Welcome back to Creative Characters. This time around we’ve got something special theme-wise. Double, double toil and trouble; fire burn and cauldron bubble… That’s right, witches. In this case, all of our characters will be members of a coven, either full or multiclass witches, displaying the wide variety of possible builds.
For the sake of reference, and consistency, all characters here are created with the Elite stat array (15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8) and all hit points are rolled as averages. They are also written so that they can be used as either NPCs or PCs. Last of our sisterhood of witches, Ilya the Grave Witch
Ilya CR 4
XP 1,200
Female human witch (grave witch)5
NE Medium humanoid
Init +2 ; Senses ; Perception +8
DEFENSE
AC 14, touch 12, flat-footed 12 (+1 amulet , +2 Dex , +1 ring)
hp 20 (5d6-5)
Fort +0 , Ref +3, Will +5 (+2 against effects created by undead)
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee +1 quarterstaff +3 (1d6+1) or mwk dagger +3 (1d4/ 19-20 x2)
Ranged dagger +4 (1d4/ 19-20 x2)
Special Attacks hexes (gift of consumption, greater gift of consumption)
Witch Spells Prepared (CL 5th; concentration +9)
3rd— speak with dead, vampiric touch (DC 18), unliving rage
2nd—command undead, inflict moderate wounds, raise lesser undead, summon monster II
1st—chill touch (DC 16), deathwatch, summon monster, unseen servant
0 (at will)— bleed (DC 15), detect magic, putrefy food and drink, touch of fatigue (DC15)
Patron Grave Whispers
TACTICS
During Combat
Never alone in combat, Ilya faces opponents surrounded by an entourage of skeletons or other undead, empowered by patron, and ever ready to tear apart her enemies. Preferring to let her minions protect her, she heals then when needed, saving her few offensive spells for the rare enemy that gets close enough to deal with personally.
STATISTICS
Str 10, Dex 14, Con 8, Int 18, Wis 12, Cha 13
Base Atk +2 ; CMB +2 ; CMD 12
Feats Augment Undead, Ghost Whisperer, Simple Weapon Proficiency, Skeleton Summoner, Spell focus (necromancy)
Skills Knowledge (religion) +9, Spellcraft (Int) +13.
Languages Common, Elven, Necril, Infernal, +2 additional
SQ patron spells, skull companion, undead link.
Magical Gear amulet of natural armor +1, potion of cure moderate wounds, ring of protection +1 wand of inflict moderate wounds (23 charges) Non-magical Gear backpack, a bedroll, a belt pouch, dagger, a flint and steel, an iron pot, a mess kit, rope, soap, torches (10), trail rations (5 days), and a waterskin. Coins 217 gp, 7 sp (these remaining coins can be spent at the GM or player’s discretion before the start of the game session).
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Skull Companion
Ilya’s familiar is a humanoid skull harvested from a graveyard that contained at least one hundred bodies. This skull stores her spells as a normal witch’s familiar does but does not possess any of the other abilities possessed by a familiar. If the skull is lost or destroyed, it can be replaced normally.
Ilya can use her skull companion once per day to cast any one spell that she has stored in the skull and is capable of casting, even if the spell is not prepared.
The spell is treated like any other spell cast by Ilya, including casting time, duration, and other effects dependent on the witch’slevel, but cannot be modified by metamagic feats or other abilities.
Her skull companion grants her protection against mind-affecting effects and curse effects. Once per day when she fails a saving throw against such an effect, she may immediately roll a second saving throw with a +2 bonus to the roll. If this second saving throw is successful, it is treated as if it were the initial saving throw against the effect. When this occurs, the skull “falls silent” for the next 24 hours and cannot be used to cast an unprepared spell as detailed in the preceding paragraph.
Undead Link
Mindless undead perceive Ilya as an undead creature and do not attack her unless she attacks them first or if the mindless undead are commanded by their controller to attack her. Ilya gains a +2 insight bonus on all saving throws against effects created by undead
ABOUT
Having lost her parents in her early teens during a hobgoblin attack, Ilya grew up in the city orphanage. A quiet, often sullen child, the girl would often run off, drawn by a morbid curiosity to the large cemetery on the town’s outskirts, somewhere she could visit her parents, and get away from everything. These visits became a part of her life as she grew up, an almost daily ritual of spending time in one of the few places she felt comfortable.
Though many tended to avoid the odd young woman, leaving her to herself, the solitary trips did not go unnoticed, especially by the town’s notorious drunken letch who decided to take advantage of the distance from the town proper, seeking to take advantage of the girl who had no real friends in town.
The mistake cost the fool his life. Ilya’s visits were noticed by another, a ghoul witch that dwelled in the cemetery’s heart, feeling some strange kinship with the girl. When the man attempted to overpower Ilya, her scream was answered, undead claws grabbing the bastard from behind as rotting teeth sunk into his neck. Filled with a dark rage, she didn’t turn away but watched as he was ripped apart, savoring the terror of the one who’d sought to prey on her. Sated by the kill, and pleasantly surprised by the girl’s reaction, the undead witch offered her knowledge and guidance, an opportunity to embrace the spiritual energies and latent power of the graveyard, and never be a victim again.
Years of study granted her power, but with it came the fear from those around her, and the threat of persecution. She set out on her own, drawn to places where corpses lay in large numbers, only to one day come across a group of witches hiding in an abandoned tomb, women like her whose power had met resentment and fear. Kindred spirits, she joined with the sisters, for the first time finding the same kinship in the living, that she did with the dead.
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