Witch

AX.GHW.13.04.06

Type: Cursed/Possessed, Elite

Power Package: Elite (9D, self-developed, tradition-adjacent but not tradition-bound)

Nature: Independent practitioner; neither victim nor compact-Bound; dangerous by choice

Size: Medium
Attributes: Body 2D · Speed 3D · Wit 4D
Talents: Athletics 1D · Deceive 2D · Lore 3D · Resolve 2D · Resonance 2D
Health: 37 (20 + 2 + 15)
Defense: 2 (1 + (3+0)÷3)
Saves: Body 3D · Speed 5D · Wit 7D

Design note: "Witch" here does not imply gender or specific folklore origin; it refers to an independent practitioner who has developed significant supernatural capability outside the formal tradition structures, using eclectic methods. They are not affiliated with the standard traditions and may not be containable by standard tradition countermeasures.

Attacks

Hex Bolt (Primary Action): Wit + Resonance vs Wit Save, 4 damage; target gains one of the following (Witch's choice): Cursed Mark (visible to supernaturally-sensitive characters; -1D to saves against the Witch's abilities for remainder of scene), Jinxed (-1D to next roll of any kind), or Harrowed (Disadvantage on Wit Saves until end of scene)
Binding Hex (Primary Action): Wit + Lore vs Speed Save, target cannot move from their current position for 1 round. Range: Near.
Curse Storm (Primary Action, 1×/scene): Wit + Resonance vs Threshold 3, all targets in Near range; each takes a Hex Bolt effect (Witch selects one type applied to all, or rolls differently for each at no penalty). Deals 2 damage to each target regardless of save result.

Special Abilities

Eclectic Warding: The Witch has layered protective hexes. The first successful attack against them in a combat scene deals -2 damage (warding absorbs; this is not armor). After the warding is burned through, subsequent attacks are at normal damage.
Tradition Reading: The Witch has studied all formal traditions and can identify which one a character is using. Against a tradition she has studied, she gets +1D to saves against that tradition's abilities. Against traditions she hasn't encountered before, she takes -1D to saves (unfamiliar pattern).
Sympathetic Connection: If the Witch has a personal object belonging to a target, she can affect that target at up to Far range rather than Near range. Characters who have encountered the Witch before should be careful about what they leave behind.
Apprentice Network: Independent witches rarely operate entirely alone. If the Witch is badly pressed, she may have one or two apprentices (treat as Cursed Individual, Standard) who arrive within 3 rounds if a signal is given.

Tactics

The Witch fights from range, maintaining Near or Far distance and using Curse Storm when characters cluster. She uses Binding Hex to prevent approach and Hex Bolt to stack conditions. If cornered, she uses Sympathetic Connection (if she has objects) to force characters to rethink positioning. She will negotiate from a position of strength, if she believes she can't win the combat, she'll try to make stopping the combat more advantageous for the characters than continuing it.

Scene Materials

Investigation: a trail of hexed individuals, impossible coincidences following a pattern, objects with sympathetic connection value going missing from characters' environments. Context: the Witch has a goal that may or may not require the characters to die, understanding the goal may make the encounter solvable without full combat.

Addressing a Witch

The Witch is not possessed, not cursed against her will, and not compact-Bound. She is a person who has developed genuine power through methods outside the formal tradition structure. This means: - Standard exorcism has no effect (nothing to exorcise out) - Ritual banishment has no effect (she is not a spirit) - Negotiation works on the same basis it would with any intelligent, capable, self-interested person - Imprisonment works if you can achieve it - Death works as a final option but creates potential curse dispersal (GM discretion: does the Witch have a death-curse prepared?)