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Playing a Witch in D&D 5e: Class Builds, Roleplay, and Lore 👵🐸
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Sep 30, 2022
Witch, please. Watch as we explore several classifications of witches, including druidic Wiccans, prophesying Seers, traditional Hags, sea-faring Sirens, and astrological Cosmic Witches, all in the scope of Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition. We will also provide several canonical class builds, following the rules as written. Follow along here: https://www.flutesloot.com/5e-guide-to-playing-a-witch?utm_source=youtube BROOM of FLYING FORMULA: https://www.flutesloot.com/formulas-for-crafting-popular-magic-items-in-5e/?utm=youtube/#broomofflying ---------- 🎈 Shop our loot on Redbubble: flutesloot.redbubble.com 🎈 Cast Friendship on Flutes Loot: 📱Twitter: https://twitter.com/Flutes_Loot 📘Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/flutesloot 📸Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flutesloot 📌Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/flutesloot 👀Read more articles: https://www.flutesloot.com?utm_source=youtube Affiliate Links (a portion of sales provide gold to our coffers)! 💰 • 📔Players Handbook (D&D 5e): https://amzn.to/2PAeJW7
View Video Transcript
0:00
What up my witches
0:02
I love the idea of playing a witch, not just for a spooky adventure, but for every adventure
0:08
There's so much more to playing a witch than just the trope of Green Face Hag
0:14
And we're going to explore five separate builds that we've come up with here at FlutesLute that you can also read about at FlutesLute.com, which is linked in the description below
0:24
Not only is the build of a witch filled with lore and magic
0:28
There's so much that playing a witch can offer in terms of role-playing and story-art
0:33
and exploring new combinations using the rules as written, but stretched to new dimensions
0:39
So let's talk about it. The first trope we're going to explore is more of a Wiccan style, which is modern and also extends back hundreds of years
0:57
This particular witch trope is not spooky, but is more rooted in nature
1:02
With very specific skills, talents, and interests, the Wiccan build is characterized by the worship of a female deity
1:09
meditation, seasonal rituals surrounding the moon cycles and astrology, crafting potions of warding and good luck, and casting spells
1:17
Modern Wiccans often have accessories such as smudged sticks, wands or crystals, and simple nature-based potions
1:25
Some of the skills that a player might want to invest in are herbalism and crafting potions either as magic items or teas
1:33
A wick and witch could use a crystal as an arcane focus and would want to describe the semantic components of their spells in terms of sacred geometry or hand signs
1:44
Like I draw a pentagram in the air using my finger or I shape my hands into the sign of the goat
1:50
There are three specific classes that I think work awesome for the wicken build. And we've got druid, cleric, and wizard
1:56
For a druid, because they're also nature-centric, a lot of the lore and skills and features
2:02
mesh very well with the Wiccan build. Circle of the moon fits well with the lore
2:07
where it says, gather under the full moon. The circle of land fits the fable of covens
2:12
Mystics and sage safeguard ancient knowledge and rites and rituals. For a wizard, I would focus on arcane magic
2:19
In unearthed arcana, there's a school of theurgy that says magic is as much as a part of the fabric of the cosmos as fire, lightning, wind, and other elements and primal forces
2:30
This school of magic gets to choose a cleric domain, and I would recommend choosing nature, life, or arcana
2:37
If you choose a cleric, I would still go with those three domains
2:41
They fit the theme of Wicca for doing no harm, positive energy, worshipping goddess of the universe, etc
2:50
Some spells that you would want to choose as a wican magic caster include wards
2:55
wards, wards, swords, and wards, spells that would cleanse the energy around you
3:02
such as protection from energy, protection from evil and good, spells that charge the space around you with magical energy, like guidance and bless
3:10
and spells that call upon the divine goddess, like augury and divination
3:15
or spells that improve general health, like healing word, enhanceability, and virtue
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When you're casting your spells, you can be creative and describing how you do this. You can say, I burn my smudge stick and it clears my mind and I access the magic will weave around me
3:28
Or I hold my arcane focus in one hand and whatever gemstone, citrine, or something, in the other hand
3:35
and use the flow of the energy that they gathered from the moon to connect me to the nature and magic within
3:43
Or perhaps you call upon your goddess to bring about the effects of your spell
3:48
In terms of role-playing, the Wiccan is more protective of those that she loves
3:52
She might not be comfortable attacking things that are innocent, but she is willing to protect those things and fight for it
3:59
