Craft of the Wise

Description: The Craft of the Wise is one of the oldest, most primeval witch Traditions. The most well known members of the Craft Tradition are the stereotypical hag-witches of myth and legend, oftentimes called “crones” (but rarely, if ever, in front of one), but these aren’t by any means the only representatives of the Tradition.

Members of the Craft of the Wise dedicate themselves to one aspect of the Goddess or God, becoming a mortal manifestation of their chosen aspect of their Patron. The three aspects of the Goddess are the Maiden, the Mother, and the Crone.

The aspects of the God are various, and not as universally accepted as those of the Goddess. Most common are the Summer Lord and the Winter Lord; some teachings, however, see the aspects of the God as the Child (sometimes also known as the Lad), the Father, and the Elder (sometimes known as the Sage). In all instances focus on the Elder/Sage aspect of the God is extremely rare, and newer teachings merge the Summer Lord and the Child into the aspect of “the Hunter,” and the Winter Lord and the Father into “the Provider” aspect.

Due to the strong connection between the witch and the chosen aspect of her Patron, members of the Craft always take on the physical appearance of their chosen aspect of the Goddess or God. Thus, witches focusing on the Maiden or Child (Lad, Summer Lord, or Hunter) aspects look like the healthy and strong members of their race who have just entered adulthood. Those focusing on the Mother or Father (the Winter Lord or Provider) have the appearance of a member of their race just entering middle age. Finally, those who chose Crone or Elder (Sage) aspects appear physically old, wizened and frail, as would a venerable member of their race.

In game terms, any witch belonging to the Craft of the Wise has their physical appearance fixed according to the aspect of the Goddess or God he or she focuses on, despite their actual age.

Craft Witch Physical Appearance
Aspect of the Patron	Apparent Age
Maiden, Lad (Child, Summer Lord, Hunter)	Young Adult
Mother, Father (Provider, Winter Lord)	Middle Age
Crone, Elder (Sage)	Venerable Age

Almost all Crones are human. Elven Crones of the Craft of the Wise are very rare, mostly because elves have no “crones” as such, as their physical appearance and health do not change significantly with age. A few Crones are dwarven or halfling, and quite a few are Gnomes.

Of the savage humanoids, orcs have a significant number of Craft Witches among them. Witches of the Craft of the Wise are almost exclusively female — only about 1 in 10 witches or fewer of this Tradition are male

Craft witches typically see themselves as the first Tradition and presume that all the other Traditions are derived from them. They see all of the Traditions as their daughters, even the Malefic Traditions. While this typically does not create friction between the Traditions, it has created a rivalry between the Craft witches and the Faerie witches. Faerie witches also believe that they were first and arose independent of the Craft witches.

A Craft witch will honor a witch from another Tradition as her own sister. Goddess-worshipping Craft Witches tend to have the best relationships with the witches of the Amazon and Classical Traditions (and vice versa), as Amazons are close to the Maiden aspect of the Goddess, and Classical witches closely resemble the Mother aspect.

Role: As almost everything else connected with the Craft of the Wise, their role in the world is cloaked in a veil of mystery. This tradition mostly operates in secrecy.

Craft witches get along very well with almost any other tradition, and could, theoretically, be encountered in covens with members of various other traditions. Oftentimes they will serve as councilors and advisors, but, in such mixed covens, will rarely be leaders themselves. Most crones are well aware of the values of subtlety and patience, and prefer to be the “powers behind the throne”.

Joining this Tradition: To become a member of the Craft of the Wise, a sponsor who is also a member of the Craft of the Wise must initiate the aspiring witch. Following the preparation time, which varies from coven to coven and from witch to witch, the initiate partakes in a ritual led by her sponsor. This ceremony may be a small and private one with just the initiate and her sponsor, or an elaborate affair with the whole coven included.

If the aspect of the Patron the witch focuses on grants the witch appearance of a different stage in life, the new Craft witch will appear to age rapidly during the course of several weeks (2d4) after the ceremony until she attains the appearance of her Patron. In some cases, penalties due her age apply (reductions to Strength, Dexterity and Constitution) even while the witch seems to revert to a more youthful era. In any case, her family and friends will react adversely to this change (all Charisma checks at -2).

Leaving this Tradition: While it is possible to leave the Craft of the Wise, the penalties for doing so are grave. When a witch leaves this tradition, her actual age immediately catches up with her. All of the penalties due for her age would apply (reductions to Strength, Dexterity and Constitution).

Skills & Feats: Craft of the Wise receive all knowledge skills as class skills.

