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Hecate

Hecate
Maximilián Pirner, Hecate Date: 1901

Hecate the goddess of sorcery in her role as the Queen of Ghosts. Her attendant and animal representation is of a female dog, and the most common form of offering is to leave meat at a crossroads. Sometimes dogs themselves are sacrificed to her.

Used with permissiom from Palindrome

As seen in Palindrome thread at Dicefreaks

Queen of Night, Goddess of the Crossroads, Goddess of Witchcraft

Intermediate Olympian Deity
Symbol:
Three torches joined into a Y formation at their bases
Home Plane:
The Underworld
Alignment: Neutral evil with neutral tendencies
Aliases: None.
Superior:
Zeus.
Allies:
Persephone, Hades.
Foes:
Gigantes
Servants: Circe (Proxy/Daughter), Medea
Servitor Creatures:
empusars, hell hounds, hell hounds of Hecate, ghosts, lampades, stirges, stygira, will o’ wisps,
Manifestations:
Baying hounds, rays of moonlight emerging from cracks in the ground.
Signs of Favor: Potions glowing white, rays of moonlight.
Worshipers:
Travelers, witches, wizardesses, sorceresses
Cleric Alignments: TN, NE, LE, CE
Speciality Priests:
No.
Holy Days: Full moon nights.
Portfolio:
Darkness, magic, poison, protection of children, witchcraft, trickery
Domains:
Evil, Knowledge, Magic, Night, Travel, Undead
Favored Weapon:
Torch (flaming burst Morningstar or quarterstaff)

Hecate
Rogue 15/Poisoner 10/Witch 35
Medium outsider (Evil, Extraplanar)
Divine Rank15
Hit Dice35d4 (witch) plus 15d6 (rogue) plus 10d6 (poisoner) plus 780 (1050 hp)
Initiative+22 (+14 Dexterity +8 Superior Initiative * always goes first)
Speed60 ft.
Armor Class84 (+30 natural, +14 Dexterity, +15 divine, +15 deflection), touch 52, flat-footed 84
Base Attack/Grapple+34/+44
Attack+67 Torch of Hecate or melee touch +44 or ranged touch +48
Full Attack+63/+58/+53/+48 Torch of Hecate (primary) (1d8 plus +3d6 (unholy) and 1 negative level (Fort save DC 23) plus +1d6 (fire) plus +17/19-20/x2 plus +6d6 (unholy) plus 2 negative levels (Fort save DC 23) plus +2d10 (fire)) or +60/+55 Torch of Hecate (secondary) (1d8 plus +1d6 (fire) plus +14/19-20/x2 plus +2d10 (fire)) or +60/+55 Torch of Hecate (tertiary) (1d8 plus +1d6 (fire) plus +14/19-20/x2 plus +2d10 (fire)) or melee touch +44 or thrown potion +48 or spell +48
Space/Reach5 ft./5 ft.
Special
Attacks
crippling strike, Domain powers, poisoner’s art, poison breath, poison gaze, poison touch, salient divine abilities,
sneak attack +16d6 (for two rounds), spells, spell-like abilities
Special
Qualities
Detect Poison at will, divine aura (1500 feet, DC 40), divine immunities, DR 25/epic and mithral, evasion, godly realm (10 miles outer plane, 1500 ft. Material Plane), greater teleport at will, improved evasion, improved uncanny dodge, plane shift at will, quick hands, remote communication, resistance (electricity) 17, speak, and read all languages and speak directly to all beings with 15 miles, SR 97, trapfinding, trap sense +5, uncanny dodge
SavesFort +54 Ref +62 Will +54
AbilitiesStrength 30 Dexterity 37 Constitution 36 Intelligence 34 Wisdom 36 Charisma 40
SkillsBalance +58, Bluff +72, Concentration +54, Craft (alchemy) +49, Craft (poisonmaking, weaponmaking) +62, Decipher Script +52, Diplomacy +79, Disable Device +30, Disguise +62 (+66 observed in character), Escape Artist +56, Hide +54, Intimidate +81, Jump +24, Knowledge (arcana) +82, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +62, Knowledge (geography) +52, Knowledge (nature) +61, Knowledge (the planes) +72, Knowledge (religion) +42, Listen +76, Move Silently +83, Profession (herbalist) +83, Search +82, Sense Motive+73, Sleight of Hand +68, Spellcraft +106 (+110 spells on scrolls), Spot +63, Survival +58 (+62 avoid getting lost/natural hazards, aboveground, extraplanar, underground, +64 find/follow tracks), Tumble +58, Use Magic Device +65 (+75 scrolls)
FeatsArcane Preparation, Brew Potion, Craft Magic Arms and Armor, Empower Spell, Eschew Materials (B), Extend
Spell
(B), Greater Multiweapon Fighting, Greater Spell Focus (Enchantment), Heighten Spell, Improved Initiative, Maximize Spell, Multiweapon Fighting, Quicken Spell, Reach Spell, Silent Spell, Spell Focus (Enchantment), Twin Spell, Weapon Focus (Morningstar)
Epic FeatsAugmented Alchemy (B), Brew Epic Potion *, Craft Epic Magic Arms And Armor (B), Epic Poisoncrafter, Epic
Skill Focus
(Spellcraft), Epic Spellcasting, Ignore Material Components (B), Improved Heighten Spell (B), Superior Initiative
EnvironmentThe Underworld
OrganizationSolitary (Unique)
Challenge Rating56
TreasureTorches of Hecate
AlignmentNeutral Evil
Advancement
Level Adjustment
* New Epic Feat

