| Characteristics | |
|---|---|
| Alignment | Chaotic Evil |
| Type | Monstrous humanoid |
| Image | Wizards.com image |
| Stats | Open Game License stats |
| Publication history | |
| Mythological origins | Hag, Black Annis |
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.
The hag was one of the earliest creatures introduced in the D&D game.
The sea hag first appeared in the Dungeons & Dragons supplement, Blackmoor by Dave Arneson (1975).[1]
The sea hag appears in the first edition Monster Manual (1977),[2] 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.[3]
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."[4]
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 Rules (1985),[5] and the Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia (1991).[6]
The annis hag, the green hag, and the sea hag appear first in the Monstrous Compendium Volume Two (1989),[7] and are reprinted in the Monstrous Manual (1993),.[8]
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).[9]
The annis, the green hag, and the sea hag appear in the Monster Manual for this edition (2000).[10]
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.[11]
The bheur hag, the shrieking hag, and the hagspawn for the Forgotten Realms appear in Unapproachable East (2003).[12]
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 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,",[13] and the annis hag is further detailed in Dragon #345 (July 2006), in "The Ecology of the Annis."[14]
The hag appears in the Monster Manual for this edition (2008), including the howling hag, the bog hag, the night hag and the death hag.[15] The pact hag, the dream hag and the mist hag appeared in Monster Manual 3.[16]
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.
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.
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.
The following are different varieties of Hags in the D&D game:
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 Pain.[17]
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.
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