D&D 5E Preview of the Witch Class I am working on

DeanP said:

I've been thinking about your post and thread. I began by pondering the existing main spellcasting classes. The wizard draws his magical ability through rigorous study. The sorcerer is born with magic in the blood. The cleric draws power from her faith, the warlock makes a pact with something else. The druid draws her power from nature or maybe nature gods. So, where does the witch draw her power? Is it arcane? or is it divine magic? I'd abandon the idea of pacts; that's the territory of the warlock. If you suggesting its through sacrifice, that sounds like blood magic, and somebody produced a supplement on that, and that uses HD as a source of the mechanic. I pondered two sources that might help give form to the class. The celestial bodies or through ley energy within the earth; both which led me to think about how the witch channels these energies? Naturally some tropes came to mind; through ritual, through tattoos, through crystals and poultices. I think this suggests the witch is some sort of channeler of the magic woven into the prime material plane. Maybe other types of witches draw their powers from either the shadowfell or the feywild, but rather than receiving their power through an entity, channel the essence of magic from those planes.

Maybe there's some sort of effect that people do not like because of the channeled energy? A roleplaying effect rather than a mechanical effect? And these effects make people distrust witches or fear them; giving witches the type of mystique you're looking for?

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As Quickleaf (I think) suggested, an available an interesting niche is Int-based, like the Wizard, but of the sort that is passed down and figured out, not studied. So if a Wizard is the scholar with fancy diplomas and letters after his name, the Witch is more like the self-taught, self-funded researcher who connects with others of the same sort out of necessity. Where the Wizard uses words and symbols from a language that's been dead for 1,000 years, the Witch has discovered that a weasel's spleen works just as well.

I'm currently running 5e campaigns with the OSR called Beyond the Wall and something in this game gave me an idea for how a witch could work. In BtW, there's 3 type of Magic: Cantrip(at-will but backfire on miss), Spells and Rituals (at-will but take a long time to cast). Some multiclass lose one of those type of magic to gain access to things from another class and finally end with, let say, just cantrip and rituals, but no spell slots.

So, what if a witch was a practitioner of the Art from before, the time when wizards had yet to modify arcane codes to create more efficient and ''civilized'' magic? What if a witch was the master of performing long rituals in order to create magic effects? A witch is someone who can gather other witches to create a coven to enhance and accelerate ritual casting or to make the ritual last longer. When caught unaware, a witch has to rely on lesser, more spontaneous magic. At higher level, maybe a witch can even create a ritual version of more ''modern'' spells so she and her coven can recreated them with their usual rituals.
OK, now. Features that, IMHO, a witch should have:
Cantrips (a few)
Ritual casting: the spell list of a witch should include all spells tagged as Rituals; the witch has no spell slot but use spell known and spell prepared.
Enhanced rituals: maybe a chance to salvage ritual components or to forego them x/day.
Circle Magic: give spellcasting bonus to other casters/gain bonus from other caster
Create Rituals: at level X,Y,Z can chose a non-ritual spell and add the Ritual tag to it.
Omen: cast a divination spell (Contact other plane? Commune?) for free at the start of a long rest.
Spontaneous Ritual: X/day, can cast a ritual in one action, but sacrifice healt/HD/gain exhaustion.
Archetype: Fullmoon Coven: healing/ligth/divination
Darkmoon Coven: Illusion, charm, curse
Coven of the Shair: Elemental summoning, chaos, charm

I too have been working on a Witch class (and a Shaman class as well). In my case I am also updating my old homebrew setting from the 2E days to 5E, and that exercise has fueled my interest in a few new classes to fill some niches. In the case of Witches, they are to fit a triad vs Warlocks and Wizards. The challenge to me too is fitting them in without too much redundancy. I am trying not to overthink this, but my first thought was witches should be nature mages - arcanists who tap into the mana inherent in all living things, as well as the energies of the cycles of life and death and the seasons. Yes they compete against Druids somewhat, but they are arcane casters who use INT to support their knowledge of the mysteries of nature. A modest connection to the fey seems appropriate, and I figure witches should stick to the Prime too - no planar stuff.

[MENTION=6871653]vincegetorix[/MENTION]: I really like the ritual slant you suggest, and I will consider it as I flesh things out.

