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Class: The Witch $0.99
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Class: The Witch
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Class: The Witch
Publisher: Dungeon Masters Guild
by Timothy B. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 10/20/2020 10:06:41

Orignially posted here: https://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2020/10/dmsguild-witch-project-witch.html

Going to look at some more D&D 5 Witch classes today. These are all just called "The Witch." Since that was also the name of my first witch book back in 2012 I thought I should check them out.
For these DMSGuild classes, I am going to still follow my own rules and guidelines to make sure I am giving these a fair review.

Class: The Witch by Calum Brough

This PDF is 11 pages (1 cover, 1 table, 2 pages of spell list). I don't recall if I paid $1.04 for this or $1.30. Either way right around my ten cents per page. There is no art.

This class is designed to be an arcane variant or compliment to the Druid. A full 20 levels (as expected) with spellcasting to the 9th level of spells. This class is a Charisma-based spell caster. There are some witch powers here, some are copied over from the druid.

The Archetypes for this witch are the Maiden, Mother, and Crone. Each archetype has some nice powers to go along with it. There are no new spells.

This comes very close to the idea of the witch, but not the ideal witch for me.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
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Class: The Witch
Publisher: Dungeon Masters Guild
by Michael W. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 02/18/2016 11:03:00

While the conceptual space of the witch has a strong tradition behind it, and recent literature has developed it into a distinct archetype from the warlock, I'm sorry to say that I find this interpretation to be distinctly lacking. If I had to summarize my problems with the class in one phrase, it would be this:

It makes for a poor adventurer.

The witch's two flagship class features, Brewing and Borrowing--I mean Wild Control--are both, for the most part, downtime abilities. Brewing takes 8 hours of work per spell level, meaning that brewing a potion of anything higher than a 2nd-level spell will take more than a day. However, that's time spent working, so she can't even double-up and use that time to rest. A party with a witch will likely never give her the time to brew potions--or, if forced to, might chafe at the time lost.

Wild Control, meanwhile, is measured in rests. In addition to giving the Witch the unusual ability to begin a long or short rest in combat, this means that the ability isn't even really useful for scouting--she can't borrow an animal for less than an hour, meaning, once again, the party must slow down to accommodate the time commitment if they have to rely on her ability. Also, while it notes that the witch is stunned for 1 round if an animal dies while she is borrowing it, it doesn't actually clarify whether or not this ends the rest--and, if so, whether or not she gains the benefits of resting. Since a rest has a minimum length, but no maximum length (arguably, a short rest has a "maximum" length of 8 hours, as it might then become a long rest), and is defined by completion rather than initiation, it's really unclear how some of this works.

Mother The Mother contains one of the most terrifying phrases I've encountered in rules text:

"When you choose this archetype at 2nd level, you then have advantage on all saving throws whilst holding a child or pregnant. You are also not encumbered by carrying one child."

I don't know what goes on at your table, but I see a class feature that incentivizes either carrying children into combat or...shall we say...promiscuous behavior. I see the flavorful reason for it, but I also see a lot of uncomfortable silences at gaming tables.

Mother Goddess also seems...unnecessarily convoluted. You're already expending your hit dice, but you must also take damage in order to heal others...all while having cure wounds on your spell list!

Maiden The Maiden has her own problems. Bonus Cantrip, for instance, is unclear as to how many cantrips you gain when you select the archetype, as it reads "When you select this archetype at 2nd Level, and every time you would gain an additional Cantrip thereafter, you instead gain two." But, at 2nd level, you don't normally gain a cantrip, so "instead gain two" makes little sense. It could be assumed that you're meant to only gain one cantrip at 2nd level--it is, after all, called "Bonus Cantrip," not "Bonus Cantrips"--but that's never stated.

Well Met by Moonlight, or, as I call it, "The Dungeon Master's Headache" introduces the need for the DM to track the phase of the moon. Some settings, such as Dragonlance, have multiple moons, which may or may not share their phases. (Nuitari is also invisible to most people, so a Krynn witch might not even know if she's getting benefits--or, depending on your interpretation, might not get any at all. More questions!) Lunar cycles don't always line up with monthly calendars, so it just seems like a royal headache to pay attention to.

Raising Power has the unfortunate side-effect of powering up enemy witches as well as allies.

Crone The Crone is built around borrowing, which--in addition to all the issues that Wild Control already has--introduces the new question of what it means to control an individual creature from a swarm. Does it leave the swarm and now have to be statted as its own creature? Does that affect the stats of the swarm?

The ability to summon a swarm to an area for 1d4 days also feels like a bit much, though it plays into the witch's main issue of "taking forever to do anything."

Final Thoughts The separation of the Triple Goddess into three archetypes has some philosophical issues. Her facets line up with stages of the female life cycle, phases of the moon, and the three realms. She is cyclical and developmental in nature, but the class requires that a witch lock herself into one role--effectively cutting off her ability to grow and develop. That seems pretty counter to the ideas inherent to witchcraft, which are often portrayed as valuing the natural way.

Between confusing flavor, some poorly-thought-out abilities, and a general inability to work on the same time scale as the rest of an adventuring party, I'm sorry to say that this product simply doesn't stand up to my expectations for a D&D class.



Rating:
[1 of 5 Stars!]
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Class: The Witch
Publisher: Dungeon Masters Guild
by Narvis B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 01/28/2016 06:30:59

Very thematic and interesting, but potentially extremely damaging to themself without need in cases of high rolls.....



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
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Class: The Witch
Publisher: Dungeon Masters Guild
by Austin J. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 01/26/2016 20:02:35

I love the ideas behind this. The concept of a more wild wizard, but without the patron of the warlock... fits just right with the lore. Cool product.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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