Ideas for making a Vudran style witch


Lost Omens Campaign Setting General Discussion


I'm playing a witch in our new Carrion Crown campaign and I wanted her to have a much more extensive Vudran (Indian/Hindu/Buddhist) flavor to her. So I'm looking for skinning ideas! Her name is Sredni Vashtar's Girl and she worships her weasel familiar as a god. More details here...

My ideas include
1. Using "mudras" (those funky hand signs) for her hexes. I'm trying to devise a mapping (this one for Misfortune, this one for Fortune, etc.)
2. Having a mantra she chants instead of Cackling.
3. Generally considering her weasel one of the thousand gods of Vudra.
4. She describes her manipulation of luck (fortune/misfortune/etc) as dharma and things that affect people like healing as affecting their chakra.

As a sub-theme her weasel is an evil Nyarlathotep worshipper and so her spells are more "evil great old ones stuff" but her witch powers are more her/her culture/her philosophy based; as she goes on she'll have conflict between the two.

That's about all I've got... Back in Feng Shui days when it was time to have some Daoist sorcerers I watched a bunch of HK movies to get some cool flash, but I'm not super familiar with the Indian panoply of stuff (and most of the Indian movies on Netflix don't seem to have religion/ritual/magic/etc as too much of a component...)

Any ideas for sources, ways to skin the witch, etc. along these lines? Doesn't have to be "true to" the real Hindi/Buddhist stuff, just ripping off the flair. Like how Christian churches are depicted in Japanese anime, where all priests have reflective glasses and silver crosses that shoot energy out, is "authentic enough" for these purposes.


Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Skin the Hair hex as having her grow numerous arms?

I'm not sure how much fun the conflict between witch and familiar is going to be in the long run. You might want to use the improved familiar feat as an excuse to change up to a better class of Old One. Desna might be the best choice as she's (allegedly) a reformed Old One herself.

Sovereign Court Contributor

Mongooses, which are related to weasels, are good luck in India, as they are snake killers.

Dayyans or Dakinis - witches - in India are linked to Tantric magic and shamanism and are generally worshippers of Kali (particularly as a tiger) and Shiva. They are known for shapeshifting, invisibility, flying through the air, creating undead, curses, and using the evil eye. They are also generally considered untouchables. However, in classical Tantricism, they were also Tantric preceptors, required for the intimate practices to overcome caste laws and impurity. In Tantric art they are often depicted in vivid colours, nude. The men too.

They are closely associated with certain aspects of Tantric Buddhism as well, though dakinis are considered invisible partners in seeking enlightenment.


Son of the Veterinarian wrote:

Skin the Hair hex as having her grow numerous arms?

I'm not sure how much fun the conflict between witch and familiar is going to be in the long run. You might want to use the improved familiar feat as an excuse to change up to a better class of Old One. Desna might be the best choice as she's (allegedly) a reformed Old One herself.

Yeah that's the plan, assuming she decides to "go good" I'll go Improved Familiar and drown the weasel in a bucket. If not, then she'll get on board the Nyarlathotep train.


Jeff Erwin wrote:

Mongooses, which are related to weasels, are good luck in India, as they are snake killers.

Dayyans or Dakinis - witches - in India are linked to Tantric magic and shamanism and are generally worshippers of Kali (particularly as a tiger) and Shiva. They are known for shapeshifting, invisibility, flying through the air, creating undead, curses, and using the evil eye. They are also generally considered untouchables. However, in classical Tantricism, they were also Tantric preceptors, required for the intimate practices to overcome caste laws and impurity. In Tantric art they are often depicted in vivid colours, nude. The men too.

They are closely associated with certain aspects of Tantric Buddhism as well, though dakinis are considered invisible partners in seeking enlightenment.

Thanks, that gives me some better terms to Google! I had been playing her pretty conservative/non-sexual but it's something to consider.