Alter Reality (Su): Hecate exerts a considerable measure of control over reality itself, and her presence can command the very essence of the world around her. This warping of reality manifested in a number of ways. Hecate can use wish when doing so could help her to create darkness, acquire knowledge about magic, or create or study poison. Note that in the situation where Hecate and another deity both try to Alter Reality in opposition to each other, an opposed rank check may be necessary to determine how reality is actually altered.

– Hecate can use Alter Reality to cast any inflict spell at will as a standard action; Hecate can apply metamagic feats to the spells if desired, but doing so requires her to forego using Alter Reality for 1 round for each level the feat would normally add to the equivalent spell.

– As a free action, Hecate can assume any size from Fine to Colossal. Hecate can also change the size of up to 100 pounds of objects he touches. This ability allows Hecate to assume any proportions from the size of a grain of sand up to as much as 1,600 feet tall. A radical change in size can have great impact on Hecate’s combat ability. Hecate’s Strength, Armor Class, attack bonus, and damage dealt with weapons changes according to the size the deity assumes. Hecate’s Strength score can never be reduced to less than 1 through this ability. Also note that use of this divine ability does not affect all of Hecate’s characteristics.

Divine Immunities: Ability damage, ability drain, banishment, binding, cikdm death effects, dimensional anchor, disease, disintegration, dismissal, energy drain, fire, imprisonment, mind-affecting effects, Paralysis, poison, repulsion, sleep, soul bind, stunning, Temporal Stasis, transmutation, Trap the Soul, and turning and rebuking.

Divine Power: Hecate is a living embodiment of power, and ancient divine magics flow through her veins. As such, mortal items are of virtually no use to her, being so much weaker than her own innate powers. Hecate gains no benefit from a deflection, enhancement, resistance, insight, sacred or profane bonus that is less than +15. Note that this only applies to bonuses that affect Hecate herself; weaponry and armor is unaffected by this.

Domain Powers: casts evil spells at +1 caster level; casts divinations with a +1 level bonus and all Knowledge skills are class skills; gains Low-Light Vision; can use scrolls and wands as a 17th level Wizard; may generate a freedom of movement effect for 17 rounds and Survival is a class skill; treats Bluff, Disguise, and Hide as class skills.

