Mystical Paths — Witch Multiclassing and Legacy Class Combinations
Mystical Paths explores ways a Witch can combine the craft with another calling. A fighter, bard, cleric, druid, rogue or other class can add a very different shape to the same patron-and-tradition foundation.
Edition note: the combinations below are legacy d20 guidance from Liber Mysterium. Pathfinder 1e, 5.5e and other editions use their own multiclass rules; do not copy the assumptions or mechanics here across editions unchanged.
On to the Brocken the witches are flocking-
Chorus of Witches from Goethe’s Faust (1808)
Merry meet-merry part- how they gallop and drive,
Yellow stubble and stalk are rocking,
And green corn is merry alive,
With the shapes and shadows swimming by,
To the highest heights they fly,
Where Sir Urian sits on high–
Throughout and about,
With clamor and shout;
Drives the maddening rout,
Over stock, over stone;
Shriek, laughter, and moan,
Before them are blown.
Liber Mysterium
The Netbook of Witches and Warlocks
By Timothy S. Brannan and The Netbook of Witches and Warlocks Team
A Witch may take another class because of training, necessity, ambition, patron influence or simply because the character’s life changes. The second class should add to the character’s story rather than being treated as evidence that every Witch follows the same career path.
Use the multiclass rules of the campaign’s edition. A Witch does not have to be the character’s first class, and taking another class does not automatically replace the Witch’s patron, tradition or coven identity. Decide which training came first from the character’s actual history.
Legacy Multiclass Practices
| Liber Mysterium
The Netbook of Witches and Warlocks
By Timothy S. Brannan
Full netbook can be found |
For each combination, decide what changed in the character’s life. A patron may encourage new training, a lost text may demand unfamiliar skills, military service may force a Witch to learn weapons, or another calling may have existed long before the coven. The order of classes should follow the story and the campaign edition’s rules.
- Witch/Barbarian — This combination joins patron-linked or ritual magic to physical ferocity and endurance. A Witch/Barbarian might come from a martial coven, a frontier tradition, an ancestral cult or simply learn to fight because survival demands it. No tradition is automatically required.
- Witch/Bard – While those that are found are graceful and pleasant, bardic witches are very rare. The wanderlust of the bard usually does not mix well with most covens. Bardic witches are mostly solitary travelers. Some Lorelei witches begin their adventuring careers as bards and eventually convert to the Lorelei tradition.
- Witch/Cleric — A Witch/Cleric combines formal sacred service with a Witch’s patron, coven or private magical practice. The two callings may serve the same power, allied powers or entirely different obligations. Compatibility depends on the specific temple, patron and tradition rather than an automatic conflict between the classes.
- Witch/Druid — This combination works especially well when a Witch tradition deals with living places, seasons, beasts, spirits or the powers of the wild. The character may have begun in either class; patronage and druidic practice do not require the same origin.
- Witch/Fighter – Witches often face persecution, and many witches find it necessary to study up on hand to hand combat skills, for should her own mystical power fail, it can’t hurt to know how to hit people where it hurts. Witch fighters take no real preference to particular Witch Traditions.
- Witch/Monk – Balanced and highly disciplined, a witch/monk usually seeks true enlightenment and knowledge. Most often, their covens will focus on goddesses of knowledge or purity. The Tantric Witch – seeking to unite body and spirit – are the most likely to become Witch/monks.
- Witch/Paladin — A Witch/Paladin combines an oath-bound martial calling with patron-linked or coven magic. The interesting tension is between specific duties: an oath, a patron’s demands, coven obligations and personal conscience. Other Paladins judge the character by those actions and allegiances, not simply for being a Witch.
- Witch/Ranger – Many witches hold an intimate connection with the wilderness. As such, some witches find it necessary to take up arms to protect their beloved wilderness. Faerie witches are the most likely to become Witch/rangers
- Witch/Rogue – Some witches tend to be more devious and cunning than others are, and have a nasty habit of landing themselves in trouble. These witches end up with a fair amount of streetwise knowledge. The Lorelei has a natural tendency for the road, so they have a predilection towards this multiclass. Malefic witches also frequently become Witch/Rogues.
- Witch/Sorcerer — This path combines innate magical power with learned or patron-linked Witch practice. A sorcerous gift may attract a patron, emerge from the same supernatural ancestry as the Witch tradition, or have no connection to it at all. Either class can come first in the character’s story.
- Witch/Wizard – Rare but not unheard of, Witch/Wizards have a keen understanding of magic and often an absolute obsession with the arcane. The often have patrons that are Gods or Goddesses of magic. The Tempestarii, Venefica, and Craft of the Wise are most likely to become Witch/Wizards.
