General Rules: Monsters - Hag, Marzanna

Marzanna Hag (adapted from Frostburn)
Medium or Large Giant (Cold, Hag)

Hit Dice: 8d8+16 (52 hit points) or 8d8+32 (68 hit points)
Initiative: +1 or +0
Speed: 30 feet, swim 30 feet

Armor Class: 20 (+1 Dexterity, +9 natural); touch 11, flat-footed 19 or 20 (-1 size, +11 natural); touch 9, flat-footed 20

BAB/Grapple: +6/+11 or +6/+19

Attack: Claw +11 melee (1d6+5, piercing and slashing, 20 x2) or claw +14 melee (1d8+9, piercing and slashing, 20 x2)

Full Attack: 2 claws +11 melee (1d6+5, piercing and slashing, 20 x2) or 2 claws +14 melee (1d8+9, piercing and slashing, 20 x2)

Space/Reach: 5 feet by 5 feet/5 feet or 10 feet by 10 feet/10 feet
Special Attacks: Dreadful eye, rend 2d6+7 or 2d8+13, spell-like abilities
Special Qualities: Improved low-light vision, immunity to cold, shift size, spell resistance 15, vulnerability to fire
Saves: Fortitude +6 or +8, Reflex +3 or +2, Will +7
Abilities: Str 21 or 29, Int 14, Wis 13, Dex 12 or 10, Con 14 or 18, Cha 13

Skills: Concentration +13 or +15, Craft or Knowledge: Any one +7, Hide +7 or +2, Listen +14, Spot +14, Swim +13 or +17

Feats: Brew Potion, Blind-Fight, Great Fortitude, Skill Augmentation (Listen and Spot)
Environment: Cold forests

Organization: Solitary or covey (3 hags of any kind plus 1 - 8 ogres and 1 - 4 evil giants)

Challenge Rating: 6
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Usually chaotic evil
Advancement: By character class
Level Adjustment: -

This winter hag is the personification of death and winter. She almost always appears as an old woman with a crooked back and claw-like hands, dressed in white furs and robes. Many peasants believe that if they can trick a marzanna, they can avoid death itself. This is only partly true - the offerings that they leave for a marzanna do prolong their lives, but only because their bribes convince the marzanna not to kill and devour them.

Like other hags, a marzanna enjoys the taste of human flesh and often cooperates with frost giants, frost folk, and ogres. A typical marzanna stands 6 to 8 feet tall in her Medium form, and weighs between 250 and 300 pounds. Their stooped posture makes marzannas seem slightly smaller than they really are, but their marble-white skin and dark brown claws are clear signs that they are not human. They typically dress in ragged layers of poorly-cured furs, tattered robes, and worn shawls.

Like all hags, marzannas speak Jattalaic and one common human language.

Combat
A marzanna prefers not to fight if she can convince others to give up without a fight, or if she can convince others to do her fighting for her.

Improved Low-Light Vision (Ex): A green hag has exception visual acuity, allowing her to see three times as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination.

Dreadful Eye (Su): Three times per day, a marzanna can cast her dire gaze upon any single creature within 30 feet. The target must succeed on a DC 15 Will save or become panicked for 10 rounds. Creatures that are panicked by a marzanna's dreadful eye must succeed on a DC 15 Fortitude save or die from fright. This is a mind-affecting feat effect. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Rend (Ex): A marzanna that hits with both claw attacks latches onto the opponent's body and tears the flesh. This attack automatically deals an extra 2d6+7 points of damage (2d8+13 if the marzanna is in her Large form).

Spell-Like Abilities (Sp): At will - dancing lights, ghost sound, obscuring snow, pass without trace, ray of frost (+7 or +5 ranged touch); three times per day - alter self, bestow curse, numbing sphere, wall of ice; once per day - ice storm; once per week - control weather, nightmare. Caster level 8^th. The save DCs are Charisma-based.

Shift Size (Su): A marzanna hag can change her size to size Large and back to size Medium at will. Shifting size is a standard action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity. When a marzanna hag is Large, she gains a +8 to Strength, +4 to Constitution, and +2 to her natural armor, and has a 10-foot reach, but suffers a -2 to Dexterity and a -1 to Armor Class and attacks. These modified statistics are listed above as a secondary set of statistics. Most hags prefer to remain in their smaller form, but will shift size if forced to enter melee or if they desire a more imposing appearance.

Hag Covey
From time to time, a trio of hags gathers as a covey. Usually this foul triune consists of three hags from three different types, but this is not always the case.

Combat
Hags in a covey rely on deception and their boosted magical abilities in combat.

A covey of hags is 80% likely to be guarded by 1d8 ogres and 1d4 evil giants who do their bidding. These minions are often disguised with a veil spell to appear less threatening and sent forth as spies. Such minions often (60%) carry magic stones known as hag eyes (see below).

Spell-Like Abilities: Three times per day: Animate dead, bestow curse (DC 17), control weather, dream, forcecage, mind blank, mirage arcana (DC 18), veil (DC 19), and vision. Caster level 9^th. The save DCs are based on a Charisma score of 16. To use one of these abilities (which requires a full-round action), all three hags must be within 10 feet of one another, and all must participate.

Once per month, a covey that does not have a hag eye can create one from a gem worth at least 20 shillings (see below).

Hag Eye
A hag eye is a magic gem created by a covey. It appears to be nothing more than a semiprecious stone, but a gem of seeing or other such effect reveals it as a disembodied eye. Often, a hag eye is worn as a ring, brooch, or other adornment. Any of the three hags who created the hag eye can see through it whenever they wish, so long as it is on the same plane of existence as the hag. A hag eye has hardness 5 and 10 hit points. Destroying a hag eye deals 1d10 points of damage to each member of the covey and causes the one who sustained the greatest damage to be blinded for 24 hours.

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