The Wiccan is great as a support in battle, which is never something to feel ashamed about, as she shines with her preparation for battle in terms of wards, potions, magic items
4:12
The second witch build that we've come up with is the Sear. This witch is a prophetess or an oracle
4:18
Her focus is on divination, gaining hidden knowledge and information through her own intuition and calling upon higher beings
4:25
This witch uses symbols objects seances and sacred geometry to communicate with spirits There are two paths that a seer could take either seeing the future and foretelling it or manipulating it
4:40
Think in terms of viewing the future through a crystal ball or cutting the strings like the witches and Hercules, destroying someone's life
4:50
A benevolent seer will call upon her gods and get supernatural guidance for the place
4:55
players and the party that she's a part of. A shrewd seer will cause mischief based on her understanding
5:02
of the players involved in her game of chess. Some elements that a seer will involve in her
5:08
role-playing are runes, a scrying glass, a crystal ball, tarot cards, and deep meditation
5:16
Another thing to consider is, as a seer, do you have a coven or an organization that you're
5:21
part of? What was your story getting you to become a seer? Were you a traveler with a circus who told
5:29
the fortunes for a penny? Or were you revered in a temple of a certain deity for your prophetic powers
5:36
How do you operate as a seer and how do you benefit the adventure that you're a part of through
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this more support role? There are four classes that we've thought of that can work well for a seer build
5:48
The first one is a wizard. The school of divinators. The school of divinators. Fits perfectly with the seer build
5:54
As a diviner, you strive to part the veils of space, time, and consciousness, so you can see clearly the future
6:02
Plus, getting divination spells will cost half the time and gold required to write them into your spellbook
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And you get to regain spell slots when you use a divination spell. The second build involves a little bit more performance
6:16
Perhaps as a diviner, you need to emote more to convince people of your legitimate
6:21
You need a touch of charisma in order to manipulate others into doing your bidding
6:26
The class barred, specifically the College of Whispers, is perfect for this type of seer
6:32
Or if you pursue magical secrets, more of a benevolent seer, you can choose the college of lore for this build
6:39
A sorcerer would also work well for the seer build. You could choose the divine soul from Xanthar's Guide to Everything, which allows your character to be in close connection to deities
6:49
Plus, with the favored by the gods feature, you can sometimes change the outcome of a failed saving throw or an attack
6:56
And you can also call upon your deity to provide divine healing. With metamagics such as heightened spell, the witch seer, can foresee the result of saving throws being passed and use her wily magic to cause it to fail
7:09
With empowered spell, you can tell that your magic will not be powerful enough and you can add a little boost to it to do more damage
7:16
The last class that fits the Seer archetype is a warlock. Similar to the Hercules witches or perhaps the Macbeth witches
7:24
you'll get that eerie vibe that you might be going for. You can detect thoughts to determine what a person's weakness is
7:32
in order to play on that to manipulate them. Or with entropic ward, you can foresee if an attack will hit
7:38
and choose to cause it to fail. And with create thrall, you can continuously be echoing your words into the minds of someone
7:45
focus on spells that foretell the future and change the outcome of saving throws and attacks
7:52
Also find spells that allow you to speak to otherworldly beings, and perhaps you can enchant
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others to do your bidding for you. A seer really shines when she can see before a battle how it will go
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She can help prevent her allies from getting hit or call upon spears to help in battle
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I would say that a seer is most effective before a battle preparing for it or just outside of battle
8:14
in a more role play story-specific sense. This next witch is your typical Halloween hag
8:22
with all the tropes and stereotypes, and it is magnificent. You've got enchantment, potions, metamorphosis, hexes, and familiars
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all at your fingertips. Think of Snow White or the Sanderson Sisters
8:35
or Professor McGonagall, or Sabrina, the teenage witch. Choose a spooky familiar, like a cat or an owl, or a rat, or a bat
8:43
imbue polymorph into a potion that you can distribute to your allies or force on your enemies
8:48
Create a broom for easy flying. We actually have an article on crafting magic item formulas that has a formula I developed for the broom of flying Perhaps you can work with your dungeon master to find the components used in this formula and create your own magic broom The article for this is linked in the description as well
