Hag (Dungeons & Dragons)
Encyclopedia
In the Dungeons & Dragons
fantasy
role-playing game
, hags are witchlike beings that use magic to spread havoc and destruction, and slay all whom they encounter.
(1975).
The annis, a type of hag, first appeared in the module Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun (1982). The annis appeared in the Monster Manual II (1983) along with the greenhag.
The fresh water sea hag appears in Dragon
#68 (December 1982).
The greenhag is further detailed in Dragon
#125 (September 1987), in "The Ecology of the Greenhag."
(1985), and the Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia (1991).
The spectral annis, the spectral green hag, and the spectral sea hag appeared in Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium Appendix III: Creatures of Darkness (1994).
The bheur hag for the Forgotten Realms
setting first appears in Spellbound (1995), and then in Monstrous Compendium Annual Volume Three (1996).
The bog hag appears in Oriental Adventures (2001).
Savage Species (2003) presented the annis hag, the green hag, and the sea hag as both races and playable classes.
The bheur hag , the shrieking hag, and the hagspawn for the Forgotten Realms appear in Unapproachable East
(2003).
The dusk hag for the Eberron
campaign setting appears in the Eberron Campaign Setting
book (2004).
The dune hag appears in Sandstorm: Mastering the Perils of Fire and Sand (2005).
The marzanna appears in Frostburn: Mastering the Perils of Ice and Snow (2005).
The green hag is further detailed in Dragon
#331 (May 2005), in "The Ecology of the Green Hag,", and the annis hag is further detailed in Dragon #345 (July 2006), in "The Ecology of the Annis."
also appears under the hag entry in this edition's Monster Manual.
While individually powerful, hags are much more dangerous when formed into a covey. A covey is composed of three hags of any combination. Covens have special spells and powers that individual hags don't possess. To cast one of these spells, the members of the coven must all be within ten feet of each other and the spell being cast must be in lieu of all other attacks.
Covens never cast these spells in combat, instead these spells are used to help weave wicked plots against neighboring human or demihuman settlements. A common ploy by Hag covens is to force or trick a victim into performing some heinous deed. This deed usually involves bringing back more victims, some of whom are devoured by the hags; the rest are used on further evil assignments. Any creature fortunate (or unfortunate) enough to resist a coven is immediately devoured.
Covens often use one or two ogres as spies, sending them into the world beyond after polymorphing them into less threatening creatures.
These minions frequently wear a special magical gem called a hag eye. A hag eye is made from the real eye of a coven's previous victim. It appears to the casual observer to be no more than a low-value gem, but if viewed through a gem of True Seeing, a disembodied eye can be seen trapped in the hag eye's interior. This hidden eye is magically connected to the coven that created the hag eye. All three members of the coven can see whatever the hag eye is pointed at. Hag eyes are usually placed on a medallion or brooch worn by one of the hag's polymorphed servants. Occasionally hag eyes are given as gifts to unsuspecting victims whom the hags want to monitor.
Hags commonly inhabit bone-strewn glens deep within forests. There is a large chance that hags are keeping one or two captives in a nearby earthen pit or forcecage. These prisoners are held for a purpose known only to the hags themselves, though it will certainly involve spreading chaos into the outside world. Prisoners kept in a pit are guarded by an evil giant or one to two ogres; those in a forcecage are left alone.
Most hags worship the dark goddess Cegilune
.
Hags hoard fine treasure, using the jewelry and coins to decorate the bones of their more powerful victims, and the finer gems to manufacture magical hag eyes.
.
Hags also feature prominently in Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer
. Various Hagspawn are encountered throughout the game, most notably 'Gannayev' a Spirit Shaman who can join your party. Later in the game the player visits a Hag City as part of your quest and eventually encounter Gannayev's Hag mother.
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
role-playing game
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
, hags are witchlike beings that use magic to spread havoc and destruction, and slay all whom they encounter.
Dungeons & Dragons (1974-1976)
The sea hag first appeared in the Dungeons & Dragons supplement, Blackmoor by Dave ArnesonDave Arneson
David Lance "Dave" Arneson was an American game designer best known for co-developing the first published role-playing game , Dungeons & Dragons, with Gary Gygax, in the early 1970s...
(1975).
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition (1977-1988)
The sea hag appears in the first edition Monster Manual (1977), where it is described as inhabiting thickly vegetated shallows, and hates beauty and is so ghastly in appearance that it makes other creatures weak with fright.The annis, a type of hag, first appeared in the module Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun (1982). The annis appeared in the Monster Manual II (1983) along with the greenhag.
The fresh water sea hag appears in Dragon
Dragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
#68 (December 1982).
The greenhag is further detailed in Dragon
Dragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
#125 (September 1987), in "The Ecology of the Greenhag."
Dungeons & Dragons (1977-1999)
This edition of the D&D game included its own version of the hag. The sea hag and the black hag appeared in the Dungeons & Dragons Master RulesDungeons & Dragons Master Rules
Dungeons & Dragons Master Rules is an expansion boxed set for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. It was first published in 1985 as an expansion to the Basic Set.-Publication history:...
(1985), and the Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia (1991).
