Old Magic

Oracles, Sorcerers, and Witches for Old School Essentials

Designed and illustrated by Ben Sandfelder
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Introduction
It’s OSR June Jam 2023, and I’m back making
more new things old again! This time, I’m
“demaking” three of my favorite caster classes
from later editions, in the style of Old School
Essentials.
The Oracle. An accursed seer, whose divine
magic comes at a steep price. Oracles cannot
turn undead like traditional clerics, but have
incredible powers of foresight and prescience.
The Sorcerer. The sorcerer is a magic-user
who trades the flexibility of a spellbook for more
spells per day. Their innate magical powers can
be unleashed in destructive blasts of energy.
The Witch. The witch studies the occult magic
of hags and other creatures. Their intelligent
familiars grant access to a wide range of spells,
and secret recipes for creating their own potions.

Using these Classes

These classes are designed for (and written in
the style of) Old School Essentials: Advanced
Fantasy. They are meant to be roughly on par
with the classes in that book, power-wise.
You may use them in other B/X retroclones (or
B/X itself) at your own peril discretion.

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Oracle
Requirements: None
Prime Requisite: Wisdom
Hit Dice: 1d6
Maximum Level: 14
Armor: Leather, shields
Weapons: Club, dagger, sling, staff
Languages: Alignment, Common
Oracles are adventurers with the gift of
prophecy. Like clerics, they serve a deity and
wield divine magic. However, they cannot turn
undead, and their foresight comes with a price.
Combat
Oracles can wear leather armor and use shields.
They may wield clubs, daggers, slings, and staffs.
Awareness
Oracles are only surprised on a roll of 1. This
may mean that an oracle is able to act in the
surprise round while their companions are
surprised.
Divine Magic
See Old School Essentials: Advanced Fantasy p122
for the full rules on divine magic.
Holy Symbol. An oracle must carry a holy
symbol to cast spells.
Deity Disfavor. Like clerics, oracles must be
faithful to the tenets of their alignment, clergy,
and religion. Oracles who fall from favor with
their deity may incur penalties.
Magical Research. An oracle of any level may
spend time and money on magical research. This
allows them to create new spells or other
magical effects associated with their deity. When
an oracle reaches 9th level, they are also able to
create magic items.
Spell Casting. Oracles pray to receive spells.
The power and number of spells available to an
oracle is based on their experience level. Oracles
choose spells from the cleric spell list, with these
additional spells from the magic-user spell list:
1st level: read languages
2nd level: detect invisible, ESP
3rd level: clairvoyance, infravision
4th level: wizard eye
Using Magic Items. As spell casters, oracles
can use magic scrolls of spells on their spell list.
They can also use magic items that can only be
used by divine spell casters. The referee may
allow oracles to use items with powers of
divination or detection, such as a crystal ball or
wand of magic detection, even if a divine caster
could not use those items normally.
Potent Divinations
Whenever you cast a spell that locates, reveals,
or detects things (detect evil, find traps, locate
objects, etc.), you may double its range or double
its duration. This bonus does not apply to spells
cast by using a magic item.
Prophecy
Three times per day, an oracle may spend 1 turn
meditating, and call upon their oracular powers
to seek divine guidance. Ask the referee a
question. The referee will answer “yes” or “no.”
As the oracle gains levels, they receive more
specific answers. If the oracle is at least 4th level,
the referee should give a one-word answer.
If the oracle is at least 8th level, the referee
should answer with a short phrase, a cryptic
clue, or an omen to watch out for.
If the oracle is at least 12th level, the referee
may give a detailed or nuanced answer, but
should keep it as brief as possible.
Oracle’s Curse
The price of an oracle’s magic is a powerful
curse, which cannot be removed by any means.
You may choose one of the maximum effects of a
curse spell, one of the options below, or a similar
impairing effect with the referee’s approval.
• Whenever the oracle takes damage of a
specific type (cold, fire, lightning, weapons,
etc.), they take +1 damage per die rolled.
• The oracle always loses initiative.
• Lower the oracle’s movement rate by 30’ (10’)
• The oracle’s vision is clouded. They are blind
beyond a 20’ radius, and cannot read.
• The oracle suffers from periodic delusions.
When the oracle listens at doors, or searches
for traps or secret doors, the referee may give
“false positives” on a failed roll.
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Oracle Level Progression

