A wyvern rider talisman is a powerful object that is often used by wyvern riders in the world of fantasy and magic. This talisman is believed to possess the ability to enhance and strengthen the bond between a wyvern and its rider, and provide them with extraordinary powers. In many fantasy stories and games, wyverns are fierce and majestic creatures that resemble dragons. They are known for their agility, speed, and powerful attacks. However, riding a wyvern is not an easy task and requires a special connection between the rider and the creature. A wyvern rider talisman is often made from a combination of rare materials, such as dragon scales, enchanted gems, and feathers from mythical birds.

[Pathfinder] Is this a Witch-exploit or am I missing something? (1 Viewer)

The Witch in Pathfinder can take the Coven hex. So other witches within 30 feet can aid another to add to her caster level for spells and for hexes.

If that Witch takes the Leadership feat she could get a lot of followers (and a cohort) that are witches. In theory they could all take the coven hex.

The witch's level determines the save DC for the witch's hexes.

So does the witch with all of the above have hexes that become "oh, btw you need a natural 20 to make that save" I win button?

Or am I missing something here?

LogicNinja

Budding Supervillain

I found your problem.

Don't let players take the Leadership feat. If you want people to play 2+ character, just let them play 2+ characters.

I mean, we're talking about a feat that can get your 15th-level Fighter a 13th-level Wizard, i.e. a character more powerful than your primary character.

Rasmus Wagner

0

Leadership is the problem here. but if you insist on a different solution: Hex save DC is based on class level, not caster level. I can't be arsed to do it, but I'm sure you can find monsters with caster levels in excess of their HD, and Su abilities with a save DC to demonstrate it.

Particle_Man

Semi-Retired

Don't worry, I wouldn't allow the exploit, just like I wouldn't allow Pun-Pun.

But I am still not sure it even is an exploit. There might be something that I am missing that shows that the stars cannot, in fact, align the way I think they could.

FerroVore

0

Well, your DM would have to play along with this, so that's the problem. I learned something new from this because I was going to say followers gained from Leadership can only be NPC classes, but Pathfinder's version apparently removed that distinction.

Dweller in Darkness

Aspiring potion maker and nomad

"Aha! I and my coterie of witches will . . ." *empowered magic missile* ". . . and my significant number of witches . . . " *archery barrage* ". . . Laura and I are gonna mess you up!"

There's a reason you don't being low-level minions into battle, as this so nobly demonstrates. Incidentally, this makes the Leadership feat self-nerfing. You lose Leadership score for losing minions, so you if you don't conserve them, you don't get to keep them.

Capellan

Member

Coven (Ex): The witch counts as a hag for the purpose of joining a hag’s coven. The coven must contain at least one hag.

Particle_Man

Semi-Retired

Coven (Ex): The witch counts as a hag for the purpose of joining a hag’s coven. The coven must contain at least one hag.

The very next sentence, however, is not about joining a coven as such:

In addition, whenever the witch with this hex is within 30 feet of another witch with this hex, she can use the aid another action to grant a +1 bonus to the other witch’s caster level for 1 round.

I don't think that one has to have a hag around to simply aid another if both happen to have the coven hex. Joining a coven (with a hag in it) and aiding another are separate features of the same hex.

Capellan

Member

Well, even if you read it that way (which I wouldn't - I'd treat it as only members of your actual coven can aid you, and a coven requires a hag), fireball will quickly put an end to any Leadership-based coven shenanigans.

Dweller in Darkness

Aspiring potion maker and nomad

I take that first line as indicating that witches can join a hag coven and gain access to the special advantages of a coven as though they were a hag, but that the coven has to have a least one actual hag. So, two annis hags and a 7th level human witch could form a coven.

The next line seems to explicitly allow that any witch with this hex can aid you which can be dealt with quite easily with a little ranged attacking.

