For the fourth product in our crunch-focused Into the Breach line, with evil eyes ablaze, we tackle The Witch. In this newest installment of the series we look to a number of historical and fantastical sources to expand the flavor and flexibility of the witch base class. The following is just a small taste of what is inside of Into the Breach: The Witch.
Bailiwick Hermit: Due to historic persecution and superstition some witches eschew the comforts of even a thorp and instead live on the outskirts of society. The hostile lands they typically call home are a source of both power and imprisonment as the increasingly become dependent on the land they protect. Villages nearby often refer to bailiwick hermits as witches of the wood or swamp witches. Such villagers only trespass when times are dire and a desperate request to such a being is the last resort.
Bog Builder archetype: All alone on the outskirts of civilization, some witches turn to their own creations for companionship. A bog builder crafts a construct from natural materials at hand and her patron imbues it with semi-life.
Bulwark Theurgist archetype: Bulwark Theurgists devote themselves to a ward they believe serves the greater good. Be it a noble, hero, peasant, or any intelligent creature the bulwark theurgist acts as a guardian angel to their wards. These devoted protectors are particularly skilled at thwarting fell magics.
Disciple of the Bloody Hand archetype: While most witches have a familiar invested with the power of their patrons, a disciple of the bloody hand is a witch that invests her patron’s power into her own hand, granting it the ability to move on its own and channel her power.
Dweomer Weaver archetype: There is myth and wonder in the art of weaving, as cloth lets man settle where nature is harsh. The loom, spindle, and distaff are more than tools to some however; they are symbols of power and fate. Long have these secrets been known to womankind, the greatest secret being that some women may create far more than mundane cloth from their efforts.
Feybound Crone archetype: Some witches commune with entities that are known but surrounded by an air of mystery and otherworldly thoughts. The feybound crone seeks out those from the First World, the mysterious fey, as her patrons.
Foul Temptress archetype: The thrill of the hunt and the sweet taste of her victims drives the foul temptress to use her powers of seduction to abuse her natural or magically altered beauty and use it as a tool to get what she wants. The foul temptress uses soft words and beguiling suggestion to lower the defenses of her prey before striking, seeking to gain information, poison a mark, convince the weak willed to change their minds, or to end her victim’s life.
Gluttonous Crone archetype: The gluttonous crone is motivated by a single, simple emotion; hunger. Her hunger, if not satiated, drives her to insanity and so she must constantly feed or feast upon those ensnared by her wicked powers.
Marjara Bound archetype (marjara is the Sanskrit word for cat): Among the common folk it is often spoken that a black cat crossing your path is ill luck. Many laugh at this, seeing only superstition. However this caution is not without merit, as there truly are witches for whom a black cat is not just appearance, it is power and it is sacred.
Scorned Heart archetype: Those seeking redress after being spurned travel to the forgotten places of the world to make oaths of revenge. There, dark beings of ancient power offer a pact that grants them the ability to wreak the vengeance they seek.
Voodoo Crafter archetype: Whittlings and sticky resins adorn the wrists of calloused and gnarled hands. Whittling knives, hand planers, and brushes for glues flash their presence every once in a while. Curiously familiar baubles and dolls give off an unsettling feeling as she talks to her gris-gris. Crafting and cursing are the voodoo crafter’s tools for every situation.
Sèvitè Alternate Class:The sèvitè is a worshiper of a distant, uninvolved creator god, Bondye. Bondye does not intercede on behalf of mortals so his worshipers request aid and intercession from his servant spirits, the loa. Sèvitè can be translated as “servant of the spirits.”
Heathen Prestige Class: Witches in a general sense are misunderstood. They typically have a link to the natural world through a patron of benevolent mien. The minority are truly evil, either tied to a patron of malevolent intent or choose to use their power in a way not necessarily in line with their patron. A rare few are beyond evil in a simple self-serving or hateful way; they study evil, toting tomes of forbidden ancient lore. These are called heathen, and are intentionally anathema to everything good people hold dear. They revel in bloodletting and destruction. They gain power from the sacrifice of innocents. Their souls are promised to evil patrons of the worst kind. For all this they have unmatched power.
Scarred Shaman Prestige Class: In most cultures scars are a sign of past injury and wounds. In others, the scar could be a decoration, a symbol, or a branding, carefully placed there by a shaman or artist. Some of these shaman love the art of scarification so much that they fight in the front lines of battles to magically scar their enemies, but instead of giving scars of honor they place brands of shame. Often going into a rage doing this, they are vicious to their enemies and a great help to the allies they previously placed their mark on. Those who are branded on the battlefield find the scars to be disfiguring or embarrassing, and the lucky few who survive the battle are always reminded of their cowardice. Off of the battlefield they are masters of the art. In the tribes they can be found in scars tell much about the individual who wears them. For warriors it can tell of their victories and accomplishments. For leaders the right scars can be a symbol of wisdom and honor. Other scars show who is ready to settle down and start a family, or be brands of past crimes as a warning to merchants. For those who know how to read the scars, it is the scarred shaman that they respect and fear the most, because once they have placed a scar they have power over that individual.
