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

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Great insights [MENTION=92511]steeldragons[/MENTION] As always

If you interpret "witch" as "crafter of magic", what differentiates a witch from an artificer?

My view of witchcraft/witchery is probably biased as I've met several contemporary "witches" and read about historical Italian witchcraft (Stregheria)... but I've always seen witchcraft as a sort of mystery cult focused on initiation into secrets. It's the secret knowledge aspect of witchcraft that most stands out to me as a basis from which to form a game-definition of a "witch" that is distinct from an artificer / druid / sorcerer / warlock / wizard.

While I've never gone the distance of making it into a class, in my homebrew campaign world which goes by the epithet "Witching Grounds", I've really played up that secret knowledge witch concept in a couple ways on the DM's side...

• Witches often know True Names of otherworldly beings and can summon/control/banish them.
• Witches can sense possession and other forms of magical control of others.
• Witches know ancient sites where the reach of specific kinds of ritual magic can be dramatically boosted (or certain non-ritual spells can be used ritually).
• Witches often have unique spells unbeknownst to other spellcasters. They also often use/combine existing spells in unique ways.
• Witches often know secret paths traversing other dimensions/planes (e.g. in my homebrew there is a Goblin Labyrinth dimension connecting the slums of most cities, and there's a dimension called The Roil accessed by hags/witches on stormy nights).
• Witches can gain familiarity with a subject/place (for the purposes of certain spells) far more easily than other casters, thanks to dreams/visions, familiar, or consorting with otherworldly entities.
• The more familiar a witch is with you (e.g. by possessing a lock of your hair), the more potent his/her curses are against you. And all witches, even the kindest moon priestess, has the power to issue mighty curses...but only when they follow fairy tale cursing rules (i.e. the witch or their allies must have been wronged, and there must be an "out" to the curse).
• Witches are most commonly defined (in my homebrew) by whether they are aligned with The Maiden & nature/the wild (fey/green witches), The Mother & civilization/community (healers & hedge witches), or The Crone & darkness/mystery (seers & "wicked" witches).
• Witches learn their magic through covens and intimate apprenticeships shrouded in secrecy.
• Witches know Witchspeak, a secret language with multiple dialects that a witch can choose to make intelligible only to sisters/brothers in her coven, or to all witches generally.
• Witches of sufficient power can impart secrets to others, granting others a bit of magic (special magical abilities - not spells) according to their speciality, though doing so diminishes the witch's own power for a time.
• Witches often have a unique magical characteristic – some are hagborn and can use hag magic items / join hag covens, others age in reverse, others have magic bound to the phases/changes of the moon, and others still have stranger characteristics.

 

[steeldragons]

double post

 

[steeldragons]

THe short answer would be my homebrew [and to my knowledge 5e] doesn't have any "artificer" class. hahaha. So it compares by existing where the other does not.

To tease that out a bit, the concept/archetype of Witch is as long as human history itself, whereas "artificer" is a D&D sub-genre construct.

To my view, the question would always e, what makes the artificer different from a witch? What justifies its existence above/before a witch class?

Slightly longer answer, I would say it is a primary flavor issue and where the Witch fits in the society vs. the "artificer." The one, as mentioned, being primarily a "common person's magic-maker." Witches are more rural, existing more "on the borders" or at the edges (or beyond) of the society.

The "artificer" would be the significantly more "modernized/urbanized" being, dealing with their gearwork and constructs, carving runes into "built" or "forged" items, moreso than "soft" crafted things of wood/plants/cloth/etc...

Really like a lot of your elements of Witches and think your incorporation of contemporary Wiccan tradition/organization seems completely in line (or not at odds) with my own perspectives. I particularly like the "Witchspeak" and innate magical senses (for possession, magic places/people, etc...). Will definitely be swiping those.