Old Gods of Appalachia
Witches are crafty magical people best left alone or avoided, and only desperate or evil folk truck with them. Most witches are dangerous and ruthless, some have given themselves over to the Inner Dark, and a rare few are truly monsters—or even reanimated dead—who exist only to bring misery and ruin to others. A witch might look like a normal person, be mildly afflicted by corruption, or have a hideous true form hidden by a magical disguise of seeming normalcy.
And as there are legends of the elder sister in the plateau, the stories of the witchy woman in the woods, the ghost mother, the vengeful bride that looks in your winder for her baby abound across all of Appalachia. Amongst the eastern band of the Cherokee she might be mistaken for one of the Raven Mockers, twisted witches that lay in the way of darkness, prepared to steal away the livers and lives of the sick and the dying. Why, over in Pikeville, Kentucky, they might tell you she's Miss Octavia Hatcher who was buried alive and haunts the land her body sleeps in, hands all bloody from raking at the inside of her casket. In the Cumberland Gap they'd warn you of the pale and hungry mother who wanders the hills like an old blind wolf and would eat you right up with all her mouths if you went too far into the wrong woods. These yarns were spun to teach you to stay safe and mind common sense and most importantly your mama. The stories that get lost, though, the ones hardly nobody ever lived to tell, were often just blunt and simple warnings: There is darkness here. Fear it. Trust those who can see through it and you might live to see the dawn. Or then again, maybe not.
It's important to distinguish witches from grannies.
A granny is a woman who knows helpful folk magic, and although she could be dangerous if crossed, she's not generally harmful to regular folks. A witch, on the other hand, is a malign entity, usually a threat, but someone who can use her powers for good if the mood suits her and she is paid or persuaded to help.
These statistics are for a typical witch. The GM can make a weaker or stronger witch by adjusting these numbers up or down by one or two levels, especially for multiple witches working together. For example, a level 5 witch might have two level 3 witch students.
There are witches who serve the Green, but it's unlikely that they will end up in combat against the player characters. These witches have similar statistics, but their powers usually focus on healing and protection.
Common actions for a charmed creature are attacking the witch's foes, leaving the area, or sitting quietly.
Witches often have one or two other magical abilities, such as transforming into or summoning animals, conjuring diseases or poisons, cursing people so their wounds can't heal, binding supernatural entities, and sacrificing living creatures to temporarily augment other magic.
Belongs To: None, or the Inner Dark
Motive: Domination of others, acquiring knowledge and power
Environment: Woods and hills
Health: 21
Damage Inflicted: Moderate wound (5 points)
Movement: Short
Modifications: Deception and magical knowledge as level 6
Combat: A witch can attack with a knife or similar weapon; some of the more monstrous ones might bite or use their jagged fingernails. However, a witch is more likely to use one of her magical abilities in combat, such as the following: Charm: Creatures within short range who fail an Intellect defense roll are under her control for one minute. Affected creatures turn on their allies or take some other action described by the witch. They can attempt a new defense roll each round, but each failure hinders their next attempt.
Interaction: Most witches are deceptive and conniving, though some just want to be left alone. All witches are willing to negotiate, though the devious ones usually do so in bad faith—unless compelled to honor their bargains.
Use: A dangerous witch is the only person who knows a binding ritual that the characters need. A witch inflicts suffering upon a family whose long-dead patriarch wronged her decades ago.
Loot: A witch usually has several cyphers, such as any kind of apple head doll or conjure card, and perhaps an artifact such as a memory jar.
Connection: The character's parents once got help from the witch, but the price was too high. The witch has a feud with the character's family.
GM Intrusion: The witch immediately makes another mind shriek, scratch, or shrivel attack, even if she's already attacked this turn.
An ally or minion of the witch was hiding nearby and strikes the character with surprise, easing their attack and inflicting a moderate wound (5 points).