• NOW LIVE! Into the Woods--new character species, eerie monsters, and haunting villains to populate the woodlands of your D&D games.

Pathfinder 1E Is there a male counterpart to the hag?

. A krampus, while as old and ugly as any hag (and often displaying physical mutations resembling parts of plants and animals), prefers to live in opulence and obsessive cleanliness. They claim abandoned castles in the wilderness as their lairs, adorn their homes with lavish luxuries and dress in only the finest clothes. The krampus has an insatiable sexual appetite and an endless stamina to match, as well as an truly amazing capacity for romantic self-delusion, keeping a harem of attractive young women kidnapped from nearby villages and doting on them excessively... but when their beauty starts to wane he kicks them out and sends them to the nearest village along with any children they had in the meantime. The male hag never really abandons any of his children, however, and continues to watch them from afar as they become adults... with the intent of inducting the most gifted (and invariably male) into the same dark magics he commands.

Sounds pretty close to a Satyr.
 

log in or register to remove this ad


Krampus idea is brilliant. Keep working on it - submit it somewhere when complete.
I'd thought more about it.

A popular and sadistic game among the krampus is using magic to lure weary travelers to their castles, where the krampus acts behind the scenes, providing the traveler with free food and a warm bed that appears as if by magic. However, the krampus carefully constructs a temptation for the traveler to violate its hospitality in some way. If the traveler fails to resist, the krampus immediately appears to chastise the traveler for violating its hospitality and demands compensation. A popular tale of the krampus' "game" is the story of a weary merchant who took refuge in the abode of a krampus. Before he went on his way, he stopped in castle's rose garden and plucked a single rose as a gift for his youngest daughter. The krampus, a lion-faced beast covered in shaggy fur and crowned with twisted horns, revealed himself and threatened to punish the merchant with some horrible fate, but the merchant pleaded that he was only thinking of his daughter. So the krampus demanded the merchant hand over his daughter, and that was that. When the merchant returned home, he sent his daughter away to the krampus' castle and she was never heard from again.

Sounds pretty close to a Satyr.
The satyr in the Pathfinder Bestiary reads completely different.
 


In folklore, as others have said, the male counterpart to a ‘hag’ is a ‘troll’ (especifically a ‘thurs’) or an ‘ogre’ (a monstrous giant). Note, if the female is known for magic, then so is the male. Indeed, the Old Norse name ‘troll’ literally means ‘mage’, one who can ‘use magic’ (trylle).

In D&D, one can use the Oni (Ogre Magi) as the male counterpart of the Hag.
 

In folklore, a gorgon is a beautiful or hideous woman with brass wings and snake hair whose sister turns people to stone with her gaze. In D&D, you mostly work with the lore contained therein. D&D Ogres and Trolls bear very little resemblance to Norse myth.
 

I'd thought more about it.

A popular and sadistic game among the krampus is using magic to lure weary travelers to their castles, where the krampus acts behind the scenes, providing the traveler with free food and a warm bed that appears as if by magic. However, the krampus carefully constructs a temptation for the traveler to violate its hospitality in some way. If the traveler fails to resist, the krampus immediately appears to chastise the traveler for violating its hospitality and demands compensation. A popular tale of the krampus' "game" is the story of a weary merchant who took refuge in the abode of a krampus. Before he went on his way, he stopped in castle's rose garden and plucked a single rose as a gift for his youngest daughter. The krampus, a lion-faced beast covered in shaggy fur and crowned with twisted horns, revealed himself and threatened to punish the merchant with some horrible fate, but the merchant pleaded that he was only thinking of his daughter. So the krampus demanded the merchant hand over his daughter, and that was that. When the merchant returned home, he sent his daughter away to the krampus' castle and she was never heard from again.

That's the beauty and the beast plot, you know.
 

Perhaps built such a counterpart as a PC?

Half-Orc or Orc Witch with the Scarred Witch Doctor archtype makes a very masculine character while the Coven Hex allows joining a group of Hags to thematically fit.
 

Male counterpart to the Hag: the "Curmudgeon."

Instead of inviting travelers in to taste the Hag's poisonous cooking, the Curmugeon orders them away: "Get off my lawn!"
Instead of using the rendered fat of cooked children to grease the Hag's skillet, the Curmugeon waxes cynical by grousing about "Kids these days!"
 

I'm pretty darn sure the Hag in D&D comes directly from Chaucer. "The Wyf of Bath". and also the Witches from Macbeth.

from wikipedia Wyf of Bath:

...
Knight is looking for the one true answer to "what women desire most"
....
Outside a castle in the woods, he sees twenty four maidens dancing and singing, but when he approaches they disappear as if by magic, and all that is left is an old hag. The Knight explains the problem to the hag, who is wise and may know the answer, and she forces him to promise to grant any favour she might ask of him in return. With no other options left, the Knight agrees. Arriving at the court, he gives the answer that women most desire sovereignty over their husbands, which is unanimously agreed to be true by the women of the court, who accordingly free the Knight.


The old hag then explains to the court the deal she has struck with the Knight, and publicly requests his hand in marriage. Although aghast, he realises he has no other choice and eventually agrees. On their wedding night the hag is upset that he is repulsed by her in bed. She reminds him that her looks can be an asset – she will be a virtuous wife to him because no other men would desire her. She asks him what he would prefer – an old ugly hag who is loyal, true and humble or a beautiful woman about whom he would always have doubts concerning her faithfulness. The Knight responds by saying that the choice is hers, an answer which pleases her greatly. Now that she has won power over him, she asks him to kiss her, promising both beauty and fidelity. The Knight turns to look at the hag again, but now finds a young and lovely woman. They live happily into old age together.



I don't think there is a male counterpart to that.
In the most generic of ways you could simply use a "Warlock" and give him his shapeshifting, and all the other powers hags have, through some fey or infernal pact.

Also check out an adventure in Dungeon Magazine#59 called "The Mother's Curse" which is one of the best adventures featuring a Hag.
 
Last edited:

Into the Woods

Remove ads

Top