Medium fiend (hag), neutral evil
Armor Class 17 (Natural Armor)
Hit Points 112 (15d8+45)
Speed 30 ft.
Proficiency Bonus +3
Proficiency Bonus +6 (5th Edition Advanced Mode)
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 (+4) | 15 (+2) | 16 (+3) | 16 (+3) | 14 (+2) | 16 (+3) |
Saving Throws (suggested) Str +7, Con +6, Int +6
Skills Deception +7, Insight +6, Perception +6, Stealth +6
Damage Resistance cold, fire; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks not made with silvered weapons
Condition Immunities charmed
Senses Darkvision 120 ft., passive perception 16
Languages Abyssal, Common, Infernal, Primordial
Challenge 5 (1,800 XP)
Innate Spellcasting. The hag’s innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 14, +6 to hit with spell attacks). She can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components:
- At will: detect magic, magic missile
- 2/day each: plane shift (self only), ray of enfeeblement, sleep
Magic Resistance. The hag has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Night Hag Items. A night hag carries two very rare magic items that she must craft for herself If either object is lost, the night hag will go to great lengths to retrieve it, as creating a new tool takes time and effort.
- Heartstone: This lustrous black gem allows a night hag to become ethereal while it is in her possession. The touch of a heartstone also cures any disease. Crafting a heartstone takes 30 days.
- Soul Bag: When an evil humanoid dies as a result of a night hag’s Nightmare Haunting, the hag catches the soul in this black sack made of stitched flesh. A soul bag can hold only one evil soul at a time, and only the night hag who crafted the bag can catch a soul with it. Crafting a soul bag takes 7 days and a humanoid sacrifice (whose flesh is used to make the bag).
ACTIONS
- Multiattack (suggested). The night hag makes two attacks with her claws.
- Claws (Hag Form Only). Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: (2d8 + 4) slashing damage.
- Change Shape. The hag magically polymorphs into a Small or Medium female humanoid, or back into her true form. Her statistics are the same in each form. Any equipment she is wearing or carrying isn’t transformed. She reverts to her true form if she dies.
- 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.
- Nightmare Haunting (1/Day). While on the Ethereal Plane, the hag magically touches a sleeping humanoid on the Material Plane. A protection from evil and good spell cast on the target prevents this contact, as does a magic circle. As long as the contact persists, the target has dreadful visions. If these visions last for at least 1 hour, the target gains no benefit from its rest, and its hit point maximum is reduced by 5 (1d10). If this effect reduces the target’s hit point maximum to 0, the target dies, and if the target was evil, its soul is trapped in the hag’s soul bag. The reduction to the target’s hit point maximum lasts until removed by the greater restoration spell or similar magic.
5th Edition Advanced Mode
Limiting the power of a character and making the overall difficulty of the game harder, does not reduce the creativity, indeed it does quite the opposite.
The Game Master has the option to use any and all of the instances proposed in this guide, or just some of them according to their preference.
It is the lack of something that move and motivate characters, not the abundance of it
DESCRIPTION
A night hag is a fiendish creature that resembles a withered and twisted old woman. She has dark blue-violet skin, jet black hair, glowing red eyes, sharp teeth, and long claws. She wears a ragged cloak and carries a black sack made of stitched flesh. A night hag also possesses a lustrous black gem called a heartstone, which allows her to enter the Ethereal Plane and haunt the dreams of mortals .
Night hags are merciless and utterly evil, driven by a hunger for the flesh and souls of innocent men and women. They are creatures from the plane of Hades, where they rule over hordes of lesser fiends . They are adept at magic and deception, and often disguise themselves as harmless or benevolent humanoids to lure their prey into their clutches .
Night hags inhabit the Gray Waste and, practically speaking, rule it. They round up and herd larvae for barter with fiends of all types. Tanar’ri and baatezu alike require larvae for their quasits and imps, and some liches use larvae to maintain their undead condition.