Salient Divine Abilities: Alter Form, Automatic Metamagic (Twin Spell), Call Creatures (15 Hell Hounds/day, 15 HD), Cthonic Ritual (Unique Salient Divine Ability), Divine Dodge (65% miss probability), Divine Sneak Attack, Divine Spellcasting, Divine Spell Focus (Enchantment), Eldritch Knowledge, Extra Domain (Night), Extra Domain (Trickery), Instant Counterspell, Increased Spell Resistance, Irresistible Blows (Fort save DC 38 or stunned for 1d10 rounds), Supreme Eldritch Knowledge, Tri Via (Unique Salient Divine Ability), Triune (Unique Salient Divine Ability), Under Moonlit Skies (Unique Salient Divine Ability)

Spell-like abilities (Sp): At will: antimagic field, astral projection, blanket of night, blasphemy, clairaudience/clairvoyance, confusion, create undead, darkness, darkness beyond darkness, desecrate, detect secret doors, detect thoughts, dimension door, discern location, disguise self, mage’s disjunction, dispel good, dispel magic, divination, false vision, find the path, fly, foresight, greater teleport, identify, imbue with spell ability, invisibility, legend lore, locate object, longstrider, magic aura, mislead, moon lightning, nightmare, nondetection, phase door, polymorph any object, protection from good, protection from spells, shadow walk, sleep, Spell Resistance, spell turning, summon monster IX (evil creatures only), superior invisibility, teleport, time stop, true seeing, unholy aura, unholy blight.

Hecate casts her spell-like abilities at 75th level, except for evil spells and divinations which she casts at 76th level. Saving throws against Hecate’s spell like abilities are DC 50 + spell level. The saving throw DC’s are Charisma-based.

Possessions: Torches of Hecate

Other Divine Powers

As an intermediate deity, Hecate gets a result of 20 on any check if she is required to make one at all and treats a 1 on an attack roll or saving throw normally and not as an automatic failure. She is immortal.

Senses: Hecate can see (using normal vision or Darkvision), hear, touch, and smell at a distance of 15 miles. As a standard action, she can perceive anything within 15 miles of her worshippers, holy sites, objects, or any location where one of her titles or name was spoken in the last hour. She can extend her senses to up to five locations at once. She can block the sensing power of deities of her rank or lower at up to two remote locations at once for 15 hours.

Portfolio Sense: Hecate senses whenever any mortal travels at night, uses a three-way junction, creates potions, the endangering of any children, or the casting of spells by witches.

Automatic Actions: Hecate may perform 10 free actions per round related to her portfolio (such as counterspelling or attempting to trick her enemies) if the DC for these acts is lower than 25.

Create Magic Items: Hecate can create any potion, poison, or magical item likely to be used by witches or travellers as long as the item’s market price does not exceed 200,000 gp.

Cthonic Ritual (Unique Salient Divine Ability): By choosing to cast any spell as a ritualised version of itself taking at least one full round in order to cast, Hecate may choose to add +15 to either the saving throw DC or the level at which the spell is cast. Each round of additional casting time corresponds to a +3 bonus to either caster level or save DC. The bonus from Hecate’s Cthonic Ritual also stacks with the bonuses from her ability to Alter Reality, and the maximal bonus that she can add to her spells in this manner is +21.

Triune (Unique Salient Divine Ability): Hecate possesses three separate heads and is incapable of being flanked, caught flat-footed, or otherwise taken unaware except by a character who possesses the Improved Uncanny Dodge class ability and is at least four levels higher that Hecate’s total HD. Additionally her divided consciousness grants her an additional standard action per round that may only be used to cast a spell, activate a spell-like ability, or maintain Concentration on an existing spell or spell-like ability.

