedian dice for setting multipliers are added for greater levels of power for the present set of charms or hexes in action, kept much like a voodoo doll on people, places, and things. These choose what %age of the witches power (%LVL) is applied in the universe for any given time. Regular polyhe(-1) act as the modifier which state. May have to reroll (resets daily) based on certain events that upset the power of the roll (getting "knocked off balance"). If you help hold the scenes in the realm (which helps the any audience present, too) then you can have a little more leeway with the dice??
Group dynamics: Covens. Adds their dice to each other during game.
Conflict resolution: Friendly conversation with subtle innuendo. The witch has to declare to the DM or referee beforehand for it to count and bury or hide the veiled insult amidst other conversation such that the receiver doesn't notice, calling out the innuendo given by her opponent so that it doesn't count. Ultimately, this means the witch must know something the other does not.

Witches are the female counterpart to the wizard class, specializing in INT. They don’t cast magic like a wizard, rather they intend it with the power of their womb. They differ in their grimoires which store knowledge, like potions, rather than spells. Rather than guilds, witches have covens. Rather than incantations, witches have the womb to hold power, hence their focus on hexes and charms, rather than spells. Unlike their male counterparts which draw power from above, witches tend to utilize power from below. Their power of the womb is a significant difference, hence the differentiation between witches and wizards. They often partner with herbalists to share secrets and power-knowledge. It is differentiated from the dreamer class because of its use of power.

Like all magic users, MANA from ASM must be greater than average to be able to use magic, otherwise you are just a sorcerer (using power and intimidation). XXXNO: mana gets stored as reserve HP, or so…

Witches can have predicates affecting a whole village or region. Herbalist use the light of the Oerth for power, while witches use their own. Which is better? Hmm? Witch magic can emanate through object and imbue magic — not into them but through them, engaging the receiver. The use of symbol makes this work and a magical item must have a sigil, figurine, or something unique that is her own that is visible to activate the magic in the receiver.

Instead of spells, witches have hexes and charms, stemming from predicates or statements of belief. If a belief is positive (“Neverwinter is stellar."), it acts as a charm. If it is negative (“Blarg is a feeble-minded peddlefoot.”), then it is a curse. The latter is two-levels of insult (blarg is feeble-minded and blarg is a klutz), the former only 1. If the predicate is about a whole area or group, the dice affect the whole area in a diluted form. The witch can craft more sophisticated insults to get higher dice or gain levels to have more effect. This is where her INT really can pay off — up to a d120. The dice are rolled once per day or session to see what forces are brought to bear on her beliefs for the day. The rest is left for offensive moves that use her action slots.

A witch might, for example, wish to curse another player or NPC. XXXdice. The player then has to keep these dice on the table as the power over the other player (like a voodoo doll, even putting it back the next game if they wish to keep the hex/charm active). A high dice roll could mean once per round, while a low dice score might mean once per week that the target is afflicted. This is why you never want to spurn a woman. They hex you even if she doesn’t think about it by the power of her belief. A coven working together forms a nearly unbeatable force (except perhaps on ungendered NPCs, like sea creatures or reptiles).

The LVL of the player determines the proportion of the universe under her “command”, such that a LVL 50 witch would give instantaneous affects, must like a wizard’s spell, or wide-reaching effects over a longer period of time. MANA can be used to give directed attacks on any dice that are established, giving two times the normal power for each action slot (200 mana). If they wish they can sacrifice XP in a pinch, in a life or death situation. The conversion is 1XP = 1MANA. So that if you sacrifice 600 XP you get that extra 1d6 power for the encounter.

XXX fix this, it must be LVL related or adjusted based on some other factor: The dice roll is 100 mana per 1 pts. So, a d6 means that the dice can affect the cursed/charmed each round (600mana). This gives disadvantage rolls on each round (for levels lower than your own). You get 1 more disadvantage dice for every 6 pts of dice faces. A 24-faced die can give you up to 4 disadvantage dice.

A predicate begins with one clause, but by stacking clauses one can stack the power of the curse/hex. Wendlyn is feeble-minded, whenever she tries to cook, she e....

In order to keep a hex or charm active, the witch has to sacrifice a little of her HP. 1HP per 6pts. She can choose how much power to give to the hex/charm by how much HP she gives up. A target area affecting 20 people means that the d6 will randomly affect 1 of the 20 each round. A d24 could affect 4 people with d6 powers (1/round with 1 disadvantage dice) or 1 person with d24 power (1/round but with 4 disadvantage dice), depending on how the powers align (for example, did another witch target a specific person within your circle of witchcraft? THAT's what I call an "alignment"). A particularly malignant type of curse is when a witch targets another's health (HP).

An interesting difference between the witch and most wizards, is that they can fight without anyone really knowing it. A witch can just set her dice on a round, walk away, and no one knows she just started a war.

One difference between the witch and the herbalist is that the witch gives no piety, for that would move her power to another. The only piety she might give would be to the elements themselves. For this she can draw upon their power if they are in affinity with her and get alignment x LVL(mana) aid towards any purpose she wishes, but the more complicated, the more likelihood of failure, expect a dice roll with faces equal to the number of complexities asked for, unless you have an archimedian that is attuned to such (eldritch) powers -- much like having a key that fits a lock.