New Hexes: Alter Fate, Babble, Boils, Boneless Form, Curse of Twisted Beauty, Death Sigh, Gain Council, Healing Earth, Lesser Hedge Talisman, Unnerving Vision, Wicker Ward.
New Major Hexes: Body Swap, Curse of Baleful Irony, Curse of Dust and Ashes, Heart's Desire, Hedge Talisman, Karmic Fate, Negate Scrying, Scent, Spirit Walk, Uncontrollable Retching.
New Grand Hexes: Alter the Land, Grand Hedge Talisman, Heartless, Karmic Justice, Witch Royalty
New Patrons: Karma, Savage, Royalty, Unnatural
...and seven new witch themed and friendly feats!
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Into the Breach: The Witch by Flying Pincushion Games has twenty-six content pages that are fairly densely packed with archetypes, an alternate class, prestige classes, new hexes, and new feats. Let’s take a look.
The document kicks off with the Bailiwick Hermit which gains benefits in a specific non-urban terrain while suffering penalties in unfamiliar terrain; in an urban setting, these penalties get worse based on the size of the settlement. This archetype also replaces the witch’s familiar with a Familiar Place, essentially a portable homestead that gains additional properties as the witch gains levels. It should be noted that the level 3-4 property, Illusionary Effect, is not described. Overall, this archetype would make a grand wilderness NPC; hermits generally make for poor adventuring companions, however.
Next up is the Bog Builder, which gains an altered Patron spell list and replaces the witches familiar with a Constructed Familiar made of bog materials. Overall, this seems solid, and the ability to design your own construct familiar adds a dash of flexibility.
The Bulwark Theurgist requires a good alignment and can designate one ally as its Ward who gains additional protections from the witch. A fairly bland archetype in my opinion.
The Disciple of the Bloody Hand is the first archetype that really tickles my fancy. The witch replaces the typical familiar with THEIR OWN SEVERED AND ANIMATED HAND! Awesome! The 14th level ability to summon a swarm of animated hands, which are fully statted, is also amazing. I quite like this archetype, it is very evocative and flavourful.
Dweomer Weavers must be female and replace the typical familiar with a Woven Witch’s Familiar, an article of clothing that must be worn while the witch prepares their spells for the day. This familiar also alters the usual properties gained by familiars. The 2nd and 8th level abilities gained: weaving two spells together as a full round action, temporarily disenchanting magical items of clothing, seem appropriate. The 14th level ability, Sever the Thread, seems very limited if you play in a game that doesn’t include Mythic elements or Hero Points. This is another archetype I could see using as an NPC, but I doubt it will get any love as a player option with my group.
The Feybound Crone replaces the Witch’s Familiar with a Fey Familiar… or two Fey Familiars so long as their combined CR doesn’t exceed 1. What happens if one of your two familiars is killed? Are there penalties? Can you only prepare half your usual amount of spells? Clarification is required. This archetype may, as a capstone, split into two fey creatures that “are independent and possess all abilities and spells listed in its stat block.” Which is troubling to me. When the witch uses spells while transformed, do they temporarily have access to spells they may not have previously known? Does using these spells use the witch’s prepared spell slots? Too many questions.
The Foul Temptress is the classic Snow White witch. Iconic in its fairy tale villain potential, I have no complaints.
The Gluttonous Crone gains power by eating people (well… intelligent creatures). More iconic fairy tale action is a good thing in my book.
The Marjara Bound is the classic black cat loving witch. I really like this archetype, though I question the balance as the black cat familiar is more powerful than the typical familiar; its shape change ability puts it at least on par with a Druid’s animal companion. Furthermore, the abilities that replace the Hexes granted at 8th and 14th level, short term transformation into hybrid weretiger form and the ability to summon a swarm of black cats (!) respectively, are better than most hexes.
Scorned Hearts trade away the first four levels of spellcasting for the ability to “transform herself into a savage avatar of retribution.” This avatar form is created in a similar manner as a Summoner’s Eidolon ; points in the “vengeance pool” are used to purchase Eidolon evolutions. This is a really cool archetype with a ton of roleplaying potential.
The Voodoo Caster replaces the witch’s familiar with Gris-Gris, essentially small fetishes or charms that the witch can imbue with spells or hexes. This is a flavourful archetype, though getting gris-gris into the hands or pockets of an opponent seems more troublesome than merely hexing them.
