Malefica Witchcraft¶
Rules system: Sancturi homebrew (skill-based system of the Sancturi campaign, 2019). Legacy design material, not canon for play.
Lore page: Witchcraft.
The skills of the Malefic Witch: Curses & Hexes, with the rules for holding, costing and lifting a curse; Familiar and Evil Spirits; and Summoning and Fetishes. Each is a recipe table in Apprentice, Adept and Master tiers with the energy and reagent columns of the Aegic Witchcraft recipes, all of them left blank. The Malefica Witchcraft feat and its familiar are described on Alchemy and Witchcraft.
Curses & Hexes¶
Attributes: Reasoning and Charisma (REA|CHA).
"The Malefic Witch is able to imbue themselves with the power to throw curses and hexes." The number held at once depends on the [Curses and Hexes] skill level: (Skill²)/3. Once imbued, a curse or hex lasts until thrown.
Curses¶
"Curses are very powerful and used with caution. A curse uses a part of the witches soul and each application diminishes their max health by 5% while it persists." Curses are notoriously hard to remove, usually needing the witch who cast them to rescind them. The known ways:
- the witch voluntarily rescinds it;
- a small miracle (a restoration-level spell);
- an Aegic Ritual that can force the witch to remove it (see the Expulsion Circle on Aegic Witchcraft);
- Soul Death: "When a creature's soul departs its body, the curse evaporates."
Because a curse holds part of the witch's soul, it is also a means of finding the witch. Witches use curses against someone who has done them "truly great harm", to be cursed forever, or to force or blackmail someone into a task in exchange for lifting it.
Hexes¶
"Hexes are much weaker curses that usually have a quite short duration, though some powerful Hexes may last weeks, months or years."
Recipes¶
| Tier | Order | Recipe | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apprentice | 1 | Curse of Fumbling | fumble on 1 or 2 |
| Apprentice | 1 | Curse of Pain | moderate pain that inhibits many actions: −2 to all actions, −4 against the source witch; a creature with 4 or more actions per turn has the penalty reduced by 1 per 4 actions |
| Apprentice | 2 | Cursed Talisman | curses a talisman so that it does the opposite of what is intended |
| Apprentice | 2 | Hex of Charming | Charm Person |
| Apprentice | 3 | Hex of Hoarfrost | "Frost burrows its way into the skin", 1 damage per turn |
| Apprentice | 3 | Hex of Ineptitude | −1 to all skill checks |
| Apprentice | 4 | Hex of Infection | damage cannot be healed for a short time |
| Adept | 5 | Hex of Inversion | inverts a buff from a charm, hex or magical effect |
| Adept | 5 | Hex of Slumber | puts a target to sleep |
| Adept | 6 | Curse of Nightmares | a save is required to complete a long rest |
| Adept | 6 | Pariah Hex | allies cannot aid you directly, 1d4 turns |
| Adept | 6 | Retribution Hex | the target takes damage whenever it deals damage |
| Adept | 7 | Curse of Sin: Sloth | disadvantage on all Sleep and Vitality saves |
| Adept | 7 | Curse of Sin: Pride | disadvantage on all Willpower and Ingenuity saves |
| Adept | 7 | Curse of Sin: Greed | (no text) |
| Adept | 7 | Curse of Sin: Lust | disadvantage on Charm saves against the opposite sex |
| Adept | 7 | Curse of Sin: Wrath | Willpower save to switch targets or stop fighting |
| Adept | 7 | Curse of Sin: Envy | (no text) |
| Adept | 7 | Curse of Sin: Gluttony | (no text) |
| Adept | 8 | Cursed Charm | curses a charm so that it does the opposite of what is intended |
| Adept | 8 | Hex of Distraction | hallucinations when the target tries to act |
| Adept | 8 | The Witch's Eye | the witch can see and hear through the target |
| Adept | 8 | Withering Hex | ages the target |
| Master | 9 | Curse of Agony | intense chronic pain |
| Master | 9 | Greater Hex of Charming | (no text) |
| Master | 10 | Curse of Ruin | the target never regains Health |
| Master | 10 | Mass Hex | turns any 1st- to 6th-order hex into a mass hex |
| Master | 11 | Greater Hex of Ineptitude | −2 to all skill checks; reduces maximum effective skill levels |
| Master | Curse of Deadly Sins | the same as all seven Sin curses |
Familiar and Evil Spirits¶
The skill list opens with "Spirit Bond - levels up your bonded spirit(s) with new abilities and powers." The overview of 2018 names the familiar skill Abyssal Bond, the 2018 Witchcraft overview Spirit Bond.
Familiar¶
Attributes: Charisma and Ingenuity (CHA|ING). A familiar has skill points equal to those the witch has put into the Familiar skill, spent under the pets, forms and familiars rules.
| Tier | Order | Recipe | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apprentice | Create Familiar | "Take a trapped animal and replace its spirit with a demon." | |
| Apprentice | Spirit Link - Clairvoyance | see and hear through the familiar's eyes as a Minor Action | |
| Adept | Spirit Link - Channel | channel curses, hexes and other spell-like effects through familiars as if in their place | |
| Master | 10 | Multiple Familiars | several familiars, whose total skill points are at most twice the [Malefica - Familiar] skill |
| Master | 12 | Spirit Link - Vitality | the witch and familiars share a health pool |
The 2018 overview gives the familiar half the skill points spent on Abyssal Bond, and +1 to all witchcraft skills (Aegic, Malefica and Aphotic) while it is in sight and contact.
Evil Spirits¶
"Call evil spirits."
| Recipe | Effect |
|---|---|
| Call Dark Spirits | manifest dark spirits that attack for you for N turns |
| Haunt | bind dark spirits to an area permanently |
| Greater Haunt | bind greater dark spirits to an area permanently |
Summoning and Fetishes¶
Summoning¶
Attributes: Charisma and Willpower (CHA|WIL). "Summoning and Contract."
| Tier | Recipe | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Apprentice | Summon Minion Demon | summons a minion demon in a pentagram |
| Apprentice | Demonic Contract | attempts to charm or convince a demon into performing services for you |
| Adept | Summon Minor Demon | (no text) |
| Master | Summon Demon | (no text) |
Fetishes¶
"Idols, Fetishes and Dolls."
| Recipe | Effect |
|---|---|
| Demonic Fetish | "Basic Fetish. +1 Skills?" |
| Empathic Doll | a doll that lets empathy be shared with a creature |
| Fetish of Disease | infects anyone destroying it, by releasing black knotlings that attach to the nearest and strongest living things (Health × 10 / Distance) |
| Fetish of Fear | modifies a fetish to radiate fear; gathers reagents |
| Fetish of Pestilence | modifies a fetish to radiate disease and blight; gathers reagents |
| Hollowed Fetish | extends or limits the area of a Hollow |
| Somatic Doll | a doll that can wear talismans and charms as a proxy |
| Fetish of Redirection | subtly alters the course of travellers away from it |
| Fetish of Curses | applies a curse to anyone breaking or removing it |
| Soul Doll | a doll that can be used to torment a creature |
| Fetish of Death | kills or damages anyone breaking or removing it |
Third-party text omitted
The Summoning & Fetishes document ends with four Pathfinder witch hexes pasted from d20pfsrd.com with their links (Enemy Ground, Hidden Home, Amelioration, Ice Storm). They are not reproduced.
Gap
No Malefica recipe has energy or reagent requirements, and the Familiar, Evil Spirits, Summoning and Fetish recipes mostly lack orders.