DCC Bestiary - Shadow Hag

 

So, next in my parade of monsters, the Shadow Hag!  It’s loosely based on the Night Hag from the AD&D Monster Manual -- a monster than can slip in and out of reality transform the unlucky victims to larvae or other small vermin, and whisk them back to the Lower Hells to consume their souls.  I also leaned into the imagery of the evil supernatural witch that lives in the dark corners of the forest.

I stole a lot of the basic stuff from the Night Hag – AC 11, 8 Hit Dice, magic resistance, spell casting of magic missiles (kind of), rays of enfeeblement and the ability to transform victims.  Now, in a lot of ways I simplified the transformation process -- rather than the AD&D 'larvae', I made it more witchy by letting the hag transform the victim into spiders, snakes, grubs, or the like, and instead of a 'save or die' check, it throws the unlucky victim into a stupor while their fate is slowly sealed, which creates tension in the encounter.  I also added in the ability to bend shadows and plane walk.

If you want the back history of the hag, Dump Stat Adventures has a great summary here:  https://dumpstatadventures.com/blog/deep-dive-the-hag.

Remember, don’t go in the cottage, and don’t eat the fricking candy.  Got feedback?  Drop me a line at archadethered@gmail.com.

  

Shadow Hag

     A servant of Chaos from the demesne of Nibberfell, they venture forth to the mortal realms to convert cursed souls into grubs, larvae, spiders, and snakes, and take them back to the nether realm to feed demons with their souls.

      Appearing as a thin, shadowy woman with wild wiry black hair and a foul, toothy smile, they can command the night to wrap about them as a cloak and vanish from the sight of mankind faster than a full warding chant of Law can be uttered.

Shadow Hag: Init +3; Atk vicious knife +2 melee (1d4+1) ; AC 11; HD 8d8+8 (hp 44); MV 40’; Act 1d20; SP cloak of night, magic resistance, witchcraft (hellish reverie, night darts, ray of enfeeblement), plane-step; SV Fort +4, Ref +4, Will +4; AL C.
     The shadow hag can cloak herself in shadows and darkness if they are in any environment less than broad daylight, giving all attackers without night vision a -1d modifier to hit them.
     Any spell directly targeting a shadow hag suffers a -4 to the caster check.
     The hag knows of witchcraft, able to cast spells (+8 to any check), and knows incantations for night darts (DC 13 check for the hag, causes 1d6 cold damage), hellish reverie (DC 15 check for the hag, causes the victim within 60’ to temporarily fall unconscious and lose 1d3 temporary points of Personality each round unless vigorously woken – if reduced to 0 Personality, the victim transforms into a small hand-held vermin), and ray of enfeeblement (DC 13 check for the hag, victim suffers 1d3 temporary points of Strength damage).
     Able to bridge the gap between realms, the hag can spend a 2d3 rounds concentrating to fade from view to travel between this realm and the Lower Hells, but this ability is taxing and can only be used once per month.