Saving Throws Spells
Level XP HD THAC0 D W P B S 1 2 3 4 5
1 0 1d6 19 [0] 11 12 14 16 15 1
2 2,000 2d6 19 [0] 11 12 14 16 15 2
3 4,000 3d6 19 [0] 11 12 14 16 15 2 1
4 7,500 4d6 19 [0] 11 12 14 16 15 2 2
5 12,500 5d6 17 [+2] 9 10 12 14 12 2 2 1 1
6 20,000 6d6 17 [+2] 9 10 12 14 12 2 2 2 1 1
7 35,000 7d6 17 [+2] 9 10 12 14 12 3 3 2 2 1
8 60,000 8d6 17 [+2] 9 10 12 14 12 3 3 3 2 2
9 90,000 9d6 15 [+4] 6 7 9 11 9 4 4 3 3 2
10 125,000 9d6+1 15 [+4] 6 7 9 11 9 4 4 4 3 3
11 200,000 9d6+2 15 [+4] 6 7 9 11 9 5 5 4 4 3
12 300,000 9d6+3 15 [+4] 6 7 9 11 9 5 5 5 4 4
13 750,000 9d6+4 12 [+7] 3 5 7 8 7 6 5 5 5 4
14 1,500,000 9d6+5 12 [+7] 3 5 7 8 7 6 6 5 5 5

After Reaching 9th level…

An oracle may establish or build a stronghold. So
long as the oracle is currently in favor with their
god, a stronghold may be bought or built at half
price, due to divine intervention.
Oracle strongholds tend to be secluded
temples or monasteries.
Once the stronghold is established, 1d6
acolytes of your faith, who may be clerics or
oracles of 1st-3rd level, arrive to study the
mysteries of the universe with your guidance.
Local rulers and powerful adventurers may
periodically visit this temple to seek guidance
and wisdom from a high-level oracle.

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Sorcerer
Requirements: None
Prime Requisite: Charisma
Hit Dice: 1d4
Maximum Level: 14
Armor: None
Weapons: Dagger, staff
Languages: Alignment, Common
Sorcerers can cast spells like Magic-users.
However, instead of diligent study, their spells
come from an innate well of magical power.
Sorcerers can tap into this volatile power source
to unleash destructive blasts of energy.
Combat
Sorcerers cannot wear armor, and may only use
daggers or staffs in battle.
Arcane Magic
See Old School Essentials: Advanced Fantasy p122
for the full rules on arcane magic.
Magical Research. A sorcerer of any level may
spend time and money on magical research. This
allows them to create new spells or other
magical effects. When a sorcerer reaches 9th
level, they are also able to create magic items.
Spell Casting. Sorcerers know a number of
magic-user spells equal to their level. Whenever
you gain a level, you may learn one new spell.
You may not exceed this limit. If you would learn
a new spell from mentorship or magical
research, the new spell must replace one of the
spells you already know.
Instead of preparing spells in advance, you
may cast any of the spells you know in any
combination, up to your allotted spells per day.
Using Magic Items. Sorcerers can use magic
scrolls of spells from the magic-user spell list.
They can use magic items that can only be used
by arcane spell casters.
Elemental Blasts
Instead of casting a spell the sorcerer has
learned, a sorcerer can unleash destructive bolts
or a blast of energy. Doing so counts as casting a
spell and counts towards the sorcerer’s daily
allotment of spells. The intensity of the bolts or
blast depends on the level of spell expended.
Bolts. Bolts can be hurled at one or more
targets within the listed range. The number of
bolts conjured is based on the spell expended. A
creature takes 1d10 damage per bolt that strikes
it, with a save versus spells for half damage.
Creatures hit by multiple bolts roll one saving
throw against the total amount of damage dealt.
Blast. A blast emanates from the sorcerer’s
space in a shape and direction of the sorcerer’s
choosing. Blasts deal 1d6 damage per level of the
sorcerer. Creatures caught in the blast may save
versus spells for half damage.
Damage Type. The sorcerer chooses whether
the bolts or blast are cold, fire, or lightning. Bolts
must all be of the same damage type.
Sorcerer Elemental Blasts
Spell Level Blast Area
1 A line 30’ long and 5’ wide, or a cone
up to 20’ long and 10’ wide at the end,
or a 10’ cube.
2 A 10’ radius sphere, or a line 60’ long
and 5’ wide, or a cone up to 40’ long
and 20’ wide at the end, or a 20’ cube.
3 A line 90’ long and 5’ wide, or a cone
up to 60’ long and 30’ wide at the end,
or a 30’ cube.
4 A 20’ radius sphere, or a line up to 120’
long and 5’ wide, or a cone up to 80’
long and 40’ wide at the end, or a 40’
cube.
5 A line up to 150’ long and 5’ wide, or a
cone up to 100’ long and 50’ wide at
the end, or a 50’ cube.
6 A 30’ radius sphere, or a line up to 180’
long and 10’ wide, or a cone up to 120’
long and 60’ wide at the end, or a 60’
cube.
Sorcerer Elemental Bolts
Spell Level # of Bolts Bolt Range
1 1 30 ft.
2 1d4 60 ft.
3 1d4+1 120 ft.
4 1d6+1 180 ft.
5 2d4+1 240 ft.
6 3d4 360 ft.
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Sorcerer Level Progression