How are you approaching dealing with the Varisians? They are supposed to be of Vudrani origin, although the details are shrouded in mystery of their history with Thassilon. Perhaps Xin made a deal with some Vudrani kingdom or power to bring over servants? Are you going with being from Jalmeray, as nothing else of Vudra is really detailed in setting? Or as 'native' to Ustalav thru whatever family background? The Jalmeray background could make sense with the Nyarlathotep worshipping Familiar, proximity to Osirioni region and all. You could go with the Varisian Tattooed Sorceror Archetype with any appropriate Bloodline...?

Juju Oracle also sounds similar to the Dakini as described...

Sovereign Court Contributor

Robert Price argued (in an essay that hasn't really gone over that well in Lovecraftian circles), that in fact Nyarlathotep has a lot more in common with the more sinister interpretations of Shiva than any Egyptian god.

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8

You might check the Battlestar Wiki's music section. The theme lyrics come from a Vedic chant, and some of the other vocals are in sanskrit, sinhala, latin and other languages.

As an example:
Lyrics (in Sinhala):
Dei Kobol una apita uthoukarana
Ukthea mavatha gaman kerimuta
Obe satharane mua osavathamanabanta
Api obata yagnya karama

English translation:
Help us Lords of Kobol
Let us walk the path of righteousness
And lift our faces unto your goodness
We offer this prayer

A bit more religious than your average witch, but replace Kobol with Vudran and the first line would work especially.

As a fellow gamer, I'm always happy to see people who flavor their casters instead of 'I throw magic missile'

Ita dicimus omnnes!


Quandary wrote:
Are you going with being from Jalmeray, as nothing else of Vudra is really detailed in setting? Or as 'native' to Ustalav thru whatever family background? The Jalmeray background could make sense with the Nyarlathotep worshipping Familiar, proximity to Osirioni region and all. You could go with the Varisian Tattooed Sorceror Archetype with any appropriate Bloodline...? Juju Oracle also sounds similar to the Dakini as described...

Her background is more fully described in that link I provided (http://geek-related.com/2013/04/21/sredni-vashtars-girl/), she's from Jalmeray and is a student at the University of Lepidstadt - here, I'll just repost here for clarity. Also, she's a fourth level witch now, this isn't a build request per se. Deception domain. Her backstory:

Recollection of Longing in Captivity

The one known as Sredni Vashtar's Girl grew up an orphan in a baladata in Niswan, the capital of Jalmeray. It was a hard childhood and the precociously smart and religious girl was singled out for special abuse and torment by the matron of the orphanage. The years went by slowly.

The girl's one diversion was that she could see a strangely intelligent weasel from her window; it lived under a stump in the yard. As she watched it, she became convinced that the weasel was one of the Thousand Gods of Vudra named Sredni Vashtar and she prayed to it for strength.

One day, tired of the abuse, she prayed fervently to Sredni Vashtar for the death of the matron. The matron was working in the yard, went to clear the stump, and was bitten by the weasel. The wound would not stop bleeding and the woman bled to death in front of the shocked children.

That night Sredni Vashtar came to the girl and said that she was his to do with as he might, and that they were to leave Jalmeray and wander the world. In response to her worship and obedience, he would teach her magical secrets that would make her powerful. Eager to escape, she agreed, and was thereafter known only as Sredni Vashtar's Girl. Thus did Sredni Vashtar's girl learn the power of her deliverer.

Recollection of Travel and Obedience

As an atanapratta she travelled far within and then from the Impossible Kingdoms. As they went from Jalmeray to the dark markets of Katapesh, she learned from wise men and women how to use mudras and mantras to generate mystical effects, and Sredni Vashtar taught her the arcane arts.

She met a handsome young Vudran man while in Katapesh. But Sredni Vashtar did not approve, and forbade her to see him, nipping her hands viciously when she argued. The girl snuck out at night to see they boy anyway, but when she got to the place she was to meet him, he had been killed horribly by some large bat-like creature she saw flying away.

Sredni Vashtar told the girl that she had been punished for her disobedience and that the Haunter of the Dark had taken the boy. He forced the sobbing girl to dispose of the body as her penitence. Thus did Sredni Vashtar's girl learn an important lesson in obedience.

