For use with Dragonbane RPG.

Description:
There are whispers that some goose-kin still practice the old ways. They light candles at the dark moon, mutter words from forbidden pages, and trade feathers for secrets. One of them went too far. She dipped her beak too deep into the Grimoire and came back changed. Her feathers turned black. Her voice became a rasp that calls the dead to her door. The locals call her a hag, but the word is too small for what she has become.

She lives alone in a tangle of roots or an abandoned mill. The air around her home tastes like old iron. Smoke drifts from a crooked chimney and never quite reaches the sky. She feeds on fear, memory, and the warmth of living hearts. Adventurers who wander too close hear her songs in their dreams. Those who follow the sound do not always return.

Resistance: Magic and fear effects. Immune to charm.
Ferocity: 3 Size: Medium
Movement: 8 Armor: 1 HP: 14

MONSTER ATTACKS
D6 Attacks:
1: Talon rake, 1d6 slashing damage to one target within 2 meters. The hag slashes with sharpened claws, her feathers flaring like knives.
2: HONK! Everyone within 16 meters must make a WIL check or roll on the Fear Table.  
3: Hexing glare. The hag locks eyes with a foe within 10 meters. Target must make a WIL test or suffer a Bane on all rolls for 1 Stretch.
4: Cauldron curse. She hurls boiling liquid or enchanted muck, 1d6 fire or acid damage (GM choice). On a roll of 1, the victim’s skin burns with strange runes that attract spirits for the next Shift.
5: Summon minion. The hag calls one of her thralls or nearby beasts to her aid. It arrives next round.
6: Shadow of the Grimoire. The hag channels the book’s magic. The ground within 4 meters darkens, and ghostly hands rise to pull at her foes. Each target must Evade or suffer 1d6 damage and be rooted to the spot magically until the end of their next turn.

Behavior and Personality
Hags love to play at being harmless. They invite travelers to share a meal, offer healing herbs, or tell fortunes in exchange for a lock of hair. They are curious, manipulative, and deeply lonely. Once they sense greed or cruelty in a guest, they strike.

Every hag is shaped by the thing she wanted most. Some sought beauty or eternal youth. Others wanted power or revenge. What they got was the same: isolation, paranoia, and a hunger for what they can never again possess.

They rarely travel. Instead they build their lairs like traps, each room laced with small cruelties: mirrors that lie, doors that lead to nowhere, stew pots that whisper. A hag’s home feels alive because it is.

1D8 THINGS IN THE HAG’S COTTAGE

  1. A bubbling cauldron that screams if anyone other than the hag touches it.
  2. A shelf of preserved eyes that swivel to follow intruders.
  3. A chest of gold coins that melt into mud at dawn.
  4. A broom that sweeps the floor by itself and attacks anyone who swears.
  5. A mirror that shows each viewer’s most awkward or embarrassing moment.
  6. A cage of undead birds that sing when the hag is near.
  7. A black feather that cannot burn and cannot be thrown away (Permanent memento if picked up.)
  8. A book of recipes written in the blood. It was never meant for the world of the living.

GM NOTES AND HOOKS
The hag works best as a trap in story form. Let her seem eccentric or even charming before the mask slips. Her lair should feel alive and curious, not simply evil. The hag delights in conversation. Use that. Let her barter riddles, trade gossip, and ask dangerous favors.

If players try to reason with her, lean into her contradictions. She might show flashes of pity or maternal warmth before snapping back into cruelty. She is not without depth. Somewhere inside is the goose-kin she once was, who only wanted to learn and be loved.

Her minions can range from animated tools to twisted forest beasts. A lone hag should never fight alone. Treat her as a cunning, layered encounter where the challenge is both magical and moral.

Treasure should feel tempting and cursed. Maybe her black feathers can be used as spell foci, or her Grimoire contains forbidden but powerful spells. Reward curiosity but punish greed.

GMs may wish to exchange the 1d6 monster attack table for Focused x3, 20 WP and spells from the Animist, Witch, Necromancer, or Demonologist schools. Casting ability 14.