Saving Throws Spells
Level XP HD THAC0 D W P B S 1 2 3 4 5 6
1 0 1d4 19 [0] 13 14 13 16 15 2
2 2,500 2d4 19 [0] 13 14 13 16 15 3
3 5,000 3d4 19 [0] 13 14 13 16 15 3 2
4 10,000 4d4 19 [0] 13 14 13 16 15 3 3
5 20,000 5d4 19 [0] 13 14 13 16 15 3 3 1
6 40,000 6d4 17 [+2] 11 12 11 14 12 3 3 2
7 80,000 7d4 17 [+2] 11 12 11 14 12 3 3 2 1
8 150,000 8d4 17 [+2] 11 12 11 14 12 4 3 3 2
9 300,000 9d4 17 [+2] 11 12 11 14 12 4 3 3 2 1
10 450,000 9d4+1 17 [+2] 11 12 11 14 12 4 4 3 3 2
11 600,000 9d4+2 14 [+5] 8 9 8 11 8 4 4 3 3 2 1
12 750,000 9d4+3 14 [+5] 8 9 8 11 8 5 4 4 3 3 2
13 900,000 9d4+4 14 [+5] 8 9 8 11 8 5 5 4 3 3 3
14 1,050,000 9d4+5 14 [+5] 8 9 8 11 8 5 5 5 4 3 3

After Reaching 9th level…

4d6 HD of beings will join the sorcerer as
followers. These can be human or demihuman
adventurers, animals, magical creatures, or
special monsters. If any of the followers die, they
cannot be replaced.
Sorcerers tend to attract creatures with strong
ties to the elements or magic – dragons, lesser
djinni or efreet, elementals, perhaps even a
phoenix!