A few random thoughts to add:

i) Witches, of all the arcanists, really need a familiar. And given how familiars are treated in 5E, it would be interesting to see if having more than one at higher experience levels would work.
ii) The Witch's spell list should lean away from flashy spells and focus more on subtlety and manipulation.
iii) Witches should be experts at rituals and know all ritual spells appropriate to them as they gain levels.
iv) Witches in D&D are beings of fantasy and should be as distant from paganism and wicca, as clerics are distant from Knights Hospitalliers. For example, one should be able to emulate the Witches of Oz with the right build.
v) Psychic magic may be an interesting element to add on to the repertoire of the Witch - somehow strong in attack and defense re psychic damage.
vi) Subclasses of the Witch should focus on themes like the Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter; Death, Life, Undeath, and Immortality; East, South, West, and North; Dawn, Day, Dusk, and Dark. All fey-like, but strongly Prime Material in themes.


Oh yes, one more thing: in the spirit of this thread, and the date of this post...

Merry Hexmas!

Winterthorn said:

I too have been working on a Witch class (and a Shaman class as well).

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I mad a Shaman class a couple years ago. I like it a lot, but it needs a bit of tweaking. My problem is always wanting to get around to editing the old stuff instead of creating new stuff!

This idea of cantrip and rituals, but no spell slots, is really kind of intriguing.

Would require either:
1) Some new spells with the ritual tag
2) A list of existing spells that are considered rituals for Witches

Plus some ritual-like abilities, and maybe some Witch-only cantrips.

Defining a "witch" is very challenging in and of itself, let alone making it something unique and meaningful in D&D. IMHO, any discussion of a witch class *must* start with this seemingly simple question:

What is a witch? And where does a witch's magic come from?

Here's an example of the process I'd take to develop a concept of what a "witch" might be in D&D...

I'd pick 3-4 mythical witches (e.g. Witch of Endor, Morgan le Fay, Medea, Cerridwen) who aren't hags like Baba Yaga or deities like Hecate.
Then I'd pick 3-4 literary witches (e.g. one from Harry Potter, one from Wonderful Wizard of Oz, one from Narnia, maybe one from something more recent).
Then I'd pick 3-4 witches from film (e.g. one from The Secret Circle / The Craft, Tia Dalma from Pirates, one from Disney, one from Charmed).
And then I'd break down the main traits of each that jumped out at me... For example...

Morgan le Fay (mythical witch)

• enchantress, princess, queen
• in her earliest incarnation she was a healer who could shapeshift and fly, but only used her magic for good, and may have derived from a Gaulish legend of 9 virgin priestesses who performed miraculous healing, controlled the sea, foretold the future, and changed into animals
• can heal (her original role was as a great healer of Arthur) & in one account restores a crazed knight's sanity via crafting a potion & in another account creates a healing balm for a hero
• one nine magical queen sisters who used magic together (coven?)
• where did she gain her magic? she learned seven magical arts at a convent, specializing in astronomy/astrology & healing... later apprenticed under Merlin... may have had connection to a goddess or fey... it's ambiguous
• possibly connected to Welsh and Breton water-spirits / Lady of the Lake
• resided in a mysterious place called the Vale Perilous which seems to exist beyond time (a demi-plane? Shadowfell/Feywild?)... Morgan was alleged to be 200+ years old in some stories
• gifts Arthur a cloak which is actually cursed... and burns a servant to cinders
• in one account she could turn others to animals (improved bestow curse?), command beasts/dragons/evil spirits (Turn Undead variant?), and had devils as trusted companions (imp/quasit familiar?)
• temporarily turns herself and entourage to stone (meld into stone cast on entire party?)
• employs drugs, coercion, seduction, and enchantment
• sends the devil Lucifer in disguise of a dragon against Sir Segurant (shapeshifting others?)
• she learn more spells than any other woman – and these very much are spells with components, though most were of the ritual variety IIRC
• she transforms herself into any animal she desires (polymorph)

From just this one example, I could easily imagine using the Druid class to create a witch in the Morgan le Fay sense – you'd have most of the pertinent spells, the ability to wildshape, herbalism kit proficiency to create healing potions and antidotes, druid "circles" are already thematically akin to "covens", and at high level you age much slower.

So, from this one example, I could see a quick tweak of Druid being sufficient to model a Morgan le Fay style witch. But... you really wouldn't need any other unique mechanics. Cursing, flying, polymorphing/shapeshifting, healing, conjuring, melding into stone – those are already in D&D.

Quickleaf said:

Defining a "witch" is very challenging in and of itself, let alone making it something unique and meaningful in D&D. IMHO, any discussion of a witch class *must* start with this seemingly simple question:

What is a witch? And where does a witch's magic come from?