Tri Via (Unique Salient Divine Ability): As the patron goddess of nocturnal travellers and junctions, Hecate possesses a unique ability to reach various locations. Hecate may teleport herself as a free action from any junction or crossroads in which three roads are joined to a second junction of similar structure if her target destination is within 1500 feet of herself. Hecate’s ability to transport herself in this manner cannot be blocked with spells such as dimensional anchor or dimensional lock, or epic spells based on the ward seed. However, if the junction itself is damaged by obstructing or destroying one of the roads, even symbolically, or adding an additional pathway then Hecate’s Salient Divine Ability is also blocked.

Under Moonlit Skies (Unique Salient Divine Ability): Hecate is invisible as the spell superior invisibility to all living creatures, even deities of lower Divine Rank than her, except under the light of the new moon. undead creatures and canines (whether natural or polymorphed into canine beings, or beings with canine aspects) may see her normally regardless of the state of the moon.

Possessions: Hecate has access to an incredibly wide array of magical items that have been gifts from her worshippers, other Olympian deities in exchange for her aid. However, whenever Hecate is in a situation where combat is inevitable or she is travelling, Hecate always wields her signature Torches, each in a different arm. The primary Torch of Hecate is a +7 brilliant energy, unholy power, flaming burst Morningstar, while the secondary and tertiary Torches of Hecate are +4 brilliant energy, flaming burst Morningstars respectively.

Witch Spells(Sp) (0th-15th level): 6/10/10/10/9/9/9/9/8/8/3/3/2/2/2/2 Hecate casts spells as a 35th level Witch and at 50th level for the purposes of Spell Penetration. Saving throws against Hecate’s Witch spells are DC 25 + spell level, except for Enchantments which have saving throws of 34 + spell level, and all of Hecate’s spells are twinned. The saving throw DC’s are Charisma-based. Hecate may cast 8 epic spells/day with a maximal Spellcraft DC of 116, and Hecate has access to all spells on the Witch spell list due to the Salient Divine Ability Supreme Eldritch Knowledge.

Typical Witch Spells Known:

epic spells known: cloak of deception, eclipse, future sight, Hecate’s field of illusions, ill omen, let go of me, mass frog, soul dominion, soul scry, spell worm, verdigris

Detect Poison (Sp): Hecate can Detect Poison at will as the spell.

Poison Touch (Ex): By concentrating for three rounds Hecate can produce a dose of poison that she can apply with a melee touch attack. (Fort DC 20 or else take 2d4 Strength or Dexterity damage, 1d4 Constitution damage, or 1d6 Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma damage, both initial and secondary).

Poisoner’s Art (Ex): Hecate can choose to delay the onset of any poison she creates up to 10 minutes or shorten the duration between initial and secondary damage to 5 rounds.

Quick Hands (Ex): Hecate recieves a +4 bonus on Sleight of Hand checks to plant poison without being seen.

Poisonous Breath (Ex): Hecate may deliver her poison to any foe within 5 feet by breathing towards them.

Poison Gaze (Ex): Hecate may poison any creature within 30 feet of her as a gaze attack. The Fort save in order to resist being poisoned is DC 33.

Poison Immunity (Ex): Hecate is immune to all forms of poison.

Avatars

Blake, William Hekate 1795
Blake, William Hekate 1795

Hecate’s Avatar typically appears cloaked in illusions. However, when she chooses to appear in her true form, she is a truly alarming-looking being with three separate female human bodies all joined at the back in a form akin to a triangle. The joined bodies of Hecate’s Avatar have the heads of a horse, a serpent, and a human being, and when she speaks, all of her heads do so in unison with a disturbingly flat tone of voice. Hecate’s Avatar typically wears a toga or gown that glows luminescent white and flickers with the orange glow of her Torches.