Users who are viewing this thread

• Forums
• RPGnet Roleplaying
• Dungeons & Dragons / Fantasy D20 Spotlight

Brian Ansell passed away on December 30th, 2023. He was 68. Through co-creating Warhammer and pouring heroic energy into developing it further, he made Warhammer synonymous with war gaming.
He will be missed.

Jennell Jaquays, one of the founding talents of early Dungeons & Dragons material, has passed away. In addition to creating numerous D&D supplements such as Caverns of Thracia and setting examples of dungeon design still followed today, she prolifically illustrated her own work and that of others. She worked on a slew of major video games, including Quake II and Age of Empires.

She will be tremendously missed. A thread about her life and accomplishments can be found here.

J.H Brennan, occultist and RPG game designer, has passed. He was the creator of the Man, Myth and Magic RPG, among others, published by Yaquinto Games. He will be missed; a thread about his passing can be found here.

Witches, Covens, and Ritual Magic

One of the things that I really enjoy about the flavor behind the Witch class is the Coven, a group of hags, witches, and warlocks working together, pooling their resources to unleash some powerful effect on an unsuspecting world (even if it is only a darn tasty pot of chicken soup). The coven ability comes from the hag herself and has the following abilities:

When three hags of any type gather, they can form a coven to gain increased magical ability. Any combination of hags can form a coven, but green hags are the most common members of such foul gatherings.

Whenever all three hags of a particular coven are within 10 feet of one another, all three of them can work together to use any of the following spell-like abilities: animate dead, baleful polymorph (DC 18), blight (DC 17), bestow curse (DC 17), clairaudience/clairvoyance, charm monster (DC 17), commune, control weather, dream, forcecage, mind blank, mirage arcana (DC 18), reincarnate, speak with dead, veil (DC 19), vision.

All three hags must take a full-round action to take part in this form of cooperative magic. All coven spell-like abilities function at CL 9th (or at the highest CL available to the most powerful hag in the coven). The save DCs are Charisma-based, and function as if with a Charisma score of 16 unless one of the hags has a higher Charisma score, in which case the spell-like ability DCs are adjusted by that hag's Charisma modifier.

Pretty powerful stuff. The Witch has a coven hex available to her that allows her to be part of this group as well.

With the requirement that one of the coven members be a hag, chances of actually using this feet for that purpose is low. You 'could' take leadership and get a hag cohort, but that leads down a road that few GMs wish to tread. +1 CL is nice, though other hexes so vastly overshadow it and it's so rare to have more than one witch in a group that it's hardly ever taken.

The Hexcrafter magus archtype grants access to this hex as well so in theory a magus and witch could feed off each other. All well and good, but as I said there are better hexes out there to choose from.

The Accursed sorcerer bloodline also gives a similar ability.

So there's all these classes with the ability to be part of a coven, but that coven must always include a hag. Why? And why does a coven have the same abilities? Doesn't really make a whole lot of sense to me. So here's the proposal I've been working on.

Any character who may join a coven may also form one. A coven has certain requirements and provides some benefits to those involved.
* Minimum of three spell-casting participants.
* Forming a coven requires a 10 minute ritual that prepares the participants
* Adding a member to a coven requires a 1 minute ritual to prepare them
* Coven members must remain within 30' of the coven leader. If anyone exceeds this distance they are unable to participate in the coven unless added again.
* Spellcasters select a number of spells prepared or spell slots, up to their own caster level, to donate to the coven. These are lost until the spellcaster regains their spells for the day. These powers are added to a spell pool.
* Donations to the spell pool may be made at any time by any member.
* The spell pool is a collection of the spell levels of the donated spells or spell slots.
* The spell list is a collection of all spells available to spontaneous casters, and all patron spells or domain spells, and any prepared spell donated to the spell pool.
* In order to cast a spell from the spell list, an appropriate amount of spell levels are drawn from the spell pool. The caster must be able to cast a spell of that level.
* Only the leader of a coven may cast from the spell pool.
* When a spell is cast from the spell pool, the caster level of the coven leader is increased by 1 for every other member of the coven.
* Spells cast from the spell pool have their DCs based off the charisma bonus of the caster rather than their normal primary attribute.
* Spells cast from the spell pool have a minimum casting time of one round.

