Quoth the Raven and themes.

[Jimsolo]

I could do hags. Not my first pick, but it's got definite potential. Plus, one of my 'love' articles would fit in just as well in a 'hags' issue. (One of the other ones would not...)

[A G Thing]

I have a few articles for hags on the back burner I could finish up. One or two of them might also fit with the love theme as well.

[divinedragonslayer]

I just feel hags themselves are one of these monsters no one understands. They're little used for a good reason in my humble opinion because as it stands they are not compelling villains. Yes there is the Mindfiske sisters, but to be honest they're the exception not the rule. And yet if you ask me what's more Gothic than werewolves or vampires? Hags. In Ravenloft I'd almost say they take the place of devils.

[High Priest Mikhal]

I'd say the Mindefiske Sisters are hard to work with while other hags are easier. Their write-up in Gaz. V and even in DoD leaves me wondering what, exactly, they're up to beyond just being cannibals and dark magic users? They're curse--to always see each other as they really are--also feels uninspired to me. Other hags can move about the domains and engage in nefarious plots--much like devils as you said, DD--but the Sisters are trapped in Tepest, a domain so bass-ackwards it'd be funny if it wasn't so scary what evils zeal and willful ignorance can create. They technically rule a domain...but one that's highly insular, sparsely populated, and increasingly eclipsed by fey as the popular bogeymen rather than hags. What can they do in that kind of environment besides act as plot devices like the Three Witches from Macbeth?

[Dark Angel]

Their write-up in Gaz. V and even in DoD leaves me wondering what, exactly, they're up to beyond just being cannibals and dark magic users?

Not as on topic, but I always enjoyed playing demiraces or humanoids and eating other races. Not quite cannibalism if a dwarf eats a dead (but prepared human), is it?

Back on topic, I have seen the difficulty of using the hags of Tempest (but to be fair they are easier to keep at arms length from players actively seeking them out). Given the rising Inquisition, they seem to be the way to go, but almost work better as good people doing terrible things under half baked conditions. In general, hags are way under used and I have added them in retroactively in previous supplements (particularly Corrupted Innocents from Book of Crypts) as they either fit better or certain monsters are overused.

[Jimsolo]

I'd say the Mindefiske Sisters are hard to work with while other hags are easier. Their write-up in Gaz. V and even in DoD leaves me wondering what, exactly, they're up to beyond just being cannibals and dark magic users? They're curse--to always see each other as they really are--also feels uninspired to me. Other hags can move about the domains and engage in nefarious plots--much like devils as you said, DD--but the Sisters are trapped in Tepest, a domain so bass-ackwards it'd be funny if it wasn't so scary what evils zeal and willful ignorance can create. They technically rule a domain...but one that's highly insular, sparsely populated, and increasingly eclipsed by fey as the popular bogeymen rather than hags. What can they do in that kind of environment besides act as plot devices like the Three Witches from Macbeth?

Someone asked Ryan Naylor the same question in his Illustrated History of the Core thread, and his answer was mind-boggling! The domain of Tepest is in many ways Ravenloft in microcosm, with the Tepestani playing the part of those unfortunates trapped in the Mists, and the Hags taking on the role of Dark Powers. Take any 'evil witch' story from legend and the Hags can take on that role.

Their curse isn't seeing one another as they really are. It's each other. The Mindefisk sisters are a trio of spiteful, petty, cruel harridans. Their hate for one another is matched only by the degree of their co-dependence. If THAT kind of malignant family relationship isn't beautiful fodder for a bajillion stories, I don't know what is.

[divinedragonslayer]

To be honest I don't like the Mindfiske sisters either. Along with Falkovnia I wonder if they couldn't have made a more interesting dark lord for the domain. But I'm not talking about the Mindfiske sisters who in my opinion would be more interesting if they're curse was to say to regain their beauty for a month/year they had to slay a suitor they truly loved.

Back to more what I'm talking about. I'm talking about hags being a force for corruption of nature and of women. Sure they could very well fit the old legends of witches, but I'd like to extend that to be dark twisted versions of fairy tales as well, but that's beside the point.

And what I mean is hags take the place of devils is that I also see hags as the those you go to when you want something badly, but can't get it yourself. Sure they can get it for you and it won't even cost you your soul? But the cost of dealing with a hag is so much worse than your soul.

Also I'd love to expand on the hands of glory from Gaz V I believe.

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

Also I'd love to expand on the hands of glory from Gaz V I believe.

Gaz V, for 3e yes, but 2e's Forged of Darkness first...

[divinedragonslayer]

Unfortunately I don't have access to 2e materials unfortunately. Honestly I'd like to see more derivatives of the Hands of Glory as well as more magical items in the spirit of the Hands of Glory. Especially those which use skulls carved with runes.

[High Priest Mikhal]

Someone asked Ryan Naylor the same question in his Illustrated History of the Core thread, and his answer was mind-boggling! The domain of Tepest is in many ways Ravenloft in microcosm, with the Tepestani playing the part of those unfortunates trapped in the Mists, and the Hags taking on the role of Dark Powers. Take any 'evil witch' story from legend and the Hags can take on that role.

Their curse isn't seeing one another as they really are. It's each other. The Mindefisk sisters are a trio of spiteful, petty, cruel harridans. Their hate for one another is matched only by the degree of their co-dependence. If THAT kind of malignant family relationship isn't beautiful fodder for a bajillion stories, I don't know what is.

I'm going to have to look at that thread. Thanks!

Yeah, DD, I saw the potential as well for both corruptions of nature and womanhood as well as the ones who make things happen--for a price. Always with a price the buyer never intended. The old (and I mean old) faerie tales, the witch trials in Europe and the American Colonies, all tend to hold to the image of "witches" as tempters, seducers, and corrupters. I've actually been working on a hag that works with the Cult of Elisime in the Lost Journals, a druid before the Change who became a blighter afterwards (the Cult is all about the corruption and perversion of all things: societal mores, morals, religion, life and death, mind, body, and soul, basically everything that is considered good, pure, or sacrosanct). I'd be a fool not to include a hag or two since they embody much of the Cult's doctrine.

The Cult itself is even a good play on passion. Namely passion turned dark or run out of control as well as how base desires can lead even the most righteous to the darkest depths.

[Zilfer]

Unfortunately I don't have access to 2e materials unfortunately. Honestly I'd like to see more derivatives of the Hands of Glory as well as more magical items in the spirit of the Hands of Glory. Especially those which use skulls carved with runes.

That gave me the Idea of an NPC trapped in a ruined skull! Dresden Files anyone? Now i'm thinking that might be an interesting Ravenloft item. An old necromancer skull filled with forbidden knowledge.... now the question is would it attempt to seduce whoever owned it, or take over their body? Or is it just the temptation of a knowledge source of the dark?

Anyways back on topic, my players have never gone through Tepest so i'm not sure if I'd use the Hags or not. Might be interesting, to have an RP encounter with them.....

[Jimsolo]

I also really enjoy the hag as spite incarnate. You can use the hag archetype as a metaphor for the bitterness that can tear up people (especially women, here) outcast from society for one reason or another (age, social stigma attached to marital status, or just gender status). The Hala witches represent a kind of sanguine serenity in the face of such adversity, and the hags form the opposite side of the coin: women whose justifiable anger has grown out of proportion to hate, and twisted them into monsters. These hags are the more active, since they seek to actively destroy (or better yet, corrupt) the things that they feel they were denied. (Happy marriages, loving homes, healthy relationships, etc.)