A Witch-y Double Feature: Ingredients and Curses
Another double-feature set for your halloween-themed games. Staying with the theme of witches, allow me to present for your enjoyment 20 Eerie Components for Witches Spells and 20 Dark Rites of the Coven. Witches always seem to be the most trouble either when they are brewing up evil in their cauldrons or when they gather together in numbers to perform dark rituals. This double-feature allows you to prepare for both.
Witches can cast spells, make minor hexes, brew potions, and then bring about even more powerful evils with their cauldron curses. Yet all of these arcane manipulations require spell components that the witches must somehow acquire. Savvy witch hunters have been known to stop covens from completing their dark rituals by beating the witches to the key component and then sitting on it and waiting for the witches to come to them. How ever you choose to use them in your games, here's 20 Eerie Components for Witches Spells.
The eyes of an elder Aaracokra.
A tip of the horn and some dung willing given from a minotaur warrior.
5 ounces of pure quicksilver from the closed dwarven mines at Black Krag Mountain.
The soft kid glove from a jealous Lady of the Court.
An iron pin stolen from a loving mother's sewing kit.
The belt pouch of a greedy merchant.
64 ounces of blood from a Fomorian warrior.
A square of silver fleece from a virgin ram.
A braid of hair taken from the mane and tail of a Nightmare.
A heart-shaped lodestone crafted by the dark elves living deep within the Forbidden Forest.
The bone dust of a master assassin gathered in the dark of the new moon.
The copper pieces from the eyes of a knight who died fighting evil.
A handful of glowing crystal marbles from the Cave of the Ancient Ones.
A parchment scrawled with arcane symbols, written in blood, and then sealed with the hair ribbon of a freshly-killed princess.
Rotten eggs gathered at midnight under the quarter moon from the priory's henhouse.
A pinch of grave dirt from a paladin's grave.
The compact mirror of a vane woman with very loose morals.
The tongue and poison glands from an 8' copperhead snake.
10" cones of cinnamon, frankincense, and myrrh all soaked in the blood of a slain gryffon.
An amber crystal with a spider trapped inside it.
Witches don't usually gather together in large numbers unless some great evil ritual requires the power of the entire coven to bring it into being. These may be some of the darkest and most powerful of witch curses known in all the lands or perhaps this is all just poppy-cock and bardic spook tales for children. The choice is yours because the world is yours, here's 20 Dark Rites of the Coven, I hope you can find a use for them.
The Curse of the Betrayed Sister - If this ritual completes, all of the women throughout the afflicted land become barren for 50 years.
Calling the Fey Whisperers - If this ritual completes, the land will be divided by strife. Brothers and friends, sisters and loved ones will become bitter enemies. Trust will completely flee the land until the coven is destroyed.
The Call of Zephyr's Might - Three vast tornadoes, one after another after the first, will sweep through the land. Directed by the coven, the storms will destroy all villages, settlements, and strongholds in the area.
The Fury of the Ravager - A lingering death strikes all of the children in the land. Nothing can be done to bring them out of their withering sleep. All attempts to help only make it worse. The coven must be destroyed to end this evil.
The March of the Pumpkin King - All of the cornfields throughout the kingdom come to life, as well as all of the scarecrows and everything that died in the fields for the past 100 years. The Pumpkin King leads his Scarecrow Knights and an army of the dead against the people for 13 nights.
The Curse of the Crow - All of the birds throughout the land begin turning black. After 13 days they are all completely black and they all die. Next comes dogs and cats, then horses and other mounts.
The Feeding of Our Shadowed Lords - If this ritual is completed, a stable gateway will be opened from the afflicted land to the plane of the abyss which is the home to shadow demons. The gate can only be closed by killing the leader of the coven.
The Master's Blessed Cloak - If the ritual is completed, a deep darkness will fall across the afflicted land. Torches and lanterns will illuminate no more than a 5' radius; light spells die out immediately.
The Revenge of the Horse Master - All mistreated pets and abused mounts turn against their cruel masters. All horses in the land deficate 3x more than normal. All animals smell 100x worse.
Calling the Master's Herald - An avatar of the Great Evil that the coven serves is brought into being to rampage across the land for 100 days. The creature should be like a Balor or betterin strength.
Calling the Ghost Wolves - A chilling fog rises from the earth and reduces vision to mere feet. In the night howls and snarling can be heard. 13 new victims are found torn apart each morning. The wolves cannot be seen or attacked; the curse lasts for 28 days.
The Claws of the Reaper - Two of every three adults in the afflicted kingdom will die screaming and convulsing at midnight when the ritual is completed. The witches will inherit the children.
The Legions of the Druid King - All plants, animals, and insects wage war upon all mankind in the afflicted land. The war lasts for 28 days and then nature returns to normal.
The Curse of Syr Eggsil - All the warriors throughout the afflicted land will be cursed to lose all hand-to-hand combats for 28 days. PC's will fight with a -8 modifier during the curse.
Feeding the Dark One's Hunger - If the curse is completed, all of the baby girls in the afflicted lands will die at midnight.
The Revenge of the Gardener - When the curse is completed all of the flowers and fruit trees in the afflicted lands will die overnight. The harvest of sadness will be great.
The Blight of the Witch Queen - All of the crops in the afflicted lands wither and die in the fields overnight. Nothing grows from the ground again until the coven is destroyed.
Sounding the Horn of War - If the ritual is completed, every rampaging horde of bandits, monsters, and ne'r-do-wells within 100 miles is attracted to the center of the afflicted land for 100 days.
The Curse of the Twisted One - If the ritual completes, then animals within the afflicted land give birth to only mutants, most die just after birth. Their meat is poisonous to all living things.
Preparing the Way - If the ritual completes the ancient ley lines throughout the afflicted lands will be charged with magical energy and the entire land becomes ripe for dark rituals and foul sorcery.
That is all for this double-feature. As October runs down, so does our time to present scary-themed lists. Next time will be a surprise, but we will stick with the witchy theme. Until then, happy gaming to you and your players.