Participating in a coven has it's own benefits and rewards:
* All cantrips and orisons known by all members of the coven are available to all other members. These may be used as though known to the caster.
* All hexes known by all members are available to all other members and may be used normally (must still have the hex class ability)
* All Metamagic and Item creation feats known by all members are available to all other members.
* Spells not donated to the spell pool may still be cast normally, there is no benefit for being in the coven for this.

Ritual magic is another thing available to covens. A ritual spell is a powerful spell, usually more powerful than any one spellcaster can manage on their own. A ritual spell need not be known beforehand, only the desired effects. Only the coven leader may cast the spell, and only if their augmented caster level will permit it. Twice the number of spell levels for the ritual spell are removed from the spell pool, the casting time increased to 10 minutes per spell level, and a spellcraft check (DC 20+2x spell level) is required to successfully cast the spell. Each member in the coven provides a +2 aid another bonus to the coven leader for this check. Other factors may help in this check as well.
* Expensive material components. Every 100gp in material components gives a +1 bonus to the check.
* Blood Ritual. Every 10 hp sacrificed (from the caster, coven members, or some other sacrifice, willing or not) grants a +1 bonus to the check
* Special time. Solstices, New Moon, Full Moon, Eclipse, Lunar Eclipse, cosmic alignment, etc may grant bonuses to both spellcraft checks and caster level
* Special place. Sacred groves, temples, mountain peaks, caves, etc. Certain places may grant bonuses to both spellcraft checks and caster level
* Non-members. A spellcaster who is not a member of the coven may participate, but they may only donate spell levels and a +1 to caster level, no bonus to the spellcraft check.

Participating in a coven shouldn't be limited to those of a particular class or birthright, so there's a feat for that!

Coven[General]: You count as a hag for the purpose of joining a coven. In addition, whenever you are within 30 feet of a hag (or someone who counts as a hag), you can use the aid another action to grant a +1 bonus to the other spellcaster’s caster level for 1 round.

Any comments and suggestions for the above are greatly appreciated.

Pathfinder Player Companion: Blood of the Coven (PFRPG)

Wizards may wield studied spells and clerics pray to the gods themselves, but witchcraft—wild, untamed, perilous—is the magic of the common folk, with all the desperation and danger that implies. Embodied by hags and their half-blood daughters, changelings, witchcraft has always been one of the broadest, most potent, and most misunderstood forces of magic. until now. Learn the dark rituals and curses witchcraft empowers, and the good it stands to do in the world as well.

Inside this book you'll find:

• An examination of the changeling race, including changeling covens, enhanced hag heritage, and specific rules for the 10 subraces of changelings, depending on their hag mothers.
• New hag- and witchcraft-focused archetypes for a variety of classes, including bloodragers, clerics, investigators, and witches.
• New curse spells and magic rituals employed by witches, as well as curse-related feats to help adventurers get the most out of a bad day.

This Pathfinder Player Companion is intended for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and the Pathfinder campaign setting, but it can easily be incorporated into any fantasy world.

Other Resources: This product is also available on the following platforms:

Product Availability

Print Edition:

Ships from our warehouse in 11 to 20 business days.

This product is non-mint. Refunds are not available for non-mint products. The standard version of this product can be found here.

Are there errors or omissions in this product information? Got corrections? Let us know at [email protected].

See Also:

• Pathfinder (3,550)
• Paizo Inc (9,364)
• Gaming / Roleplaying Games (12,517)
• Pathfinder / Setting / Player Companion (96)
• Sale

Average product rating:

Sign in to create or edit a product review.

Amok, Amok, Amok!

Rather enjoyed this product. The specific changeling heritages are both descriptive and varied, much like the “Blood of Angels/Fiends” books were, with an addition to unlock more of your hag-heritage!

