Marehag - Brood Marehag

Marehag

Large Fey

Hit Dice: 8d6+24 (52 hp)
Initiative: +2
Speed: 50 ft. (10 squares)
Armor Class: 20 (-1 size, +2 Dex, +9 natural), touch 11, flat-footed 18
Base Attack/Grapple: +4/+15
Attack: Claw +10 melee (1d6+7)
Full Attack: 2 claws +10 melee (1d6+7) and 2 hooves +5 melee (1d8+3)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./10 ft.
Special Attacks: Spell-like abilities, dreadful conversation
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, damage reduction 10/cold iron, woodland stride, scent
Saves: Fort +5, Ref +8, Will +10
Abilities: Str 24, Dex 15, Con 16, Int 15, Wis 17, Cha 19
Skills: Bluff +15, Diplomacy +8, Disguise +8 (+10 acting), Gather Information +10, Hide +5, Intimidate +15, Knowledge (nature) +8, Listen +14, Sense Motive +14, Spot +14, Survival +14
Feats: Alertness, Ability Focus (Dreadful Conversation), Iron Will
Environment: Temperate forests, ancient roads, haunted moors
Organization: Solitary or Pair
Challenge Rating: 7
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Usually Chaotic Evil
Advancement: 9–16 HD (Large); 17–24 HD (Huge)
Level Adjustment: —

A marehag resembles an elderly female centaur at first glance, though her proportions are subtly wrong. Her horse body is unnaturally long and lean, while her human torso emerges farther forward than it should. Tangled white hair hangs over a face lined by impossible age, and her arms dangle nearly to the ground, ending in black, iron-hard claws. She carries herself with the weary stoop of an old traveler until the instant she attacks, whereupon she erupts into terrifying speed.

Marehags wander forgotten roads, abandoned villages, and deep forests. Unlike most hags, they rarely keep permanent lairs, preferring to hunt by gaining the trust of travelers before revealing their true nature.

Combat

A marehag delights in weakening her victims emotionally before striking physically. She opens encounters with conversation and subtle enchantments, resorting to her claws only after sowing fear and doubt.

Dreadful Conversation (Su): A marehag possesses an uncanny ability to identify emotional weaknesses. If she converses with a creature capable of understanding her language for at least 1 minute, that creature must succeed on a DC 18 Will save or become shaken for 24 hours whenever it can see or hear the marehag. This is a mind-affecting fear effect. Creatures that successfully save are immune to that marehag's dreadful conversation for 24 hours.

Spell-Like Abilities: Caster level 8th. Save DCs are Charisma-based.

At will - detect thoughts (DC 16), ghost sound (DC 14), minor image (DC 16)

3/day - bestow curse (DC 18), deep slumber (DC 17), suggestion (DC 17)

1/day - hallucinatory terrain (DC 19)

Woodland Stride (Ex)

A marehag may move through natural undergrowth without taking damage or suffering impairment, as the druid ability.

Skills

A marehag gains a +8 racial bonus on Bluff and Sense Motive checks. She may always take 10 on Bluff checks, even when rushed or threatened.

Lore

Most people mistake a marehag for an aged centaur until it is far too late. Travelers tell stories of kindly old women who offered food, directions, or sympathetic ears before revealing themselves as monsters. Those who survive often insist the creature knew things it could never have learned - childhood regrets, forgotten promises, buried guilt.

Centaurs deny any kinship with marehags, though they avoid the forgotten roads where the creatures roam. Entire herds will alter seasonal migrations rather than pass through a marehag's hunting grounds. Whether this fear stems from ancient shame, long-forgotten wars, or some darker shared ancestry remains unknown.

Among hags, however, marehags are treated with uncommon respect. Green hags gather misery, annis hags revel in brutality, and night hags traffic in souls. Marehags are said to specialize in something subtler: breaking hope itself. Even other hags sometimes seek one out to learn the art of unraveling a victim with nothing more than a pleasant smile and patient conversation.

