NE

18

28

3

6

18

Night hags are thieves and merchants of mortal souls. These foul creatures collect souls in dark gems or crystalline jars to sell in fiendish markets, and are themselves empowered by potent magic jewels known as heartstones. They haunt the Ethereal Plane, where they prey upon mortals in their dreams, debilitating them with horrific nightmares as they rest. A night hag may find a particular target and haunt them continuously over the course of weeks, slowly and cruelly breaking down the victim’s will and ability to resist, until their soul is forfeit. A night hag is a canny mastermind and soul broker, willing to consider any deal as long as she is convinced she has the upper hand. Although a night hag finds it easy to travel the Ethereal Plane and prey upon helpless souls that can’t fight back, these souls are also the least desirable to the evil outsiders the night hag bargains with, and so a night hag gathers allies and minions that allow her to prey on more potent souls without personally risking herself. Their favored minions are nightmares, with whom they share a special bond. Above all, night hags avoid fighting foes that can harry them on the Ethereal Plane, picking fights only when they are certain they can escape. Malevolent crones who lurk at the edges of civilization, hags use their deceptive, magical abilities to prey upon humanoids, manipulating and corrupting them. Some say hags arose from fey that became twisted by their inner selfishness. Hags gather together in covens for greater power, craft unique magical items known as hag eyes, and are known to replace infant humanoids with their own offspring—these children are changelings (page 62) who have the potential to become hags themselves. Haters of Humanity Hags loathe all humanoid races, but not equally—the brunt of their wrath is leveled against humans. Hags prey on human society the most, adding human flesh to their cauldron and snatching newborn children before replacing the babes with their own progeny as changelings (page 62). Hag Covens Hags are dangerous enough on their own, but when they gather in threes to form covens, they grow much more powerful. Full rules for covens appear on page 342. The Nature of Hags Some believe that hags possess no true form or body of their own, but instead manifest from society’s fear of aging. That no known male hags exist has also puzzled scholars, but perhaps this is but another way in which hags mock society—by presenting themselves as awful stereotypes of elderly women. Other Hags The four types of hags presented here are but the most notorious of their kind. Others—such as the blood hag, moon hag, storm hag, and winter hag—plague society in other regions of the world.

4

18

170

sleep

4

14

Abyssal, Aklo, Celestial, Common, Infernal

9

Creature

20

18

20

mental 10

19

+2 status to all saves vs. magic, -2 to all saves if the night hag does not have her heartstone

17

18

darkvision

Medium

25

28

5

Fiend, Hag, Humanoid

cold iron 10

5