Also, of note was an expansion on patrons, called ‘agendas’ – you can now have a patron that perhaps pays more attention to you than other witches, and include both boons and banes.

There is some material about hags and covens, but it doesn’t make the mistake Blood of the Night’s mistake with dedicating player options for vampires. Informative, but short.

Of the archetypes, the malice binder was very cool and interesting: a witch hunter that uses a specific magic to aid in battling their prey. It is an archetype that I would like to see have more options released in future products regarding one of its selectable class abilities (similar to new discoveries).

One of the best

Strong archetypes, great changeling material, cool new spells and rituals. Even the magic items section is creative, useful, and even pretty funny.

Mama always said not to wander too deep into the woods

Blood of the Coven is a well-worth addition to the Pathfinder Library of both players and game masters.

This Player Companion begins by expanding on the Changelings, both in terms of rules mechanics and lore. It starts off by expanding on the lore presented in the Advanced Race Guide and Inner Sea Races, and moves on to a guideline for Changelings based on non humans, and a note that the Hags with the Outsider type can also create Changelings.

Changelings get some good options in this book. They received the treatment given to Aasimar, Tieflings and Skinwalkers, being given ten(!) optional varieties tied closely to the Changeling’s hag mother. Each lists a typical alignment (which is one variety of Neutral or another, except for Waker May, born from Dreamthief hag’s coven-mates, into whom the Dreamthief pours their fiendish soul). These variants also alter the racial ability modifiers of the changeling, though most have at least one or two modifiers in common with the non-speciality Changeling. Finally, the variants are each given a Hag Racial Trait, usefully collected from the various Bestiary entries of Hags, expanding the options from the Advanced Class Guide.

This section is excellent, and my only real disappointment is that Slag May, Annis-born Changelings retain a constitution penalty, the only mar on them making absolutely perfect Bloodragers. Why bloodragers? I’ll get to that, but it's by no means a deal breaker.

The next section covers Covens. Once more, Blood of the Covens does some very useful leg-work in collating information on hags, in this place, the specific spells which a given hag contributes to their coven spellcasting. Additionally, there are a few feats in this section: The shiner here to me is Enhanced Coven. Each changeling with the feat gains an additional 3 coven ‘slots’ per day.

Next up is a fairly long section on Witchcraft. Patrons receive a set of archetypes which left you graft some spells onto your patron spell list, and at the cost of a drawback, you get a bonus hex. The drawbacks by and large are either minor or quite flavourful: the Celestial Agenda wants you to not deceive or threaten people, the Green Whispers patron forbids metal armor and inflicts minor damage in contact with metal and those whose patron is Touched By The Outer Gods are easily confused.

This section also contacts three archetypes for witches, of which my favourite has to be the Hagbound. Hagbound Witches have to take the archetype as their first level, and must continue to take levels in hagbound witch until they can free themselves from the hold a hag has on their souls, slowly transforming them into a Hag, becoming an evil monstrous humanoid with several immunities and hefty spell resistance, unless she can remove the archetype with a miracle before you hit 20th level. The putrefactor gains an honorable mention for being . thoroughly disgusting, but also an interesting take on a witch with a swarm familiar. The section tops off with three additional patrons, Jynx, Mercy and Rot.

The Witch Religions section provides an overview of the common deities that Witches worship, , and provides the Triadic Priest Cleric archetype, which forms a Triadic bond with exactly two allies, and gains bonuses for working cooperatively with them (I’m strongly considering this archetype if I ever get into a 3 player+GM game in the future)

Next up is a section on curses.slightly over a bag of spells all with the curse descriptor (surprise surprise) and a few feats. The standout feat is the Latent Curse metamagic feat. For a +1 spell level adjustment, you change the target line on a spell to object touched, but the object does not suffer the effect of the spell, oh no, the next creature to touch the object does. I think that this is a legitimately amazing feat with some creative, devious uses.

