Aunt Tony's page

26400/41250 = .62 * 50 = 32

10 * 110 = 1,100 HP without even needing to recharge, or if you spaced out your efforts, you could recover 32 * 110 = 3520 hp before the Staff becomes gold efficient compared to Scrolls

The Slumber Hex is both too powerful and yet underwhelming at the same time. An at-will Sleep effect with no HD limit sounds powerful on the surface, until you discover that this means a subject can be awakened with a simple standard action, that sleep immunity is exceedingly common starting around mid levels, that immunity to [Mind Affecting] is the most common immunity in the game, and the Hex still doesn't allow you to try again. It is powerful, though, because Coup de Grace around level 1-5 is quite nasty. Having a strong crowd control effect available for every encounter is very handy, certainly, and it is universally agreed that Slumber is what low-level Witches will spend the vast majority of their turns using... which is bad game design when one "option" is so clearly "the best" that there is no real choice about whether to use it or not. I've seen a great many people suggesting modifications to Slumber's mechanic, the one I like the most would be Save or Fatigue 1st round, then Save or Exhausted 2nd round and finally Save or Sleep on the 3rd round (which is a much more organic, flavorful way to handle a creature "falling asleep" rather than instantly dropping to the ground, and yet Fatigue and Exhaustion are themselves useful status effects to cause while waiting for "the big one" to give you a Coup de Grace). This puts it more in line with such spells as Hold Person (keeping in mind that Slumber doesn't cost a spell slot to use, so it's fine if it would be a bit weaker), the Sleep spell itself would therefore be a better option for instant incapacitation at level 1, which gives the Witch other options to spend her "opportunity currency" on without them feeling like "trap options". Further, this would allow Slumber to scale better into end-game as Fatigue and Exhaustion are much less common immunities than Sleep after level 10 (preventing the Witch from feeling like she has wasted a Hex slot after she's leveled up).

The Flight Hex is incomplete. Compare to the school powers of an Air-specialist Wizard (which was published in the same book as the Witch class debuted), it seems obvious that at-will flight is missing around class level 10 or 11 (which is established through other sources to be the character level at which permanent flight can become available. For reference, see the Sylph race in the ARG or the spell Overland Flight which has an hours-per-caster-level duration providing de facto all-day flight for Witches without needing to spend a much more valuable Hex slot). I think simply bestowing at-will flight at her base land speed (similar to Overland Flight the spell, perhaps a bit slower) at Witch level 11 would be perfectly fine considering what characters around that level are capable of through items or class powers or spells. She would still have the option of using her minutes of the Fly effect if she wanted to move faster, and none of these options allows her to affect anyone but herself with the Hex, still. As a class, she relies on flight incredibly heavily for defense in combat, and it is easily countered with a simple bow and arrow... or a thrown rock.

The Healing Hexes are also unsatisfying. It would be entirely reasonable to allow the same Hex to scale with the Witch's class level rather than requiring two Hex slots to underperform. The theory goes like this: it's "free" healing, even though it can't be used more than once-per-day-per-target, and even though the Witch herself had to spend a Hex slot to gain the ability. If the player will use it often, the Hex could be "worth it", economically, compared to, say, a Wand, but it cannot really allow a Witch to do anything she couldn't already, or that an Oracle, for example, could not. That is, spending actions in combat to cast a Cure spell at touch range is a horrible horrible trap so the Hex does not provide power, only convenience. Spending a Hex slot for convenience wouldn't be all that bad -- if the Hex would continue to be convenient. Notice that Healing and Major Healing are separate Hexes. In other words, if the Witch wants a Cure Wounds Hex that remains relevant at all, she has to continue spending valuable Hex slots even though at Witch level 10 (when Major Healing becomes available) she's already able to cast Cure Critical Wounds, though the Hex doesn't scale to Cure Critical until level 15 when she's been able to cast the vastly better Heal spell for two levels already... If she didn't have to spend a second Hex slot to continue the scaling (a "rank up" in the Cure effect every 5 levels) then the plain ole Healing Hex might be an attractive option to compare against the likes of Misfortune and Slumber (because it does still have to compete for those Hex slots!). The Hex would still not scale very well through the character's career, but at least the player wouldn't have to pay twice for that crappy scaling. The convenience of on-demand emergency healing (remember, once per day per target...) is flat out not worth two Hex slots, one of them a Major Hex slot. It's a very plain Hex, could be quite fitting for a pure healer Witch, but power gamers knows that it's just not worth the slot until all the other "core" Hexes have been acquired, by which time, there aren't really any slots left for little luxuries.

