So as DM I don't see how my players can solve a quest I created (I usually don't think a lot into quest resolutions because I don't want to become attached to the ones that I thought, conditioning the players for going for them). Normally it works, but it seems this one may be a bit problematic, as I don't know very well how the ethereal plane works.
Basically the thing is: in paralel to other quests, every knight, a coven of https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/16965-night-hag is going to their tavern, and creating dreadfull nightmares for them (in game it reduces their max hp and prevents them from resting). I think they will be able to eventually understand what's happening, they are already trying to use animals to spot intruders, they can detect what's happening with a truesight animal, also they informed of their problem to the city healing houses, and the city is used to fighting with fiends, so, after a workweek, if they didn't discover what's happening, the curators will explain to them their situation.. My problem is: Once they now what's happening, how can the solve them? What are the options to moving to the spectral plane or attacking things in the spectral plane? My problem is that, even if they discover what's happening, the hags don't have any reason to stop as they can't be attacked in the spectral plane and they cannot defend at least with the resources they have at the moment.
So after this explanation, my question is the same as the title. How can they defeat something that keeps attacking them from the ethereal plane and that doesn't have any reason to? Also one extra question. How does the ethereal plane interact with https://www.dndbeyond.com/spells/leomunds-tiny-hut?
Keep in mind that the hags can always run away when confronted if that is what they want to do. Each hag needs to have a heartstone in their possession to move between the material and ethereal planes. There are a few ways that the party could attack creatures in the ethereal plane but most parties will need the DMs help in terms of NPCs to do so.
The first problem is that even if the party does manage to engage the hags - you will likely have at most 1/2 of the party against all the hags at once since the hags can freely move between planes and the characters usually can not.
Here are some possible solutions.
1) Plane shift - 7th level spell - this can transport some or all of the party to the ethereal plane. You would need at least two scrolls - one to get there and one to get back. Half the party has to stay behind to fight the hags if they decide to leave the ethereal plane while the other half engages them on the ethereal plane.
2) Blink - 3rd level spell but it is SELF only so will only work for specific characters - a scroll would work if it is on their spell list. The character could use the ready action to prepare an attack or spell if they blink onto the ethereal plane. Blink does not require concentration.
3) Gate - 9th level spell - concentration - 1 minute. opens a portal to a different plane of existence which would include the ethereal plane. The players don't need to know what level of magic is involved if you want to have a cleric from a temple open a portal allowing the characters to fight the hags on both the prime material and ethereal planes simultaneously.
If the characters have the knowledge or lore they could grapple a hag on the material plane and try to take the heartstone from the hag. Without the heartstone they can't get back to the ethereal plane. If the characters trapped one hag this way the other hags might initially decide to try and free them since they would prefer not to break the coven and they are stronger together.
The short answer is that solving this problem is pretty much beyond the ability of a level 6-7 party unless several of them have access to the blink spell - so the DM will have to step in and provide the tools needed for the party to be able to solve it.
P.S. A few more points.
The haunting can be prevented by a Magic Circle but it only lasts an hour or Protection from Evil and Good but that is only 10 minutes.
You could also rule that an area affected by the Hallow spell might be able to prevent the haunting but you'd have to rule that its effects extend to the ethereal plane. If you have a church with Hallowed ground that might be a method to let the characters get some rest.
The haunting causes a permanent hit point loss of d10/haunting which can only be fixed by greater restoration - which the party can't cast so hopefully there IS a friendly church somewhere nearby.
Greater restoration is also the only way to fix the exhaustion that may result from missing the long rest.
From Xanathar's - if you use the rule:
Going without a Long Rest
A long rest is never mandatory, but going without sleep does have its consequences. If you want to account for the effects of sleep deprivation on characters and creatures, use these rules.
Whenever you end a 24-hour period without finishing a long rest, you must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or suffer one level of exhaustion.
It becomes harder to fight off exhaustion if you stay awake for multiple days. After the first 24 hours, the DC increases by 5 for each consecutive 24-hour period without a long rest. The DC resets to 10 when you finish a long rest.
----
If the hag can prevent a long rest for a week to 10 days the character affected could die of exhaustion even if their hit points aren't reduced enough by the haunting.
There is also the etherealness Spell, but I didn't mention it because it is out of players' level. But a scroll, tattoo, or spell gem could do it. There is also the oil of etherealness.