- Witch/Psychic – Psychics and witches share an interesting relationship. They are often confused with each other by an unknowing population. Nevertheless, the demands of both classes are very high and it is difficult to do either class justice. Some witches can develop a random psychic skill, something unrelated to their magic. In most cases this is considered a gift from the patron. Psychic characters may also develop an interest in witchcraft.
Witches and Basic Prestige Classes The witch can gain many benefits from the various prestige classes found in Core Rulebook II. The witch should not feel limited to these classes alone, and these are presented here as suggestions and guidelines rather than hard rules.
- Arcane Archer – Witches find little use for this prestige class. Those that do are usually dual classed ranger/witches, or an obscure coven taking a philosophical view of the bow.
- Assassin – Most witches have little use for this class, except for the Malefica who delights in pain and murder. A witch assassin could arguably be considered the deadliest combination, for many of the witches spells allow for perfect subterfuge.
- Blackguard – As with the assassin, Malefica are most likely to become blackguards. Those that do often desire to have a better knowledge of combat than standard witch training allows.
- Dwarven Defender – The combination of a witch and dwarven defender is nearly absurd. Dwarves naturally have a strong disliking of magical things, with a special disregard to witches. The exceptionally rare witch/dwarven defenders that are found often guard a dwarven community without the knowledge of local government, protecting the community with both brute strength and magic.
- Loremaster – Witches make ideal loremasters, especially those following goddesses of knowledge and reasoning. Witches following the Craft of the Wise tradition are most likely to become loremasters.
- Shadowdancer – Some witches have a strong connection to darkness and shadows; those who do make very good shadowdancers. The Lorelei
is most likely to become shadowdancers. Some Malefica also will become shadowdancers.
Witches and Other Classes
There are a variety of new core, variant and prestige classes from many other sources that would be appropriate for the witch.
Multiclass Practices
A multiclass practice is a specific combination of classes, usually core classes, to produce a particular type of character. In this section we will be most interested in the multiclass practices of the witch.
Presented here are likely combinations. Of course other combinations may be tried, both with the classes taken and the number of levels taken in each class. The players and Game Masters are encouraged to experiment with these and try new combinations.
- Green Witch
- Hoodoo
- Incantatrix
- Psychic Witch
In some cultures there are those who have powers, which are not mundane, divine or magical in nature. These few are known as Psychics, Psionic or simply, the Others. Their powers are mental in nature and come from within. Some of these few are also very in tune with the elements of the supernatural and their journey to discover themselves and their. These are the Psychic witches.
A Psychic witch is sometimes erroneously called a “Natural” witch. There are many possible combinations of the Psychic witch.
This path assumes that the character is able to balance the needs of both callings. Being a witch is a full time commitment, to add psychic powers on top of that is often more punishment than reward. Psychic witches often belong to covens of nothing but other psychic witches.
Other Witches
The combinations should be endless. There can be witches that take on more magical studies as wizards, others that focus on the religious aspects of witchcraft as witch/clerics, and others still that focus on a particular type of magic, say divination. There are scores, if not hundreds, of names that witches have been called over the course of human history. Each one can be a different type of witch. Here are but a few examples.
- Ban Drui – a female druid similar to a witch.
- Befana – a beneficial witch from Italy.
- Didouri – protective witch from Malaysia.
- Fascinatrix – witches that use the Evil Eye.
- Goetia – Greek for witchcraft or sorcery. Adept at summoning spirits, jinn, and elementals.
- Kapame – witches of African traditions.
- Poudouès – In the Pyrenees region an evil witch known for her foul smell
- Praecantrix – A practitioner of magic.
- Sadhus – A wise man/woman from India.
- Sortilega/Sortiariae Mulier – a witch who also was a diviner. (Witch/Wizard)
- Sybil – a priestess that predicts the future.
- Ved’ma – Russian for witch, from “to know”.
- Wu – witches and wizards of China.
- Yama Uba – a redheaded Japanese witch.
Prestige Classes
There are many classes that have associations with the witch. These Prestige Classes are ones that have been associated, for good or ill, with the witch. Any class, witch or Cowan, can take these prestige classes if they meet the requirements.
Game Masters should review the section on prestige classes in Core Rulebook II if they wish to add these classes. In every case the game master is invited and encouraged to alter the classes for their own needs.
Spells and the Prestige Classes
All of the prestige classes listed here have some association, good or ill, with the witch. Therefore GMs should allow these classes to choose spells from the witch’s spell set. In each case justification needs to be made as to why and how the character gained access to the spell. Hermetic Mages have extensive libraries, Warlocks and Imbolc Mages come from witch backgrounds for the most part and Witch Knights and Witch Finders learn spells to aid their battles.