Another oft-overlooked Hex is Ward. Since the bonuses it provides are typed, it does not stack with gear that targets may be wearing, and since the Witch cannot target herself with it, she can't use it to defer buying gear for those bonuses. At level 1-4, it might provide a little boon, but characters are very soon able to buy better gear for themselves which would overlap this Hex, and the worst is still to come: when the subject is hit or fails a save, the effect is dropped! Meaning that the Witch will have to spend an action in combat to reapply the Ward which simply can never be as effective as spending that action on Slumber or some other "stop doing damage to my friends right now, please" effect. I would propose a few changes to this one. One possibility is to make the bonuses un-typed, but remove the scaling and add a duration (perhaps Int Mod turns or Witch class level rounds) and allow it to be extended with Cackle. If you feel that a measly +2 is negligible at level 16 (when the Hex as-written would provide +4), then just allow it to scale again (because, really, +4 is still weak at level 16!) and give it a shorter duration (perhaps set at 3 rounds or something similar). Or remove the clause which drops the effect once the subject has been hit -- because a "protection" that disappears as soon as you start needing it isn't much of a protection. And she can still have only one Ward up at a time.

The Speak In Dreams and Nightmare Hexes really seem like they should be folded into the same Hex slot, and the spells which they duplicate should be much much lower level spells than they are currently, too. Not that they are plain bad, just that they are overrated in power, in my opinion. Giving the Witch Speak In Dreams early on (with communication scaling up as she levels, allowing her to communicate with more people or more often or whatever?) and then Nightmare somewhere around level 10 would make this (if it were a single Hex) much much more competitive for its slot. Really doesn't seem attractive that a character designed around haunting targets dreams (already a pretty weak choice for a PC to spend character build currency to do) would have to spend two Hexes to be able to do it.

The Cook People Hex is also underwhelming, having very limited effect, and being altogether too specific. I think it should be generalized into a more flexible "cooking" style Hex, and combined with the Poison Steep Hex, wherein the Witch can proffer various vittles for a variety of other effects if eaten. For example, Shrink and Enlarge Person (a la Alice In Wonderland), Charm Person/Monster (a la the turkish delights in Narnia), to provide Lesser Restoration or Cure Blindness (in line with the Neutralize Poison and Cure Disease effects of the original Hex) and other things like that. The requirement of literally consuming humanoid corpses is a little bit too specific, making the original Hex simply more suitable for an NPC than a player character. The requirement of the Cauldron Hex really should relax this "food" Hex to simply producing these morsels, perhaps limited times per day (a number of cookies based on Witch class level?) or with a simple gold piece cost. Perhaps name the Hex something like Enchanted Confections Hex and ta dah! Your Brew Potion Feat finally became worth something because you can create temporary consumables for a small range of very specific effects. A Major Hex that can be worth its salt compared to the likes of Waxen Image and Hoarfrost. Wouldn't make the Witch any more powerful really in combat, but would serve to expand the convenience factor of her out-of-combat party support and utility in a unique and, dare I say it, flavorful way.

Hidden Home and Witch's Hut should be merged into the same Hex and moved down one "tier" each. Weak though theoretically functional effects, they are neither of them worth a Hex slot on their own though they're too flavorful to give up entirely. Compare to the Mage's Magnificent Mansion type spells and keeping in mind that a Witch is giving up combat power to choose this Hex. Trying to make the class more PC-oriented rather than a pure NPC Villain template. At first she just hides her cottage (Mirage Arcana is a mid-level spell because you can cast it quickly enough to make use of it, not so a Hex which takes a full day to "cast" which has other limits), and then around level 10, the House kicks down a wall to build the Chicken Legs wing... scaling and flavor, all in one juicy Hex.