But keep in mind these would be for attacking the hag, not defending against it. You might use a scroll of protection, but that only slows it down like the spell's mentioned in its effect.
Tiny Hut will protect you from the Night Hag. It is explicitly a dome of magical force, and barriers of magical force block movement, even in the Ethereal plane. (DMG Chapter 2 ) Just make sure to check that the hag isn't present when you cast the spell, and the hag won't be able to touch you while you sleep.
Without the hut, it still actually isn't too hard for the party to defend against the hag. Nightmare Haunting is limited to once per day, and requires afull hour ofpersistent contact. If you realize how night hags work (Seems like the players eventually will gain that information through research and other sources), all you have to do is detect the haunting, then break that contact. That can be done fairly easily by most characters by level 7. Anyone who can outspeed the hag's 30 feet movement can just run away. Anyone with Misty Step can just do a quick teleport. Protection from Good and Evil can just break the contact on the spot. Etc, etc.
You just need to detect the haunting in the first place, then wake up the target and have them break the contact however their class can. Sleep in shifts. Use that Truesight animal as much as you can. Stagger some See Invisibility spells and hope to catch the hag in the act.
Now then....
Going on the offensive is muchtrickier. You need to lure the hag out of the Ethereal Plane, or find some way into it. And, you'd need to prevent the hag from simply running away with a Plane Shift. This is really tough for a level 7 party to accomplish. Heck, its hard for a level 15 party. Actually killing a night hag is a monumental task.
Once tactic that a level 7 party has access to:
Once you detect the hag: Blink + Command is a possible way to get the hag onto your plane. As a DM, think the command word 'materialize' would properly cause them to shift onto the material plane. Once you bring them over, your party might be able to follow up with more CC (Command, Hideous Laughter) to prevent escape. 17 AC and 112 HP will probably take a couple turns for a party to burn through, but it is doable - especially if they can get help from others in the town. An inverted magic circle would be absolutely clutch to trap her, but requires set up.
Night hags have magic resistance, but also only have a +2 wisdom save. A DC 15 Command still has a decent chance of success, and you might get multiple attempts if Blink cooperates with you.
Tiny Hut will protect you from the Night Hag. It is explicitly a dome of magical force, and barriers of magical force block movement, even in the Ethereal plane. (DMG Chapter 2 ) Just make sure to check that the hag isn't present when you cast the spell, and the hag won't be able to touch you while you sleep.
Geez, talk about burying a rule. A rule that applies at level 5 hidden in planar travel rules usually irrelevant to parties below level 13...
You would think that tiny hut would have mentioned it like wall of force, or wall of force wouldn't mention it if it is already a general rule.
Tldr: Why is WotC so bad about keeping their rules consistent?
Even if they can't cast the spells that might let them go to the ethereal to engage the hags there, they might know someone else who can cast them, or sell them the scrolls or some kind of homebrew item that will allow them to go there and back (but it breaks after one use, so the characters aren't going ethereal all the time). Then you get a plot hook as the someone who can give them what they need demands a favor in exchange for the item.
Tiny Hut will protect you from the Night Hag. It is explicitly a dome of magical force, and barriers of magical force block movement, even in the Ethereal plane. (DMG Chapter 2 ) Just make sure to check that the hag isn't present when you cast the spell, and the hag won't be able to touch you while you sleep.
Geez, talk about burying a rule. A rule that applies at level 5 hidden in planar travel rules usually irrelevant to parties below level 13...
You would think that tiny hut would have mentioned it like wall of force, or wall of force wouldn't mention it if it is already a general rule.
Tldr: Why is WotC so bad about keeping their rules consistent?
My thoughts exactly. I was very surprised to see this.
Tiny Hut will protect you from the Night Hag. It is explicitly a dome of magical force, and barriers of magical force block movement, even in the Ethereal plane. (DMG Chapter 2 ) Just make sure to check that the hag isn't present when you cast the spell, and the hag won't be able to touch you while you sleep.
Geez, talk about burying a rule. A rule that applies at level 5 hidden in planar travel rules usually irrelevant to parties below level 13...
You would think that tiny hut would have mentioned it like wall of force, or wall of force wouldn't mention it if it is already a general rule.
Tldr: Why is WotC so bad about keeping their rules consistent?
Absolutely agreed. IMO, the DMG shouldn't have any actual core rules located in it. Optional and variant rules are fine, but the basic rules should contain everything needed to play the game. The Ethereal plane has enough spells and monsters that interact with it that it should be properly explained in the basic rules.