Following the archetypes is the full 20 level alternate class: the Sèvitè; a Wisdom based arcane spellcaster that is based on Haitian Voudoun practitioners. Sèvitè replace the witch’s hex ability with the ability to commune with spirits known as loa which grant the Sèvitè a number of spell like abilities. Aid can be requested from one loa at first level with additional loa granted at level 2 and every four levels following that. The document does not state the duration that the loa’s aid persists for; I would assume it is for twenty-four hours. Loa can also be permitted to take control, or “ride” the Sèvitè, granting additional powers while preventing access to skills, spells and the SLAs granted by other loa. Ending the loa’s ride is a move action, but the document doesn’t note if there is a maximum duration for this ability. Ten loa are detailed, which gives the Sèvitè a decent amount of variety in abilities from day to day.
Sèvitè cast spells drawn from the witch’s spell list; they can know any number of spells, but no method of adding new spells to their repertoire is noted. As their daily spell allotment is granted to them during their communion with the intercessory loa, Papa Legba, the usual method a witch would use to add spells to their familiar would seem to not apply. Sèvitè are also vulnerable to possession due to their connection to the spirit world. Despite the complaints noted, I really like this alternate class. It has a ton of roleplaying potential and would fit nicely in any campaign set in a Caribbean/tropical setting.
The two prestige classes, the Heathen (witch/magus) and Scarred Shaman (witch/barbarian) failed to impress me. The Heathen seemed unfocused and, though the prose notes how dark and villainous these beings are, they don’t require an evil or non-good alignment. The Scarred Shaman just seems bland, though the artwork depicting one on page 25 is gorgeous.
The document ends with a selection of new hexes, patrons, and feats. None of these made a lasting impression on me, other than the Babble hex, which, with its duration of 1 hour per witch level, could potentially cripple any spellcaster that fails their Will save. Awesome when in the PCs favor, but frustrating when they’re the ones targeted by it. And I’m the type of GM that would target PC casters with it with neither mercy nor remorse.
Into the Breach: the Witch is a mixed bag for me. While there are portions I really like, there is an equal amount I dislike or am neutral towards. There are also a number of clarifications that could be made to some of the content. If I could award half marks, this would get 3.5 stars from me, as half marks are not allowed, I will round down to 3.
Before jumping into the crunch of the bundle, I have to talk about the price. I bought this as part of the Oracle and Witch bundle, so the $2 savings did help sway my decision to pick these up sooner rather than later. Now, onto the good stuff...
ItB#4 The Witch
Bailiwick Hermit(****): Never leave home again! This has probably my favorite replacement for a Witch's Familiar, with the Familiar Place providing so many useful benefits to a party. The FP can continue traveling on auto-pilot while the party sleeps inside, complete with Alarm to get the party up at a moment's notice.
Bog Builder(****): Mechanically, this archetype has a lot going for it with its ever-growing familiar. Thematically, all I hear are hillbilly witches in my head.
Bulwark Theurgist(***): If everyone's playing a good character, she gets to shine as a support caster. However, her overall utility is bound to the composition of the party; making it a situational archetype. Otherwise, I would've given it a higher rating.
Disciple of the Bloody Hand(***): This archetype invokes images of Grandmama and Thing from the Addams Family. Best out of combat use for Grim Trophy? Giving yourself a round of applause. Bards focused on entertaining should consider picking a Disciple up as a cohort. If someone tried to pull this at my table, I'd give them a +1 aid another bonus for each set of clapping hands. Second best use for Grim Trophy would be "ranged" Sleight of Hand.
Dweomer Weaver(*****): The very first thing I thought of when I read over the class was the old point-and-click game Loom by LucasArts. This girls club of an archetype with some pretty gnarly powers. Woven Witch's Familiar is by far one of the most powerful familiar replacements available by essentially becoming a intelligent slotless magic item. Spell Loom lets the Dweomer Weaver pop off two spells (or three via Quickened) in a single turn. However, her most underhanded power is Sever the Thread. It's the answer to Eldritch Heritage builds that get out of hand.
Feybound Crone(****): This is the class for people who know their fey. In the hands of a knowledged player, this can be a very scary archetype based on the progression of the fey familiar.
Foul Temptress(***): Arcane seductress that can make do as a party face in a group without a Charisma-focused character. Deadly Kiss is kinda brutal, but that's to be expected out of a 18th level ability.
Gluttonous Crone(***): My only complaint is that getting the most out of it requires time micromanagement that will probably annoy the rest of the table. Better suited for use as an NPC.
Marjara Bound(*****): There is nothing bad I can say about this archetype. This celebration of the classic witch's familiar trope comes with dashes of crazy cat lady and slightly-better-than-vanilla lyconthropy.
Scorned Heart(*****): Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. This is one of the better archetypes to take for those seeking a melee witch. My only wish is that she could take Extra Rage to increase her rounds of Vengeance Incarnate.
Voodoo Crafter(*****): This is another fantastic archetype for support builds. They're essentially scrolls that are Quickened and don't need to be in hand to use. It really helps the overall action economy as everyone else can switch on their buffs/heals themselves while you toss hexes and spells to debuff the enemy. It also progresses to a decent enough point to multiclass towards Arcane Trickster at level 4.