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Witch
Requirements: None
Prime Requisite: Intelligence
Hit Dice: 1d4
Maximum Level: 14
Armor: None
Weapons: Dagger, staff
Languages: Alignment, Common
Witches are magic-users who dabble in the
occult ways of hags, spirits, and other beings.
This gives them access to spells that blur the line
between arcane and divine. Their knowledge is
embodied by an intelligent familiar.
Combat
Witches cannot wear armor, and may only use
daggers or staffs in battle.
Occult Magic
See Old School Essentials: Advanced Fantasy p122
for the full rules on arcane magic.
Magical Research. A witch of any level may
spend time and money on magical research. This
allows them to create new spells or other
magical effects. When a witch reaches 9th level,
they are also able to create magic items.
Spell Casting. Witches’ spells are embodied in
their familiars. The Witch table shows both the
number of spells the witch’s familiar knows and
the number the witch may memorize,
determined by the witch’s experience level.
Thus, the familiar of a 1st-level witch knows one
spell (chosen by the Referee, who may allow the
player to choose).
Using Magic Items. Witches can use magic
scrolls of spells from the witch spell list. They
count as an arcane caster and a divine caster for
the purposes of using magic items.
Familiar
A familiar is an intelligent animal that keeps a
witch company, and safeguards the forbidden
knowledge of a witch’s spells.
Adding Spells. A familiar can learn new spells
from mentorship or scrolls in the same manner
as a magic-user copying spells into a spellbook.
Form. The familiar can take the form of an
animal with ½ HD or less. Common familiars
include a normal bat, a cat, an owl, or a small
viper, all described on the following page. The
referee may allow other familiars, such as a giant
centipede, a giant ferret, or a giant rat.
Hit Points. A witch’s familiar gains bonus hit
points equal to the witch’s level. It still only has
its normal HD. For example, a 7th-level witch’s
familiar would have HD ½ + 7 (9 hp).
Initiative. A witch and their familiar both act
on the witch’s initiative in combat.
Intelligence. A familiar has an intelligence of
1d6+6. Familiars can read any languages the
witch knows. Those with 10 or more Intelligence
can also speak.
THAC0 and Saving Throws. A familiar may
use its own THAC0 (or to hit bonus) and saving
throws, or the witch’s, whichever is higher.
Deliver Spells. Witches can cast spells on
targets they cannot see, provided the familiar
can see or otherwise perceive the target, and the
target is still within range of the witch.
Share Senses. Familiars can communicate
with their witch via empathy from any distance.
By concentrating, a witch can perceive the world
through their familiar’s senses, gaining any
extraordinary senses (such as infravision) that
their familiar may possess.
Lost Familiars. A familiar that dies can be
replaced similarly to a lost spellbook, taking 1
week of uninterrupted rituals, and 1,000 gp per
witch level. The replacement familiar knows the
minimum number of spells for the witch’s level
(the familiar of a 4th level witch would know 4
spells). These may be the same spells as the lost
familiar, or different ones. Any additional spells
the witch learned previously are lost.
Witches’ Brew
Witches know ways to make magic potions
faster and easier than other magic-users. To
make a potion, a witch must have reached a
certain experience level, and must harvest
components from a monster with at least as
many HD as the level required for the witch to
craft such a potion (for example: crafting a
potion of growth would require components
from a 3HD monster).
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Brewing a potion in this way takes 1 day of After Reaching 9th level…
uninterrupted work. After a number of days At 9th level, a witch may start a coven, attracting
equal to the witch’s level, the potion expires, 2d6 apprentice witches of 1st-2nd level. These
losing its magical properties. witches cannot be replaced if they are killed.
1st level: control animal, control plant,
delusion, healing, treasure-finding.
4th level: clairaudience, control human, control
undead, diminution, ESP, fire resistance, growth,
invisibility, invulnerability, levitation.
7th level: clairvoyance, control giant, flying,
gaseous form, poison, polymorph self, speed.
10th level: dragon control, heroism, longevity

Bat, normal
AC 6 [13] HD 1hp, Att 1x swarm (confusion), THAC0 20 [-
1], MV 9’ (3’)/120’ (40’ flying, SV D14 W15 P16 B17 S18
(NH). ML 6, AL Neutral, XP 5
• Confusion. -2 to attacks and saving throws, unable to
cast spells.
• Echolocation. Unaffected by effects that impair,
modify, or rely on sight. Blinded by magical silence.

Cat
AC 6 [13] HD ½ (2 hp), Att 1x claws (1d2), THAC0 18
[+1], MV 180’ (60’), SV D13 W14 P13 B16 S15 (1). ML 9,
AL Neutral, XP 5
• Infravision: 60’.
• Silent Movement. The cat makes no noise while
moving, and reduces damage from falling by 6.

Owl
AC 8 [11] HD ½ (2 hp), Att 1x talons or beak (1d2),
THAC0 19 [+0], MV 360 (120’) flying, SV D14 W15 P16
B17 S18 (NH). ML 7, AL Neutral, XP 5
• Silent Flight. The owl makes no noise while flying.
• Swoop. Can dive onto victims visible from above. If
the victim is surprised, inflicts double damage. On an
attack roll of 18 or more, victim can be carried away
(if it is of appropriate size).

