Fantastic Friday: Witch Class in D&D, Part 3

Part 2 in this series brought the overview through the d20 revolution to the Pathfinder end of the D&D spectrum. But the d20 "fork" is only one direction of contemporary D&D. In 2008, Wizards of the Coast went in a new direction with the 4th edition, which streamlined some aspects of the game while complicating others. Products moved to the digital realm, with the intention that the game would have a large amount of digital support and a subscription model. While the edition still has fans, Wizards appeared to lose market share to Pathfinder. Thus, in 2012, Wizards published the 5th edition, which simplified many aspects the game, and provided a framework that people could use to style the game closer to a version that they liked.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 4 | Addendum

D&D 4th Edition

In the 4th edition Player's Handbook (2008), the warlock class became one of the core classes of the game. The 4th edition redefined how character classes worked, and placed all classes into one of four roles; the warlock was given the "Striker" role of dealing large amounts of damage in combat. With an emphasis on eldritch blasts and at-will evocations, the warlock does not much resemble the classic witch. Of the two builds given, the closest equivalent to the classic witch is the Deceptive Warlock with a Fey Pact. These warlocks gained an evil eye power (eyebite) and the ability to teleport across the battlefield. The class did grant the ability to curse targets, which had deleterious combat effects that varied based on the Pact chosen. Most of the warlock's abilities were overtly offensive (in keeping with the class' mechanical role as a "Striker") but there were a few enchantment/charm powers. As supplements came out, the warlock drifted even farther from being a "witchy" class to carve out its own niche.

In the Player's Option: Heroes of the Feywild supplement (November 2011) a different witch was included as a subclass of the wizard. The witch lost the wizard's features of a Spellbook, Ritual Casting, or getting combat bonuses for mastering arcane implements, but gained a Familiar, Augury, and chose a Moon Coven. The Augury ability allowed the witch to perform a divination during a Short Rest and gain a vague insight into the immediate future. The Moon Coven was a mild flavoring to give witches distinction. The two provided were the Dark Moon Coven, which focused on fate and darkness, and the Full Moon Coven, which focused on life and charms. The witch's spells had offensive and defensive utility (as with all 4th edition character classes), but a lot of emphasis was placed on transformations and enchantment/charm powers.

D&D 5th Edition

In the current iteration of D&D, the warlock is once again a core class with an emphasis on eldritch blasts and invocation-based powers. But while the warlock has drifted even further from feeling like a "witch" class, an explosion in desktop publishing has led to a drastic increase in available homebrew options. The DM's Guild site has dozens of witch class options, from simple subclasses of the wizard or druid class, to massive treatments with loads of subclass options of their own.

There have been several homebrew warlock pacts which try to give the class a witchier feel. My favorite of these is the Pact of the Cauldron by /u/Rex_Gunn.

Others have attempted to create witches with a subclass, of, for example, Wizard (Witchcraft by The Mesonoxian Archives), Cleric (Witchcraft Domain - A healer with a cat, broom, and cauldron instead of a deity by beardify), Druid (Druidic Circle: Circle of Witchcraft by Fraser Metcalf) or Sorcerer (The Witch - A Sorcerous Origin and Character Background Option for 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons by Robert Murakami).

Several have attempted a full witch class with its own subclasses. There are a huge number on DMs Guild, so this list isn't exhaustive, but just a few that I thought were particularly good.

  • The Witch, a Character Class of Natural Arcana and the Old Ways of Magic, by Walrock Homebrew. This one is extensively playtested, with 7 subclasses (covens of the dark moon, full moon, half moon, crescent moon, eclipse, gibbous moon, and lost moon), a familiar, and witchy powers (potions, flying brooms, and the ability to jinx which can have a wide variety of effects).
  • The Complete Witch, by Mage Hand Press. Also extensively playtested, with 14 subclasses (crafts of black magic, blood magic, blue magic, cloud magic, fragrant magic, green magic, heart magic, lunar magic, purple magic, red magic, salt magic, sand magic, tea magic, and white magic), a familiar, and witchy powers (curses, potions, and the ability to hex which can have a wide variety of effects). Interestingly, every witch suffers from a personal curse, which have a variety of effects, and gain the ability to cackle, which extends the duration of their hex effects. I love that there's a mechanical effect for cackling, and would absolutely make my players cackle in real life to use it.
  • Witch, originally by /u/Zarieth and updated by /u/EinarTheBlack. This version of the witch binds spirits to gain powers in addition to regular spellcasting. It has 6 subclasses (covens of blood, charms, ruin, shadows, symbiosis, or unity), and a variety of powers. It's an interesting variant. UPDATE 2022/01/21: /u/Zarieth and /u/WriteOftenPlayNever updated the class to v3.1, which removes a lot of bloat. Link has been updated.
  • Witch Class, D&D 5e (inspired by Dragon #114 witch), by Christopher J. Ferguson. A close update of the 1E Dragon #114 witch, this has two variants (white and black witch), a familiar, candle magic, and a variety of witchy powers.
  • D&D Witch Class, by David Belmonte. This version goes back even farther, updating the Dragon #5 and #20 witches .This is the simplest full class option listed here, but accurately updates the abilities of the oldest witch class in D&D.

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