So I wanted to build a character that's sort of like that creepy elderly woman that lives in a hut just outside of town that people in the village go to for cures but also maybe love potions, fortune telling or other, darker things like hexes and curses and whatnot.
I'm picturing her having skills in herbalism kit, medicine, nature, and arcana, (maybe survival too to find those rare mushrooms and whatnot). But trying to figure out what class got tricky. All her skills are INT-based and wizard sounds like it makes the most sense, but there are no wizard subclasses with even moderate healing that I know of (does someone know one?). I was thinking maybe divine soul sorcerer, but thats CHA based and I see her as a withered old crone with a sharp tongue, not necessarily a smooth talker. Like if there was a divine soul *wizard* that would be pretty perfect. Warlock is kind of underwhelming too, and I don't picture her wearing armor (mage armor or bust). Cleric or Druid could possibly be flavored in some way to work. Idk the sheer number of subclasses in 5e is a little overwhelming. I'm kinda struggling in figuring out how to make her. Any suggestions?
Try out the new Strixhaven UA with a Mage of Witherbloom! Wizards of the Coast are trying out a new multi-subclass thing. This subclass can apply to warlocks and druids (but wizards should work fine too)
I was thinking maybe divine soul sorcerer, but thats CHA based and I see her as a withered old crone with a sharp tongue, not necessarily a smooth talker.
Remember that Charisma doesn't mean likable or glib. A withered old crone with a sharp tongue could still have the kind of commanding or intimidating presence that a high CHA would account for.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Int and wisdom based Druid. Hermit background. Perhaps hexblood. If homebrew is allowed take a look at the theurgy wizard.
Ooooohhhh I like that! Theurgy wizard looks perfect! I see her kinda calling on some dark fey-like entity for help on hard cases (I'm picturing the cutwife from Penny Dreadful). Found hexblood in a ******* page and it looks 100% in line with what I was thinking. Is it in a book I need to buy? How do I enable it?
Druid seemed like the most logical option, but digging through all the circles I kinda felt like I was coming up empty. Reflavoring Cleric of Knowledge to be creepy was another thought. I would be kinda disappointed at not having INT be the basis of spellcasting, but
I was thinking maybe divine soul sorcerer, but thats CHA based and I see her as a withered old crone with a sharp tongue, not necessarily a smooth talker.
Remember that Charisma doesn't mean likable or glib. A withered old crone with a sharp tongue could still have the kind of commanding or intimidating presence that a high CHA would account for.
Good point. Though INT-WIS-CHA would make her pretty MAD.
As odd as it might sound, the Artificer class might be a good choice. They are based around Intelligence, cast Wizard spells, and the Alchemist subclass brews up potions just fine. The Artificer comes from Eberron, but got into Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, and the Hexblood comes from Van Richten's Guild to Ravenloft. If you don't have the money for those two books, and nobody else has them or can share them, it will cost you all of four bucks to buy them ala carte from the Marketplace.
Being creepy has little to do with any given score, that's just a matter of roleplaying, indeed, you can dump Charisma hardcore if you want to. If you want to scare people, you don't need charisma when you have a Firebolt cantrip and can toast them from 120 feet away, or use Acid Splash or Poison spray. You can take Cure Wounds as a first level spell by the time you're formally an Alchemist, and use those nice potions if you need more.
Artificers can wear up to Medium armor and shields, which makes them tougher than Wizards, they get a d8 to a Wizard's d6, and eventually they can create magic items to do with as the DM lets them. They even get extra attunement slots.
To be honest, the character you are describing sounds more like a typical NPC. Love potions, fortune-telling, curses... this is mostly low level stuff that DMs homebrew or just pull out of a module somewhere.
To give you a helpful recommendation, it would help if you could tell us what primary role you see this person playing in a party of adventurers. Is she there mostly to prevent injury and cure poisons/curses? INT-based classes can do some skills well, but they won't rival the all-around utility of a Bard when playing by 5th edition rules. How do you see this person performing at level 8, when the party is likely to be fighting spell-resistant undead or creatures with anti-magic abilities? How does this character help defeat a village of giants or an adult dragon? Or is she the type who has the wits and force of will to browbeat generals and kings/queens? Also, wat motivates this person to risk life and limb to go dungeon-diving rather than just sit around in the forest outside of town?