I guess this would just be homebrew but since you are the DM and you set up this situation can’t you just have them do a short quest to get an item that protects them or if they make contact with the hags, prevent them from escaping back to the ethereal plane? I mean, if you painted yourself into this corner, just paint yourself out of it
I’m not familiar with hags or the ethereal plane, I’m not a DM so I don’t tend to read up on that stuff even though I have the books, to avoid meta gaming. Sorry if this doesn’t make sense.
See Invisibility helps spot them while they're on the ethereal plane. See invisibility description:
For the duration, you see invisible creatures and objects as if they were visible, and you can see into the Ethereal Plane. Ethereal creatures and objects appear ghostly and translucent.
And, Force effects can affect creature/things on the ethereal plane. DMG, Chapter 2 Creating a Multiverse, Border Ethereal:
Normally, creatures in the Border Ethereal can’t attack creatures on the overlapped plane, and vice versa. A traveler on the Ethereal Plane is invisible and utterly silent to someone on the overlapped plane, and solid objects on the overlapped plane don’t hamper the movement of a creature in the Border Ethereal. The exceptions are certain magical effects (including anything made of magical force) and living beings.
So see invisibility + force effects can tackle a threat lurking on the ethereal.
Edit/Addition: tiny hut is a force effect "immobile dome of force springs into existence" and completely blocks ethereal creatures.
Tiny Hut will protect you from the Night Hag. It is explicitly a dome of magical force, and barriers of magical force block movement, even in the Ethereal plane. (DMG Chapter 2 ) Just make sure to check that the hag isn't present when you cast the spell, and the hag won't be able to touch you while you sleep.
Geez, talk about burying a rule. A rule that applies at level 5 hidden in planar travel rules usually irrelevant to parties below level 13...
You would think that tiny hut would have mentioned it like wall of force, or wall of force wouldn't mention it if it is already a general rule.
Tldr: Why is WotC so bad about keeping their rules consistent?
Force effects have always crossed into the ethereal in all editions of the game (if my old man memory serves me). 5e doesn't go out of its way to highlight this fact but it remains true. If anything 5e makes issues because of how much they tried to streamline ethereal-planar travel compared to prior editions. The ethereal is supposed to physically overlap with the material plane and things that exist there do indeed still exist on the material plane, and vice versa. But 5e tried to simplify that relationship, and instead of existing simultaneously on both planes, tried to treat the ethereal like any other plane, wholly separate. But then over-complicate it in specific monster/creature stat blocks with weirdly behaving planar shifting abilities. ghosts and the like.
Interestingly enough, the other way to fight an ethereal creature is to just punch it in the face. (or any other natural weapons). since the other thing that can have an effect on the ethereal plane is... living creatures. (Again) this is because they should theoretically exist on both planes simultaneously even if they can't see into one or the other. (again) That's why the ghost's abilities are so oddly and specifically worded to allow them to pass through creatures. By default they can't.
The hag's Nightmare haunting ability supports this notion too. In fact. Because they are required to be on the ethereal plane, and physically touching a creature on the material plane.
While on the Ethereal Plane, the hag magically touches a sleeping humanoid on the Material Plane.
That's only possible if you can physically interact between the two planes.
More evidence you can just punch the hag while she's in the ethereal if you can detect her... compare her version of ethereal ability with the ghost's:
Hag: Etherealness. The hag magically enters the Ethereal Plane from the Material Plane, or vice versa. To do so, the hag must have a heartstone in her possession.
vs
Ghost: Etherealness. The ghost enters the Ethereal Plane from the Material Plane, or vice versa. It is visible on the Material Plane while it is in the Border Ethereal, and vice versa, yet it can't affect or be affected by anything on the other plane.
Even if they can't cast the spells that might let them go to the ethereal to engage the hags there, they might know someone else who can cast them, or sell them the scrolls or some kind of homebrew item that will allow them to go there and back (but it breaks after one use, so the characters aren't going ethereal all the time). Then you get a plot hook as the someone who can give them what they need demands a favor in exchange for the item.
Or they might find a point where there's a natural or artificial connection between the Prime and the Ethereal.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Tiny Hut will protect you from the Night Hag. It is explicitly a dome of magical force, and barriers of magical force block movement, even in the Ethereal plane. (DMG Chapter 2 ) Just make sure to check that the hag isn't present when you cast the spell, and the hag won't be able to touch you while you sleep.