Recommended Skills:

• Maiden: Perform, Heal
• Mother: Heal, Profession (any)
• Crone: Knowledge (any), Scry
• Child (Hunter, Summer Lord): Wilderness Lore, Craft (any)
• Father (Provide, Winter Lord): Craft (any), Profession (any)
• Elder (Sage): Knowledge (any),

Special Benefits: A witch belonging to the Craft of the Wise doesn’t suffer ability penalties for aging and cannot be magically aged. Any penalties she may have already suffered (if, for example, she multi-classed to witch after aging enough to receive the penalty), however, remain in place. Bonuses still accrue, and the crone still dies of old age when her time is up.

Occult Powers:

At 7th, 13th and 19th level a Craft witch can choose one of the occult powers from the list below.

Ability Bonus: A witch can add a +2 bonus to an ability of her choice. This ability can be chosen more than once, and the bonuses are cumulative with any other increases in ability scores.

Bonus Feat: A witch can choose any one feat and add it to her list, provided she meets the requirements for the feat (if any).

Vigor: A witch gains bonus hit points equal to her level. These are normal hit points (not temporary ones), treated as if they were gained by standard level advancement.

Charm: A witch gains the spell-like ability to cast charm person spell as a sorcerer of her level. The ability is used three times per day. This ability can be chose more than once, and each time it is taken it increases the number of times it can be used by three.

Witch’s Insight: The witch can choose any two spells from the following list that she may cast at will as a spell-like ability: detect chaos, detect evil, detect good, detect law, Detect Magic, Detect Poison, or read magic. This ability can be chosen more than once, but each time it is taken it must be used on a different spell. For purposes of DC and other parts of the spell affected by level, use the witch’s current level.

Craft Lore: A witch gains a +4 bonus to a skill of her choice. The skill chosen must be a class skill. The bonus stacks with any other applicable bonuses. This ability can be chosen more than once, but each time it is chosen, it must apply to a different skill.

Special: None

Special Restrictions: The members of the Craft of the Wise can be of any alignment. Maidens gravitate towards chaos and good, Mothers lean towards neutral and good, and Crones tend towards neutral, as their roles of advisors often requires, and a fair portion are good.

Equipment: Maidens usually carry a dagger or a wand. Crones are often seen with a staff (or cane of wood); this staff is used not only for mundane walking purposes but also as a spell focus. Some Mothers prefer daggers and wands, while other favor staves. The Child and Hunters favor daggers and sometimes dirks. Elders, like Crones, tend to carry staves.

Craft witches may use a sword for ritual purposes, but not typically as a weapon in combat.

Coven Domains: Knowledge, Magic, Law (See Preferred/Barred Covens)

Preferred/Barred Covens: Craft witches can have Patrons of almost any aspects. In their philosophy, Craft witches believe in the Cycle of Life, and anything that can be considered a part of the Cycle is a viable option for them. Each group in the Craft usually takes Patrons appropriate to the aspect they focus on. As to domains, Maidens favor Healing Luck and Trickery domains; Mothers favor Healing, Protection, and Magic; and Crones favor Knowledge, Magic, and Death. Domains common to all aspects include Animal, Plant, Air, Earth, Fire and Water. Crones never choose Patrons dealing with undeath, which is seen as an abomination in the Cycle of Life, Death and Rebirth.

Relationship to the Goddess/Patron: Craft witches consider themselves to be a mortal manifestation of their Patrons aspect. They acknowledge other aspects of both Goddess and God, but do not worship them actively.

Source/Views of Magic: Members of the Craft of the Wise believe all magic comes form the Cycle of Life

On Samhain, witches of the Craft of the Wise gather to honor the New Year and the coming of winter, the conclusion of the old year’s cycle, and the beginning of a new one. These celebrations are known as “the Dying of the Light” and they tend to be a bit somber. The ceremonies enacted vary by coven, but always include a huge feast the morning after. The feasts tend to be more light-hearted with conversation and food flowing freely. This is the one time where the witches will invite non-craft family members and other cowans (non-witches) to join them. Members of this Tradition will also invite members of other Traditions.

Craft witches view undead and undeath as an anathema, an abomination of the natural laws and an interruption of the cycle of life-death and rebirth. They hold those that traffic in undead with disgust and contempt.

White/Black Magic: As with most other witches, this distinction is not made. But crones would typically cast what is known as “white” magic, though they make no distinctions between white and black magic themselves.

Wealth: Standard

Other: Craft of the Wise devote so much of their time and energy to being witches that they usually do not have the time to multiclass. Those who do will often choose a prestige class such as the Hermetic to further their own knowledge.

Craft Witches tend to get along well with all other witches, even when their alignments are vastly different. They respect monks and wizards for their devotions to their respective crafts, but feel that sorcerers squander their divine gifts.

If the Craft witches hate any one class in particular it would be Warlocks. To the Craft witches, a Warlock is a perversion of everything they hold sacred and true.