Witch

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Witch

(Class)

Region

Any

Races

Any

Alignment

LG	NG	CG
LN	N	CN
LE	NE	CE

Iconic character

Feiya

Images of witches

Source: Advanced Player's Guide, pg(s). 65–71 (1E)
Player Core, pg(s). 178–191 (2E)

Ⅰ

Ⅱ

A winter witch.

Some gain power through study, some through devotion, others through blood, but the witch gains power from their communion with the unknown. Generally feared and misunderstood, the witch draws their magic from a pact made with an otherworldly power. Communing with that source and using their familiar as a conduit, the witch gains not only a host of spells, but also a number of strange abilities known as hexes. As a witch grows in power, they might learn about the source of their magic, but some remain blissfully unaware. Some are even fearful of what that source might be, or where its true purposes lie.

Patron

Witches are neither born with spellcasting abilities, nor do they have to spend years studying or devoting themselves to divine beings. Instead, their spells and hexes come from their patron, a powerful and mysterious entity, who communicates with them through their familiar. Patrons choose witches to be their agents in the world, and prefer to keep their distance, revealing little of their identity or motivations, and usually communicating through the familiar they have sent to the witch. A patron might be a divine being, a powerful hag coven, a fey lord, an archdevil, or any other entity of similar power, or even a mix of such figures working together.

While patrons do not reveal their identities to witches, some information can still be gathered by studying the type of power a witch receives from them. Patrons have been grouped using certain titles, or more antiquatedly under certain themes, which describe the forces they have influence over, and some patrons even work in multiple ways, granting different powers to different witches. It may be possible for patrons of any kind to teach any lessons, potentially even bending the usual bounds of a magical tradition. For example, great witches of even the arcane or primal traditions can be taught to wield power over death, casting void energy hexes and the usually divine raise dead spell using their own tradition.

Patrons include:

• Baba Yaga teaches her witches to transfer spirits into inanimate objects and freeze their foes.
• Curse patrons thwart the efforts of their foes and undermine those who stand in their way.
• Fate patrons grant their witches the ability to see glimpses of the future.
• Fervor patrons are devoted towards an idea or a goal, or might even represent it themselves, and their witches further their mission and bring others to the cause.
• The Mosquito Witch has followers in Shimmerford, although few would be foolish enough to attempt to draw her attention. Her witches have the power to control insects and other arthropods.
• Night patrons live in the shadows and hold power over darkness and dreams.
• Pacts theme patrons deal in promises and bargains, and no lesson is ever given for free.
• Rune patrons hold influence over symbols, books, and knowledge.
• Wild patrons command the powers of nature, wild and untouched by civilization.
• Winter patrons reflect the frozen lands of the world, cruel and dangerous to those not prepared to face them.

Witches who have an especially personal connection to their patron often practice flexible preparation, which allows them to both prepare and spontaneously cast spells. Such witches are also known as invokers.

On Golarion

The wintry realm of Irrisen has the highest concentration of witches, called winter witches, in the Inner Sea region, and it is here where they hold nearly all important stations in government. Outside of Irrisen, most witches live in small communities or on the fringes of society, where they serve as hermits, wise women, and advisors to tribal groups. When they must make their way into larger settlements, most witches prefer to hide their true natures, due to the significant prejudice they evoke in most people; this prejudice is largely based on the activities of evil witches.

Notable witches

See also: Category:Witches

• Baba Yaga, "the Queen of Witches", is perhaps the greatest witch in existence.
• Iltara Clavela is the owner of Material Changes and a powerful winter witch.
• Udiska of the Starlit Path is a winter witch and Absalom's Second Lady of Laws.
• Iranez of the Orb is a beautiful and extremely powerful witch. She is one of the Three, who dominate Nex's ruling Council of Three and Nine.

Ancestries

There are no restrictions on the ancestry of a witch, but dhampir, fetchling, ganzi, kitsune, sprite, kholo, and automaton adventurers often become witches.

References

Paizo published a major work about witches and witchcraft entitled Blood of the Coven.

For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.