For years you lived outside a small village, providing advice, herbal medicines, and tasty baked goods to the local residents. Although the folks in town knew you as their local witch, they also know that not all witches were evil. Whatever started you on this path, your time spent under the tutelage and watchful eye of your mentor, and the coven in general, has taught you much about both the natural and the supernatural world. Witches are both proficient herbalists and healers, using plants, herbs, fungi, and other natural reagents to craft potions and poultices for a variety of uses. They often employ divining techniques such as tarokka or tasseomancy to gain glimpses of the future.
A witch is a folk healer and is often viewed as a practitioner of forbidden arts, at least by those who live outside of their local area. These witches come from rural (or sometimes primitive) communities whose inhabitants are superstitious and sometimes not well-informed about the true nature of magic.
Instead, this character might be an ambitious seeker of knowledge, a driven occultist, or a superstitious academic. Possibly from a cultured society, this character has may be shaped by trauma, indoctrination, or just the natural desire to control his or her fate. Whatever the case, a witch is defined by an unconventional view of the world and the burden their gift becomes when others do not understand or believe.
- Skill Proficiencies: Choose two from among Arcana, Insight, Medicine, or Nature
- Tool Proficiencies: Herbalism kit, Cooks Utensils
- Languages: None
- Equipment:
- A wooden staff (quarterstaff), a divination tool of your choice (Such as runestones, a pendulum, tea leaves, tarokka cards or a small crystal ball), a set of common clothes including a hooded cloak, a herbalism kit, cook's utensils, and a belt pouch containing 5 gp.
Early in your life, you became aware of the spirit world. Roll d6 to determine how you discovered your gift, or choose from one of the options below.
| d6 | The Gifts of Witchcraft |
|---|---|
| 1 | Family Lineage - Your family has a long history of witchcraft. The gifts of the tradition runs through your blood. |
| 2 | Fate - Your destiny was determined before your birth, perhaps you are the seventh child of a seventh child; or, you are the only redhead with bright green eyes in a tribe of dark skinned, dark-haired folk; or, your great-grandmother was half-fey. Either way, your gifts are hereditary, and fate was written in the stars. |
| 3 | Mentor - You were selected and trained by the village witch, after an omen or sign (a flock of birds descended on you, winter relented when you was born, you were found on his/her doorstep). |
| 4 | Traumatic Event - You discovered that you had the gift after recovering from a near death experience. Perhaps you were poisoned by a venomous bite, or you nearly drowned in raging river; maybe you were seriously burned in a fire, or were struck by lightning in terrible storm. |
| 5 | Epiphany - You always knew there were hidden mysteries, and after much meditation and inner searching you finally learned how to unlock your gifts. |
| 6 | Occult Society - When you were a youth, you were approached by a mysterious figure -- most likely a hag, but any other fey, fiend or celestial is possible -- who told you about your gifts and took you to their coven. The coven took you in and taught you what your gifts were about and how to use them. |
By consulting your divination tools and the local area's spirits, you can gain awareness and guidance. This can take the form of insight into the personality or motivation of an NPC, a premonition of a possible future, or perhaps an awareness of the supernatural nature, if any, of the location you're in. Whatever the result, interpreting it may be challenging, and often it seems cryptic. Typically this feature is used to tell the fortune of another creature, however, this divination can be performed for a group of individuals, or for the witch themselves.
Additionally, a village witch's 'magic' is limited to herbal remedies and folk medicine. The coven members are quite aware of this, and over the years they've grown adept at using their common sense -- which isn't that common -- to fool people into thinking their magic is greater than it is. They call this talent "Headology". You’ve picked up the subtle art of tricking people with common sense. You may always use Wisdom when making Persuasion checks.
Spell List
Prerequisite: Spellcasting, Pact Magic class feature, or Racial spellcasting feature
If you have the Spellcasting or Pact Magic feature, either through your class or your race, the spells on the Village Witch Spell table are added to the spell list of your spellcasting. (If you are a multiclass character with multiple spell lists, these spells are added to all of them.)
| Spell Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| Cantrip | druidcraft, spare the dying |
| 1st | find familiar |
Witches refer to their magic as their 'gifts'. When you use these gifts, graceful swirls of green, aubergine, and silver light dance in the air around you, and phantasmal forget-me-not flowers might waft through the air. A sensation of a gentle cool breeze, the sound of autumn leaves rustling in the wind, and the smell of freshly baked pumpkin pie might accompany your spells.