Hecate’s Avatar Rogue 7/Poisoner 5/Witch 18 Divine Rank 0 Hit Dice 7d6 (rogue) plus 5d6 (poisoner) plus 18d4 (witch) plus 300 (444 hp) Initiative +19 (+11 Dexterity, +8 Improved Initiative) Speed 60 ft. Armor Class 48 (+15 natural, +11 Dexterity, +12 deflection), touch 33, flat-footed 48 Base Attack/Grapple +16/+23 Attack +25Torch of Hecate or +23 melee touch or +27 ranged touch Full Attack +21/+16/+11 Torch of Hecate (primary) (1d8 plus +2d6 (unholy) plus +1d6 (fire) plus +14/20/x2 plus +2d10 (fire)) or +18/+13/+8 Torch of Hecate (secondary) (1d8 plus +1d6 (fire) plus +11/20/x2 plus +2d10 (fire)) or +18/+13/+8 Torch of Hecate (tertiary) (1d8 plus +1d6 (fire) plus +11/20/x2 plus +2d10 (fire)) or +23 melee touch or +27 ranged touch Space/Reach 5 ft./5 ft. Special Attacks poisoner’s art, poison touch, sneak attack +7d6 Special Qualities Detect Poison at will, divine aura (1500 ft., Will DC 22), divine immunities, DR 10/epic, evasion, greater teleport at will, plane shift at will, quick hands, resistance (electricity) 5, +4 save throw against poison, SR 47, trapfinding, trap sense +2, uncanny dodge Saves Fort +15 Ref +14 Will +11 Abilities Strength 25 Dexterity 32 Constitution 30 Intelligence 26 Wisdom 30 Charisma 34 Skills Balance +19, Bluff +18, Concentration +15, Craft (alchemy) +17, Craft (poisonmaking, weaponmaking) +14, Decipher Script +34, Diplomacy +33, Disguise +19 (+21 observed in character), Disable Device +7, Escape Artist +19, Intimidate +38, Jump +14, Knowledge (arcana) +35, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +15, Knowledge (Geography)+15, Knowledge (nature) +27, Knowledge (the planes) +38, Listen +21, Move Silently +25, Profession (herbalist) +20, Search +33, Sense Motive +18, Sleight of Hand +22, Spellcraft+45 (+47 spells on scrolls), Spot +20, Survival +22 (+24 aboveground, avoid getting lost/natural hazards, underground, +26 extraplanar, find/follow tracks), Tumble +25, Use Magic Device +24 (+28 scrolls) Feats Arcane Preparation, Blind-Fight (free), Eschew Materials (B), Greater Multiweapon Fighting, Heighten Spell, Improved Initiative, Multiweapon Fighting, Reach Spell, Silent Spell, Twin Spell, Weapon Focus (Morningstar) Epic Feats Superior Initiative Challenge Rating 29 Treasure Torches

Divine Immunities: Ability damage, ability drain, mind-affecting effects.

Domain Powers: casts evil spells at +1 caster level; casts divinations with a +1 level bonus and all Knowledge skills are class skills; gains Low-Light Vision, can use scrolls and wands as a 17th level Wizard; may generate a freedom of movement effect for 17 rounds and Survival is a class skill; treats Bluff, Disguise, and Hide as class skills.

Salient Divine Abilities: Extra Domain (Night), Extra Domain (Trickery), Triune

Spell-Like Abilities 3/day: antimagic field, astral projection, blanket of night, blasphemy, clairaudience/clairvoyance, confusion, create undead, darkness, darkness beyond darkness, desecrate, detect secret doors, detect thoughts, dimension door, discern location, disguise self, mage’s disjunction, dispel good, dispel magic, divination, false vision, find the path, fly, foresight, greater teleport, identify, imbue with spell ability, invisibility, legend lore, locate object, longstrider, magic aura, mislead, moon lightning, nightmare, nondetection, phase door, polymorph any object, protection from good, protection from spells, shadow walk, sleep,Spell Resistance, spell turning, summon monster IX (evil creatures only), superior invisibility, teleport, time stop, true seeing, unholy aura, unholy blight.

Hecate’s Avatar casts her spell-like abilities at 30th level. Saving throws against Hecate’s Avatar’s spell-like abilities is DC 22 + spell level. The saving throw DC’s are Charisma-based.

