Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Let’s Read Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse.
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Leatherhead" data-source="post: 8555422" data-attributes="member: 53176"><p><h4><span style="font-size: 22px"> Annis Hag. (VGtM)</span></h4><p></p><p>Annis Hags are the brutes of the Hag family, but don’t let that fool you into thinking they are simple. Auntie Annis can go toe-to-toe with your Barbarian, and have a spell duel with your Mage. Or she can crush your mage with a bear hug and use her spells to befuddle the barbarian. Mostly though, they like to torment people, using their Iron Token to corrupt children into doing all kinds of bad deeds. As a fey creature, Hags have a reputation for underhanded dealings that is only surpassed by Devils and Politicians. There is almost no end to the plot hooks for a hag: Rescuing a child from becoming a snack. Raiding their library to find some lost bit of lore. Making a deal with them in order to replace the eyes of one of your blinded party members. You would be harder pressed to find a scenario where a hag couldn't fit in somehow. </p><p></p><p>The stat block of this hag is deceptively simple at first glance. Either multiattack, or Crushing Hug, both doing the same average damage. The hug also grapples, allowing for a measure of control.<em> Fog Cloud</em> foils ranged attacks and could be used to cover an escape. Disguise Self is useful for social encounters, or it can be used to get a surprise attack off. The hidden complexity comes from being pointed to the Hag Covens sidebar in the MM. Giving them access to spells like Lightning Bolt, Polymorph, and Eyebite. Also giving them access to an entire Coven of hags as backup in a fight. A coven hag has dramatically more options, effectively giving the Annis Hag a “choose your difficulty slider” built in.</p><p></p><p>The changes in this stat block are as bog-standard as you can get, more HP. The changes (or lack thereof) outside of this stat block are what’s really interesting here. Referring to the MM Hag Coven rules is revealing. Presumably WotC will be changing up the MM Hag stat blocks with the upcoming edition revision, but also there was an entire alternate set of rules in VGtM (the original book for the Annis) that is now totally unreferenced in this entry. VGtM had ideas for Lair Actions, Custom Magic Items, Regional Effects, and even alternate spell lists for Covens to use. The loss of all this material is a massive downgrade to the Annis, even if the actual stat block received only a buff. I would highly recommend anyone seeking to feature hags in their game to use the supplementary material in VGtM if they can.</p><p></p><p>I would also like to point out: While this stat block is backwards compatible with the current MM, there is no guarantee that the Hag Coven sidebar in the new MM will be the same as it is in the current MM. Given the propensity of WotC to remove damage spells from spell lists, the safe bet is that the Coven Hag will be changed in the future. Something to keep an eye out at least.</p><p></p><p>Also of interest: there is a line about how a hag could be a “Granny” or “Grampy.” Meaning that Male Hags are now official in D&D.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Leatherhead, post: 8555422, member: 53176"] [HEADING=3][SIZE=6] Annis Hag. (VGtM)[/SIZE][/HEADING] Annis Hags are the brutes of the Hag family, but don’t let that fool you into thinking they are simple. Auntie Annis can go toe-to-toe with your Barbarian, and have a spell duel with your Mage. Or she can crush your mage with a bear hug and use her spells to befuddle the barbarian. Mostly though, they like to torment people, using their Iron Token to corrupt children into doing all kinds of bad deeds. As a fey creature, Hags have a reputation for underhanded dealings that is only surpassed by Devils and Politicians. There is almost no end to the plot hooks for a hag: Rescuing a child from becoming a snack. Raiding their library to find some lost bit of lore. Making a deal with them in order to replace the eyes of one of your blinded party members. You would be harder pressed to find a scenario where a hag couldn't fit in somehow. The stat block of this hag is deceptively simple at first glance. Either multiattack, or Crushing Hug, both doing the same average damage. The hug also grapples, allowing for a measure of control.[I] Fog Cloud[/I] foils ranged attacks and could be used to cover an escape. Disguise Self is useful for social encounters, or it can be used to get a surprise attack off. The hidden complexity comes from being pointed to the Hag Covens sidebar in the MM. Giving them access to spells like Lightning Bolt, Polymorph, and Eyebite. Also giving them access to an entire Coven of hags as backup in a fight. A coven hag has dramatically more options, effectively giving the Annis Hag a “choose your difficulty slider” built in. The changes in this stat block are as bog-standard as you can get, more HP. The changes (or lack thereof) outside of this stat block are what’s really interesting here. Referring to the MM Hag Coven rules is revealing. Presumably WotC will be changing up the MM Hag stat blocks with the upcoming edition revision, but also there was an entire alternate set of rules in VGtM (the original book for the Annis) that is now totally unreferenced in this entry. VGtM had ideas for Lair Actions, Custom Magic Items, Regional Effects, and even alternate spell lists for Covens to use. The loss of all this material is a massive downgrade to the Annis, even if the actual stat block received only a buff. I would highly recommend anyone seeking to feature hags in their game to use the supplementary material in VGtM if they can. I would also like to point out: While this stat block is backwards compatible with the current MM, there is no guarantee that the Hag Coven sidebar in the new MM will be the same as it is in the current MM. Given the propensity of WotC to remove damage spells from spell lists, the safe bet is that the Coven Hag will be changed in the future. Something to keep an eye out at least. Also of interest: there is a line about how a hag could be a “Granny” or “Grampy.” Meaning that Male Hags are now official in D&D. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Let’s Read Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse.
Top