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition (1989-1999)
The annis hag, the green hag, and the sea hag appear first in the Monstrous Compendium Volume Two (1989), and are reprinted in the Monstrous Manual (1993),.The spectral annis, the spectral green hag, and the spectral sea hag appeared in Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium Appendix III: Creatures of Darkness (1994).
The bheur hag for the Forgotten Realms
Forgotten Realms
The Forgotten Realms is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Commonly referred to by players and game designers alike as "The Realms", it was created by game designer Ed Greenwood around 1967 as a setting for his childhood stories...
setting first appears in Spellbound (1995), and then in Monstrous Compendium Annual Volume Three (1996).
Dungeons & Dragons 3.0 edition (2000-2002)
The annis, the green hag, and the sea hag appear in the Monster Manual for this edition (2000).The bog hag appears in Oriental Adventures (2001).
Savage Species (2003) presented the annis hag, the green hag, and the sea hag as both races and playable classes.
The bheur hag , the shrieking hag, and the hagspawn for the Forgotten Realms appear in Unapproachable East
Unapproachable East (supplement)
Unapproachable East is a hardcover accessory for the 3rd edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Contents:Unapproachable East describes locations such as Aglarond, Rashemen, and Thay for the Forgotten Realms setting....
(2003).
Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 edition (2003-2007)
The annis, the green hag, and the sea hag appear in the revised Monster Manual for this edition (2003).The dusk hag for the Eberron
Eberron
Eberron is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, set in a period after a vast destructive war on the continent of Khorvaire...
campaign setting appears in the Eberron Campaign Setting
Eberron Campaign Setting
Eberron Campaign Setting is a hardcover accessory for the 3.5 edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Contents:The Eberron Campaign Setting book introduced Eberron, and is the core campaign setting, providing the campaign specific rules and details on the continent of Khorvaire...
book (2004).
The dune hag appears in Sandstorm: Mastering the Perils of Fire and Sand (2005).
The marzanna appears in Frostburn: Mastering the Perils of Ice and Snow (2005).
The green hag is further detailed in Dragon
Dragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
#331 (May 2005), in "The Ecology of the Green Hag,", and the annis hag is further detailed in Dragon #345 (July 2006), in "The Ecology of the Annis."
Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition (2008-)
The hag appears in the Monster Manual for this edition (2008), including the howling hag, the bog hag, and the death hag. The night hagNight hag (Dungeons & Dragons)
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, the night hag is an outsider that comes from the Gray Waste of Hades. The night hag's relationship to other types of hags is unclear...
also appears under the hag entry in this edition's Monster Manual.
Physical Appearance
Hags appear as wretched old women, with long, frayed hair and withered faces. Horrid moles and warts dot their blotchy skin, their mouths are filled with blackened teeth, and their breath is most foul. Though wrinkled and skinny, hags possess supernatural strength and can easily crush smaller creatures, such as goblins, with one hand. Similarly, though hags look decrepit, they run swiftly, easily bounding over rocks or logs in their path. From the long, skinny fingers of hags grow iron-like claws. Hags use these claws and their supernatural strength to rend and tear at opponents in combat. Their garb is similar to that of peasant women, but usually much more tattered and filthy.Society
Hags live alone or in covens of three. They always choose desolate, out-of-the-way places in which to dwell. They sometimes coexist with ogres or evil giants. The former act as servants or guards for hags, but giants are treated with respect (for obvious reasons) and often cooperate with hags to accomplish acts of great evil against the outside world.While individually powerful, hags are much more dangerous when formed into a covey. A covey is composed of three hags of any combination. Covens have special spells and powers that individual hags don't possess. To cast one of these spells, the members of the coven must all be within ten feet of each other and the spell being cast must be in lieu of all other attacks.
Covens never cast these spells in combat, instead these spells are used to help weave wicked plots against neighboring human or demihuman settlements. A common ploy by Hag covens is to force or trick a victim into performing some heinous deed. This deed usually involves bringing back more victims, some of whom are devoured by the hags; the rest are used on further evil assignments. Any creature fortunate (or unfortunate) enough to resist a coven is immediately devoured.
Covens often use one or two ogres as spies, sending them into the world beyond after polymorphing them into less threatening creatures.
These minions frequently wear a special magical gem called a hag eye. A hag eye is made from the real eye of a coven's previous victim. It appears to the casual observer to be no more than a low-value gem, but if viewed through a gem of True Seeing, a disembodied eye can be seen trapped in the hag eye's interior. This hidden eye is magically connected to the coven that created the hag eye. All three members of the coven can see whatever the hag eye is pointed at. Hag eyes are usually placed on a medallion or brooch worn by one of the hag's polymorphed servants. Occasionally hag eyes are given as gifts to unsuspecting victims whom the hags want to monitor.
Hags commonly inhabit bone-strewn glens deep within forests. There is a large chance that hags are keeping one or two captives in a nearby earthen pit or forcecage. These prisoners are held for a purpose known only to the hags themselves, though it will certainly involve spreading chaos into the outside world. Prisoners kept in a pit are guarded by an evil giant or one to two ogres; those in a forcecage are left alone.
