D&D 5E Hags - Something doesn't add up.

[Paul Farquhar]

Idiom often doesn't travel well. I know the expression, I happen to live in the same country as @Ruin Explorer.

 

[Mannahnin]

I think it may be the first time I've heard it as well. Though it's possible that I've encountered it once or twice over the decades and it didn't stick with me. Mid forties, American, wide reader and exposed to a fair number of Britishisms through fiction, PBS and BBC America rebroadcasts of British media, and the internet, and spent ten years married to a European so I got exposure to more non-American English that way.

The idiom makes reasonable sense now that I'm exposed to it, and our reactions here are obviously anecdotal, but it doesn't seem like one that's traveled all that far.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I'm 47 and haven't heard it before, though the meaning is easy to figure. I asked my wife who was an english major, has two masters, and teaches HS and College literature and rhetoric classes and she hadn't heard of it before either.

She is extremely well read, but it is possible she has come across it before and didn't recognize it as an idiom.

PS - Love the idiom. I will personally start to use it now that I am familiar with it.

That's bizarre and fascinating in an almost "Mandela effect" sort of way, like a parallel culture where this phrase just doesn't exist alongside one where it's commonplace. Well, that or "Two nations separated by a common language", but honestly I've heard a fair few Americans use it.

My wife, who is from rural Indiana, uses it, and knew what it meant before meeting me. Though she is also very well-read, particularly in 19th-century British literature, so perhaps picked it up from there.

I always liked it because it's sort of so obvious and something you could see happening.

 

[jgsugden]

The United States is a big place. Having recently moved from one coast to the other, I can confirm that things change dramatically when you travel across it.

Regardless, curiosity got the best of me and I did a bit of research. The idiom is noted as primarily British in a few places. It goes back to a Latin proverb "he falls trying to sit on two seats"), but was noted in 1390 in English. I checked a few lists of "100 popular idioms" and it appeared on none of them.

 

[dave2008]

I always liked it because it's sort of so obvious and something you could see happening.

i think because if that it possible to encounter it casually, understand it, and not realize it is an idiom. It seems almost like natural language.

And what jgsugden said.

 

[teitan]

I'm confused about hags. They're supposed to be these horrid, evil creatures who have fearsome magical powers and can put curses on people, causing pain and despair throughout entire villages, etc...

From the Monster Manual:
"All hags possess magical powers, and some have an
affinity for spellcasting. They can alter their forms or
curse their foes, and their arrogance inspires them to
view their magic as a challenge to the magic of the gods,
whom they blaspheme at every opportunity."

...but how do they do it? None of the hag types (Monster Manual or Volo's Guide to Monsters) even have Bestow Curse on their spell list (unless part of a coven). In fact, their innate spellcasting abilities aren't particularly frightening at all (except the bheur hag which has Ice Storm and Cone of Cold). Volo's Guide does add some interesting touches (like Lair actions) to make them more challenging.

Don't get me wrong. I understand that, played correctly, they can be great villains. A creative and thoughtful DM can use what abilities that they do have to great effect and make an interesting villain for low to mid-level groups. A DM can also do a little more work and add a few levels of a spellcasting class and make a challenging opponent for any level.

I'm not saying they aren't useful as written. It just bothers me a bit that their reputation isn't really backed up by their abilities. Then again, maybe that's the point.

Easy answer here... RITUAL MAGIC. Sure they can't do like insta curse but they can still do spells with the ritual tag. They can also have magic items the like that can be used in encounters to beef them up. That's all part of the game.