Animal Mimicry. The hag can mimic the sounds of beasts and animals. A creature that hears the sounds can tell they are imitations with a successful DC 15 Intelligence (Nature) check or Wisdom (Survival) check.
Beast Whisperer. The hag can comprehend and verbally communicate with beasts. Any beast that is charmed by the hag obeys her verbal orders to the best of its ability.
Feral Contagion. A creature that takes damage from the hag's bite or claw attacks is subjected to a feral disease that she carries upon her and must succeed on a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or else be afflicted by the Fell Feral Fever disease.
Innate Spellcasting. The hag's innate spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 13). She can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components:
At will: animal friendship, beast sense, find familiar
2/day each: disguise self, polymorph (can only transform targets into CR 0 beasts)
Shapechanger. The hag can use her action to magically polymorph into a cat, a frog, a lizard, a poisonous snake, a rat, a raven, or a spider, or back into her true form. Her statistics, other than her size and speed, are the same in each form. She can still speak while transformed. Any equipment she is wearing or carrying is transformed along with her. She reverts to her true form if she dies.
Multiattack. The hag makes two claw attacks.
Bite (Beast Forms Only). Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 1 piercing damage, and if the hag is in snake or spider form, the target must make a DC 14 Constitution saving throw, taking 18 (4d8) poison damage on a failed save, or half as much on a success.
Claw (True Form Only). Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3) slashing damage.
Call Beasts (1/Day). The hag summons beasts: either one of CR 1/2, two of CR 1/4, or four of CR 1/8 or lower. The beasts, which are neutral evil, appear in occupied spaces within 60 feet of the hag and are charmed by her. Each beast remains for 1 hour, until it or the hag dies, or until the hag dismisses it as an action.
Description
At the edge of wilderness in both the Material Plane and the Feywild, there are hags with such a deep connection to the primal wilds that they can speak with and even transform into wild beasts. These feral hags appear as shrunken old women with leathery skin and wiry hair.
Death by Beast. Feral hags delight in the harm and death that animals can bring to people. They often take control of domesticated animals and drive them into a murderous fury, turning them upon their owners. The more loving the bond between animal and humanoid, the more the feral hag enjoys destroying it. Feral hags also sabotage hunts and expeditions, turning harmless deer into rabid swarms and twisting already aggressive boars into rampaging killing machines.
Magical Rabies. Feral hags are carriers of a magical disease. This disease, known as Fell Feral Fever, doesn't harm the hag herself; she spreads it by injuring others with her claws, or biting them once she has transformed into a beast. Feral hags enjoy spreading this sickness through livestock and wild animals alike.
Lycanthrope Predators. Lycanthropes fascinate feral hags. Some even claim that feral hags themselves were first created when lycanthropy somehow spread to a hag. A feral hag loves to see lycanthropy spread through the world, and does whatever she can to encourage it. Yet when one allies with a lycanthrope clan, she seeks to spread her feral disease among their pack, eventually driving them mad enough to fall under her control.
Covens. A feral hag that is part of a coven (see the "Hag Covens" sidebar in the Monster Manual) has a challenge rating of 6 (2,300 XP).
Fell Feral Fever
This disease can affect beasts, fey, humanoids, and monstrosities. Hags are naturally immune, except that feral hags carry the disease without exhibiting any symptoms. Symptoms manifest 1d4 days after infection. While afflicted by the disease, a creature suffers the following ailments:
Hydrophobia. The creature feels compelled to avoid liquid water. It will only drink when necessary.
Insomnia. When the creature finishes a long rest, it must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw to gain any benefit from the rest.
Mania. When the creature finishes a short rest, it must succeed on a DC 10 Wisdom saving throw to gain any benefit from the rest. If the creature is a beast, it is also more aggressive than normal.
Sunlight Sensitivity. While in sunlight, the creature has disadvantage on attack rolls, as well as on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight.
After 1d4 additional days of the disease, a creature also suffers from intermittent madness:
Madness. The creature must make a DC 12 Charisma saving throw every 24 hours. On a failed saving throw, it must roll on the Long-Term Madness table from the Dungeon Master's Guide and suffer the effects for the rolled duration. While it suffers from madness, it also foams at the mouth, and it can be affected by spells and magic as if it were a beast with no more than 4 Intelligence.
Fell Feral Fever has a special symbiosis with the curse of lycanthropy. A creature afflicted by the disease has disadvantage on saving throws against the curse of lycanthropy, and lycanthropes have disadvantage on saving throws against the disease. When a creature is afflicted with lycanthropy by a lycanthrope that is suffering from the disease, that creature is afflicted by the disease automatically.
Each afflicted creature must make a DC 12 Constitution saving throw every 24 hours after symptoms appear. Once a creature has succeeded on at least three of these saving throws during an infection, the disease ends on that creature.
An afflicted creature can pass the disease on to others by biting. When it deals damage to a creature using a bite attack, the target must succeed on a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or else be afflicted by the Fell Feral Fever disease.
Hags
Hags are fey known for their malevolence more than anything else, even beyond their penchants for alchemy, magic, and eldritch powers. They adore deception and destruction, and they sustain themselves by devouring humanoids. Hags make twisted bargains that sabotage their victims, and steal children away to consume or even transform into new hags.
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