New Hexes have been recommended from time to time on Paizo's own forums, /tg/ and elsewhere, and I do think that more, balanced, options could only help, especially since the Witch is still limited in her total selection. I think the Disney movies probably have a lot of potential in there somewhere if we could figure out how to stat them in a balanced way. Overall, I feel that the Hexes should all scale better over the course of levels as most of them become obsolete soon after they are available with the ones which don't being the clearly superior choices. Some examples, some better and some worse than existing options, but all have interesting character implications and none worse than, say, growing long finger nails or sniffing children:

Transfixion Hex (Su): Target within 30’ makes a will save or is unable to make a move action for a number of rounds equal to the Witch's level. When the Witch reaches 8th level, a transfixed target is unable to travel using dimensional means, as per the spell dimensional anchor. A creature that successfully saves against this hex is immune to it for 1 day.

I like this one, it's not nearly as immediately powerful as Slumber and yet serves well for its particular purpose. One can easily imagine the Witch "pinning" the target's shadow to the ground or some such fluff, and it's also the sort of thing Witches in myth are often seen to do. It's perfectly fine even at level 1, keeping in mind that Hold Person forbids any actions at all and is available at character level 3. A 30' range is still a harsh limiter on his Hex, but overall not too bad.

Drawing inspiration from the various spell lists, some effects strike my fancy as being easy to duplicate and re-scale to be suitable as Hexes--

Wind Walker Hex (Su): The Witch can assume a gaseous form (as the spell) for 1 minute / level, divided as she sees fit, in 1-minute increments. She can only target herself with this Hex. At level 11, the Witch can spend 2 minutes of this Hex to gain the benefit of a Wind Walk effect, as the spell, for an hour. This Hex is similar in function to the Flight Hex, but compliments, rather than overlaps. Unlike Flight, this Hex is pure defense and utility, and not very usable in combat. It allows the Witch to sneak around a little bit, perhaps, and to travel quickly at later levels (keeping in mind that she can cast Teleport the spell at level 9, this Hex provides a cheaper but slower means of self-only fast travel at a later level). Gaseous Form is not normally available to a level 1 character, but when compared to Slumber or other Hexes, this is definitely not one of the strongest effects available to a power gamer Witch, and is much more flavor and roleplay oriented in purpose.

Weather Control should start out offering minor effects like Alter Winds at first, and then gradually adding a few more like Hurricane Blast and the calling of stormy lightning bolts using a common pool of charges per day based on the Witch's class level (for example 1hr/level = 1 windy blast = 1 lightning bolt), spent 1 charge at a time as is usual for Pathfinder. And then finally giving the Witch Control Weather as usual for the Hex (keeping in mind that it's already a spell on her spell list, so spending a Hex slot just to be able to use a highly situational spell was a trap option). Even with all these, Druids would still be just plain better at controlling the weather with way more and better spells to accomplish the task. Still, the narrative archetype of the "weather witch" is very firmly established, and if some of the un-thematic spells like Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning were removed from the Witch's default spell list, this Hex would gain a lot to make it an attractive option. Combines well with the Flight and proposed Wind Walker Hexes to make a great secondary theme for a character. Possibly this Hex should be bundled into a Class Archetype.

Visions should be more rigorously defined, though I like the basic idea. The problem is that so many similar auguries already appear on the Witch's spell list and perform much better. Perhaps redefining the Hex to function more like a seance, once-per-week calling forth a spirit to give pronouncements and answer a number of questions (Witch's Int mod?) posed by the group, allowing social skill checks to affect the replies... Such a thing sounds much more in line with what a mid-level PC diviner should be able to do. Contrast with the Summon Spirit Grand Hex which calls forth a ghost to actually do things, this Major Hex would only get answers to questions like an Augury or Commune spell. Compare to the evil queen in Snow White who performs similar feats, asking the spirit bound to her mirror to answer questions of various sorts.

Curse of Petrification, Fort Save or Petrify target within 30' sounds like a fine Grand Hex, considering that the spell would have been available long since (level 11) in the character's career and that it couldn't be attempted again for 24 hours. Compare to the other Grand Hexes like Death Curse, Eternal Slumber and Forced Reincarnation. This Hex has more than a bit of Jadis, the witch of Narnia fame, again. Or if rock hard men isn't really to your liking, an identical Hex of Baleful Polymorph is just as fitting and similarly effective. The spell is normally available to Witches at level 9... Witches of myth and legend are very commonly said to transform those who displease them into small helpless animals.

