Amphibious. The hag can breathe air and water.
Halo of Spores. The hag is surrouned by a cloud of spores. Any creature that starts its turn within 15 feet of the hag takes 9 (2d8) necrotic damage. In addition, when a creature within 15 feet of the hag drops to 0 hit points, its body becomes infested with fungi and rises as a zombie under the hag's control at the start of the creature's next turn.
Horrific Appearance. Any humanoid that starts its turn within 30 feet of the hag and can see the hag's true form must make a DC 21 Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, the creature is frightened for 1 minute. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, with disadvantage if the hag is within line of sight, ending the effect on itself on a success. If a creature's saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it, the creature is immune to the hag's Horrific Appearance for the next 24 hours.
Unless the target is surprised or the revelation of the hag's true form is sudden, the target can avert its eyes and avoid making the initial saving throw. Until the start of its next turn, a creature that averts its eyes has disadvantage on attack rolls against the hag.
Legendary Resistance (3/day).When the hag fails a saving throw, she can choose to succeed instead.
Regeneration. The hag regains 20 hit points at the start of each of her turns. If the hag takes radiant damage, this trait doesn't function at the start of her next turn. The hag dies only if she starts her turn with 0 hit points and doesn't regenerate.
Spellcasting. The Swamp Hag is a 20th level spellcaster. Her spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 21, +13 to hit with spell attacks). She knows the following spells:
- Cantrips: druidcraft, guidance, green-flame blade, chill touch
- 1st level (4 slots): absorb elements, entangle, inflict wounds, arms of hadar
- 2nd level (3 slots): spike growth, misty step, heat metal, enlarge/reduce
- 3rd level (3 slots): bestow curse, dispel magic, lightning bolt, plant growth
- 4th level (3 slots): blight, greater invisibility, polymorph, Evard's black tentacles
- 5th level (3 slots): cloudkill, insect plague, transmute rock, maelstrom
- 6th level (2 slots): circle of death, eyebite, wall of thorns
- 7th level (2 slots): finger of death, fire storm, whirlwind
- 8th level (1 slot): Abi-Dalzim's horrid wilting, feeblemind
- 9th level (1 slot): foresight, time ravage
Swamp Strider. The hag ignores nonmagical difficult terrain and can pass through nonmagical plants without being slowed by them and without taking damage from them if they have thorns, spines, or a similar hazard.
In addition, the hag has advantage on saving throws against plants that are magically created or manipulated to impede movement, such those created by the entangle spell.
Multiattack. The hag makes two attacks: one with her rotting claws and one with her staff of decay or two with her wither. She then casts one spell with a casting time of one action.
Rotting Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +12 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (1d12+6) slashing damage plus 13 (2d12) necrotic damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 21 Constitution saving throw or be infected with a disease called swamp rot. The infected target can't regain hit points, cannot benefit from any resistance or immunity to necrotic damage and its hit point maximum decreases by 10 (3d6) for every 24 hours that elapse. If the disease reduces the target's hit point maximum to 0, the target dies, and its body becomes a zombie under the hag's control.
Staff of Decay. Melee Weapon Attack: +12 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (1d6+6) bludgeoning damage plus 21 (6d6) poison damage. The target must make a DC 21 Constitution saving throw or is poisoned for 1 minute. It can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.
Wither. Ranged Spell Attack: +12 to hit, range 90 feet., one target. Hit: 26 (4d12) necrotic damage.
Illusory Appearance. The hag covers herself and anything she is wearing or carrying with a magical illusion that makes her look like an ugly creature of her general size and humanoid shape. The effect ends if the hag takes a bonus action to end it or if she dies.
The changes wrought by this effect fail to hold up to physical inspection. For example, the hag could appear to have no claws, but someone touching her hand might feel the claws. Otherwise, a creature must take an action to visually inspect the illusion and succeed on a DC 21 Intelligence (Investigation) check to discern that the hag is disguised.
Symbiotic Entity (1/day). The hag becomes overgrown with fungi and rotten vines as she gains 120 temporary hit points. While she has those temporary hit points, whenever she deals necrotic damage, she can roll two additional dice of damage and is able to use her thorny vines. She can do so on each turn as a bonus action, including as part of the bonus action she uses to activate Symbiotic Entity.
Thorny Vines. Melee Weapon Attack: +12 to hit, reach 30 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (1d12+6) slashing damage. If the target is a creature, it is grappled. While it is grappled in this way, it is restrained. A restrained creature takes 14 (4d6) necrotic damage at the start of each of its turns and has its Strength score reduced by 1d6, as the vines pierce it with their thorns and sap its vitality.
Swamp Trap. If a creature hits the hag with a melee weapon attack, the hag can use her reaction to make the ground beneath the attacker give way. The target must succeed on a DC 21 Dexterity saving throw or become stuck in mud. While stuck in this way, the creature is restrained and takes 3 (1d6) necrotic damage and 3 (1d6) bludgeoning damage at the start of each of its turns. The target or any other creature within its reach can use an action to attempt a DC 21 Strength (Athletics) check to free the target. However, with each failure, the restrained creature sinks deeper into the mud, causing the DC to increase by 2. After the third failure, the creature is blinded and begins to suffocate.
