D&D 5E Let's talk about Witches

[Greg K]

lol. I had mentioned [MENTION=1772]bmcdaniel[/MENTION] earlier in the thread and that he had a witch class in house rules. However I left out the m in his screename.

 

[Fralex]

We also have a homebrewed witch warlock by Khaalis: http://www.enworld.org/forum/5earchetypes/showentry.php?e=50&catid=searchresults&searchid=1258
From a cursory glance, it looks pretty solid.

 

[Lanefan]

First thought: you'll hit most of the key archetypes (or at least wave at them as they go by) if you start with a sub-class of Druid but have it learn its Druid-like spells from, and keep them in, books. In other words, a nature-based divine caster using arcane-caster mechanics.

Second thought: please find a different name for the class.

Lanefan

 

[EzekielRaiden]

It's worth noting that Pratchett's tongue-in-cheek etymology of "wizard" from "wise-arse" was actually not far off the mark. While the wiz- part does mean 'wise', the -ard suffix is derogatory. Think "bastard", "drunkard", and "coward".

Having done some digging, I can't actually find support for the English interpretation of "-ard" as a negative in itself. Originally it referred to "hale and hearty," and was primarily present in Old French names (Barnard, Gerard, Goddard); when adopted by Middle English, it became an intensifier of the previous element. So yeah, when the initial element is bad--illegitimate, inebriated, quailing--it signifies something bad. When the initial element is neutral, it acts more like an "actor" suffix--e.g. buzzard. For a positive initial element, like "wise," it pretty clearly means something good. The commonly negative uses in general nouns were retained due to the influence of other Germanic languages (Middle High German and Dutch), where it was used as a negative; the commonly positive uses now really only linger in names.

Also, going back to Old English, wicce and wicca are, respectively, the feminine and masculine forms of the same word, what I'd translate as "witch" and "warlock". (Yes, Dianic Wiccans, sorry, a wicca is a man. Also, you're pronouncing it wrong.) Our linguistic forbears do not seem to have been discriminatory in their disdain for black magicians.

This, at least, I can say is perfectly true. "Wicc-," which would be inflected for gender just as you've said, referred to a particular kind of practiced magic--its origins are obscure and difficult to pin down. However, given its usage in glossaries between English and Latin, it seems to have referred to relatively "dark" practices--at least from what I can get on Dictionary.com. Certainly, it's also the root of the modern word wicked.