9:08
You may wish to develop a new background for yourself that involves a coven which may give you access to resources like a background should
9:17
And you can customize your spellbook to be as creepy and perhaps as exclusive to only your eyes as possible
9:25
make sure you're nailing that witch cackle. Our four recommendations for class builds for the hag witch are the artificer
9:37
You can find the new class for that in the Eberon Rising War book
9:41
You can enhance your mundane objects. You can conjure magical items. You can craft magic items at a significantly lower cost, time, and, etc
9:51
You can create a homunculus servant to do your bidding. and you can become an expert at potion crafting
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You can also choose to be a warlock between the cutthroat curses and the spooky patrons
10:05
You're basically already a hag if you're playing a warlock. You can alter your appearance at will like the Snow White Witch
10:12
You can extend your sight through walls or in the darkness. And you can trap souls
10:18
A good patron for this build would be the Raven Queen from Mordecaine's Tome of Fos
10:23
as well as the fiend or the great old one. And think of like striking your foes with lightning through your fingers
10:30
That's just very witchy. A hag could also be built using a wizard class
10:34
and pretty much any school of magic works for this build. But specifically, enchantment, evocation, transmutation
10:43
congeration, illusion, and necromancy are the top schools you might want to look at
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Decide which direction your hag is going to take based on the spells that you want
10:52
and the abilities you want your hag to have, and then choose your school based on how easy it will be
10:57
to gain spells from that specific magic type. For instance, you've got your enchantment spells like charm person
11:04
confusion, modify memory, zone of truth, mass suggestion, and powerward kill. Or with evocation, you can be a hag who strikes hard
11:13
You've got chain lightning, darkness, Eldridge Blast, Fireball, Witch Bolt, Meteor swarm, scorching rays, and Wall of Force
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Transmutation will allow you to alter yourself, your appearance. You can turn into a beautiful maiden or a ghastly crone
11:29
Control the weather, fly, stop time, polymorph. These are all perfect for a witch
11:36
Conjuration has more of the spooky spells like black tentacles, call lightning cloud kill, demiplane
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But you've also got the typical witch spells like conjure animals, find familiar, teleportation circle, and wish
11:49
And of course, necromancy allows you to do the, the perfect hex with bestow curse, blight, eye bite, or harm. Or you can do one of the creepiest spells
11:59
magic jar. The last class I'd recommend for the hag build is the druid, specifically the circle of
12:05
moon. It's a perfect candidate because you can be shape into any animal that fits the witch theme
12:11
And you have access to druid spells that also are pretty creepy, like charm person, fog cloud
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speak with animals call lightning, blight, hallucinatory terrain, polymorph, wall of five
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fire, scrying, conjure fay, firestorm, arcane mirage, reverse gravity, control weather, and storm of vengeance
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The hag is probably the most versatile witch build in battle with all of these spells at your arsenal
12:36
Another type of which you might consider is a siren or a sea witch
12:40
This witch specializes in controlling the elements and is perfect for any campaign that has a lot of sea travel
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The typical trope of a siren has a lot to do with seduction, but a siren is also great at
12:52
healing. Water is the element of health and cleansing, so this type of witchcraft might be more
12:57
benevolent. In a lot of folklore, a sea which would often sell or give sailors a rope tied in
13:02
three slip knots. The first knot would unleash a gentle southeasternly wind when undone, the second
13:09
a strong northerly wind, but the third would unleash a wrathful hurricane. A siren might also lure
13:16
sailors with her beauty and voice, which could either help or harm people based
13:22
on your intentions. But also note that a siren is not required to live by the sea
13:26
There are other bodies of water that a siren can call home such as lakes or a well or a pond or a swamp Water genocci would help this build significantly as your race where you can control water and reside within it
13:40
or perhaps explore the Murpholk race. Good classes for this build include the Warlock, which has a
13:46
patron, the Cracken, where you can gain access to weather controlling spells, things like water
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breathing if you choose not to be a Janossi or a water race, and you can also unleash the
13:56