The hag can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature's turn. The hag regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.
Attack. The hag makes one attack with her staff of decay or with her wither.
Swamp Magic. The hag casts one spell of up to third level.
March of the Marsh (Costs 2 Actions). The hag targets up to three plant creatures of her choice that are friendly to her. Each creature can use its reaction to move up to its speed and to make one weapon attack.
Grasp of the Swamp. (Costs 2 Actions). The hag targets a point she can see within 120 feet of her that is within a pool of water. The water surges outward in a grasping tide. Any creature on the ground within 20 feet of this point must succeed on a DC 21 Strength saving throw or take 27 (6d8) bludgeoning damage and be pulled up to 20 feet into the water and knocked prone.
Description
The swamp hag as depicted here is a grandmother, one of the most powerful, feared and respected hags. Swamp hags lair in lifeless, tainted swamps and moors, where trunks of dead trees point to the sky like the fingers on a lich's skeletal hand, where air is filled with the smell of decay, with the dread wails of damned souls unable to find peace in their afterlife. Just like green hags, swamp hags employ illusions to deceive and to trick others into serving them and to lure victims into their swamp
Fungal Symbiosis. Fungi are among the only beings capable of surviving in the kind of swamps these hags lair in. With their help, swamp hags have mastered the magic of death and decay. They even let fungi live within their bodies, effectively becoming one with them. They revel in observing the effects fungi and their spores have on others, they enjoy seeing their victims slowly rot away while still alive.
Lair and Lair Actions
The swamp hag, as the grandmother she is, has access to the following lair actions while she is within the swamp she calls her lair. On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the swamp hag can take a lair action to cause one of the following effects:
- Spores of Death. Poisonous spores fill a 20-foot radius that the hag can see within 120 feet of it. Any creature that enters the cloud for the first time on a turn or starts its turn there must succeed on a DC 18 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned until the end of its next turn. The cloud lasts for 1 minute or until it is dispersed by a strong wind. If a creature drops to 0 hit points within this area, its body becomes infested with fungi and rises as a zombie under the hag's control at the start of the creature's next turn.
- Curse of the Swamp. The area of the hag's lair becomes lightly obscured by fog. In addition, 1d4 will-o-wisps appear, which act on their own turn and are under the hag's control. These will-o-wisps disappear after one hour or when the hag uses this lair action again.
- The Hag's Cauldron. The water within the area of the hag's lair starts to boil. Each creature that is in contact with the water must make a DC 18 Constitution saving throw, taking 18 (4d8) fire damage on a failure or half as much on a success. A creature wearing armor made of metal has disadvantage on the saving throw and is under the effect of a heat metal spell until the end of its next turn.
- Passwall. Until initiative count 20 on the next round, the hag can pass through solid walls, doors, ceilings, and floors as if the surfaces weren't there.
- Control Doors. The hag targets any number of doors and windows that she can see, causing each one to either open or close as she wishes. Closed doors can be magically locked (requiring a successful DC 20 Strength check to force open) until she chooses to make them unlocked, or until she uses this lair action again to open them.
Regional Effects
Each hag's lair is the source of three to five regional effects; the home of a grandmother, an auntie, or a coven has more effects than the lair of a single hag, including some that can directly harm intruders. Any regional effect that requires a creature to make a saving throw uses the save DC of the hag's most powerful ability. These effects either end immediately if the hag dies or abandons the lair, or take up to 2d10 days to fade away.
The region within 1 mile of a grandmother hag's lair is warped by the creature's fell magic, which creates one or more of the following effects:
- Birds, rodents, snakes, spiders, or toads (or some other creatures appropriate to the hag) are found in great profusion.
- Beasts that have an Intelligence score of 2 or lower are charmed by the hag and directed to be aggressive toward intruders in the area.
- Strange carved figurines, twig fetishes, or rag dolls magically appear in trees.
The swamp hag hag creates one or more of the following additional regional effects within 1 mile of her lair:
- Illusory duplicates of the hag appear in random places at random times (but never more than one in any given location). An illusory duplicate has no substance, but it looks, sounds, and moves like the hag. The hag can sense when one or more creatures are within 60 feet of her duplicate and can interact with them as if she were present and standing in the duplicate's space. If the illusory duplicate takes any damage, it disappears.
- The region takes twice as long as normal to traverse, since the plants grow thick and twisted, and the swamps are thick with reeking mud.
- Plants die and rot, their rotten remains arise again as tree blights, twig blights or undead shambling mounds under the hag's control.
- The souls of humanoids killed in the swamp never traverse to their afterlife, turning into will-o-wisps, allips or other ghostly, restless beings instead.
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