Pox, a regular Hex which maybe should replace the Infected Wounds Major Hex, would duplicate the effect of the Contagion spell, though perhaps at a range of 30 feet since it certainly isn't more powerful than even the revised Slumber or Evil Eye regular Hexes, though it does cause real Ability score damage like other Major Hexes can. This is with the Blight Hex in mind to give some options for the more pustulent malefactor character type. Greater Contagion is on the Witch's spell list, though the lesser version is not for some reason, even though it's not a particularly powerful effect. Keep in mind that the Hex would use the Witch's Hex save DCs, not like the spell which could be much higher (due to GSF:Necro and Heighten, on top of the +5 from using the Greater Contagion version of the spell).

Terrorize, a Hex similar to a single-target Fear spell, is very thematically appropriate, and mechanically sound given the usual restrictions of Hexes (30' range, one attempt per target per day, and so on). I can easily see this one being a regular Hex, but a good argument might be made for it being a Major Hex -- I'd be fine with either. Though if Fear would be made a Major Hex, that's a damn good argument for bumping Slumber up a tier into Major as well since the Sleeping condition is way more serious than just panic.

Figments, a Major Hex allowing the Witch to create Illusions on a time-unit-per-class-level basis. She can replicate the effects of a Mirage Arcana for 1 minute per class level, split up as she chooses in 1 minute chunks. Probably a different type of Illusion spell effect, taking care to not provide a rank of the Image family of spells too early or too late. Probably just Persistant Image for 1 minute per Witch level per day, divvied up as she likes. It just strikes me as silly that the class so focused on "deception, manipulation and dark magic" gets almost no Illusion spells at all...

The lunar triumvirate of Maiden, Matron and Crone, represented as the Gibbous (youth or growth), Full (peak of life and maturity, light) and Crescent (bitter wisdom and doom) moon, respectively, seems to lack an important element in the portrayal of Witches and the phases of the lunar cycle. Interestingly, the seasonal and solar cycles also have a fourth phase, and all of these various cycles are commonly referred to or revered in myths, legends and lore about Witches and "the ancient way".

The Missing Phase: the New Moon.

Why is it that only a triumvirate is usually mentioned as metaphor for the phases in life? It is evident after only a little thought that there still remains a fourth aspect: the aspect of non-existence, being either pre-birth or post-death, and it is strongly suggested by the nature of being a cyclical or circular arrangement, that these are in fact simply different ways of looking at the same thing.

The New Moon is both the repose of the previous cycle and the burgeoning genesis of a new one.

It is also a time of mystery, of the unknowable. The New Moon is invisible, departed from the cosmos, absent from the court of the heavens. In this way, the New Moon is an embodiment of mystery and secrets, both at once potential revelation, a secret preparing to be shared, and a hidden face, the covering-up of what was once plain to see. It is perhaps apart from the other phases of the Moon because they are all three visible, available to be interacted with, while the New Moon makes its presence felt in the world both in spite and because of its absence. The Triumvirate is often depicted as three women standing such that two of them present their profiles, but this still allows room for a fourth who stands hidden from view behind the three who are in the foreground and presented for view.

A goddess of the mysterious, the occult, the hidden, she represents the ultimately unknowable, that which is beyond, before and after life itself. In this way, she completes the cycle which living beings recognize as youth, adulthood and decrepitude. Variously represented by an empty, often ragged circle (the eclipse, or birth) or by a black disc (the void and oblivion) or even just as a shrouded woman facing away, she is a goddess which values her privacy, secrets, occult knowledge, and that which is hidden. She completes the cycle as the link between ending and beginning. The Maiden is youthful vigor, innocence and sex appeal, she is beginning and excited by the experience of life, full of ambition, changes, passions and desires. The Matron is mature, industrious and nurturing, the head of her family and home which she protects with all her being. The Crone is wise, experienced and bitter, for she feels death's approach.

Thus, the sacred Torc has an opening, even as it is a circle. It represents the severely Crescent Moon which is both the end and the beginning of the lunar cycle, and yet also encompasses the space between them, continuous as a circle despite an apparent gap.