Hags and the Occult touches on Hagtouched implements and Hag or curse themed archetypes for the Kineticist and Spiritualist as well as a psychic discipline and hag-themed implements for Mediums, and the Arakineticist Archetype. I’m not as familiar as i should be with the occult classes, so I can’t really comment on these.

And then Ritual Magic. I love Ritual magic, and I love these Rituals! Five-Generation Curse is how you get lycanthropic families. Grand Coven lets a coven gain additional members, and gain powerful effects for more members,including wail of the banshee and greater create undead. Invoke the Nemesis is an amazingly thematic spell, I believe it’s a bit let down by being a seventh level ritual that summons a creature with a CR under 4.

Those who hunt is the penultimate section, and probably my favourite in the game, but then I favor martial characters. The Covenbane slayer could easily have been much too niche for consideration in many campaigns, but instead is, in my opinion a viable, strong archetype! The Covenbane slayer gains a supernatural ability to sense spellcasters, hags and creatures with SLAs, as well as recognise creatures disguised magically (“By the prickling of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes. ”), Studied target expands to give bonuses against the entire coven after studying a single member, and later expands to include those bound by hive-minds or telepathic bond, an excellent extrapolation of the theme.

The Hagriven Bloodrager is also amazing, gain claws, the ability to sacrifice spell slots for enhancement bonuses to both claws that stack with other enhancement bonuses, and natural armor bonus, and a free floating critical feat, changeable each day. And the art supplied for it on the previous page is excellent. Despite the con penalty on Slag-May/Annis-born Changelings, they’ve risen high on my “Play this concept” list.

The Malice Binder Investigator is perhaps a step down from the un-archetyped Investigator, but contains a slew of interesting abilities, but is perhaps better suited to an NPC than a PC. (But would serve excellently in that role: Wrack is especially cool, and a fantastic way to create tension.

Blood of the Coven closes up with an item section. There’s nothing essential here, but the Pactseeker’s blade is very cool, dealing bonus damage to each of a struck creature’s allies that the creature shares an active spell effect with, and the Battlepot Cauldron, which is a giant spiky pot you can use as a magical heavy mace. Beyond that, you can put up to five potions into the battlepot as a standard action each. When you hit an enemy with the Battlepot, you can free action effect that creature with one of the potions (of your choice) in the pot, very fun, I think! Also, ‘battlepot’ is just a plain fun word.

This wasn’t a book I had any particular excitement for when I first saw it on the release schedule, but I thought I’d take a look, and I was very pleased with what I found. Some very cool archetypes, interesting rituals, a delightfully tricksome metamagic feat. In addition, Paizo has taken an opportunity to enshrine that while hag’s magical nature causes them to bear only female children, these children can express masculine identities or lack clearly defined sexual traits.

Development leads for this book were Crystal Frasier and Jessica Price. John Compton, Eleanor Ferron, Crystal Frasier, Lissa Guillet, Elisa Mader, Adrian Ng, Mark Seifter and Linda Zayas-Palmer are credited as authors. The cover art is by Setiawan Lie, and interior art is by Kent Hamilton, Alyssa McCarthy and Benjamin Widdowson.

Fair is foul, and foul is fair.

As an enthusiast of all things hag-related, I waited with baited breath to acquire this gem.

The new options give a lot of customization to witches, changelings, and coven casters. Pleased to see changeling options for the outsider hags and finally (if not a little brief) new information on hag goddesses.

Interesting to see how different casters and psionics can touch upon the feats, spells, and items. Also pleased to see more classic hag homages, Curse of Dragonflies screams Spirited Away.

All of the Blood supplements have been useful, and Blood of the Coven especially so!

Worth the Wait!

I've been looking forward to this book for months, as our current campaign has a changeling character in it, and we were hoping for more material to work with. Now that it's here I'm blown away by it; I think I can safely say this is my favorite book in the Player Companion line.

