Infernal, Night Hag

An aged woman of horrific appearance with devilish features, taloned hands and feet, blue-black skin and hair

Basic Fantasy Field Guide Omnibus

Armor Class	11 (s) + iron, not steel
Hit Dice	8**
Number Appearing	1
Attacks	1 claw (2d6)
Damage	2d6
Movement	40'
Save As	Fighter: 8
Morale	8
XP	1015
Treasure Type	Special

A Night Hag appears to be an aged woman of horrific appearance, hunched and bent, with devilish facial features, taloned hands and feet, with blue-black skin and hair. They are about the same height and weight as a human female. They are found only singly on the material plane where they search out victims to be slain, taken to the lower planes, and turned into larva (page 152).

Night hags prefer the most cruel and selfish of human men as prey, though they will take a woman if she is more cruel and selfish than any man available. When a victim is located, the night hag casts a powerful form of sleep which can affect any creature or character up to 12th-level or 12 hit dice unless a successful saving throw vs. Spells is made. Creatures who would be affected by a normal sleep spell do not receive a saving throw but are automatically affected. A victim who falls asleep will be strangled by the night hag and thus killed automatically, unless someone intervenes to stop her.

Any victim who resists the sleep spell is not “in the clear” just yet, for the night hag will visit the victim once they fall asleep normally. The night hag will be in an ethereal (invisible and intangible) state, and after causing the victim to become ethereal she will climb on the victim’s back and ride them until dawn. The exhausted victim awakens after such a night having lost one point of Constitution permanently.

Naturally, any character reduced to a Constitution score of 0 is slain. Monsters are not normally chosen as victims, but should such a thing happen to a monster with no given Constitution score, assume it has a score of 10 plus its normal hit dice.

Ethereal creatures can only be seen by other ethereal creatures or by means of detect invisible, and can only be harmed by magic weapons; most spells or magic will not affect such a creature but gaze attacks can do so. Once on the back of her victim the night hag can only be removed by killing her, but any strike against the night hag which misses has a normal chance to hit the victim being ridden.

A night hag hates almost all creatures, and will often attack on sight so long as she believes she can win.

Special Abilities

Limited Vulnerability: Can only be hit by silver, iron (but not steel), or magical weapons.

Immunities: Immune to both normal and magical forms of fire and cold as well as sleep, charm, and fear magic.

Sleep: A powerful form of sleep which can affect any creature or character up to 12th-level or 12 hit dice unless a successful saving throw vs. Spells is made. Creatures who would be affected by a normal sleep spell do not receive a saving throw but are automatically affected. A victim who falls asleep will be strangled by the night hag and thus killed automatically, unless someone intervenes to stop her.

Ethereal Riding: The night hag will visit the victim once they fall asleep normally. The night hag will be in an ethereal (invisible and intangible) state, and after causing the victim to become ethereal she will climb on the victim’s back and ride them until dawn. The exhausted victim awakens after such a night having lost one point of Constitution permanently.

Etherealness: Can become ethereal at will, and can resume material form in the same way; her movement rate remains the same while she is ethereal.

Polymorph Self: Can polymorph at will (as the spell polymorph self).

Magic Missile: Three times a day a night hag can cast a form of magic missile which launches a single missile that inflicts 2d8 points of damage.

Ray of Darkness: Three times a day she can project a ray of darkness from her fingertip which can strike one character; the target must save vs. Spells or suffers weakness that reduces damage done by all melee attacks by half for 2d8 rounds.

Summon Ally: Can summon an ally once a day. Roll 1d%: On a roll of 01-25 a vrock (page 159) appears; on 26-50, a barbed devil (page 145) responds to her summons. On a roll of 51-00 the attempt is a failure, but should this happen the night hag can try again as often as desired (once per round maximum) until she succeeds. If she does this the night hag must pay the summoned creature (if it survives) in the form of a larva from her collection, so she will only use this power if in dire need of assistance.

Periapt: When encountered on the material plane a night hag will always have a magical gemstone, a periapt, which will cure any disease contracted by the bearer, as well as granting a bonus of +2 on all of that character’s saving throws. When carried by a non-infernal, the periapt has a 10% cumulative chance of decaying and crumbling when used; that is, 10% the first time it cures a disease, 20% the second, and so on.