Geez, talk about burying a rule. A rule that applies at level 5 hidden in planar travel rules usually irrelevant to parties below level 13...
You would think that tiny hut would have mentioned it like wall of force, or wall of force wouldn't mention it if it is already a general rule.
Tldr: Why is WotC so bad about keeping their rules consistent?
Force effects have always crossed into the ethereal in all editions of the game (if my old man memory serves me). 5e doesn't go out of its way to highlight this fact but it remains true.
Do you realize how low the percentage of players that played older editions is? No one should be expected to know rules for different games to play this one.
Tiny Hut will protect you from the Night Hag. It is explicitly a dome of magical force, and barriers of magical force block movement, even in the Ethereal plane. (DMG Chapter 2 ) Just make sure to check that the hag isn't present when you cast the spell, and the hag won't be able to touch you while you sleep.
Geez, talk about burying a rule. A rule that applies at level 5 hidden in planar travel rules usually irrelevant to parties below level 13...
You would think that tiny hut would have mentioned it like wall of force, or wall of force wouldn't mention it if it is already a general rule.
Tldr: Why is WotC so bad about keeping their rules consistent?
Force effects have always crossed into the ethereal in all editions of the game (if my old man memory serves me). 5e doesn't go out of its way to highlight this fact but it remains true.
Do you realize how low the percentage of players that played older editions is? No one should be expected to know rules for different games to play this one.
Well, it is the same game, just different editions of it. But, for them: Just read the DMG, Chapter 2: Creating a Multiverse, Border Ethereal. Where the rules for this can be found has been listed several times now.
Tiny Hut will protect you from the Night Hag. It is explicitly a dome of magical force, and barriers of magical force block movement, even in the Ethereal plane. (DMG Chapter 2 ) Just make sure to check that the hag isn't present when you cast the spell, and the hag won't be able to touch you while you sleep.
Geez, talk about burying a rule. A rule that applies at level 5 hidden in planar travel rules usually irrelevant to parties below level 13...
You would think that tiny hut would have mentioned it like wall of force, or wall of force wouldn't mention it if it is already a general rule.
Tldr: Why is WotC so bad about keeping their rules consistent?
Force effects have always crossed into the ethereal in all editions of the game (if my old man memory serves me). 5e doesn't go out of its way to highlight this fact but it remains true.
Do you realize how low the percentage of players that played older editions is? No one should be expected to know rules for different games to play this one.
Well, it is the same game, just different editions of it. But, for them: Just read the DMG, Chapter 2: Creating a Multiverse, Border Ethereal. Where the rules for this can be found has been listed several times now.
No it is the same, series. If it were the same game, we could drop content from other editions in without having to change anything because the mechanics would be the same. Not even all of the lore from older editions make it in to new ones. It is as much the same game as breath of the wild and ocarina of time are the same game.
But, no one is supposed to need to read the DMG. The PHB has all the rules for running the game (according to the DMG), and the DMG is only for creating and running the story (and also magic items, to actually give a reason to buy it). Magical force's influence on the ethereal plane is a game mechanic, not a story mechanic.
The tiny hut creates a hemisphere above and below you, There is not protection from underneath. "A 10-foot-radius immobile dome of force springs into existence around and above you and remains stationary for the duration. "
Since the tiny hut only forms a semi-sphere, it will not protect you from the hag. On the ethereal plane, "A traveler on the Ethereal Plane is invisible and utterly silent to someone on the overlapped plane, and solid objects on the overlapped plane don’t hamper the movement of a creature in the Border Ethereal. "
Since the sphere does extend below the tiny hut, the hag could just use the border ethereal, travel through the ground on the prime and be inside the hut.
I mean... it's your game. Here's the Doodad of Hamanama (do dooooo du do do), which can drag a creature from the ethereal plane and trap it in the material for some amount of time. It has charges or some cost to use. You can get it by doing something fun.
Also: see what they try and use that as inspiration for something else they could try or even *gasp* let "what they try" work.
Not sure what the problem is. Just because you wrote down "get attacked by Hags, no possible solution" doesn't mean you're bound by that. Make a fun game.
I assume a hag still needs to eat and drink, and there's no naturally occurring food or water on the ethereal plane. They don't live on that plane, so the party might just need to discover where they do live, and ambush them there.
Make sure they can learn about the Hag Eye, because destroying that thing would be a hell of an opening salvo.
There's also the possibility of turning one or more of the hags against each other. They're not friendly creatures, and their allegiances are likely strenuous. I believe what they do with the souls they steal is sell them to devils for power, so their coven is a bargain: each hag is accumulating only a third of the power they'd be getting if they did this alone, so why are they working together? If the answer to that question is even a little shaky, then there's room to manipulate them.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Greetings.
So as DM I don't see how my players can solve a quest I created (I usually don't think a lot into quest resolutions because I don't want to become attached to the ones that I thought, conditioning the players for going for them). Normally it works, but it seems this one may be a bit problematic, as I don't know very well how the ethereal plane works.
Basically the thing is: in paralel to other quests, every knight, a coven of https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/16965-night-hag is going to their tavern, and creating dreadfull nightmares for them (in game it reduces their max hp and prevents them from resting). I think they will be able to eventually understand what's happening, they are already trying to use animals to spot intruders, they can detect what's happening with a truesight animal, also they informed of their problem to the city healing houses, and the city is used to fighting with fiends, so, after a workweek, if they didn't discover what's happening, the curators will explain to them their situation.. My problem is: Once they now what's happening, how can the solve them? What are the options to moving to the spectral plane or attacking things in the spectral plane? My problem is that, even if they discover what's happening, the hags don't have any reason to stop as they can't be attacked in the spectral plane and they cannot defend at least with the resources they have at the moment.
So after this explanation, my question is the same as the title. How can they defeat something that keeps attacking them from the ethereal plane and that doesn't have any reason to?
Also one extra question. How does the ethereal plane interact with https://www.dndbeyond.com/spells/leomunds-tiny-hut?
Hmm... This seems to be a pretty tough situation to defend from (even for a party well above level 7).
A quick glance at spells reveal very few ways to ward ethereal attackers (tiny hut doesn't do it, and even private sanctum doesn't do it completely).
According to the hag's effect description, it is blocked by spells that don't last an entire rest, so... That was useless...
Even fighting the hag won't be easy as they can just escape into the ethereal plane. Genuinely a difficult monster.
Interesting problem :)
Keep in mind that the hags can always run away when confronted if that is what they want to do. Each hag needs to have a heartstone in their possession to move between the material and ethereal planes. There are a few ways that the party could attack creatures in the ethereal plane but most parties will need the DMs help in terms of NPCs to do so.
The first problem is that even if the party does manage to engage the hags - you will likely have at most 1/2 of the party against all the hags at once since the hags can freely move between planes and the characters usually can not.
Here are some possible solutions.
1) Plane shift - 7th level spell - this can transport some or all of the party to the ethereal plane. You would need at least two scrolls - one to get there and one to get back. Half the party has to stay behind to fight the hags if they decide to leave the ethereal plane while the other half engages them on the ethereal plane.
2) Blink - 3rd level spell but it is SELF only so will only work for specific characters - a scroll would work if it is on their spell list. The character could use the ready action to prepare an attack or spell if they blink onto the ethereal plane. Blink does not require concentration.
3) Gate - 9th level spell - concentration - 1 minute. opens a portal to a different plane of existence which would include the ethereal plane. The players don't need to know what level of magic is involved if you want to have a cleric from a temple open a portal allowing the characters to fight the hags on both the prime material and ethereal planes simultaneously.
If the characters have the knowledge or lore they could grapple a hag on the material plane and try to take the heartstone from the hag. Without the heartstone they can't get back to the ethereal plane. If the characters trapped one hag this way the other hags might initially decide to try and free them since they would prefer not to break the coven and they are stronger together.
The short answer is that solving this problem is pretty much beyond the ability of a level 6-7 party unless several of them have access to the blink spell - so the DM will have to step in and provide the tools needed for the party to be able to solve it.
P.S. A few more points.
The haunting can be prevented by a Magic Circle but it only lasts an hour or Protection from Evil and Good but that is only 10 minutes.
You could also rule that an area affected by the Hallow spell might be able to prevent the haunting but you'd have to rule that its effects extend to the ethereal plane. If you have a church with Hallowed ground that might be a method to let the characters get some rest.
The haunting causes a permanent hit point loss of d10/haunting which can only be fixed by greater restoration - which the party can't cast so hopefully there IS a friendly church somewhere nearby.
Greater restoration is also the only way to fix the exhaustion that may result from missing the long rest.
From Xanathar's - if you use the rule:
Going without a Long Rest
A long rest is never mandatory, but going without sleep does have its consequences. If you want to account for the effects of sleep deprivation on characters and creatures, use these rules.
Whenever you end a 24-hour period without finishing a long rest, you must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or suffer one level of exhaustion.
It becomes harder to fight off exhaustion if you stay awake for multiple days. After the first 24 hours, the DC increases by 5 for each consecutive 24-hour period without a long rest. The DC resets to 10 when you finish a long rest.
----
If the hag can prevent a long rest for a week to 10 days the character affected could die of exhaustion even if their hit points aren't reduced enough by the haunting.
There is also the etherealness Spell, but I didn't mention it because it is out of players' level. But a scroll, tattoo, or spell gem could do it. There is also the oil of etherealness.
But keep in mind these would be for attacking the hag, not defending against it. You might use a scroll of protection, but that only slows it down like the spell's mentioned in its effect.
Tiny Hut will protect you from the Night Hag. It is explicitly a dome of magical force, and barriers of magical force block movement, even in the Ethereal plane. (DMG Chapter 2 ) Just make sure to check that the hag isn't present when you cast the spell, and the hag won't be able to touch you while you sleep.
Without the hut, it still actually isn't too hard for the party to defend against the hag. Nightmare Haunting is limited to once per day, and requires a full hour of persistent contact. If you realize how night hags work (Seems like the players eventually will gain that information through research and other sources), all you have to do is detect the haunting, then break that contact. That can be done fairly easily by most characters by level 7. Anyone who can outspeed the hag's 30 feet movement can just run away. Anyone with Misty Step can just do a quick teleport. Protection from Good and Evil can just break the contact on the spot. Etc, etc.
You just need to detect the haunting in the first place, then wake up the target and have them break the contact however their class can. Sleep in shifts. Use that Truesight animal as much as you can. Stagger some See Invisibility spells and hope to catch the hag in the act.
Now then....
Going on the offensive is much trickier. You need to lure the hag out of the Ethereal Plane, or find some way into it. And, you'd need to prevent the hag from simply running away with a Plane Shift. This is really tough for a level 7 party to accomplish. Heck, its hard for a level 15 party. Actually killing a night hag is a monumental task.
Once tactic that a level 7 party has access to:
Once you detect the hag: Blink + Command is a possible way to get the hag onto your plane. As a DM, think the command word 'materialize' would properly cause them to shift onto the material plane. Once you bring them over, your party might be able to follow up with more CC (Command, Hideous Laughter) to prevent escape. 17 AC and 112 HP will probably take a couple turns for a party to burn through, but it is doable - especially if they can get help from others in the town. An inverted magic circle would be absolutely clutch to trap her, but requires set up.
Night hags have magic resistance, but also only have a +2 wisdom save. A DC 15 Command still has a decent chance of success, and you might get multiple attempts if Blink cooperates with you.
Geez, talk about burying a rule. A rule that applies at level 5 hidden in planar travel rules usually irrelevant to parties below level 13...
You would think that tiny hut would have mentioned it like wall of force, or wall of force wouldn't mention it if it is already a general rule.
Tldr: Why is WotC so bad about keeping their rules consistent?
Even if they can't cast the spells that might let them go to the ethereal to engage the hags there, they might know someone else who can cast them, or sell them the scrolls or some kind of homebrew item that will allow them to go there and back (but it breaks after one use, so the characters aren't going ethereal all the time). Then you get a plot hook as the someone who can give them what they need demands a favor in exchange for the item.
A goodly fey already in opposition to the hag may know of a naturally occurring conduit or portal to the ethereal nearby.
My thoughts exactly. I was very surprised to see this.
Absolutely agreed. IMO, the DMG shouldn't have any actual core rules located in it. Optional and variant rules are fine, but the basic rules should contain everything needed to play the game. The Ethereal plane has enough spells and monsters that interact with it that it should be properly explained in the basic rules.
I guess this would just be homebrew but since you are the DM and you set up this situation can’t you just have them do a short quest to get an item that protects them or if they make contact with the hags, prevent them from escaping back to the ethereal plane? I mean, if you painted yourself into this corner, just paint yourself out of it
I’m not familiar with hags or the ethereal plane, I’m not a DM so I don’t tend to read up on that stuff even though I have the books, to avoid meta gaming. Sorry if this doesn’t make sense.