New Witch Patrons:

The Maiden:
2nd -- Protection from Arrows
4th -- Resist Energy
6th -- Beast Shape I
8th -- Freedom of Movement
10th -- Beast Shape III
12th -- Joyful Rapture
14th -- Greater Polymorph
16th -- Earthquake
18th -- Wish

The Matron:
2nd -- Endure Elements
4th -- Lesser Restoration
6th -- Protection From Energy
8th -- Restoration
10th -- Life Bubble
12th -- Antimagic Field
14th -- Greater Restoration
16th -- Protection From Spells
18th -- True Resurrection

The Crone:
2nd -- Anticipate Peril
4th -- Defending Bone
6th -- Halt Undead
8th -- Malicious Spite
10th -- Breath Of Life
12th -- Undeath To Death
14th -- Control Undead
16th -- Create Greater Undead
18th -- Energy Drain

The Veiled:
2nd -- Vanish
4th -- Undetectable Alignment
6th -- Blacklight
8th -- Greater Invisibility
10th -- False Vision
12th -- Antilife Shell
14th -- Sequester
16th -- Orb Of The Void
18th -- Time Stop

Note that these four Patrons expand the Witch's spell list thematically and with useful spells, all, for purposes which the Witch finds herself otherwise lacking in capability. The Maiden provides the exceedingly valuable defensive spells Protection From Arrows, Freedom of Movement and Resist Energy, shoring up the glaring weakness of the Witch's spell list: defense. It also provides Wish and three shape-changing spells which mythological Witches are almost always depicted as being capable of, but which the default Witch spell list conspicuously lacks. Being spells, and thus subject to all the rules that spellcasting implies on top of costing spell slots per day, a Witch of The Maiden doesn't step on the Druid's Wild Shaping toes too much, though it would make the two classes perform similarly. And there's nothing wrong with that.

The Matron provides the Restoration family of spells (just like the pre-existing Healing Patron does) to allow a focused Witch to serve the party in place of a Cleric (which the Druid and Oracle are both able to do, but the Witch could not otherwise with her default spell list), and also a variety of other highly-situational defensive options in Antimagic Field and Protection From Energy. True Resurrection is another very important "healer" type spell which even a high level Witch with the Life Giver Hex could not duplicate. Not as powerful as the general-purpose Wish, it is still a far more functional spell for a high level healer to have, suiting the Matron's design purpose of collapsing the Healer Patron into a more satisfying "support Witch" role.

The Crone doesn't appear at first blush to really hold a candle to the previous two until you realize that defense and healing are not the Witch's only weaknesses: she is also incredibly vulnerable to the undead because they are immune to a vast majority of her abilities and spells. The Crone offers a low level Witch the all important Halt Undead spell, without which a Witch could be taken down with nothing but a mob of weak skeletons. Defending Bone is there for a smattering of defense for the Necromantically-flavored Crone Patron, and there is also Breath Of Life so that she can provide at least a little (thematically appropriate) emergency support to her allies without stepping on the toes of The Matron. Undeath To Death and Control Undead bring to maturity The Crone's confrontation with the implacable, inevitable dead. For late game, Energy Drain is what the wise debuffer will use early and often, but the Witch class, for all her focus on debuffs, somehow does not have by default.

The Veiled is an intimate, personal, selfish Patron, providing spells which benefit the Witch herself and shoring up still more holes in the Witch's spell list. Invisibility does not appear on this Patron's list, leaving that crucial Illusion to the other arcanists in the party, but she does still get Vanish for emergency defense and Greater Invisibility which serves as her token, if flexible, support spell. Seemed strange that Witches, a class all about offensive battlefield control and "dark magic" wouldn't get any Darkness spells, so Blacklight makes an appearance to provide the Witch with more flexibility (though she still cannot counter Darkness effects on her own!). Other spells on this Patron's list serve to make this the Patron of secrets: Undetectable Alignment and False Vision do a little to alleviate the Witch's lack of ability to be the sort of "behind the scenes manipulator" that her spell list and Hexes strongly imply she should be. Sequester and Orb Of The Void provide some situational offensive punch while remaining thematic, and Antilife Shell and Time Stop give a Witch of The Veiled crucial breathing room for end-game fights that would overpower her quickly otherwise. I felt that Time Stop was highly thematic and yet also prevented this Patron's spell pool being too weak when compared against the others.