Wondering about which creatures to add to your hag encounter?
Here are 15 Great Sidekicks for Hags!
Whether you need it for a one-shot or as a main BBEG for your campaign, or something else completely (please mention in the comments what you need your hag for), here are 15 great sidekicks for hags, we didn’t break it down into subclasses of hags – just hags in general.
1. Oni
Benificial alliances
Onis are evil giants who also have the charm ability, they could definitely be working with hags or possibly even under them. They also fly and go invisible to give your players a little of an extra challenge.
Matt Mercer gave a good demonstration of how to effectively run combat as an Oni in Critical Role Campaign 2 Episode 29, “The Stalking Nightmare”
2. Other Hags
Together forever
Hags of the same type (or possibly been other types) are likely to roll together in a coven. The term “coven of witches” has to come from somewhere after all. Chances of them having other sidekicks in this list are also pretty high, or just a mass number hierarchy.
3. Warlocks
Fey following warlocks
Technically one of the adventurers could be one of your own players. Any warlock making a pilgrimage to visit their power giver could be serving as a temporary bodyguard or full time if they decide to stay there.
Other warlocks following demons or devils who are serving the hag could also be sent to the hag to do their bidding or serve the hag’s purposes.
4. Humans
Those babies grow up after all..
Could be a cult that has started following the hag as a religious symbol, or simply babies that have grown up in the hag’s care (they do trade things for babies quite regularly). Hags also charm people, so it could be anyone that she has already charmed throughout her crazy long lifetime.
5. Kobolds
Pack mentality
Living in forests or the Underdark, kobolds are likely to surround a hag area. Kobolds favour traps, so having them set a bunch of traps around the area would be an excellent skill test for would-be adventurers.
6. Goblins
The ultimate sidekick
Goblins are known to be all kinds of creatures sidekicks, and hags are no exception. Whether just one or two or a whole tribe of followers, goblins are a great choice.
7. Woodland critters
The evil snow white
Whether it be wolves, bears, stags or bunnies… enough of any particular creature in the forest attacking you sounds like a nightmare (like in the ring when she suddenly gets attacked by a bunch of deer… scariest part of the whole movie!). There are stats for swarms of rats or bats, but just having a bunch of individual ones would work too.. or almost better. Or swarms of swarms!
Or you can make things up like the Faunicorn (originally found on Reddit)
8. Ogres/Trolls
Big bertha boys
Ogres and trolls aren’t exactly smart (literally negative points to intelligence), so having a hag charm or trick them is a pretty easy thing to believe. They also aren’t super clean and eat similar things, so even having them surrounding a hag’s lair without being too close would be entirely reasonable.
9. Harpies
The flying hag?
Harpies can almost be considered mini hags themselves (although nowhere near as cool), with their own charm powers and tenacity. They aren’t crazy intelligent though and could potentially be manipulated or be on the same page with a hags end goals and be willing to work together.
10. Luecrotta
Straight out of your nightmares
Also known as “ugly killers’, although I can’t see why – looks like a standard pitbull to me…
They generally aren’t very social and will bully other wild animals, they also have the imitation ability so they add a little extra flair when preying on adventurers. They are also intelligent enough to set and spring traps, an excellent beast to have by the side of any hag.
11. Undead
Undead army perhaps?
Skeletons, wights, wraiths, vampires, you name it. Any undead can be holding loyalty to a hag, especially if she was the one who raised them in the first place. But it would also make sense for some to form alliances or just have mutually beneficial agreements (vampires for example).
12. Sahagins
The fish monsters
These work especially well for swamp/green hags, but could technically work for other ones as well in the right setting as they also live underground (maybe dark lake area?) and caves. The mutations specifically (4 arms instead of 2) are a great sidekick for hags just to mix things up from the monster manual – even though they have totally the same stats.
13. Other fey
Quicklings, boogles, or redcaps
Fey creatures of evil alignment for sure. (Most) Hags are Fey after all. Quicklings, boogles, redcaps, and even more would make another whole other list for 15 Great Sidekicks for Hags. These particular examples are all bloodlusting crazy fey who are more than likely to be buzzing around hags.
14. Will o wisps
Will o the hag
Super cute an unsuspecting, little light wisps that are mysterious and full of death. rather than an immediate sidekick, will o wisps are more likely to be in surrounding areas of the hags home. With that being said, do as you will with your game.
15. Scarecrows
What could be scarier..
Hags are known for making things that are not alive suddenly alive. Stuffing some old rags full or stuffing and making it stand up and walk around is no real surprise for a hag. Not to mention pretty much thoughtless and 100% made to do the hags bidding. Maybe there are a bunch of more useless scout only scarecrows around the area and one bigger badder one as a real sidekick.
Bonus hag ideas:
Three sisters
Three sisters and their children, each birthing them according to which haggard attribute they have most aligned with… decay, malice, and trickery, perhaps, and perhaps the men they ensnared have died and remain as undead protector husbands or they are now slaves conjured from the lower planes.
Green/Sea/Anis Hags
Foul corruptions of natural life near their lair. A green hag in the forest might create an army of carnivorous fluffy golden squirrels. Some candy pink birds with razor-sharp beaks. An anis hag living in the mountains may create man-eating rams. A sea hag could just go nuts with all the terrifying things already in the ocean.
You could find plants being used – though obviously, they don’t have sentience.
Merrow and evil sea monstrosities/humanoids might align with a Sea Hag.
Night Hags would 100% have fiends on their side – they are super powerful in the lower plans due to their status as soul traders. Demons & devils she has forced into service
Blackmail
Anything blackmailed by a Hag can be a sidekick or minion. If a war was planned long enough, they could even enjoy having humans/races fight each other, a layer of conflict over their actual hag war. It provides plenty of bodies for necromancy, y’know. Oh and, one word = Underdark.
Bonus sidekick ideas:
- Hagspawn
- Hexbloods
- Fae
- Necromancers
- Hill giants
- Devil’s
- Demons
- Dullahan
- Boneclaw