Snake, Small Viper

AC 7 [12] HD ½ (2 hp), Att 1x bite (1 + poison), THAC0
19 [+0], MV 90 (30’), SV D12 W13 P14 B15 S16 (1). ML
7, AL Neutral, XP 5
• Infravision: 60’.
• Poison. Causes death in 1d10 turns (save vs poison)

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Witch Level Progression

Saving Throws Spells
Level XP HD THAC0 D W P B S 1 2 3 4
1 0 1d4 19 [0] 13 14 13 16 15 1
2 2,500 2d4 19 [0] 13 14 13 16 15 2
3 5,000 3d4 19 [0] 13 14 13 16 15 3
4 10,000 4d4 19 [0] 13 14 13 16 15 3 1
5 20,000 5d4 19 [0] 13 14 13 16 15 3 2
6 40,000 6d4 17 [+2] 11 12 11 14 12 3 3
7 80,000 7d4 17 [+2] 11 12 11 14 12 3 3 1
8 150,000 8d4 17 [+2] 11 12 11 14 12 3 3 2
9 300,000 9d4 17 [+2] 11 12 11 14 12 3 3 3
10 450,000 9d4+1 17 [+2] 11 12 11 14 12 3 3 3 1
11 600,000 9d4+2 14 [+5] 8 9 8 11 8 3 3 3 2
12 750,000 9d4+3 14 [+5] 8 9 8 11 8 3 3 3 3
13 900,000 9d4+4 14 [+5] 8 9 8 11 8 4 3 3 3
14 1,050,000 9d4+5 14 [+5] 8 9 8 11 8 4 4 3 3

3rd Level
Witch Spell List 1. Continual Light (Continual Darkness) C
2. Cure Disease (Cause Disease) C
Witches draw their spells from a wide range of 3. Dispel Magic M
sources. Each has a C, D, or M in superscript, 4. Remove Curse (Curse) C
denoting whether the spell is found in the Cleric, 5. Infravision M
Druid, or Magic-user spell list. 6. Fly M
7. Polymorph Others M
1st Level 8. Polymorph Self M
1. Animal Friendship D
2. Charm Person M 4th Level
3. Cure Light Wounds (Cause… Wounds) C 1. Animate Dead M
4. Detect Magic M 2. Charm Monster M
5. Faerie Fire D 3. Contact Higher Plane M
6. Light (Darkness) C 4. Cure Serious Wounds (Cause… Wounds) C
7. Protection from Evil C 5. Insect Plague C
8. Ventriloquism M 6. Stone to Flesh (Flesh to Stone) M
7. Summon Animals D
2nd Level 8. Wizard Eye M
1. Detect Evil M
2. Entangle D
3. ESP M
4. Invisibility M
5. Levitate M
6. Obscuring Mist D
7. Phantasmal Force M
8. Speak with Animals D