Recollection of Suddenly Opened Ways

At the indisputable urging of Sredni Vashtar, the girl journeyed into foreign lands far to the north; through Cassomir and up the Sellen River past Kyonin and Razmiran to the River Kingdoms and further north to mist-shrouded Ustalav.

The girl ended up in Karcau with her funds having run out and no idea what to do there, but fate intervened. Late one evening after the Karcau Opera had let out, a young lady named Kendra Lorrimor was lured into a dark side street by a child asking for help - but this was a trap, leading her into the clutches of some monstrous creature - possibly a vampire, but it was never caught or identified. Sredni Vashtar's Girl, looking for a place to sleep that night, happened to be in that dark street and surprised the creature and drove it off with magical dancing lights, saving Kendra from its clutches.

As a result Professor Lorrimor, her father, sponsored the odd foreign girl to attend the University of Lepidstadt, where she has been feeding her voracious intellect - while trying to ignore the voracious appetite of Sredni Vashtar to urge her to questionable deeds. She keeps up a correspondence with Kendra, who has been a positive influence on the girl. The girl writes her in an an ancient tongue so that Sredni Vashtar will not know of what they speak. Thus did Sredni Vashtar's girl learn that there is more to the world, perhaps, than Sredni Vashtar says.

Sredni Vashtar's girl has been living the quiet life of a foreign student at the University. The other students believe her to be a sorcerer or wizard and Sredni Vashtar to be her familiar; she allows them that belief at Sredni Vashtar's urging. He encourages the girl in her learning of all kinds of ancient and occult lore. Now that she has gotten word of Professor Lorrimor's death, however, she is upset and conflicted. She is saddened at the Professor's passing and upset at her only friend's grief; but she can't help but be worried about her free ride to the University disappearing... And into that chaos Sredni Vashtar whispers his strictures.


Quandary wrote:
How are you approaching dealing with the Varisians? They are supposed to be of Vudrani origin, although the details are shrouded in mystery of their history with Thassilon. Perhaps Xin made a deal with some Vudrani kingdom or power to bring over servants?

Hmm, didn't know that... Where's that mentioned? It doesn't really inspire me that much though, whatever stock they were from the cultures are about 1000% different now.


Jeff Erwin wrote:
Robert Price argued (in an essay that hasn't really gone over that well in Lovecraftian circles), that in fact Nyarlathotep has a lot more in common with the more sinister interpretations of Shiva than any Egyptian god.

That's definitely an inspiration for me; the vast plurality of gods and the vast plurality of interpretations of those gods in Hindu/Buddhist lore is very interesting (if so complex that it's pretty opaque to a newbie like me trying to make any sense of it). Even though Girl isn't evil and the weasel is (yes I know, not RAW, but interesting story trumps RAW every time) she still 'respects that' as maybe it's an important part of things. Just reading the interpretations of "dakini" from Googling you get everything from violent sex demon to enlightened goodie-goodie... See http://vedicgoddess.weebly.com/3/post/2012/12/dakini.html and there's a bunch of other sources where they don't have anything to do with sex at all and are less witches than goddesses...


Matthew Morris wrote:

You might check the Battlestar Wiki's music section. The theme lyrics come from a Vedic chant, and some of the other vocals are in sanskrit, sinhala, latin and other languages.

As an example:
Lyrics (in Sinhala):
Dei Kobol una apita uthoukarana
Ukthea mavatha gaman kerimuta
Obe satharane mua osavathamanabanta
Api obata yagnya karama

English translation:
Help us Lords of Kobol
Let us walk the path of righteousness
And lift our faces unto your goodness
We offer this prayer

A bit more religious than your average witch, but replace Kobol with Vudran and the first line would work especially.

As a fellow gamer, I'm always happy to see people who flavor their casters instead of 'I throw magic missile'

Thanks, I'll look there too. Her class choice is "witch" but my interpretation of it is more that her hexes are "spiritual power" in a pretty directly religious Hindu/Buddhist/mashup of Eastern religion sort of thing, related to her devotion and discipline (meditation etc.) and her spells are more power gifted by her "god" Sredni Vashtar directly. Her cauldron is generally used only for cooking korma, in other words....

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