Witch Spells(Sp) (0th-9th level): 6/9/9/9/9/8/8/8/6/4 Hecate’s Avatar casts spells as a 18th level Witch. Saving throws against Hecate’s Avatar’s Witch spells are DC 22 + spell level. The saving throw DC’s are Charisma-based.

Witch Spells Known 0th level: arcane mark, dancing lights, daze, detect magic, flare, ghost sound, mending, read magic, resistance.

Detect Poison (Sp): Hecate’s Avatar can Detect Poison at will as the spell.

Poison Touch (Ex): By concentrating for three rounds Hecate’s Avatar can produce a dose of poison that she can apply with a melee touch attack. (Fort DC 18 or else take 1d4 Strength or Dexterity damage, 1d2 Constitution damage, or 1d3 Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma damage, both initial and secondary).

Poisoner’s Art (Ex): Hecate’s Avatar can choose to delay the onset of any poison she creates up to 10 minutes or shorten the duration between initial and secondary damage to 5 rounds.

Quick Hands (Ex): Hecate’s Avatar recieves a +4 bonus on Sleight of Hand checks to plant poison without being seen.

Save Bonus Against Poison (Ex): Hecate’s Avatar receives a +4 bonus to her saving throws against poison.

Brew Epic Potion: (Epic) (Item Creation)

Prerequisites: Augmented Alchemy, Brew Potion, Craft (alchemy) +24, ability to cast 9th level arcane or divine spells

Benefit: You can create a potion of any 9th-level or lower spell that you know and that targets one or more creatures. Brewing a potion takes one day. When you create a potion, you set the caster level, which must be sufficient to cast the spell in question and no higher than your own level. The base price of a potion is its spell level x ?its caster level x ?50 gp. To brew a potion, you must spend 1/25 of this base price in XP and use up raw materials costing one half this base price. When you create a potion, you make any choices that you would normally make when casting the spell. Whoever drinks the potion is the target of the spell.

Any potion that stores a spell with a costly material component or an XP cost also carries a commensurate cost. In addition to the costs derived from the base price, you must expend the material component or pay the XP when creating the potion.

Normal: You can create potions only of 3rd level or lower spells.

Roleplaying Elements from

Liber Mysterium

The Netbook of Witches and Warlocks

By Timothy S. Brannan and The Netbook of Witches and Warlocks Team

Full netbook can be found on the followng website

Dom of D20 / D&D 3e Netbooks and Downloads.

The Goddess of darkness, and the daughter of the Titans Perses and Asteria. Unlike Artemis, who represented the moonlight and splendor of the night, Hecate represented its darkness and its terrors. On moonless nights she was believed to roam the earth with a pack of ghostly, howling dogs. She was the Goddess of sorcery and witchcraft and was especially worshiped by magicians and witches, who sacrificed black lambs and black dogs to her. As Goddess of the crossroads, Hecate and her pack of dogs were believed to haunt these remote spots, which seemed evil and ghostly places to travelers. In art Hecate is often represented with either three bodies or three heads and with serpents entwined about her neck.

Of all the deities who have covens, Hecate‘s covens are the most widespread and well known. Once a fairly benign Goddess in early Greek times, Hecate became the dread Greek-Roman Goddess of ghosts, a close confidante of Persephone and a patron of witches. The brutally wronged Hecuba of Troy was reincarnated as one of Hecate’s black dogs, which accompanied her on her night walks. When Hades kidnaped Persephone in the later Greek myth, farseeing Hecate was the only one who witnessed it. Hecate was worshipped at three-way crossroads at night even by ordinary Greek families and could ward off ghosts if properly propitiated. But Romans also believed She had more sinister worshippers; the witches and sorceresses who could coerce even the gods to do their will.

Alignment: LE or LN

Areas of Influence: Ghosts, Magic, Moon, The Crossroads

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