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Entry One:
I have been playing for the last two years in a group, using the Savage Tide Adventure Path. My main character is a 20th level Binder, who had lost his cohort shortly after the party entered into Demogorgon's Prison to find Lavinia.
Near the end of last week's session, the DM let me introduce my new cohort: a 1st Level Barbarian/16th Level Witch and his pig familiar (from here on to be called "Witch").
The Witch was locked in a barred cage hanging from the ceiling over a pit of lava. Three other captives (including Lavinia) were there as well. While some party members attempted to rescue Lavinia from her cage, the rest were ambushed by a shadow demons outside of the main door to the room. Within several rounds, dread wraiths joined in the fray.
The Witch was delayed in joining the fight by one round because the DM reasoned it would require at least that time to assess the situation (i.e., decide whether to get involved; and if so, which side to assist).
From inside the cage, the Witch cast Spectral Hand in the second round, followed by Bestow Curse in the third. The Bestow Curse failed to affect a Dread Wraith. At the end of that round, Vanthus appeared down the hallway leading to room and we ended our gaming session.
When playing the Witch, I considered other available spells (e.g., Cone of Cold, Lightning Bolt), but didn't choose them due to the close proximity of party members and opponents. Some spells were not chosen because of the Dread Wraith's undead immunities (i.e. immunity to mind-affecting spells or spells requiring a Fortitude save).
I considered Evil Eye Hex and Agony Hex because they are my only hexes with range beyond "touch". However, I elected to avoid Agony Hex because I figured it doesn't harm undead creatures (i.e., the hex calls for a Fortitude save and doesn't affect objects). The remaining hexes (Fortune, Cackle, Misfortune, Flight) were not applicable due to the circumstances or because they had a range of "touch."
In retrospect, it would have been nice to have a feat or Witch-specific spell that would allow "touch" hexes to be delivered at a distance (similar to Spectral Hand or Reach feat) -- especially if hexes will continue to provoke Attacks of Opportunity.
I'll continue to post future synopses of play sessions.
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Entry Two: Vanthus (a death knight) and his Cauchemar loosed an unholy flamestrike on the party, and charged forward only to vanish into nothingness (i.e. turned ethereal).
The party members (i.e., 20 Wizard, 20 Ranger, 17 Spell Thief, 20 Cleric, 20 Binder, and 20 Ranger/Totemic Demon Slayer) continued to fend off Dread Wraiths and Shadow Demons.
From inside the cage, the Witch was unable to reach an opponent with his ranged hexes, and his spells were either unable to affect undead creatures or would have negatively impacted party members.
In round 5, the Wizard fled into the room to escape the Dread Wraiths (as he only had <36 hit points remaining). However, Vanthus emerged from the ethereal plane and attacked him.
On death's door, the Wizard reluctantly accepted the imprisoned Witch's offer of help, and approached the cage. The Witch cast Heal on the Wizard, and Hex of Fortune in the following round to assist the Wizard avoid additional Dread Wraith Constitution draining attacks, and to improve his chances of hitting with a spell which conjured a black blade of nothingness.
In round 7, the Witch reduced one of the few remaining Dread Wraith's attack by 4, using Hex of the Evil Eye, for one round. It fled into a wall later in that round.
In round 8, the Wizard cut the cage open with this black blade, and the Witch and his pig familiar flew out using Hex of Flight. In round 9, the enemies were destroyed before the Witch was able to enter combat.
In this session, I felt that the Witch was relegated to a supporting character, partially due to the circumstances/setting (locked in cage) and by the my choices (i.e., spells, hexes, and familiar).
The pig familiar has a "gish" theme to its spells given that each either makes you larger or improves your combat abilities. Not being able to get directly into hand to hand combat denied my Witch from showing his stuff.
The spells and hexes also seem to be less effective on undead (again could be my choice), and I was limited again by the "touch" hexes. Perhaps ranged hexes or hex auras may be give the Witch some extra flexibility (and promote hex use over spell use in combat).
All in all, this session was better than the first, but I still felt underpowered compared to the other characters. Perhaps next time...
Well, partly the problem was the circumstance the witch was in. Most classes would have problems contributing from inside a cage like that. You should defintantly give it another try.