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Winter Witch
The descendents of Baba Yaga rule the frozen realm of Irrisen, and possess a unique power stemming from their otherworldly origin and ties to cold magic. This power is partly magical, partly political, and partly cultural.

Known as winter witches, these scions of Baba Yaga have not coveted or hidden their secrets, for they understand the truth that those who see winter witches work their frozen magic will simply assume the witch works for Irrisen.

By opening their traditions to those who have no blood connection to Baba Yaga or the rulers of Irrisen, they spread the notoriety and infamy of their magic far beyond what they could accomplish on their own. While winter witches are most commonly encountered in Irrisen, they can and have been encountered throughout the Inner Sea region, working to spread their nation’s notoriety with each frozen spell and manipulative hex

A winter witch has the following class features.

Familiar: Winter witches must choose a familiar that is native to the frozen north, even when they themselves operate in other regions. Traditionally, this limits winter witch familiar choices to bat, cat, fox, hawk, owl, rat, raven, or weasel. A winter witch who gains the Improved Familiar feat can select any familiar she desires, save for familiars with the fire subtype.

Cantrips: A winter witch adds ray of frost to her spell list, but does not automatically learn this cantrip.

Patron: A winter witch must choose her patron from one of the following patron themes: ancestors*, deception, enchantment*, endurance, moon*, occult*, portents*, stars*, transformation, trickery, vengeance*, water, winter*, or wisdom. An asterisk (*) indicates a patron theme detailed in Ultimate Magic.

Ice Magic: When a winter witch casts a spell with the cold descriptor, the save DC of the spell increases by +1.

A winter witch cannot learn or cast spells with the fire descriptor at all.

Cold Flesh (Ex): At 1st level, a winter witch gains endure elements as a constant spell-like ability, but only against cold temperatures. At 4th level, she gains cold resistance 5, making her comfortable in near-freezing temperatures. At 9th-level, this increases to cold resistance 10, and at 14th level, it becomes immunity to cold. This replaces the witch’s 4th-level hex.

Hexes: The following hexes complement the winter witch archetype: beast eye*, blight, cook people*, evil eye, feral speech*, hag’s eye, hoarfrost*, ice tomb*, witch’s hut.*

An asterisk (*) indicates a hex detailed in Ultimate Magic.

A winter witch can select the following hexes:

Frostfoot (Su):
This ability works like the spider climb spell, but the surfaces the witch climbs must be icy. The witch can move across icy surfaces without penalty and does not need to make Acrobatics checks
to run or charge on ice. She can move across regular snow without penalty, and heavy snow only costs her 2 squares of movement instead of 4.

Frozen Caress (Su):
Whenever the winter witch casts a touch spell, she can infuse the magic with cold as a swift action. This grants the spell the cold descriptor, and adds 1d4 points of cold damage to the spell’s effect. If the touch spell allows a saving throw, a successful save negates this additional cold damage.

Class Features
The following are the class features of the witch.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Witches are proficient with all simple weapons. They are not proficient with any type of armor or shield. Armor interferes with a witch’s gestures, which can cause her spells with somatic components to fail (see Arcane Spells and Armor on page 83 of the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook).

Spells: A witch casts arcane spells drawn from the witch spell list (see
pages 70–71). A witch must choose and prepare her spells ahead of time.
To learn or cast a spell, a witch must have an Intelligence score equal to at least 10 + the spell level.
The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a witch’s spell is 10 + the spell level + the witch’s Intelligence modifier.

A witch can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. Her base daily spell allotment is given on Table 2–10. In addition, she receives bonus spells per day if she has a high Intelligence score (see Table 1–3 of the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook)

A witch may know any number of spells. She must choose and prepare her spells ahead of time by getting 8 hours of sleep and spending 1 hour communing with her familiar. While communing, the witch decides which spells to prepare.

Cantrips: Witches can prepare a number of cantrips, or 0-level spells, each day, as noted on Table 2–10 under “Spells per Day.” These spells are cast like any other spell, but they are not expended when cast and may be used again.

Cantrips prepared using other spell slots, due to metamagic feats for example, are expended normally.

Hex: Witches learn a number of magic tricks, called hexes, that grant them powers or weaken foes. At 1st level, a witch gains one hex of her choice. She gains an additional hex at 2nd level and for every 2 levels attained after 2nd level, as noted on Table 2–10. A witch cannot select an individual hex more than once.
Unless otherwise noted, using a hex is a standard action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity. The save to resist a hex is equal to 10 + 1/2 the witch’s level + the witch’s Intelligence modifier.

Witch’s Familiar (Ex): At 1st level, a witch forms a close bond with a familiar, a creature that teaches her magic and helps to guide her along her path. Familiars also aid a witch by granting her skill bonuses, additional spells, and help with some types of magic. This functions like the wizard’s arcane bond class feature, except as noted in the Witch’s Familiar section.

A witch must commune with her familiar each day to prepare her spells. Familiars store all of the spells that a witch knows, and a witch cannot prepare a spell that is not stored by her familiar. A witch’s familiar begins play storing all of the 0-level witch spells plus three 1st level spells of the witch’s choice. The witch also selects a number of additional 1st-level spells equal to her Intelligence modifier to store in her familiar. At each new witch level, she adds two new spells of any spell level or levels that she can cast (based on her new witch level) to her familiar. A witch can also add additional spells to her familiar through a special ritual

Adding Spells to a Witch's Familiar Witches can add new spells to their familiars through several methods. A witch can only add spells to her familiar if those spells belong to the witch's spell list.
Spells Gained at a New Level: A witch's familiar learns a certain amount of lore and magic as the witch adventures. Whenever a witch gains a level, she may add two spells from the witch spell list to her familiar. The two free spells must be of spell levels she can cast.
Familiar Teaching Familiar: A witch's familiar can learn spells from another witch's familiar. To accomplish this, the familiars must spend one hour per level of the spell being taught in communion with one another. At the end of this time, the witch whose familiar is learning a spell must make a Spellcraft check (DC 15 + spell level). If the check succeeds, the familiar has learned the spell and the witch may utilize it the next time she prepares spells. If the check fails, the familiar has failed to learn the spell and cannot try to learn that spell again until the witch has gained another rank in Spellcraft. Most witches require a spell of equal or greater level in return for this service. If a familiar belongs to a witch that has died, it only retains its knowledge of spells for 24 hours, during which time it is possible to coerce or bribe the familiar into teaching its spells to another, subject to GM discretion.
Learn from a Scroll: A witch can use a scroll to teach her familiar a new spell. This process takes 1 hour per level of the spell to be learned, during which time the scroll is burned and its ashes used to create a special brew or powder that is consumed by the familiar. This process destroys the scroll. At the end of this time, the witch must make a Spellcraft check (DC 15 + spell level). If the check fails, the process went awry in some way and the spell is not learned, although the scroll is still consumed.

By forging strange bonds with unnameable beings, witches gain the service of a mystical advisor, a familiar to both serve her and reveal to her secrets unknown to most mortals. A familiar is an animal chosen by a witch to aid her in her spellcasting and grant her special powers. This uses the same rules as the wizard's arcane bond class feature, except as noted below. A witch uses her level as her effective wizard level when determining the abilities of her familiar. A witch can choose any of the familiars available to a wizard in addition to the new familiars presented here.

Levels of different classes that are entitled to familiars stack for the purpose of determining any familiar abilities that depend on the witch's level. If a witch possesses such levels, her familiar always uses the witch rules for familiars, not those provided by other classes, such as wizards or sorcerers with the arcane bloodline. A witch's familiar only stores witch spells. All other spells are stored normally, as noted in their class features.

If a familiar is lost or dies, it can be replaced 1 day later through a special ritual that costs 500 gp per witch level. The ritual takes 8 hours to complete. A new familiar begins knowing all of the 0-level spells plus two spells of every level the witch is able to cast. These are in addition to any bonus spells known by the familiar based on the witch's level and her patron (see patron spells).

Store Spells: Starting at 1st level, a witch's familiar stores all of the spells that the witch knows. This does not allow the familiar to cast these spells or use spell-trigger or spell completion magic items. Starting at 2nd level, and every two levels thereafter, a witch's familiar adds new bonus spells to the witch's spell list based on her patron. These spells are automatically stored by the familiar and can be prepared as normal once they are gained.

Deliver Touch Spells (Su): If a witch is 3rd level or higher, her familiar can deliver touch spells or hexes for her. If the witch and the familiar are in contact at the time the witch casts a touch spell, she can designate her familiar as the “toucher.” The familiar can then deliver the touch spell just as the witch would. As usual, if the witch casts another spell before the touch is delivered, the touch spell dissipates. If the witch activates a hex, her familiar can be used to make the touch. She does not have to be in contact with the familiar to use this ability.