Okay, so I spent the whole day working on this “Night Hag” thing for my game, and let me tell you, it was a journey. I wanted to share what I did, maybe it’ll help someone else out there.

I started by looking at the basic stats for a Night Hag. You know, the usual stuff: hit points, armor class, abilities, that kind of thing. The book says they’re a medium-sized fiend with a CR of 5, which is a good starting point, but I wanted more.
Then I thought, “What if I had a group of these baddies?” That’s where the idea of a coven came in. I found some cool stuff in some book, not sure which, about different coven types. Each type gives the hags extra spells, making them way more dangerous. I played around with the idea of a death coven that could cast some nasty necromancy spells, and a prophecy coven that could mess with the players’ minds using divination magic.
- I messed with the CR for each hag based on these extra spells, bumping them up a bit to make the encounter more challenging.
- Also, I thought about their range and how to deal with that, making sure the one with the most buffs stays in the middle.
Next, I dove into some of the unique abilities of Night Hags. There’s this thing called “Nightmare Haunting.” Basically, while a Night Hag is chilling on the Ethereal Plane, she can mess with someone sleeping on the Material Plane. I experimented with this, figuring out how to make it really creepy. Like, maybe the players start having nightmares and suffering penalties in the game. A protection spell can stop it, but only if the players figure it out in time. That sounds fun, right?
Heartstone Troubles
Oh, and I can’t forget the Heartstone! This is a special gem that lets a Night Hag go ethereal and cures diseases. Super powerful, right? I read that they take 30 days to craft, which is interesting. I made a note to myself that if the players get their hands on one, the hag will do anything to get it back. Maybe even chase them across different planes of existence! Also, it gave me ideas for the players to steal one to trade, or even having to craft their own.
So, yeah, that’s how I spent my day. I took a basic monster and turned it into something unique and challenging. It took some trial and error, but I’m pretty happy with the result. Can’t wait to see how my players react when they run into these souped-up Night Hags!