Sevite(****): I respect the work put into this class, as it mixes the actual history of the source of inspiration into the mechanics of the class. The different loa provide a nice assortment of SLAs with a couple decent ones while ridden.
Heathen(*****): There aren't many magus-friendly prestige classes available in the core books, so something like this is always welcome. While it is useful with almost every magus archetype, it's no surprise that this class has amazing synergy with the Hexcrafter archetype. If taken with only the 1-dip necessary for the witch side and the rest as a HC 7/HE 10/HC 2 split between Hexcrafter and Heathen, you'd still be able to get two Grand Hexes via Hex Arcana at levels 19 & 20. My only complaint is one that is beyond your control. Thematically, this class would blend very well with the Bladebound magus archetype, but unfortunately cannot due to the Black Blade forbidding the Bladebound from getting a familiar. My personal recommendation is to ask your GM to houserule the Black Blade not blocking a familiar as long as the Black Blade comes from your patron.
Scarred Shaman(****): How do you make a Constitution-based casting archetype better? Give it Rage with a source of limited casting while raging. If your GM allows you to take Scarred Witch Doctor as something other than an Orc, I recommend taking this prestige class if you plan on being close to the front lines.
The new hexes and feats are a nice assortment of new options. However, the ones that I see getting the most mileage are Babble, Healing Earth, and the Hedge Talisman family. Babble is a welcome addition to any build to cripple enemy casters, especially paired with Distracting Hex and Disrupt Arcane Connection. Healing Earth is a nice out-of-combat healing hex that reduces the need to spend spell slots on cure spells. Hedge Talisman essentially turns your spells into spell-trigger items that don't require a UMD check. Just don't be surprised if your GM throws a book at your head for abusing them. Use Hedge Talismans responsibly.
Into the Breach: The Witch is a simple idea; provide new options for the Witch class in the form of archetypes, hexes, patrons, feats and even some prestige classes and an alternate base class. This is a pretty dense pdf with a ton of content.
despite having some inconsistancies with ‘game language’ (for example: Bailiwick hermit has an intelligent construct that functions as the witch’s spellbook, which function differently from familiars that store spells) most criticisms on this front are superficial at best and basically function as written without much clarification. As for how powerful and cool they are, nothing impresses me but nothing infuriates me. This sounds like the archetypes are only so-so but my opinion of the Witch class is that it is very bland so the amount of modularity and flavor given by these archetypes are a huge boon despite them not exactly clicking with me.
The alternate class, the Sevite, casts witch spells using Wisdom, gains a domain, gets a daily divination, the ability to get posessed by Loa thus gaining some abilities. Unfortunately I own both Pact Magic books so I’d never play this but if you don’t this is an alternate class that has a more defined flavor than the normal Witch.
There are two prestige classes. The Heathen, which probably should have an alignment restriction, I don’t like. Not because its too powerful, weak or unwieldy but seems to combine Magus and Witch in a way that feels like neither and just adds more complications. Then there’s the Scarred Shaman, a Witch-Barbarian. I like this one more (despite BAB not matching HD which is a pet peeve)
The Hexes and Major Hexes are mostly ‘meh’ but I can say that about most hexes in general. There are a few gems that either allow for new possibilities or new flavors so for the most part they’re a hit. The Grand Hexes are a more definite hit for me.
The four patrons take up all of half a page which sucks but what are you going to do, Patrons just aren’t as meaningful and flavorful as bloodlines or domains.
The feats are okay, nothing too interesting aside from the feat that allows you to swift action hexes against weapon targets, which I’ve seen so many times but not in feat form. There are plenty of archetypes that let you mix attacks and hexes so its not terribly thrilling.
So would I play with it?
Probably. Overall I’m not a fan of how linear the witch is so I’d likely pick an archetype out of here to better represent the flavor I want to play, especially the Sevite. I feel that the Into the Breach series feels the strongest when it fills in holes in classes and I think that this succeeds in adding some good flavor options to a very ill defined class.
So Would I allow it at my table?
As far as I can tell there is nothing unbalancing or annoying going on and everything functions as written or with minor clarification. I’d allow it.
Overall I’d give it a 4 out of 5. I like it enough but nothing blows my mind.
Into the breach: Witch is a 32 page pdf with 1 cover page and about 4 pages of table of contents/OGL so you’re getting about 27 pages of crunch. The Pdf contains 11 new archetypes 1 alternate class, 2 new prestige classes and new hexes and feats.
Let’s start with the archetypes.