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Appendix:
Design Choices
A lot of “old-school” design is completely
arbitrary. I included this appendix both to show
my process, explain my intentions, and describe
how I imagine features being used in play.
Oracle
Oracles have always struck me as what I wanted
clerics to be. Prophets, augurs, and soothsayers.
The warrior-monk angle just isn’t my thing.
Oracles are a surprisingly rare presence in
RPGs, though! Divination is usually given to the
“mage” class. I liked the ideas behind
Pathfinder’s oracle, but not the complexity of it.
Awareness
This special ability was a straightforward
addition, copied straight from the OSE Ranger. It
shouldn’t be easy to surprise someone whose
whole thing is that they can see the future.
Divine Magic
After some soul-searching, I decided to keep
oracles preparing spells. I wanted the sorcerer I
was also designing for this packet to feel unique.
If oracles were also spontaneous casters I’d be
shooting myself in the foot there.
My oracle is built on the druid chassis. They
have a druid’s weapon and armor proficiencies,
and use a druid’s progression, but they cast
spells from the cleric list.
They get their oracular powers from the
addition of a handful of magic-user spells.
Potent Divinations
In every game I’ve GMed, divination spells are
slept on. When I play, I try to make aggressive
use of them – even if it’s just thematic.
So, how to make a player choose something
like find traps over bless? My answer was to just
make the spells universally better.
Detect evil in a 120’ radius? ESP for 4 hours!?
That feels harder to pass up.
Prophecy
Commune and abilities like it are my favorite
kind of mechanic. Any time you get to ask the
referee questions? Awesome. It’s my favorite
part of Powered by the Apocalypse systems.
My first instinct was to give the oracle an exact
copy of the 5E Diviner’s portent ability.
Effectively, you roll some d20s at the start of the
day, and can replace other peoples’ rolls with
them. After agonizing over it, I decided that
mechanic didn’t feel “old school” enough.
My second instinct was the current ability, but
with an unpredictable number of uses. After you
used it, you’d roll a d6. If you rolled less than or
equal to the number of times you’ve used
Prophecy, you can’t use it anymore that day. 1 to
6 uses felt too inconsistent to be the class’s core
gimmick, and still didn’t fit the “old school”
design style. So, the generic 3/day limit.
To distinguish it from the commune spell, I
added the 1 turn “casting time,” and the ability to
get more specific answers as you level up. If you
need instant answers, you can still cast
commune. If you can take the time, prophecy.
Oracle’s Curse
This was my favorite part of the Pathfinder
oracle, specifically because of its mythical flavor.
A voluntary curse is a tricky thing to navigate – a
delicate balance must be struck between a fun
roleplaying quirk and a frustrating burden.
I allowed players to choose any effect of the
curse spell. Honestly, these are all rough. -4 to
hit, -2 to all saving throws, or reduce an ability
score by 50%. There’s a lot of roleplaying
potential here – you can halve your CON and
play a sickly Raistlin-like character – but they’re
nasty penalties to be stuck with forever.
The options I introduce are obnoxious, but not
devastating. Extra damage from a certain
source? Potentially deadly, but easily avoidable.
Reduced speed? You’re probably not slower than
the party fighter. The impaired vision has some
serious drawbacks (no spell scrolls), but “blind
oracle” is a timeless character archetype.
The delusion ability is my personal favorite –
and it’s just ironic given the oracle’s signature
spells. I imagine a Cassandra-like oracle whose
listening and searching are so unreliable, the
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party doesn’t believe her when she actually does
find a secret door or something.
Temple
The oracle’s stronghold is a mix of the cleric’s
and the magic-user’s. A small group of devout
apprentices felt more in keeping with the
oracle’s theme, but I preserved the cleric’s ability
to get a stronghold at half-price.
Sorcerer
Sorcerer was one of the first classes I ever
played. I didn’t get the whole “Vancian Casting”
thing with wizards. What do you mean,
“preparing spells?” I can’t just cast them?
The themes of a Sorcerer – innate talent and
barely-controllable superpowers – were also
very relatable as a kid with (at the time,
undiagnosed) ADHD.
While sorcerer is still thematically one of my
favorite classes, the bitter truth is that in most
games it sucks. 3.5/Pathfinder sorcerers are
wizards, but worse. 5E gave everyone
spontaneous casting, effectively removing the
sorcerer’s special niche. They tried to
compensate by giving them metamagic, only to
release feats that let everybody use that, too.
I was committed to avoiding those pitfalls with
my OSE sorcerer.
Elemental Blasts
At the end of the day, the Sorcerer is the blaster
caster. You don’t play a Sorcerer for utility; you
play it to hurl more fireballs per day than anyone
else in the party.
However, OSE’s more subdued spell lists
lacked many of the Sorcerer’s destructive staple
spells. Rather than add all of those back in, I
opted for an approach that gave more flexibility.
Sorcerers have a much more limited library of
spells than magic-users (up to 14 at 14th level,
versus an M-U’s minimum of 20). To avoid
further limiting their choices, I opted to make
the blaster-casting its own mechanic, without
outshining the existing offensive spells. This
way, learning fireball is still useful, but a sorcerer
doesn’t have to choose between yet another
offensive spell, or something like fly.
The d10 damage dice of elemental bolts are
