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<blockquote data-quote="Kodiak3D" data-source="post: 8171014" data-attributes="member: 53660">I'm confused about hags.&nbsp; 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:&quot;All hags possess magical powers, and some have anaffinity for spellcasting. They can alter their forms orcurse their foes, and their arrogance inspires them toview their magic as a challenge to the magic of the gods,whom they blaspheme at every opportunity.&quot;...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.&nbsp; I understand that, played correctly, they can be great villains.&nbsp; 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.&nbsp; 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.&nbsp; I'm not saying they aren't useful as written.&nbsp; It just bothers me a bit that their reputation isn't really backed up by their abilities.&nbsp; Then again, maybe that's the point.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Kodiak3D, post: 8171014, member: 53660"] 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 [I]Ice Storm[/I] and [I]Cone of Cold[/I]). 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. [/QUOTE]

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