Pact Witch (Apath)

Unofficial rules compendium

A pact witch has a more personal relationship with her patron, having made a pact to gain certain specific powers in return for acting as the patron's agent in the mundane world. The GM and player should agree on a general agenda the patron has before the character begins play, but the GM is encouraged to add complications and subplots. The pact witch's familiar is not there to grant spells, but to oversee the witch and make sure she lives up to her part of the bargain.

Class Features

This archetype has all normal class features, except as noted.

Spellcasting

A pact witch casts arcane spells drawn from the witch spell list . She can cast any spell she knows without preparing it ahead of time. To learn or cast a spell, a pact witch must have a Charisma score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a pact witch's spell is 10 + the spell level + the pact witch's Charisma modifier.

Like other spellcasters, a pact witch can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. A pact witch does not use the spells per day from Table: the witch. Instead, her base daily spell allotment is given on Table: pact witch. In addition, she receives bonus spells per day if she has a high Charisma score (see Table: Ability Modifiers and Bonus Spells).

Table: Table: Pact Witch

Class Level	Spells per Day									Spells Known
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
1st	2									4	2
2nd	3									5	2
3rd	4									5	3
4th	5	3								6	3	1
5th	6	5								6	4	2
6th	6	5	3							7	4	2	1
7th	6	6	4							7	5	3	2
8th	6	6	5	3						8	5	3	2	1
9th	6	6	6	4						8	5	4	3	2
10th	6	6	6	5	3					9	5	4	3	2	1
11th	6	6	6	6	4					9	5	5	4	3	2
12th	6	6	6	6	5	3				9	5	5	4	3	2	1
13th	6	6	6	6	6	4				9	5	5	4	4	3	2
14th	6	6	6	6	6	5	3			9	5	5	4	4	3	2	1
15th	6	6	6	6	6	6	4			9	5	5	4	4	4	3	2
16th	6	6	6	6	6	6	5	3		9	5	5	4	4	4	3	2	1
17th	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	4		9	5	5	4	4	4	4	3	2
18th	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	5	3	9	5	5	4	4	4	4	3	2	1
19th	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	4	9	5	5	4	4	4	4	4	3	2
20th	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	5	9	5	5	4	4	4	4	4	3	3

A pact witch's selection of spells is extremely limited. A pact witch begins play knowing four 0-level spells and two 1st-level spells of her choice. At each new pact witch level, she gains one or more new spells, as indicated on Table: pact witch. (Unlike spells per day, the number of spells a pact witch knows is not affected by her Charisma score; the numbers on Table: pact witch are fixed.) To gain new spells when advancing in level, the witch enters communion with the patron and negotiates the powers the witch will be able to use from now on. Normally, the patron grants exactly the spells the pact witch wants, but see the patron agent familiar section below for an exception.

The pact witch automatically learns the spells granted by her patron as soon as she is able to cast them. This is in addition to the "spells known" from Table: pact witch.

Upon reaching 4th level, and at every even-numbered pact witch level after that (6th, 8th, and so on), a pact witch can choose to learn a new spell in place of one she already knows. In effect, the pact witch loses the old spell in exchange for the new one. The new spell's level must be the same as that of the spell being exchanged. A pact witch may swap only a single spell at any given level, and must choose whether or not to swap the spell at the same time that she gains new spells known for the level.

Unlike a normal witch, a pact witch need not prepare her spells in advance. She can cast any spell she knows at any time, assuming she has not yet used up her spells per day for that spell level.

Familiar Agenda

A pact witch does not use her familiar when preparing spells. Instead, the familiar is an agent of the patron, sent to keep track of the witch and keep her in line. The ultimate loyalty of the familiar is to the patron, and it can be a constant nagging reminder to a witch that it feels is straying from the patron's ideals. As long as the witch and patron are well aligned, the familiar is loyal. If the familiar feels the witch has betrayed the patron, it might turn hostile and betray her in various ways. It has no control over the witch's powers, but can alert her enemies, share her secrets, and otherwise work to counter her ambitions in various ways. When the pact witch advances in level, the patron asks the familiar to report on the activities of the witch. If the familiar gives a bad report, the witch might not be allowed to select the spells she wants or might be denied new spells altogether. If the familiar's reports that the witch is a traitor, the patron will deny the increase in power and the pact witch cannot level up as a witch until she makes up with the familiar. One theme of such a story might be how the witch subverts the familiar's loyalty, making it give false reports.

A pact witch that for some reason does not have a familiar is instead supervised and negotiates directly by the patron, which is close to all-knowing as far as the witch is concerned.

Pact Hex

The save to resist a pact witch's hex is equal to 10 + 1/2 the witch’s level + the witch’s Charisma modifier. All other aspects of hex, major hex, and grand hex abilities that are normally based on Intelligence are based on Charisma for a pact witch.

Summary of Changed Class Abilities

These abilities of the original class are lost or modified in this archetype:

• Spellcasting
• Hex
• Major Hex
• Grand Hex

The changes to pact witch hexes is such that it generally works with other archetypes that also modify hexes, so at the GM's option, the pact hex archetype can be combined with other archetypes that modify the hex abilities.