Brood Marehag

Large Fey

Hit Dice: 12d6+48 (90 hp)
Initiative: +3
Speed: 50 ft. (10 squares)
Armor Class: 23 (-1 size, +3 Dex, +11 natural), touch 12, flat-footed 20
Base Attack/Grapple: +6/+19
Attack: Claw +15 melee (1d6+9)
Full Attack: 2 claws +15 melee (1d6+9) and 2 hooves +10 melee (1d8+4)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./10 ft.
Special Attacks: Spell-like abilities, dreadful conversation, broodmother's command
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, damage reduction 10/cold iron, woodland stride, scent, spell resistance 20
Saves: Fort +8, Ref +11, Will +13
Abilities: Str 28, Dex 16, Con 18, Int 18, Wis 19, Cha 22
Skills: Bluff +21, Diplomacy +12, Disguise +12 (+14 acting), Gather Information +18, Hide +8, Intimidate +21, Knowledge (nature) +15, Listen +19, Sense Motive +23, Spot +19, Survival +19
Feats: Alertness, Ability Focus (Dreadful Conversation), Combat Casting, Iron Will, Leadership¹
Environment: Temperate forests, ancient roads, forgotten villages
Organization: Solitary or Brood (1 brood marehag plus 2–8 awakened beasts and 2–12 animated scarecrows)
Challenge Rating: 10
Treasure: Double Standard
Alignment: Usually Chaotic Evil
Advancement: 13–20 HD (Large); 21–30 HD (Huge)

¹Leadership is listed for flavor and should not be used by PCs.

A brood marehag is an elder among her kind. While ordinary marehags wander the old roads alone, brood marehags establish domains that slowly become places of whispered dread. Animals cease behaving naturally, scarecrows appear where no fields exist, and lonely travelers begin reporting conversations with an elderly woman who somehow already knew their names.

Within a generation, the entire region belongs to her.

Combat

A brood marehag rarely fights alone. She allows her servants to isolate prey while she watches from the edge of the woods, speaking softly until despair has already taken hold.

Dreadful Conversation (Su): As the marehag.

Broodmother's Command (Su): As a standard action, a brood marehag may command any awakened animal, vermin, plant creature, or animated scarecrow within 300 feet. This functions as mass suggestion (DC 22) but affects only such creatures, which obey without receiving a saving throw if they already serve the brood marehag. This is a mind-affecting compulsion.

Spell-Like Abilities: Caster level 12th.

At will - detect thoughts (DC 17), ghost sound, minor image, speak with animals

3/day - bestow curse (DC 20), deep slumber (DC 19), hallucinatory terrain (DC 21), suggestion (DC 19), tree stride

1/day - animate objects, awaken, veil (DC 22)

The awaken ability functions only once per month and is used exclusively upon beasts that willingly remain in her service.

Ecology

As marehags age, many eventually tire of wandering. Rather than stalking forgotten roads, an elder marehag chooses a place where despair already lingers—a deserted hamlet, an abandoned coaching inn, the ruins of a monastery, or a crossroads where tragedies have become commonplace.

Over decades, the land itself begins to change.

Animals grow unnaturally quiet. Travelers lose their sense of direction. Old footpaths seem to rearrange themselves after sunset, always leading strangers toward the brood marehag's domain. Those who survive an encounter often speak of hearing friendly voices just beyond the trees, only to discover no one was ever there.

A brood marehag rarely serves alone. Ordinary marehags sometimes seek out an elder to learn the subtler arts of manipulation, while bewitched beasts, enchanted servants, and creatures broken by years of psychological torment willingly carry out her wishes. Such followers are not slaves so much as disciples, each believing the brood marehag understands them better than anyone else ever could.

Lair

Unlike younger marehags, a brood marehag eventually settles in one place. Her lair is almost never a hut.

Instead, she claims an abandoned village, ruined monastery, forgotten tollhouse, or crumbling estate swallowed by the forest. Birds nest freely in the rafters. Moss carpets every stone. Animated scarecrows stand motionless among dead gardens.

Travelers often remark that the place doesn't feel evil.

It feels...

lived in.