The Bailiwick Hermit seems to be inspired by the witch lives out in the dark forest stereotype. Soat 1st level the Bailiwick Hermit gets a familiar terrain picked from the ranger terrains with the exception of urban terrain and gains a +2 bonus to her spell Dc’s while in this terrain. Also when not in your familiar terrain you take a -1 to will saves and concentration checks. This archetype also modifies the standard witch familiar, making the Bailiwick Hermit’s familiar her home. As the Bailiwick Hermit levels her home gains more intelligence and grants a number of bonuses while inside it. The home also acts as the Bailiwick’s spellbook and eventually becomes a chest of holding. Neat stuff.
Our second archetype the Bog builder also fits the theme of Swamp witch. At 1st level you can build a construct familiar out of wood, mud and sticks. Its awesome though you get to build your own Construct race with a 20RP limit. This is such a cool ability but it gets even better. At 3rd level the Bog Builder gets craft construct as a bonus feat. You can add sticks and mud to your construct 3+int mod times per day healing it for 10 hp each time. Also at 8th ,13th and 18th levels your familiar increases in size to huge. This becomes really useful because at 10th level you can cast a few hexes into your construct and have him deliver them later. A few levels after 10 you can have your construct hold even more hexes.
Then at 20th level you transform into a construct version of yourself. This replaces your grand hex at lvl 20 but if you go a full 22 levels into witch, you can still receive another grand hex. I’m actually glad this doesn’t replace the class feature but I don’t think anyone will make it 22 levels into witch. Overall I like this archetype a lot.
The bulwark theurgist is a very defensive archetype. To qualify for this archetype you have to be good which makes sense as you are a sort of guardian to one particular person. At 1st level you can designate a good creature as your familiar for the use of share spells and anything having to do with arcane bonds. At 2nd level when next to your ward you give them a second chance on all saving throws and at 6th level any adjacent allies get a +2 bonus to ac.
The Disciple of the Bloody hand is interesting to say the least. Instead of gaining a normal familiar this archetype makes one of your hands a crawling hand. It grants you a +2 bonus on fort saves but it makes one of your arms a raw red stump and should the crawling hand die you lose that hand. The hand also gains new abilities as you level. Luckily the archetype has a way to remedy this in Grim trophy. At 4th level the Disciple learns how to animate the severed hands and paws of fallen enemies and create more crawling hands you can control ½ your witch level amount of crawling hands and should your familiar die after 1 week you can replace it with one of these crawling hands. At 14th level you can summon a swarm of crawling hands. All in all a dark archetype rich with flavor.
The Dweomer Weaver also has a few restrictions you pretty much have to be female. Also your familiar is replaced this time it must be a medium or smaller piece of woven cloth. As per usual it grants unique abilities, like reach,+1 AC, uncanny dodge and the ability to discern details about other woven materials. At 2nd level the Weaver can weave together 2 spells as a full round action. In addition the Weaver becomes fatigued for 1d4 rounds. If the Weaver does this while fatigued she becomes exhausted instead. At 8th level the Weaver can suppress the magic of any one cloth item in 30ft and line of sight for 1 round per 2 levels and the item gets to make a will save to negate the effect. Continuing this trend at 14th level the Dweomer Weaver can suppress bloodlines, Hero point effects and mythic abilities. The targets gets a will save (10+1/2 class level +int) this is a seriously powerful effect, which can be used once every 24 hours on any given target.
The Feybound Crone is also a new and interesting idea. At 1st level the Feybound crone can select either a CR1 fey or 2 fey whose combined CR doesn’t exceed a CR of 1. The fey are charisma based spontaneous casters who advance in hit die every other level until they reach 10 hit die. Every third hit die they learn a spell from the sorcerer spell list as a spell like ability. The Feybound crone also learns 1 new spell that is not from her patron every level. Instead of learning cantrips the Feybound crone can use her familiar’s spell like abilities instead. You can still learn spells from your familiar, scrolls and spellbooks as normal. At 5th level you can add your intelligence bonus to Stealth and Disguise checks. At 10th level you the crone can choose to become and fey with a CR equal to her level and at 20th level you can become 2 fey creatures each one individually equal in CR to your level or lower.
The Foul Temptress is really what made me buy this supplement and it does many thing well it just fails to deliver on its potential. The first thing the Foul temptress gets is it replaces patron spell with specific theme fitting enchantment spells that I can agree with. At 1st level the Temptress receives a +2 on all charisma based skills increasing as you level. At 4th level the Temptress receives the beguiling gaze ability that makes a target take a -2 to attack rolls and skill checks. At level 8 she can affect 1 creature per level. As written the target gets no will save and we have no idea what type of action it is. At 18th level the Temptress receives a deadly kiss which allows you to kill with a kiss. 1 day after kissing the target they die regardless of health or location and don’t receive a save. This can be removed with a removed curse, wish, limited wish, break enchantment or miracle spell. A cool ability yet I wish there was some cool class features that replaced hexes that could live up to the flavor text for this archetype.
The Gluttonous Crone is based on the Hansel and Gretel type of witch the kind that eats people. So with that being said lets dive in. The Gluttonous Crone has an insatiable hunger, once per week she must eat an intelligent creature, and when she does so she gains a +2 morale bonus on all saves and to her Intelligence mod. After a week of not eating she gains the starving madness condition. She takes a – 2 on all saves and can’t make wisdom, charisma or intelligence checks. The Crone does deal and extra 3d6 damage until she eats another intelligent being. If she goes without eating anyone for a number of days equal to her con mod she goes insane. At 2nd level she can eat fingers and toes to gain temporary hp and she gains a bite attack and the swallow whole ability at 8th and 12 levels.
The Marjara bound witch gains a black cat as a familiar that can effectively transform into an animal companion, who scales as you level. She gains a =1 luck bonus on all saving throws which increases by +1 every 4 levels. At 8th level the Marjara bound can become a beast akin to a weretiger except she is always black. At 14th level she can summon a swarm of black cats.
The Scorned Heart gains diminished spell casting yet gains the eidolon evolution pool equal to a eidolon of her level. She is considered a bipedal eidolon and is restricted to evolutions she can select based on her level. She also gets a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls and a +2 to natural armor which increases every 4 levels. At 3rd level a Scorned Heart who is hit by an attack that requires a roll may cast a hex as an immediate action. At 8th level when reduced to 0 or fewer hp the Scorned Heart may bestow a curse as an immediate action.
The Voodoo crafter is something that you all should experience for its self. Its just awesome.
Moving on lets check out the spirit based Alternate class the Sèvitè
The Sèvitè has a d8 2+int skills and is proficient with simple weapons and no armor. The cast spells like the witch and can gain 1 domain with there cleric level equaling there Sèvitè level. The Sèvitè also communes with a great spirit so that they may use their main class feature Loa. Loa are spirits that are bound to the Sèvitè for a short while. They grant the Sèvitè spell like abilities and can ride the Sèvitè giving her more powers. Riding is a standard action and can be ended as a move action. Every 4 levels after 2nd more Loa can be summoned for aid. Most Loa grant spells that can be used certain times per day. One Loa Baron Samedi grants a number of healing spells yet when ridden enables the Sèvitè to cast inflict light wounds at will, eventually scaling up to inflict serious wounds at will. This is an interesting class that like the Warlock offers a lot of utility and moderate damage at all levels.
The Heathen is our first Prestige class requires you to be both a witch and a magus, able to cast 3rd level arcane spells and acquire and decipher a book of the dark gods.
The Heathen gains spells as if she had gained a level in both magus and witch. Which is pretty nice. At 1st level you also get a few of your class features changed, your familiar changes to an imp. The Magus’s arcane pool can now include the bane and unholy enchantments, and your Heathen levels stack with witch and magus levels to determine how powerful magus arcana and hexes are. You also gain a pool of Dark points which allow you to add metamagic to spells, without increasing the spell level, increase the caster level, increase the DC of certain spells and gain a +1 bonus on attack rolls, saving throws and skill checks. At 1st level you also gain a +1 bonus on attack rolls with specific weapons and it increases to a + 7 at 10th level. At 2nd level and every 2 levels after that the Heathen can gain a dark rite to preform to replenish their pool of dark points. From Self-mutilation to sacrificing innocents there are several flavorful ways to replenish your points each as sinister as the previous way.
The next prestige class is the Scarred Shaman. This is pretty much a Witch and Barbarian archetype. Each level increases the rounds of rage you receive and gives you spells as if you had increased in a level of Witch. At 1st level you can cast more Scar hexes and you can cast spells against opponents you have scarred while raging. At 2nd level the Shaman gains DR/- equal to half their class level. At 3rd level the Shaman gains either a new hex or Barbarian rage power and at 5th level the Shaman adds her class level to qualify for new hexes or rage powers. At 8th level the Shaman gains Greater rage as per the Barbarian ability. At 10th level the scarred shaman is able to transfer wounds and conditions between those who they have scarred with the scar hex. The scarred shaman is able to heal their allies an amount equal to their caster level, taking that same amount of damage onto them, or they may remove one of the following conditions and transfer it to themselves: Blinded, Dazed, Deafened, Fatigued, Shaken, or Sickened. Alternatively, the scarred shaman may transfer either wounds or a single condition in the above list from one scarred target to another scarred target. This is an awesome capstone ability.
There are 7 new feats, 8 new hexes, 10 new major hexes and 5 grand hexes and 4 new patrons.
In conclusion there is a lot of new good content and while I was personally disappointed with the Foul Temptress I think that idea has a lot of potential either as a fully fleshed archetype or as a class onto itself. The Heathen prestige class seems really fun for evil Pcs or Cultist NPCs. All of the archetypes are based on common witches from various fairy tales and for the most part are pulled off wonderfully. I never noticed any editing mistakes besides those associated with the foul temptress.