Night hags are said to see the multiverse as a place of eternal conflict. They believe it is unwise to form permanent alliances, for those who rule today are apt to be slaves tomorrow. Nevertheless, their keen minds and perfect memories cause many to seek the hags for wisdom and counsel.
Night hags are always willing to trade for knowledge, magical items, and spirits. However, if those trading with them do not match or exceed the hags in strength, the hags later track them down and make them into larvae.
Some lords of the Lower Planes take night hags for wives. From such unions are only born more night hags, equal to others of their race and not partaking of the characteristics of their sire. It is said that occasionally hags travel to other planes, assume the forms of beautiful women, and become wives of powerful wizards, that they might thereby gain further secrets of the universe.
Hags have no particular hatred for any one race or type of beings, even their own. Their inability to form permanent alliances is probably the only thing that has kept them from wielding greater power on the Lower Planes.
Likewise, the only thing that keeps a hag’s cruelty in check is her burning desire to know all things. Certain human colleges were founded by night hags, and some research projects — even those carried out by the most moral of wizards — have been ultimately found to be financed by hag gold.
Very few beings have ever outwitted a hag. In such cases the hag spends years coming up with an intricate plot to outtrick the trickster. Night hags do remember any kindness shown to them, as well, but they appear less motivated to repay it.
Night hags are the only lower-planar inhabitants that actually seek out humans and kill them for their spirits. They destroy any life form they can overpower. Night hags are mercilessly wicked.
COMBAT
A night hag prefers to attack her victims in their sleep, using her heartstone to become ethereal and hover over them. She then invades their dreams with dreadful visions, draining their life force and corrupting their souls. If the victim dies from this torment, and was evil in life, the night hag captures their soul in her soul bag, which she can use for various nefarious purposes .
If confronted in physical combat, a night hag fights with her claws and spells. She can cast detect magic, magic missile, plane shift, ray of enfeeblement, and sleep at will, using her charisma as her spellcasting ability . She also has resistance to cold, fire, and nonmagical weapons that are not silvered, as well as advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects . She can change her shape into any small or medium female humanoid, or back into her true form .
Night hags carry a special periapt called a charm of blackness. Created by hags deep in the pits of the Waste, they instantly cure any disease the possessor contracts and gives a +2 bonus to all saving throws. If a good creature gains a charm, it functions but shatters after ten uses.
Night hags lose their ability to become ethereal without their periapt, but the ability does not transfer to others. Hags go to great pains to retrieve lost periapts; it takes one month and 100 larvae to create another.
HABITAT / SOCIETY
Night hags are solitary creatures, rarely associating with other members of their kind. They sometimes form alliances with other evil beings, such as devils, demons, or vampires, but only for mutual benefit or convenience. They have no loyalty or compassion for anyone but themselves .
Night hags travel across the planes in search of victims, often posing as travelers or merchants. They favor places where they can find corrupt or wicked people, such as cities, dungeons, or battlefields. They also enjoy visiting the dreams of chaotic or evil individuals, tempting them to do heinous acts that will damn them to the lower planes upon death .
ECOLOGY
Night hags are immortal beings that do not age or reproduce. They are created by a ritual that involves sacrificing a humanoid and using their flesh to craft a soul bag. The ritual also requires a heartstone, which can only be made by another night hag. Crafting a heartstone takes 30 days, while crafting a soul bag takes 7 days .
Night hags feed on the souls of mortals, which they consume or trade with other fiends. A soul bag can hold only one evil soul at a time, and only the night hag who crafted it can use it. A soul bag can be used to create new night hags, power magical items or rituals, or bargain with powerful entities .
Night hags have no natural predators or enemies, except for those who oppose their evil schemes. They are feared and hated by most good-aligned creatures, especially those who value dreams and souls. Night hags also have a rivalry with other types of hags, such as green hags or sea hags.
Night Hag is employed as material component to empower the following spells: