Hag | |
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Characteristics | |
Alignment | Chaotic Evil |
Type | Monstrous humanoid |
Image | Wizards.com image |
Stats | Open Game License stats |
Publication history | |
Mythological origins | Hag, Black Annis |
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, hags are witchlike beings that use magic to spread havoc and destruction. There are many variations of hags that have appeared in the various editions of Dungeons & Dragons from their first appearance in a 1975 rules supplement.
In the original Dungeons & Dragons, the sea hag first appeared in the Blackmoor supplement by Dave Arneson (1975). The Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set included its own version of the hag. The sea hag and the black hag appeared in the Dungeons & Dragons Master Rules (1985), and the Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia (1991).
In Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition, the sea hag appears in the 1977 Monster Manual, where it is described as inhabiting thickly vegetated shallows, and hates beauty and is so ghastly in appearance that it makes other creatures weak with fright. The night hag also appears in the Monster Manual, where it is described as the ruler of the convoluted planes of Hades. The book states that night hags form larvae (the most selfishly evil of all souls who sink to lower planes after death) from evil persons they slay, and sell them to demons and devils. The Monster Manual was reviewed by Don Turnbull in the British magazine White Dwarf #8 (August/September 1978). As part of his review, Turnbull comments on several new monsters introduced in the book, referring to the night hag as "splendid" and notes that the illustration of the night hag is the best drawing in the book. The annis, a type of hag, first appeared in the module The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun (1982). The annis appeared in the Monster Manual II (1983) along with the greenhag, which was detailed in Dragon #125 (September 1987), in "The Ecology of the Greenhag." The fresh water sea hag appears in Dragon #68 (December 1982).