Overall I’m going to give this 4.5 stars rounded down to 4. If you like the witch class you should really check this out.
Review has been posted, great Job. The only thing that needs a bit of clarity is the Foul Temptress. Otherwise please tell me your going to be releasing the Gunslinger next.
My powers of deduction led me to believe so. Well i can't wait to see what you do for them. Gunslingers are one of my favorite classes and I hope the alternate class (if there is one) isn't another swashbuckler. The ACG's will be hard to top.
Thanks for your review, SACplayin. I'm going to take a look at the Temptress and see if I can't clear up the issues you noted with saves and the removal of the condition.
Gunslinger wil, in fact, have an alternate class. I'll PM you with a bit of summary to whet your appetite. Gunslinger was handed off to layout this week so you'll see it probably in early July.
Edit: oh, it looks like you don't have PM's enabled. Hrm.
Thanks for your review, SACplayin. I'm going to take a look at the Temptress and see if I can't clear up the issues you noted with saves and the removal of the condition.
Gunslinger wil, in fact, have an alternate class. I'll PM you with a bit of summary to whet your appetite. Gunslinger was handed off to layout this week so you'll see it probably in early July.
Edit: oh, it looks like you don't have PM's enabled. Hrm.
Yea Sorry about that! I enabled them from now on. So please feel free to PM away
Thanks for your review, SACplayin. I'm going to take a look at the Temptress and see if I can't clear up the issues you noted with saves and the removal of the condition.
Gunslinger wil, in fact, have an alternate class. I'll PM you with a bit of summary to whet your appetite. Gunslinger was handed off to layout this week so you'll see it probably in early July.
Edit: oh, it looks like you don't have PM's enabled. Hrm.
Fantastic the ruling on those abilities were pretty vague and I think having beguiling gaze be a swift action should clear this up.
Also if you guys ever get into the market of making base classes, a class based off of the flavor text of the Foul Temptress would be a very good idea.
For those interested in the duality of Baron Samedi granting both healing and harm, he gets kind of a bad rap in a lot of pop culture stuff. Samedi is sort of a chooser of the slain like Valkyries or the Morrigan. He decides who dies and who doesn't. So it made a lot of sense to me that he might grant some healing spells to a Sevite but ride in a more wrathful incarnation.
Thank you for your review, Malwing. I'm glad you liked Sevite, especially. I had to look up Pact Magic after reading your review. I can see where the full support of a couple books would be a more complete experience than Sevite but for a self contained unit, I think this alternate class is pretty full of win.
Also, I would kill and eat and large mammal or reptile of your choosing for a 5 star review. I'm hoping to finally blow your mind with Gunslinger when it comes out in a couple weeks.
How exactly does Feybound work? Do you apply the Fey Creature template to the normal familiar options or do you pick a fey from the bestiary? I'm building a half-elf Hexcrafter Cabalist(Orc bloodline)/Feybound Crone as a recurring NPC that will eventually go Heathen and align with BBEG. However, the party first meets her before then, so I need a pre-PrC version of her familiar. Any suggestions for a familiar that's not telling her witch the whole truth about her patron?
Hi Z. H. Darkstar! I'm the author of the Feybound Crone (excited about your NPC idea!).
Here's the relevant text:
Into the Breach: The Witch wrote:
At 1st level, a feybound crone may select a fey familiar or 2 fey familiars whose total CR does not exceed 1 instead of a normal familiar.
This allows for the reader to either select an actual fey creature from the bestiaries (of CR 1 or lower in total) or apply the Fey Creature template (while still being CR 1 or lower).
Thanks for the quick response. However, there are still two more things that could use a little clarification.
1. What do you mean by "A fey familiar learns spells as a spontaneous caster and is a Charisma-based spellcaster"? The mention of the sorcerer list leads me to believe you mean to use sorcerer progression.
2. First World Magic leaves me confused as to how exactly this archetype's spell acquisition and preparation differ from a vanilla witch. I get the second sentence about SLAs instead of cantrips, part of what I really like about the archetype. It's the sentences before and after that could use some explaining. Can I prepare spells my familiar knows that aren't on the witch list? That's just one of the many questions I have regarding the way that one ability works.
I know I can just handwave a lot of these things myself, but knowing the intended function is better in the long run. I have another group where I'm still a player and not the sub-GM in charge of NPC creation/combat, a position I'm in because the GM hates how powerful my knowledge of character creation is when used against him. :P
1. This is completely intended to say that the fey familiar learns spells in the same way as a sorcerer and it's primary stat is CHA. It also means it uses the Sorcerer progression of what level they gain new spell levels.
2.This lets her use any spell-like abilities her fey familiar has. It also is saying that she ONLY learns 1 new non-patron spell every other level. That's the biggest difference.