crack in yourself. For a druid, the circle of land, specifically the coastal type, works very well
14:02
and gives you access to water controlling spells just like the warlock. A bard would also fit the
14:07
siren type, especially the college of lore, where you can choose two spells from any class
14:12
You can choose water or weather controlling spells in order to give you the performance of a bard
14:16
but the versatility in water or weather as the other builds. And a sorcerer might work really
14:22
well for the siren, especially considering magic originating from their exotic bloodline
14:28
In the unearthedarkana sorcerer origins document, sea sorcery allows a player to breathe
14:34
underwater, have a swimming speed, and infuse your spells with watery curses, as well as defending
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yourself in a watery form. The spells you want to focus on are typically enchantment that would
14:44
charm people with your voice or magic that controls the elements. The sea, which is very effective
14:49
in battle. You can change the tides. You can bring in a storm. You can hide your party through a fog cloud
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or you can reap the whirlwind of maelstrom. The final witch build that we've come up with is the
15:02
cosmic witch, similar to the seer, but instead this witch is physically moving across the astral
15:09
plane with all the celestial energy to protect her. Elements of the cosmic witch include
15:14
looking at star charts and planetary cycles to influence your magic and decisions
15:19
And traveling through different planes or planets or whatever your DM has in store for you
15:24
Some of the class builds for the cosmic witch include the warlock, which is the most synergistic with the cosmic witch's ideology
15:32
In some unearthed arcana from 2016, there's a new patron called the Seeker
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Your patron is an inscrutable being who travels through the astral plane in search of knowledge and secrets
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With the addition of the pact of the star chain, your witch holds a chain forged of starlight
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that grants you power and access to your patron. Plus, you can travel through the astral plane to find refuge
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and you can take your companions for a short rest. Combine this with other warlock invocations and spells
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this is your winner-winner. If you're opposed to being a warlock, you can choose cleric
16:05
with the Arcana domain, which believes that magic is infused across the multiverse
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You've got spells like Leelman's Secret Chest, teleportation circle, demiplane, astral projection
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contact other plane, and plane shift. This specific cleric build is great for the cosmic witch
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However, you could also be a wizard. Specifically, the school of conjuration works well for this
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You can create objects out of thin air travel across the universe and summon creatures
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plus gain access to conjuration spells with half the time in gold
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And there's a final build for the cosmic witch that just is beautiful
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And it's unauthorikana again. The druid received a new circle of twilight
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These druids seek to preserve the nature of life and death across the cosmos
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You can speak with the dead, drain the life force out of creatures
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cast etherealness without a spell slot, and although you have fewer interplanar travel spells
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you do have spells like conjure minor elements, scrying, and plane shift
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The cosmic witch in battle provides refuge for allies or bystanders. You can banish your foes
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You can create a safe space for healing or resting, and you can seek guidance from gods for how to proceed in your adventure
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This build is also more of a support in battle, but the cosmic witch really shines when everyone needs a break
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So that's all I've got for our witchy build, but be sure to check out fluslood.com for more class suggestions and build
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such as how to play a necromancer using fifth edition rules, or our creepiest spells that you could use as a witch
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As always, thanks for watching and happy adventuring
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