Consider customizing these effects to suit your character, modifying the visual, auditory, and olfactory effects as needed.
Suggested Characteristics
As the players choose backgrounds for their characters, they can use the following tables to help determine their characters' personality traits, ideals, bonds, and flaws. Players can use these tables instead of the ones that appear in the Player's Handbook, or they can mix and match them. If a rolled result doesn't make sense for a character, the player can roll again or choose a more appropriate entry on the table.
These tables, while optional, are well suited to a Village Witch-themed character who has a Village Witch background.
| d8 | Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | I try to find the good in most everyone I meet, even though I think they're all idiots. |
| 2 | I would try to read every book in the world’s greatest libraries if I could. There is power in knowledge. |
| 3 | I’m used to helping out those who aren’t as smart as I am, and I patiently explain anything and everything to others. |
| 4 | There’s nothing I like more than a good mystery. |
| 5 | I’m willing to listen to every side of an argument before I make my own judgment. |
| 6 | I … speak … slowly … when talking … to idiots, … which … almost … everyone … is. |
| 7 | I am horribly, horribly awkward in social situations. |
| 8 | I’m convinced that people are always trying to steal my secrets. |
| d6 | Ideal |
|---|---|
| 1 | Knowledge. The path to power and self-improvement is through knowledge. (Neutral) |
| 2 | Beauty. What is beautiful points us beyond itself toward what is true. (Good) |
| 3 | Community. Whether a city, a village, a coven, or my companions, it's my duty to protect and nurture them. (Lawful) |
| 4 | No Limits. Nothing should fetter the infinite possibility inherent in all existence. (Chaotic) |
| 5 | Power. Knowledge is the path to power and domination. (Evil) |
| 6 | Self-Improvement. The goal of a life of study is the betterment of oneself. (Any) |
| d6 | Bond |
|---|---|
| 1 | My village, clan, or tribe is the most important thing in my life, even when they are far from me. |
| 2 | I have an ancient text that holds terrible secrets that must not fall into the wrong hands. |
| 3 | I suffer awful visions of a coming disaster and will do anything to prevent it. |
| 4 | I will share the entirety of my knowledge freely, however, I will never share my true name. |
| 5 | I’ve been searching my whole life for the answer to a certain question. |
| 6 | I sold my soul for knowledge. I hope to do great deeds and win it back. |
| d6 | Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | I am easily distracted by shiny things. |
| 2 | Most people scream and run when they see a demon. I stop and offer it a cup of tea. |
| 3 | Losing my life is price worth paying to attempt to unlock an ancient mystery. |
| 4 | I'm forgetful. Sometimes I can't remember even the simplest things. |
| 5 | I easily lose track of time. My poor sense of time means I'm always late. |
| 6 | I remember every insult I've received and nurse a silent resentment toward anyone who's ever wronged me. |
Contacts
Over the years of service to your community, you have developed contacts with a variety of people and creatures from all walks of life. Occasionally, these interactions develop into a friendship, mentorship, rivalry, or even something deeper and more meaningful. If the DM wishes, these creatures or people may pay you a visit during your adventures, or during a long or short rest (no harm comes to you as a result -- usually!). These interactions can last for minutes or hours, and the conversations that occur can contain messages and insights, or nonsense and red herrings, at the DM's discretion. These conversations always occur in a language you can understand, even if the visitor can't normally speak that language.
| d8 | Contact |
|---|---|
| 1 | The spirit of your mentor, who has long since passed away, but occasional visits you in your dreams. |
| 2 | Green Hag |
| 3 | Night Hag |
| 4 | The former chief of a tribe of werebear whose land was near the village you used to tend to. |
| 5 | A fellow coven member. |
| 6 | Satyr |
| 7 | The Mayor/Patrician of the village or city that you offered your services to. |
| 8 | An evil witch from a rival coven, who sold their soul to a demon and is now out to exterminate your coven, starting with you! |
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