Sweet Dreams - Introducing the Night Hag Matron

As the seasons shift and the Spirits of Old flit on the peripheries of waking, I felt it’d be a good time to explore the more sinister side of the classic fantasy bestiary. On this blog we have discussed dragons and Derros, and future installments will look at dwarves, elves, giants, and more. But today, on this most hallowed of eves, we'll be looking at the most feared of all beasts and bastards of by-gone days.

Today, we shall take a closer look at the dreaded night hag.

If I Should Die Before I Wake… 

Night hags are among the vilest denizens of the Lower Planes. Unrivalled in their ugliness and incomparable in cruelty, these wretched beings are masters of magic and in possession of an incredible - and malignant - intelligence. Unlike other hags, who will gladly organise themselves into covens, night hags are altogether too selfish, spiteful, and psychotic to ever form long-term partnerships. 

And yet, even these abominable wretches must answer to someone… 

The night hag matrons are a select few hags that have dwelled in the realm of dreams for countless aeons, feasting upon nightmares and growing more powerful with each consumed terror. These beings are the leaders of their night hag daughters, and their plans are made and enacted over the course of centuries. They are powerful, yes, but they are secretive, dwelling only in the deepest corners of the subconscious mind. 

Night hag matrons seldom bother with physical forms, preferring instead to dwell in the collective dreamspace of a population. A faith devoted to dying gods; The nightmares of orphans left to suffer at the hands of their carers; the deep, sensuous dreams of the damned: These all make for prime real estate among night hag matrons. 

When they are forced to take on a physical form, night hag matrons favour appearances unpleasant even by hag standards. A typical night hag matron will most often appear as a tall, emaciated corpse with leathery skin and snarling teeth, bearing a crown of crooked horns that jut out at every possible angle from their narrow heads.

Much like their daughters, night hag matrons are prone to deals and will gladly take on new students - often at a terrible cost. These offers of power can be tempting, as matrons know many spells that have been otherwise lost to time. Their magicks often focus on oneiromancy, or the forgotten art of dream magick, which they use to curse their foes and manipulate their subjects. Of course, these magicks were lost for a reason, for each time one such spell is cast, the matron who first taught it grows in power. Long ago, in the dark and forgotten ages of pain that precede the modern era, there were matrons who held dominion over entire kingdoms of agonised dreamers, desperate insomniacs, and mindless sleepwalkers. Pray that we never return to those dark days. 

Adding The Matron To Your Game - D&D 5e 

Night hag matrons work best as warlock patrons and BBEGs rather than rank-and-file enemies for your players to encounter. As such, I haven’t produced a statblock for the matrons - however, if I were to do so I’d likely use a powerful Fiend such as a Nabassu as a basis. I would give them innate spellcasting with Charisma as their spellcasting ability and a spell save DC of around 17 (+9 to hit with spell attacks). 

While I haven’t provided a night hag matron stat block, I have adapted the following AD&D spells from Dragon Magazine issue 221 into highly-aggressive spells specifically for the matron to use. 

Adding The Matron To Your Game - RHP

If you’d like to add night hag matrons to your RHP game, I’ve got just the thing: A full quickstart expansion for RHP: Suburban Shaman that features a night hag matron - the dreaded mother_knows_best - as its central antagonist. This quickstart adventure comes with four seasonal events, a custom night hag matron stat block, and three brand new oneiromancy spells. What's more, mailing list subscribers will receive a 50% discount on their purchase of RHP: mother_knows.

Conclusion

There are many vile things that dwell in the subconscious world. While we can content ourselves in the knowledge that some are just figments of our imagination, many are all too real. And yet, there is much to learn from these denizens of dream, and - to a Magician of sufficient skill - the risks may yet be worth the reward.