Night Hag

In the shadowed realms where nightmares dwell and dark bargains are made, the Night Hag emerges as a sinister and malevolent creature. With their twisted forms and mastery of dark magic, Night Hags embody the essence of fear, manipulation, and soul-stealing.

Night Hags possess a horrifying and grotesque appearance. They have hunched and haggard forms, their flesh mottled and decayed. Their skin is pallid and leathery, stretched tight over bony frames. Their clawed hands and wickedly sharp teeth hint at their predatory nature, while their bloodshot eyes exude a wicked intelligence and a hunger for suffering.

These fiendish creatures are known for their ability to traverse the ethereal plane, moving between the material world and the realm of dreams and nightmares. Night Hags are skilled in the arts of manipulation and illusion, using their powers to torment the minds of their victims and twist their perceptions. They can appear in various guises, often assuming the form of innocent or alluring figures to lure unsuspecting mortals into their grasp.

One of the most dreaded abilities of the Night Hag is their power to steal souls. With their nightmarish claws, they can latch onto a victim’s chest and extract their life essence, leaving behind an empty husk. These stolen souls are then used to fuel dark rituals, bargaining chips in infernal pacts, or vile sustenance for the Hags themselves.

Night Hags are often found dwelling in desolate and forsaken places, such as haunted forests, decaying ruins, or desolate swamps. They establish coven-like alliances with other Hags, forming powerful and sinister sisterhoods that further amplify their dark powers. Their lairs are filled with dark artifacts, arcane tomes, and captive spirits, serving as macabre reminders of the wicked deeds they commit.

Encountering a Night Hag is to face a creature of profound malevolence and supernatural cunning. Their presence radiates an aura of dread and despair, as they delight in tormenting and corrupting the souls of mortals. Engaging a Night Hag requires not only physical prowess but also a keen mind and an indomitable will to resist their insidious manipulations.

Night Hags represent the embodiment of nightmares, deceit, and the darkest aspects of magic. They serve as reminders of the dangers lurking in the depths of the supernatural and the treachery that can arise from crossing paths with such fiendish creatures. Whether encountered as a terrifying adversary or as the mastermind behind a web of sinister plots, Night Hags add a chilling and formidable presence to the realms of adventure and exploration.

Special Abilities

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

• Claws (Hag Form Only): Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (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: 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.

Proficiencies

• Skill: Deception +7
• Skill: Insight +6
• Skill: Perception +6
• Skill: Stealth +6