See Invisibility helps spot them while they're on the ethereal plane. See invisibility description:
And, Force effects can affect creature/things on the ethereal plane. DMG, Chapter 2 Creating a Multiverse, Border Ethereal:
So see invisibility + force effects can tackle a threat lurking on the ethereal.
Edit/Addition: tiny hut is a force effect "immobile dome of force springs into existence" and completely blocks ethereal creatures.
I got quotes!
Force effects have always crossed into the ethereal in all editions of the game (if my old man memory serves me). 5e doesn't go out of its way to highlight this fact but it remains true. If anything 5e makes issues because of how much they tried to streamline ethereal-planar travel compared to prior editions. The ethereal is supposed to physically overlap with the material plane and things that exist there do indeed still exist on the material plane, and vice versa. But 5e tried to simplify that relationship, and instead of existing simultaneously on both planes, tried to treat the ethereal like any other plane, wholly separate. But then over-complicate it in specific monster/creature stat blocks with weirdly behaving planar shifting abilities. ghosts and the like.
Interestingly enough, the other way to fight an ethereal creature is to just punch it in the face. (or any other natural weapons). since the other thing that can have an effect on the ethereal plane is... living creatures. (Again) this is because they should theoretically exist on both planes simultaneously even if they can't see into one or the other. (again) That's why the ghost's abilities are so oddly and specifically worded to allow them to pass through creatures. By default they can't.
The hag's Nightmare haunting ability supports this notion too. In fact. Because they are required to be on the ethereal plane, and physically touching a creature on the material plane.
That's only possible if you can physically interact between the two planes.
More evidence you can just punch the hag while she's in the ethereal if you can detect her... compare her version of ethereal ability with the ghost's:
vs
I got quotes!
Or they might find a point where there's a natural or artificial connection between the Prime and the Ethereal.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Do you realize how low the percentage of players that played older editions is? No one should be expected to know rules for different games to play this one.
Well, it is the same game, just different editions of it. But, for them: Just read the DMG, Chapter 2: Creating a Multiverse, Border Ethereal. Where the rules for this can be found has been listed several times now.
I got quotes!
No it is the same, series. If it were the same game, we could drop content from other editions in without having to change anything because the mechanics would be the same. Not even all of the lore from older editions make it in to new ones. It is as much the same game as breath of the wild and ocarina of time are the same game.
But, no one is supposed to need to read the DMG. The PHB has all the rules for running the game (according to the DMG), and the DMG is only for creating and running the story (and also magic items, to actually give a reason to buy it). Magical force's influence on the ethereal plane is a game mechanic, not a story mechanic.
The tiny hut creates a hemisphere above and below you, There is not protection from underneath. "A 10-foot-radius immobile dome of force springs into existence around and above you and remains stationary for the duration. "
Since the tiny hut only forms a semi-sphere, it will not protect you from the hag. On the ethereal plane, "A traveler on the Ethereal Plane is invisible and utterly silent to someone on the overlapped plane, and solid objects on the overlapped plane don’t hamper the movement of a creature in the Border Ethereal. "
Since the sphere does extend below the tiny hut, the hag could just use the border ethereal, travel through the ground on the prime and be inside the hut.
I mean... it's your game. Here's the Doodad of Hamanama (do dooooo du do do), which can drag a creature from the ethereal plane and trap it in the material for some amount of time. It has charges or some cost to use. You can get it by doing something fun.
Also: see what they try and use that as inspiration for something else they could try or even *gasp* let "what they try" work.
Not sure what the problem is. Just because you wrote down "get attacked by Hags, no possible solution" doesn't mean you're bound by that. Make a fun game.
I assume a hag still needs to eat and drink, and there's no naturally occurring food or water on the ethereal plane. They don't live on that plane, so the party might just need to discover where they do live, and ambush them there.
Make sure they can learn about the Hag Eye, because destroying that thing would be a hell of an opening salvo.
There's also the possibility of turning one or more of the hags against each other. They're not friendly creatures, and their allegiances are likely strenuous. I believe what they do with the souls they steal is sell them to devils for power, so their coven is a bargain: each hag is accumulating only a third of the power they'd be getting if they did this alone, so why are they working together? If the answer to that question is even a little shaky, then there's room to manipulate them.