Hexes stay in boxed sets? and can roll once per gaming session. Whatever their roll, it affects the effected’s DC rolls by the roll. A roll of 1 reduces their DC checks by 19.

The witch uses the power in her body (womb) to add effects to potions (she merely has to see the ingredients added to potions and intend the effect), while the male druids must(?) add an ingredient like a mushroom to their potions to get access to the Unknown (Mystery) which is automatically connected in women. [Correction: they can also use the power of words properly, like a mage, naming the potion with them, but the female must believe in it in some way.]

Witches craft potions which they can place in a bottle to smear on their targets. These effects curse or bless the person or item as long as their is residue on them. Witches use unusual ingredients so that a unique scent (eye of newt?, werewolf fur, bugs) anchors into the recipients brain. From here, they direct their effects (filling in the void of knowledge that the victim's brain cannot). Potions must be smeared where it will be inhaled or ingested by the target. Affects last as long as they don't realize they've been effected. Approximately LVL - LVL of target days.

Witches can combine their power by working together to share a predicate (like in a caster's circle), in which case their collective power happens all at once: 6 different d6 rolls act as a 6d6 power curse/charm.

Witches get power for their womb, depending on how many other women believe in their knowledge. This advantage builds power, adding to their CON. This means CON is the main force for magic with women, while INT gives the sophistication to harness it.

If a witch`s ASM score is above 10, they also get the power to apply their spells onto objects, cursing them or enchanting them. Depending on their CHR score, they can also get other, more detailed and personal, effects, depending on INT.

Hexes turn things bad for the target, while charms turns things good, much like tags. Each of these can be considered “spells” when used by their action slot (offensive action). Instead of “spells” like wizards, witches have well-crafted words that utilize the power of sounds:

1. “good luck”, “Evil eye”: Bad luck: disadvantage rolls
2. “slowen”: their speed drops by 1/2 or so.
3. "idiot","fool","enfeebled mind": their INT drops, speech slurs, thinking fogs up.
4. “fumble”: accuracy gets reduced. DEX curse
5. “bad accounting”: they make slip-ups in speech or business matters.
6. “happy go lucky”: gives the good tag to the individual.
7. “love charm”: really a reversal of another’s hexes, since love is a natural event.

Potions:

• love potions
• conception/birth
• gender determination in the womb
• control of political events
• curse artifact
• curse person
• curse village

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DM notes:

• The potioncraft of witches is generally not imbibed except in two known cases, love potions and poisons. A DM (unless a witch themselves) cannot know what a witches potions will do, but if she has done it correctly: it will do whatever she wishes. Her LEVEL and actual experience determine how well her delivery strategy works, but otherwise it works, either some small way or large, but it is considered effective -- mostly because when it is not effective, she (or her witch elders) learns more about why.
• The reason early witches are called "hedge witch" before they can claim a true witch is to shift out all of their "nature" magic, which rightfully belongs to the herbalist class. Here, it is as a fighter is to physical confrontation, not as a druid who relies on other elements for their power. The witch has to develop and rely on her own.
• The power of the witch comes from the shared womb that women have going back to the first woman. (Whether this only includes women of the same race or all types is a idea yet explored.) The power of their wit and words allow them to get right to the fetal cells that made any organism born from one when they get high enough level. It is up to the potential victims to be on top of themselves enough not to be effected by them. It's a fair challenge/game of power.
• The DM can reward particularly good results of hexes. A very sharp or well-timed payback should get rewarded, perhaps 5000XP on its own. Well-crafted words are something you can start to get a feel for by the power of the words used. That power is generally a result of judicious use of consonants and the DM and the player should have a feel for it. Different types of people (orcs vs. humans) will have different words that are effective against (or for) them.
• Special equipment: hanging bats, eyes of newt, lord knows.
• Special Quality: Witches have rank (LEVEL) depending on how sophisticated their beliefs and wisdom. Rather than their HP_REGEN, it powers their hexes/charms.
• XP calculations: the dice rolls affectively translate to --- or +++ health loss/gain, so this counts as XP; however, the difficulty in tracking all of this for all rolls (affecting DC checks and battle (or other event) mechanics), makes the use of statistical norms perhaps more advantageous. But can still be tabulated each time a roll is made. This math will be left to someone else.
• Beginning witches use lower-faced archemedian solids and get more faces as they specialise in their coven. Note the word hex and it's connection to number. Each face has a multiplier affiliated with a color and does't need a number on them. These colors are tied to the multiplier, x2, x3, x1.5, etc.
• Coven elders may need to hand out their special die that represent them, otherwise they may need to be kept secret.
• The mana she chooses to apply to her dice, affect how much spare mana for other actions. Her LVL dictates how much pressure she exerts on the dice.
• To affect objects, the witch must use a visual cue to anchor the magic. This means she must have handled or seen the object in question. For potions, they must get access.
• Biting Wit: works as a mana strike and the witch taps into the soul force/source of the victim if the criticism lands property (i.e. not saved by the target).
• Biting wit anchors a hex to the afflicted, after taking dLVL_DIFF HP (creating a fear response in the receiver. The afflicted must save on an INT saving throw not to run, faint, or become STUNNED). That HP is effectively part of the afflicted's soul, now on the run. The witch has to "squeeze" the characters soul into her curse pouch (the part of the womb she keeps for curses). It is now in "jail". The player's non-armor AC value is now halved for the duration of the encounter, or after a long rest.
• If a coven of witches is concentrating on a player, the player rolls the number of dice equal to the number in the coven and takes triple or more disadvantage. This can make accomplishing anything significant for an NPC or player. Normally DC checks aren't done for DC classes less than 5 because almost everyone fails (they try multiple times the easy tasks), but when you have a coven on your ass, your 5-fold disadvantage might place you below 5 readily.
• along this line, DC values, like breathing might be in the fractional range of 0.1. This would require 10d20s on a 1. A 1:20¹⁰ likelihood. OR, one could do it by round a 20:1 difference in levels, means 20 rounds of possible affect to 1 round. A person might miss a breath and get a cough.
• A LVL 20 male wizard afflicted by a LVL 1 witch will affect them by 1/20 of the DC roll and will, at most, reduce their DC check by 1 point. This is why covens are useful: 20 LVL1 witches, gives (?) regular disadvantage or reduce their roll up to 20 points.
• A woman must have her ovaries in order to direct power, otherwise with the uterus alone, she relies on the power of other women. A woman pushes things into the world via her womb, be it a curse, an item of attraction, or people she needs to meet.
• FEMALES: The hidden functions of the womb connect to the Weave -- the connections that hold the universe together. They should not be tread upon lightly. For this reason, women should form their knowledge rather than place it here where nerds may tread heavily.
• Halfway through her cycle, she may get the desire to "re-evaluate" her dice on the table and downgrade them as desired.
• HP theft works on lessor-stature women. That is they have to cultivate their levels, but also get stigmatized for abusing younger women's power. Good-aligned players need to have at least the semblance of a moral purpose for stealing the HP (like "the player is dying and the victim won't be hurt for long....") (Yes, it only works on women. On dragons, it is not known). Two dice are thrown 2d(LVL/2), except at level one where 1d2 is thrown. Two witches might go to war like this, until one relents. Once they relent, they menstruate.
• HP co-option: If a witch turns on another witch (and the victim saves), the other witch just glares at them.
• If the witch turns on someone, something above registers the separation and can keep tabs on the fueds of the region by such activity. Mystra?

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AL Notes:

• Archmedian dice coloration, ideally, goes like this: good aligned players/covens start at yellow and go towards the purple end of the spectrum (higher sides get closer to purple). Evil-aligned players/covens start at green and go towards the red end of the spectrum (higher sides get closer to red).
• For witch potions, oils or animal fat are used as a delivery agent to leave the special concoction on objects that will come into contact with the victim's skin, lips, or ingested.
• As mentioned in DM notes, if the witch turns on someone, something above registers the separation and can keep tabs on the feuds of the region by such activity. Sometimes, women who have not identified as a witch do this, and are performing an act of witchcraft without knowing it -- they are using the magical/interdimensional power of woman without knowing or channeling it, yet it affects the victims. Men have to be content that they simply no longer have a friend.

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WotC only:

• In the case where a witch has a child most of the power goes to the child and her magic of the womb is now found in the child. The dice will be a 10th to 100th as effective--unless the witch chooses the evil path and rejects her own child.
• The mechanistic difference between witches and wizards is related to an inherent kinesthesiology they have, relating to the audio or subtle acoustics of the universe.
• It may be of interest to note, that when other-dimensional entities are providing the power to a witch or sorcerer, that it show up in our (game) dimension somewhere on their body. Usually it takes the form of a mole. The place on the body where the mole exists, tells something about what part of the person the entity is using. On the chin it is usually feeding off the pride of the individual. The nose, the hate or disgust of the person. On the back, their labors or strengfh. Genitalia, their purity or loyalty. If you think your witch is allied with one of these interdimensional beings, you can imagine their character having such a blemish. Ear, ancestry (possibly). navel area: someone’s simply favoring you. Nipples, their libido. Neck, somewhere where you didn’t pay attention and it trapped itself in between your awareness and the universe. Suspicion, eyebrow.
• The curse made by "biting wit" is actually not quite a curse in the Biblical sense that would be against any commandment, for it affects the mind, not the soul of the listener. It is allowed because the witch has to develop the intelligence to give such a result and the receiver dim-witted enough on their journey of knowledge to be affected. This is a subtle difference: the receiver's own mind makes the curse, in a way, rather than the power of the word directly to the receivers "soul".
• If one thinks about the dice mechanic for this class, one sees where much of luck (or unluck) comes from: the beliefs of women. (In balance, the actions of men affect everyone about equally.)