Ye Olde Inn

Hello there fellow adventurers ! It's Azure and I'm back into the fantastic world of HeroQuest. This time around, I am trying to craft and shape a Witch heroin, while staying true and authentic to the usual Lore of cartoon-type witches and folklore witches. If anybody can help me or has suggestions, they will be greatly appreciated.

For starters, let's get a nice image of a female Witch
https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/847169379903239054/ or https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/403353710381889654/ or https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/353532639484480629

Now when I think of a Witch, of course I'm thinking : Low Body Points, High Mind Points (so 4 BP, 6 MP). // 1 Attack, 2 Defense // I'm also thinking ; mainly a spellcaster who would want to use a dagger, or a wand or a staff.

Spell-wise - here is what I come up with (The Witch would be a mixed bag like the original Wizard from HeroQuest, able to deal both damage and actually assist the heroes with buffs and nerf the enemies)
So here are her possible spells / based on usual lore and other RPGs.

- Telekinesis (able to open a chest, or a door, or interact with a lever from a distance // Line of sight)
- Arachnomancy (able to summon a spiderling creature and command it to attack enemies //Spiderling would have 2 ATK/2DEF/1BP/0MP/8MOVEMENT)
- Lightning Bolt (a straight up lightning strike that goes directly to the target in line of sight, diagonal attack possible // 2 damage, roll 2d6//cancels 1 damage for every 5 or 6 rolled)
- Puppet / Charm enemy (this spell would enable you to command any *intelligent* monster that cannot resist mentally// roll for mind points // (Bosses have additional resistance : would only work 1 round with Bosses)
- Hold Monster (exactly like Tempest)
- Silence (the ability to prevent a monster from casting spells during X number of rounds)
- Contagion (some sort of poisonous cloud that would affect all enemies in a 3x3 square, where every enemy will suffer 2 BP damage, the enemy needs to roll a 6 to cancel 1 damage.
- Curse of Weakening (descreases the attack and defense of an enemy by 1 during 1-2 turns)
- Wall of Flame (create a 4x1 wall of flame that lasts 2 rounds... any enemy passing through it or standing in it will suffer 1 damage)
- Enchant Weapon (Adds a magical enchantement to a weapon to boost the wielder's power by 1 die, for 2 rounds)
- Arcane Eye (You can stand where you are and explore the dungeon for a total of 20 tiles// the eye will disappear and share the information to the Witch - - danger, monsters, traps, treasure chests)
- Alchemy (acts as a spell, allows you to make a random potion per dungeon. You must purchase reagents for 100 Gold in town beforehand) (Generates a potion at random, cannot use in the presence of monsters) If you find a Wizard's Desk, or an Alchemy Table, you can decide which potion to make

Tell me what you think of my Witch.
Thank you.

I liked the idea and the majority of the spells, it's a very good idea.

My only question is: the Witch will start the quest with all these spells, or with only 9 selected from the 12, as a Wizard?

Thanks, I am looking for opinions on this. She would start with any 9 spells of her choice at the start of the campaign - it's the player's choice to determine what spells seem more useful at first. Then she would earn the 3 other spells by purchasing a spellbook in town (like...750 Gold) or actually finding the spellbook as an artefact during an important quest. That is what I came up with.

I don't like much the elemental spells for the witch (wall of flame and lightning bolt), not because the spells are bad (they don't), but because I think they are thematically much similar to the wizard spells. At the same time, I see the necessity for offensive spells for the witch hero. But unfortunately I don't have any suggestions of substitutions right now.

Also, maybe you can separate these spells into four types, as per the wizard's spells. I can identify some common themes on they, but not equally balanced in numbers:

Elemental forces:
- Lightning Bolt
- Contagion
- Wall of Flame

Enchant itens:
- Alchemy
- Enchant Weapon

Charm/Hex:
- Puppet / Charm enemy
- Hold Monster
- Silence
- Curse of Weakening

Divinations/Summons/Distant interactions:
- Telekinesis
- Arachnomancy
- Arcane Eye

Obviously, the names for the spell groups need to be worked on.

Azure wrote:Thanks, I am looking for opinions on this. She would start with any 9 spells of her choice at the start of the campaign - it's the player's choice to determine what spells seem more useful at first. Then she would earn the 3 other spells by purchasing a spellbook in town (like...750 Gold) or actually finding the spellbook as an artefact during an important quest. That is what I came up with.

I like the idea of the spellbook to acquire access to the fourth spell group.

The spell categories are a good idea. At the same time, it's not in the plans for the Witch to think in those terms. The Witch is a mixed bag of assistance, nerf, control and elemental damage types of spells. I even think I should make the Ice spells available to her as well. Always a maximum of 12 spells. 12 spells for 1 quest is quite the maximum in order to prevent a hero from becoming overpowered.

I was also thinking of putting the following spells in the roster.
- Witch Bolt
- Ball of Flame
- Poison Cloud
- Shadow Ball
- Life Drain
- Spell Trap (Litteraly remove a spell from an enemy caster at random and use it for the benefit of your group)
- Invisibility (You can walk around during 3 rounds without being seen)

Cool character! I like the first suggested image best.

I'm guessing she would have the same equipment access as the Wizard: Ie: yes bracers, cloaks, staves, and daggers, but no metal weapons, shields, or armors?

I know the popular conception of a Witch is all over the place... sometimes more like a low level alchemist (apothecary or herbalist), other times more like a female Wizard/Sorcerer, maybe even a quasi-demon or vampiric being who drains the life force out of others to stay vital. But to me they should be focused around spirit or mentalist type abilities, and that's the direction I'd go with powers/spells/skills, good or bad.

I guess white witches are a thing, but the half-crazy, evil witch to me is the definitive archetype. Maybe she has an animal (familiar) perhaps her powers risk backfiring or doing damage to friend and foe alike (bordering on, if not outright chaos). She'd tend to be human but nothing stopping her being some other type of being.

Ethica's "Necromancy" spells on the Inn look like they contain some ideas that might be appropriate to a Witch character. It's your character so do what you want of course...

@Super Saiyan Musashi

Yes, the usual wizard / mage equipment is truly suitable for the Witch as I intend. So yes, a nice cloak with an elegant embroidery, along with any leather bracers, a dagger, and a magical staff or wand would do the trick. Nothing made of metal except the dagger. A familiar could replace the spell ''Arachnomancy'' and it could also replace the spell ''Arcane Eye''. Basically, you would have a familiar that accompanies you along the way, able to shoot magic projectiles that deal 1 Attack Dice from a distance of 10 squares. You would benefit from this familiar during 5 turns, and this magical creature would also be able to spend its turns exploring the dungeon for you if it is not currently helping you in battle.