What you're describing sounds like a green hag, and I'd just go with that if she's intended to function as an NPC.
If you want to play the character as a PC, then take your pick from druid or wizard. Generate a standard character and then just look at the spell list and take the spells that you think are most suitable and that will give the flavour you want.
I can't believe I didn't suggest this first. Bard. They are based around Charisma, yes, but being creepy is actually a function of Charisma, that's how you do it convincingly. It doesn't have to be, you can roleplay being creepy without Charisma if you like. Bards cast Wizards spells, they do heal, they can have a whole lot of skills and can be exceedingly good at them. The Charlatan background fits perfectly. A Bard can use Vicious Mockery to have a "sharp tongue" that does actual damage.
I can't believe I didn't suggest this first. Bard. They are based around Charisma, yes, but being creepy is actually a function of Charisma, that's how you do it convincingly. It doesn't have to be, you can roleplay being creepy without Charisma if you like. Bards cast Wizards spells, they do heal, they can have a whole lot of skills and can be exceedingly good at them. The Charlatan background fits perfectly. A Bard can use Vicious Mockery to have a "sharp tongue" that does actual damage.
I can't believe I didn't suggest this first. Bard. They are based around Charisma, yes, but being creepy is actually a function of Charisma, that's how you do it convincingly. It doesn't have to be, you can roleplay being creepy without Charisma if you like. Bards cast Wizards spells, they do heal, they can have a whole lot of skills and can be exceedingly good at them. The Charlatan background fits perfectly. A Bard can use Vicious Mockery to have a "sharp tongue" that does actual damage.
Bard is a cool idea too! I love the idea of this sharp tongued old lady just eviscerating people with her words. But the proficiency I want her to be good at are WIS and INT based and a bit of DEX is needed to keep yourself alive. I tested out both Divine Soul Sorcerer and Bard and it's a little MAD, she's spread a little thin.
Knowledge Domain really rocks the proficiency, tho the spells granted are somewhat meh and have a hard time envisioning using that channel divinity. I was also thinking it could be cool to be Light Domain but flavor it as darkness a la the Darkling from Shadow and Bone
Excellent thought that you have here. Think of the old hag from the movie Pumpkinhead. She was off-putting but arguably had the most commanding presence of any character in the film: spooky, but high charisma. Good insight.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
So I wanted to build a character that's sort of like that creepy elderly woman that lives in a hut just outside of town that people in the village go to for cures but also maybe love potions, fortune telling or other, darker things like hexes and curses and whatnot.
I'm picturing her having skills in herbalism kit, medicine, nature, and arcana, (maybe survival too to find those rare mushrooms and whatnot). But trying to figure out what class got tricky. All her skills are INT-based and wizard sounds like it makes the most sense, but there are no wizard subclasses with even moderate healing that I know of (does someone know one?). I was thinking maybe divine soul sorcerer, but thats CHA based and I see her as a withered old crone with a sharp tongue, not necessarily a smooth talker. Like if there was a divine soul *wizard* that would be pretty perfect. Warlock is kind of underwhelming too, and I don't picture her wearing armor (mage armor or bust). Cleric or Druid could possibly be flavored in some way to work. Idk the sheer number of subclasses in 5e is a little overwhelming. I'm kinda struggling in figuring out how to make her. Any suggestions?
Try out the new Strixhaven UA with a Mage of Witherbloom! Wizards of the Coast are trying out a new multi-subclass thing. This subclass can apply to warlocks and druids (but wizards should work fine too)
My only good homebrews: Races, Subclasses.
An aspiring DM and Homebrewer. Ask me if you need anything.
Int and wisdom based Druid. Hermit background. Perhaps hexblood. If homebrew is allowed take a look at the theurgy wizard.
Remember that Charisma doesn't mean likable or glib. A withered old crone with a sharp tongue could still have the kind of commanding or intimidating presence that a high CHA would account for.