- Hermetic Mage
- Imbolc Mage
- Master of Circles
- Warlock
- Witch Finder
- Witch Guardian
- Witch Knight
- NPC Class – The Hedge-Witch
Skills and Feats
| O well done! I commend your pains; And every one shall share i the gains; And now about the cauldron sing, Live elves and fairies in a ring, Enchanting all that you put in. Hecate Macbeth, Act 4, Scene 1 |
No witch lives by magic alone. The witch, while embroiled in many supernatural elements, is firmly a creature of this world. To get along in this world the witch, just like everyone else, learns a few skills and feats.
Skills
The witch may learn a variety of skills as she progresses in level. Some of the skills have been designed with the witch in mind and work best exclusive to that class (Tantra). Others are more general (Seduction, Yoga).
For more information on choosing skills and other skills please refer to Core Rulebook I. New skills are marked with an asterisk (*) and are detailed below.
Game Master’s may choose to open up which skills can be used by other classes, but care should be taken. As the rogue class has many skills that are unique and special to it, so does the witch.
New Uses for Old Skills
The following skills are listed in Core Rulebook I, the witch my opt to use these skills in new ways. Some of these skills are cross-class skills for the witch.
- Alchemy
- Animal Empathy
- Balance
- Bluff
- Craft
- Craft (Magic Circle)
- Disguise
- Knowledge (Arcana)
- Knowledge (Religion)
- Profession
- Ride
- Spellcraft
- Wilderness Lore
| Witch Skills | ||||||||||||||
| The witch’s class skills and the key ability for each skill are | ||||||||||||||
| Skill | Bbn | Brd | Clr | Drd | Ftr | Mnk | Pal | Rgr | Rog | Sor | Wiz | Wch | Key Ability | Untrained |
| ‡ | † | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | † | † | † | Intelligence Wisdom | No | |
| Concentration | ‡ | † | † | † | ‡ | † | † | † | ‡ | † | † | † | Constitution | Yes |
| Craft | † | † | † | † | † | † | † | † | † | † | † | † | Intelligence | Yes |
| Heal | ‡ | ‡ | † | † | ‡ | ‡ | † | † | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | † | Wisdom | Yes |
| Knowledge (Arcana) | ‡ | † | † | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | † | † | † | Intelligence | No |
| Knowledge (Demonology)* | ‡ | † | † | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | † | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | † | † | Intelligence | No |
| Knowledge (Nature) | ‡ | † | † | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | † | ‡ | ‡ | † | † | Intelligence | No | |
| Knowledge (Religion) | ‡ | † | † | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | † | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | † | † | Intelligence | No |
| Knowledge (Witchcraft)* | ‡ | † | † | † | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | † | † | Intelligence | No |
| Meditative Trance* | ‡ | ‡ | † | ‡ | ‡ | † | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | † | † | Constitution | No |
| Profession (General) | ‡ | † | † | † | ‡ | † | † | † | † | † | † | † | Wisdom | No |
| Profession (Fortune Telling)* | ‡ | † | † | † | ‡ | † | † | † | † | † | † | † | Wisdom | No |
| Profession (Herbalist)* | ‡ | † | † | † | ‡ | † | † | † | † | † | † | † | Wisdom | No |
| Profession (Midwifery)* | ‡ | † | † | † | ‡ | † | † | † | † | † | † | † | Wisdom | No |
| Scry 5 | x | † | † | † | x | x | x | x | x | † | † | † | Intelligence | Yes |
| Seduction* | ‡ | † | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | † | ‡ | ‡ | † | Charisma | Yes |
| Sense Motive | ‡ | † | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | † | ‡ | ‡ | † | Wisdom | Yes |
| Spellcraft | ‡ | † | † | † | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | † | † | † | Intelligence | No |
| Tantra* | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | † | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | † | † | Charisma | No |
| Wilderness Lore 5 Survival | † | ‡ | ‡ | † | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | † | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | † | Wisdom Wisdom | Yes |
| Yoga* | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | † | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | † | Constitution | No |
| * New Skill † Class Skills ‡ Cross Class Skill x You can’t buy this skill | ||||||||||||||
| Skills in italics are updated for Core Rulebook 3.5 |
- Speak Languages
- Knowledge (Demonology)
- Knowledge (Witchcraft)
- Meditative Trance
- Profession (Fortune Teller)
- Profession (Herbalist)
- Profession (Midwifery)
- Ritual Casting
- Seduction (Charisma, untrained)
- Tantra (Charisma, Trained Only)
- Yoga (Constitution, Trained Only)
Witch Feats
- Animal to Human
- Astromancy
- Aura of Undead Disruption
- Cast Magic Circle
- Celibate Casting
- Charm Resistance
- Craft Magic Candle
- Create Magic Cord
- Create Talisman
- Distil Potion
- Divine Dominion
- Extra Familiar
- Familiar Spell
- Fear Resistance
- Greater Divine Dominion
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