more volatile than a magic missile. At low levels,
they also have less range. At high levels, magic
missile works like a scalpel. Elemental bolts have
more potential damage, but less reliability.
Elemental blasts have a wide range of possible
shapes, but must originate from the Sorcerer’s
space. Fireball and lightning bolt offer superior
range, at the expense of a fixed damage type.
Plus, all blasts originating from the sorcerer’s
space emphasizes the “barely controlled magic”
feel I love so much.
Followers
Sorcerers, like their powers, should be wild and
unpredictable. A sorcerer building a stronghold
didn’t quite make sense to me, so I gave them a
version of the ranger’s feature, with one major
change: it’s 4d6 HD instead of 2d12 creatures.
Like their spells, I wanted the sorcerer to pick
power over variety – my intent is these HD will
be dumped into one or two extremely powerful
monsters instead of a small army of followers.
Witch
I’ve always seen witches as a wilder counterpart
to the academic magic-user. While wizards see
magic as something to be studied and recorded,
witches treat it more like a power that can be
borrowed, but never mastered.
Occult Magic
The witch is in a weird place, thematically,
where it simultaneously has its own niche, but
also doesn’t do anything another class can’t also
do. I decided to double-down on this versatility,
giving the Witch a thematic mix of spells from
the Cleric, Druid, and Magic-user spell lists.
The Witch uses the OSE Bard’s spell
progression, but accelerated by one level, much
like OSE’s druid compared to the cleric. While
they lose out on 5th level spells, the versatility of
their spell list – plus their potion-making – gives
them a whole lot of flexibility in a party.
A witch of any level can be a controller with
spells like charm person, a healer, or scout by
using spells like detect magic.
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You’ll see plenty of witchy staples on their list,
like curse and polymorph other, along with some
thematically spooky spells at higher levels, like
animate dead and insect plague.
Familiar
Familiars always felt kind of tacked-on to 3.5
Sorcerers and Wizards; I liked Pathfinder’s
approach of “bound objects” more, thematically.
However, the way the Pathfinder Witch used
their familiar – as a living, breathing spellbook –
was an awesome thematic choice that justified
the familiar’s existence to me.
Even with the bonus hp, even getting to share
the witch’s saving throws, familiars are still very
delicate. Fortunately, old-school gaming has a
built-in fix for this. You don’t want to risk your
familiar in the dungeon? Leave it to babysit the
hirelings. Tell me you don’t love the flavor of a
magically intelligent black cat lounging on a cart,
while all the hirelings avoid making eye contact.
If you read closely, replacing a familiar is
cheaper than replacing a spellbook at higher
levels – 1,000 gp per level instead of 1,000 gp
per level of each spell replaced. That’s a bit of a
boon, since the familiar is still easier to lose.
The ability to deliver spells leads to some
interesting options. A bat or owl familiar flying
overhead can let a witch cast spells at targets
who would be otherwise unreachable.
Some of the familiars – like the snake – can be
deadly to low-level enemies. I figure this is a
risk/reward thing. If you’re going to risk your
familiar in a fight, might as well be worth it.
Witches’ Brew
Spicy take: I don’t like alchemists and artificers
in my games. The easy access to magic items,
plus things like bombs and firearms, all feel too
scientific for my preferred flavor of fantasy.
Potion-making should be the witch’s thing.
“Fire burn, and cauldron bubble,” bitches.
A massive amount of “not in the rulebooks”
magic is covered by magical research in Old
School RPGs. You want to make a voodoo doll of
an enemy? Magical research. You want a broom
of flying? Magical research. Technically, making
potions is already allowed by magical research…
but it’s expensive.
I wanted to put potion-making in the hands of
a witch from 1st level. My intent is that the
component requirement, the relatively long
crafting time, and the expiration date on potions
will insulate this mechanic from too much abuse
by players. A 1st level witch has to spend a day
making a potion, and use it the next day.
The levels required to make certain potions is
mostly arbitrary. I used a general guideline of,
“when can the witch do this with a spell?”
For example, the potion of delusion lets the
witch peddle snake oil from the start.
Some, like the potion of longevity, I threw on
the high end for thematic reasons. Thinking
about the witches in Stardust, whose entire
motivation for villainy was eternal youth. I was
also thinking about Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings,
where the finale of the story is all because a
vengeful sorceress used a potion of dragon
control on a benevolent gold dragon in disguise.
Coven
What else could this feature be? This is based
more on the Thief’s capstone than any other. It
doesn’t quite make sense for witches to have a
fixed stronghold – they meet where they can,
usually far away from prying eyes.
The same constraints that keep witches from
abusing their potion-making also keeps a witch’s
coven from becoming a portable potion factory.
• 1st-level witches’ potions only last one day.
• The witches need components from monsters
for each potion.
• If the witches are spending all their time
churning out potions, they aren’t adventuring
or gaining any XP.
I suppose, given enough time, you could train
them up to be a portable potion factory, but at
that point, I’d say you’ve earned it.
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