Yes, if you are learning a spell from your fey familiar and it isn't on the witch list then you can learn it. This is basically showing how much she's getting into the First World and less in the witch world.
Okay, I think I'm getting it. While looking through the CR 1 fey, I found a possible balance issue. There are quite a few CR 1 fey that have multiple hit die, allowing them to cap out at an earlier witch level. The faun is the most broken of the bunch with 3 HD and medium size stats. That's essentially starting at 1st level with a 3rd level sorcerer cohort. Since most games are unlikely to reach levels 16-20 (post-faun cap out) anyways, there's no reason to pick any other fey as a familiar. The risks associated with having a medium size spellbook are nothing compared to the rewards of having a free caster partner that out-levels you until after 5th level. I think that an errata should be in order to limit the starting hit die to one regardless of bestiary entry, much like a mount or animal companion.
I also noticed that applying the Fey Creature template to any of the normal familiar options is a very bad choice, as none of them would have a Charisma over 9 afterwards. Perhaps a modified version of the familiar progression chart with a scaling Charisma score, instead of Intelligence, should be added for those who wish to go the template route.
I has two more questions regarding SLAs. How many times per day can the SLAs gained from hit die advancement be used? Does the Feybound Crone's use of a limited-uses-per-day SLA count against the Fey Familiar's total uses, or does she have her own pool of uses?
I knew this archetype was going to be confusing at first when I reviewed the book. I just never expected this many questions and concerns to pop up while trying to fill out a character sheet. I did learn quite a bit about the various qualifying fey in the process, so at least that's a plus.
You do have a point in the faun but here is a short list of balancing factors:
Fauns are d6 instead of d8 HD as animal companions.
Animal companions start at 2 HD.
While on the higher end of the ability score spread, the faun is pretty close to the spread of many of the animal companion choices (excepting Int, which is not their primary casting stat for this).
Animal companions grow at level 4. Faun in this case would only get ability score increases at the appropriate levels.
As you noted, the fey familiar caps out at 10 HD, so 7 HD in 14 levels.
Animal companions advance in HD and such every level.
Most animal companions have an entire attack routine available from the start, such as claw claw bite. Most fey familiars at CR 1 or lower do not.
The Feybound Crone herself gives up being able to learn ALL spells not from her patron except for 1. Lots less in choices of spells per level.
Ultimately, yes this might be better than an animal companion at the first couple of levels if you are really going hard on maximizing, but not by a huge amount and the balance will shift down the road.
The Fey creature template may not be a good choice...but some folks like to make those sub-optimal choices. I will definitely keep in mind if we do an errata book!
That's a great question about the SLA's usage per days. The base SLA's the fey creature has is already listed in the bestiary entry. But for the new ones (which will end up being 3 SLA's max at 9th HD) (the faun would max at 2 extra SLA's since it starts at 3 HD) you should use the sorcerer number of spells per day chart for the appropriate spell level the SLA is.
It was intended that they share the number of uses per day as 1 pool.
Feel free to keep asking the questions! I hope you are liking the archetype!
Based on Endzeitgeist's review (thanks for that by the way), a few changes have been made. More clarity is added to the Ward ability of Bulwark Theurgist. And to clear up EZG's confusion about familiar stuff and patrons, the ward replaces the 1st level hex, not tose other abilties. It still has a normal familiar and patron.
Spell Loom is clarified and instead of the times per day, an additional spell is sacrificed to "power the loom." This trades staying power for action economy. Yes, you can just nova a single fight and then go to bed. But you'd be a douche. Don't be a douche.
Feybound crone needs work and it's going to get it, just not immediately.
Gluttonous Crone's damage bonus applies only to melee and not touch or other attacks. She is fatigued if more than 24 hours is spent in starving madness.
Clarity added to Majara Bound.
The final paragraph in Voodoo Crafter explains spell preparation. I'm guessing this was missed in his reading. If anything can be done to make it more clear, I'm happy to make a change.
Fixed Papa Legba so that new spells can be learned. Oops. This started as an archetype that got so out of control that it became an alt class and this piece of information was clearly missed in the transition.
Heathen. Ouch. So, today I learned that heathenism is a real thing, an alternative for paganism and especially popular in Germanic neopaganism. I've never heard it used as anything but an insult before and had no idea that people would self-identify as a heathen (in the same way that I wouldn't expect someone to self identify as an idiot). So that's been learned. This was never intended to be insulting and as EZG noted, I was conscious of the implications of using a real thing like voudoun in the Sevite and included a text box to that effect. I'm going to throw this issue at the publisher and we'll probably call it something else. I don't know what yet, but douchebag is on the list.
We'll be uploading with changes to our retailers soon.
On my list for tonight's duties, I was also unaware anyone would self-identify as a heathen. I thought it was a term similar to gentile, though technically I know no one who identifies as a gentile essentially anyone non-jewish is one. We will likely reskin that particular class.