Most hags worship the dark goddess Cegilune
Cegilune
In the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, Cegilune is the hag deity of larvae, hags, and the moon. She is the patron goddess of all hags, including night hags...
.
Ecology
Hags have a ravenous appetite and are able to quickly devour man-sized creatures. They prefer human flesh, but settle for orc or demihuman when necessary. This wanton destruction has earned hags some powerful enemies. Besides humanity in general, both good giants and good dragons hunt hags, slaying them whenever possible. Still, hags multiply rapidly by using their magic to appear as beautiful maidens to men they encounter alone. Hag offspring are always female. Legends say that hags can change their unborn child for that of a human female while she sleeps. They further state that any mother who brings such a child to term is then slain by the hag-child she carries. Fortunately, such ghastly tales have never been proven.Hags hoard fine treasure, using the jewelry and coins to decorate the bones of their more powerful victims, and the finer gems to manufacture magical hag eyes.
Types of Hags
The following are different varieties of Hags in the D&D game:- Annis - The dreaded annis commonly uses magic to disguise itself as an exceptionally tall human, a fair giant, or an ogre.
- Bheur - A bheur hag is capable of bringing winter's chill to any place in the land.
- Dune Hag - Wasteland cousins of the annis, dune hags use their disguise self and enthrall abilities to lure victims to their deaths.
- Dusk Hag - Accursed offspring of night hags, can see visions of the future in her dreams and can influence the dreams of others.
- Green Hag - Green hags are found in desolate swamps and dark forests and are able to weaken foes simply by touch.
- Marzanna - This winter hag is the personification of death and winter.
- Sea Hag - Sea hags are fully aquatic, with an appearance so horrific that it saps the strength out of living creatures. The sea hag is also able to use her "evil eye" to kill or daze victims.
- Shrieking Hag - Shrieking hags are horrible, spiteful monsters who haunt desolate wastelands and barren plains.
- Xtabay - A foul hag from MayanMaya civilizationThe Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period The Maya is a Mesoamerican...
legend.
Related creatures
- Hagspawn - The usually male children of hags, hagspawn are normally brutish and ill-tempered creatures. Hagspawn born from night hags do not appear brutish nor ill-tempered, and they resemble much more their father than their mother, save for their skin, which often has a violet, grayish and/or blueish tone. Female hagspawn also exist, however, these only exist when the mother is a night hag; night hags are not born night hags, but are instead born as female hagspawn, which like the male offspring from night hags, are not brutish nor-ill tempered. In order to become a hag, a female hagspawn has to pass 13 rituals that have to be performed by her mother - if these rituals are not taken, or are interrupted, then the female hagspawn won't become a night hag.
- Night HagNight hag (Dungeons & Dragons)In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, the night hag is an outsider that comes from the Gray Waste of Hades. The night hag's relationship to other types of hags is unclear...
- These are actually fiendsFiend (Dungeons & Dragons)Fiends is a term used in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game to refer to any malicious otherworldly creatures within the Dungeons & Dragons universe. These include various races of demons and devils that are of an evil alignment and hail from the Lower Planes...
, and are outsiders which are native to the Lower Planes, like Devils and Demons, rather than monstrous humanoids, like centaurs and medusae.
- Brujah - First introduced in the Ravenloft campaign setting, these are Hags that have undergone a startling spiritual metamorphosis, becoming creatures of Good rather than Evil.
In other media
A Night Hag named Ravel Puzzlewell plays a major role in the PC game Planescape Torment - she is responsible for the immortality of the protagonist: The Nameless One. A large section of the quest involves searching for her, she is eventually found to be imprisoned by the Lady of PainLady of Pain
The Lady of Pain is the fictional protector of the city of Sigil in the Planescape campaign setting of the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game...
.
Hags also feature prominently in Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer
Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer
Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer is a computer role-playing game developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Atari. It is an expansion pack for Neverwinter Nights 2. It was released in Autumn 2007 for the PC in North America, Europe, and Australia...
. Various Hagspawn are encountered throughout the game, most notably 'Gannayev' a Spirit Shaman who can join your party. Later in the game the player visits a Hag City as part of your quest and eventually encounter Gannayev's Hag mother.
Additional reading
- Alvarez, J.C. "Beasts of the Sun: Central American Monsters." Dragon #317 (Paizo Publishing, 2004).
- Baur, WolfgangWolfgang BaurWolfgang Baur is an American game designer, best known for his work with Dragon magazine. He designs role-playing games and also is known for his work at Wizards of the Coast.-Biography:...
, James Jacobs, and George Strayton. FrostburnFrostburnFrostburn is a supplemental book to the 3.5 edition of the Dungeons and Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Contents:Frostburn provides rules for adventuring in a cold environment as well as an environment known as frostfell, which is a sort of arctic environment with extreme cold.The book contains...
(Wizards of the CoastWizards of the CoastWizards of the Coast is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for games...
, 2004).
- Schneider, Wesley. "By the Hands of Hags" Dragon #300 (Paizo, 2002).
- Ward, Kyla. "The Petit Tarrasque and Other Monsters." Dragon #329 (Paizo Publishing, 2005).