Here's an example of the process I'd take to develop a concept of what a "witch" might be in D&D...

I'd pick 3-4 mythical witches (e.g. Witch of Endor, Morgan le Fay, Medea, Cerridwen) who aren't hags like Baba Yaga or deities like Hecate.
Then I'd pick 3-4 literary witches (e.g. one from Harry Potter, one from Wonderful Wizard of Oz, one from Narnia, maybe one from something more recent).
Then I'd pick 3-4 witches from film (e.g. one from The Secret Circle / The Craft, Tia Dalma from Pirates, one from Disney, one from Charmed).

Click to expand...

This is approximately what I did when I worked on the class, although maybe not quite as formally. I first made a list of the witch examples that I'm basing it off of, in some cases specific ones from fiction/literature/myths/tales, and in other cases just adjectives or descriptions. Not all possible examples, and I didn't worry about covering different sources: I just chose the ones that represent the concept I was going for. Then....

And then I'd break down the main traits of each that jumped out at me... For example...

Morgan le Fay (mythical witch)

• enchantress, princess, queen
• in her earliest incarnation she was a healer who could shapeshift and fly, but only used her magic for good, and may have derived from a Gaulish legend of 9 virgin priestesses who performed miraculous healing, controlled the sea, foretold the future, and changed into animals
• can heal (her original role was as a great healer of Arthur) & in one account restores a crazed knight's sanity via crafting a potion & in another account creates a healing balm for a hero
• one nine magical queen sisters who used magic together (coven?)
• where did she gain her magic? she learned seven magical arts at a convent, specializing in astronomy/astrology & healing... later apprenticed under Merlin... may have had connection to a goddess or fey... it's ambiguous
• possibly connected to Welsh and Breton water-spirits / Lady of the Lake
• resided in a mysterious place called the Vale Perilous which seems to exist beyond time (a demi-plane? Shadowfell/Feywild?)... Morgan was alleged to be 200+ years old in some stories
• gifts Arthur a cloak which is actually cursed... and burns a servant to cinders
• in one account she could turn others to animals (improved bestow curse?), command beasts/dragons/evil spirits (Turn Undead variant?), and had devils as trusted companions (imp/quasit familiar?)
• temporarily turns herself and entourage to stone (meld into stone cast on entire party?)
• employs drugs, coercion, seduction, and enchantment
• sends the devil Lucifer in disguise of a dragon against Sir Segurant (shapeshifting others?)
• she learn more spells than any other woman – and these very much are spells with components, though most were of the ritual variety IIRC
• she transforms herself into any animal she desires (polymorph)

Click to expand...

...yes, something like this. What are all the "behaviors" I might want my witch to have. Since it can't have everything, I then start triaging and looking for patterns & themes.

From just this one example, I could easily imagine using the Druid class to create a witch in the Morgan le Fay sense – you'd have most of the pertinent spells, the ability to wildshape, herbalism kit proficiency to create healing potions and antidotes, druid "circles" are already thematically akin to "covens", and at high level you age much slower.

So, from this one example, I could see a quick tweak of Druid being sufficient to model a Morgan le Fay style witch. But... you really wouldn't need any other unique mechanics. Cursing, flying, polymorphing/shapeshifting, healing, conjuring, melding into stone – those are already in D&D.

Click to expand...

Yup. Also ended up looking seriously at a Druid sub-class. It has a lot going for it.

Ultimately I keep bouncing back and forth between Druid and Warlock. My ideal witch would really be combination of both classes.

Looks great so far.
Message me when it is on drivethruRPG.
I was going to convert the Pathfinder Witch to 5e but this one looks just as good.

Quickleaf said:

Defining a "witch" is very challenging in and of itself, let alone making it something unique and meaningful in D&D. IMHO, any discussion of a witch class *must* start with this seemingly simple question:

What is a witch? And where does a witch's magic come from?

Click to expand...

I'll bite

The Witch is a mage of the old magical arts. She draws her power from her knowledge of the forces of creation: the skies, the seasons, the elements, and the spirits of Nature. While she works within the laws of the natural world, she has no time for the laws of gods and men/deities and mortals. An expert at ancient rituals, the Witch can bestow great boons to friends and allies, and cast dire banes upon her enemies. Mystery and manipulation is her style, and trickery her greatest weapon.

So that's one opening blurb. I'm not an English major so I'm sure there are more clever words to convey a good flavour and raison d'etre.