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Ooooohhhh I like that! Theurgy wizard looks perfect! I see her kinda calling on some dark fey-like entity for help on hard cases (I'm picturing the cutwife from Penny Dreadful). Found hexblood in a ******* page and it looks 100% in line with what I was thinking. Is it in a book I need to buy? How do I enable it?
Druid seemed like the most logical option, but digging through all the circles I kinda felt like I was coming up empty. Reflavoring Cleric of Knowledge to be creepy was another thought. I would be kinda disappointed at not having INT be the basis of spellcasting, but
Good point. Though INT-WIS-CHA would make her pretty MAD.
As odd as it might sound, the Artificer class might be a good choice. They are based around Intelligence, cast Wizard spells, and the Alchemist subclass brews up potions just fine. The Artificer comes from Eberron, but got into Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, and the Hexblood comes from Van Richten's Guild to Ravenloft. If you don't have the money for those two books, and nobody else has them or can share them, it will cost you all of four bucks to buy them ala carte from the Marketplace.
Being creepy has little to do with any given score, that's just a matter of roleplaying, indeed, you can dump Charisma hardcore if you want to. If you want to scare people, you don't need charisma when you have a Firebolt cantrip and can toast them from 120 feet away, or use Acid Splash or Poison spray. You can take Cure Wounds as a first level spell by the time you're formally an Alchemist, and use those nice potions if you need more.
Artificers can wear up to Medium armor and shields, which makes them tougher than Wizards, they get a d8 to a Wizard's d6, and eventually they can create magic items to do with as the DM lets them. They even get extra attunement slots.
<Insert clever signature here>
To be honest, the character you are describing sounds more like a typical NPC. Love potions, fortune-telling, curses... this is mostly low level stuff that DMs homebrew or just pull out of a module somewhere.
To give you a helpful recommendation, it would help if you could tell us what primary role you see this person playing in a party of adventurers. Is she there mostly to prevent injury and cure poisons/curses? INT-based classes can do some skills well, but they won't rival the all-around utility of a Bard when playing by 5th edition rules. How do you see this person performing at level 8, when the party is likely to be fighting spell-resistant undead or creatures with anti-magic abilities? How does this character help defeat a village of giants or an adult dragon? Or is she the type who has the wits and force of will to browbeat generals and kings/queens? Also, wat motivates this person to risk life and limb to go dungeon-diving rather than just sit around in the forest outside of town?
What you're describing sounds like a green hag, and I'd just go with that if she's intended to function as an NPC.
If you want to play the character as a PC, then take your pick from druid or wizard. Generate a standard character and then just look at the spell list and take the spells that you think are most suitable and that will give the flavour you want.
I can't believe I didn't suggest this first. Bard. They are based around Charisma, yes, but being creepy is actually a function of Charisma, that's how you do it convincingly. It doesn't have to be, you can roleplay being creepy without Charisma if you like. Bards cast Wizards spells, they do heal, they can have a whole lot of skills and can be exceedingly good at them. The Charlatan background fits perfectly. A Bard can use Vicious Mockery to have a "sharp tongue" that does actual damage.
<Insert clever signature here>
College of Spirits would be perfect.
My only good homebrews: Races, Subclasses.
An aspiring DM and Homebrewer. Ask me if you need anything.
Is that UA, or was it released in Tasha's?
It's in Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft.
<Insert clever signature here>
Also found in Van Richten's The Hexblood race. That sourcebook is all kinds of good advice when it comes to things creepy.
<Insert clever signature here>
Thanks!!! All these suggestions are really great!
Bard is a cool idea too! I love the idea of this sharp tongued old lady just eviscerating people with her words. But the proficiency I want her to be good at are WIS and INT based and a bit of DEX is needed to keep yourself alive. I tested out both Divine Soul Sorcerer and Bard and it's a little MAD, she's spread a little thin.
Knowledge Domain really rocks the proficiency, tho the spells granted are somewhat meh and have a hard time envisioning using that channel divinity. I was also thinking it could be cool to be Light Domain but flavor it as darkness a la the Darkling from Shadow and Bone
Excellent thought that you have here. Think of the old hag from the movie Pumpkinhead. She was off-putting but arguably had the most commanding presence of any character in the film: spooky, but high charisma. Good insight.