This book has great options and information for changelings, hags, and witches in Pathfinder, all in about equal measure. The contributions here go beyond the rule additions however; the book really expands on what we know about hag ecology, the lives of changelings, and the role a patron plays in a witch's spellcasting career. In the case of the patrons, I finally feel like a witch's patron is as active a participant in her character as a cleric's god, which is saying something!

Our game group is going to get a lot out of this book now and in the future. I'd recommend it as a steller expansion on both character options and in-game lore.

A wyvern rider talisman is often made from a combination of rare materials, such as dragon scales, enchanted gems, and feathers from mythical birds. The creation of such a talisman requires great skill and magical knowledge. Once a wyvern rider obtains a talisman, they usually wear it around their neck or attach it to their saddle.

The talisman acts as a conduit, channeling the rider's energy and intentions to the wyvern. This connection allows the rider to better control and communicate with their mount. Moreover, the talisman is said to grant the rider additional abilities and powers. It can enhance their strength and endurance, making them more formidable in combat. It can also provide a sense of heightened perception, allowing the rider to see and react quickly to their surroundings. Additionally, the talisman can bestow the ability to speak and understand the language of wyverns, enabling the rider to give commands and receive feedback directly from their mount. Furthermore, a wyvern rider talisman has protective properties. It can ward off curses, deflect projectiles, and provide a limited amount of healing to both the rider and the wyvern. This makes them invaluable in battle, where survival is essential. However, wyvern rider talismans are not without their limitations. They are often delicate and can break if not handled with care. Moreover, their powers are not limitless, and they require time and energy to recharge after use. Additionally, not all riders are able to form a strong bond with a wyvern, and without this connection, the talisman's powers may be weaker or inaccessible. In conclusion, a wyvern rider talisman is a potent and coveted item in the realm of fantasy. It serves as a symbol of the unique bond between a rider and their wyvern, as well as a source of enhanced powers and protection. Whether in a story or a game, a wyvern rider with a talisman is a force to be reckoned with in any fantasy world..

Reviews for "The Wyvern Rider Talisman: Unleashing Your Inner Dragon Knight"

1. Samantha - 2 stars - The Wyvern rider talisman was a huge disappointment for me. The plot was confusing and poorly developed, making it difficult to follow along with the story. The characters lacked depth and I found it hard to relate to any of them. Additionally, the writing style was clunky and awkward, making it a struggle to get through each page. Overall, I was left feeling unsatisfied and unengaged with this book.

2. Michael - 1 star - I really did not enjoy reading the Wyvern rider talisman. The pacing was incredibly slow, with little action or excitement to keep me engaged. The world-building was weak and poorly explained, leaving me with more questions than answers. The characters felt flat and one-dimensional, lacking any real growth or development throughout the story. I found myself struggling to finish this book and would not recommend it to others.

3. Laura - 2 stars - The Wyvern rider talisman was a letdown for me. The writing style was overly descriptive and dragged on, making it difficult to stay interested in the story. The dialogue felt forced and unnatural, making it hard to connect with the characters. Additionally, the plot felt disjointed and lacked a clear direction, leaving me confused and frustrated. I was hoping for a thrilling fantasy adventure, but unfortunately, this book fell short of my expectations.

4. Benjamin - 2 stars - I was highly disappointed with the Wyvern rider talisman. The pacing was incredibly slow, with long stretches of mundane details and little action to keep me engaged. The world-building felt incomplete and underdeveloped, making it hard to fully immerse myself in the story. The characters lacked depth and failed to elicit any emotional connection from me. I was expecting an epic fantasy tale, but instead, I was left with a mediocre and forgettable read.

5. Emily - 1 star - I found the Wyvern rider talisman to be a tedious and uninspiring read. The writing lacked finesse and was riddled with grammatical errors, making it a chore to read. The plot was predictable and lacked any real surprises or twists. The characters were uninteresting and lacked any relatability. Overall, this book failed to captivate me and I would not recommend it to others.

The Wyvern Rider Talisman: The Key to Dominating the Skies