Founded centuries ago, the Order of St. Sigford, known as the Witch-Finders, is one of the three militant religious orders on Isurholm.

This monster and background is largely inspired by The Witch-Hunter by Monster Garden. Highly recommend a watch to be inspired and think of your own fun curses.

The Order is highly politicized within the Church. Often the witch-hunts are excuses for these bastards to commit petty theft, abuse people, or exact vengeance, but on the fringes and in the depths of their sanctums, the most seasoned veterans demonstrate a deep devotion to the elimination of evil sorceries, like St. Sigford did in the stories.

Witch-Finders are not allowed to use magic. The fanatics will go further and have any latent magical abilities jammed by embedding cold iron nails up their arms, under their shoulderblades, and at the top and base of their spines. The art of cold-forging is kept secret within the inner sanctums of the Order. Due to the occupational hazards of fighting witches, veteran Witch-Finders also bear heavy curses and some have learned to harness those curses to their advantage.

Encountering Witch-Finders

Mechanically speaking, I have created a set of random tables to determine what an encounter with Witch-Finders looks like. They travel in groups of d4 + 1, along with a donkey pulling a cart with a cage containing 1d4 - 1 prisoners.

When statting for Cairn, I have given 3 HP per curse, representing their experience. Green Witch-Finders are the most common and have no curses. For loot, include 1d4 confiscated magic scrolls and 4d20 coins.

Since I’m using a randomizer inside of Obsidian, all of this stuff is taken care of pretty easily.

Witch-Finder

3 HP, 12 STR, 1A (thick leather), steel bastard sword (d8), shackles, lantern and oil, 1 special gear

• Brown duster, thick black gloves, tall buckled hat, belts, grim and religious. Almost exclusively human
• Quick to discriminate against magic-users but won’t attack unless they know they can win. Take down, shackle, and cage; throw oil and burn.
• Critical Damage: Divine sear, burning white flames inflict 1d6 WIL damage.

What if I wanna be one?

You’re in luck! Here is a Cairn 2e style background for a Witch-Finder. The assumption is that the PC is no longer part of the Order since they’re generally pretty shitty people, tbh.

You have broken with the Order of Witch-Finders for dabbling in the craft. Your interactions with witchcraft have left you forever altered.

• Rations (3 uses)
• Torch (3 uses)
• Silvered dagger (d6)
• Shackles
• Badge of your order, tarnished: a Scapular of Saint Sigford (petty)

What is your best defense against witches?

1. Flametongue. Longsword (d10, bulky) with Witch-Finder insignia, burns hot near witchcraft or dark magic. When hot, it may ignite flammable items.
2. Lucky Pebble. Petty. While squeezed in your hand, you resist fairy charms, including those of witches. Squeezed longer than 10 minutes, it becomes unbearably cold.
3. Witch Bottles. Filled with small bones, iron nails, and shells. Break to counter the effects of a spell. 3 uses.
4. 2 hand crossbows (d6+d6, concealable, bulky).
5. Ley Line Blindfold. Petty. Wear to see the outlines of ley lines, arcane sources of power, and magical creatures.
6. Copy Book. Copies a spell or magical effect used against you. Once the spell is used, it disappears from the book.

Who was the witch that cursed you and what mark do you bear forever?

1. The Moth Witch. You hid in the cracks of their cottage. A fine film of gray dust covers your skin. Take 1 Fatigue to create a cloud of dust around you (choking, obscuring), unless you are wet.
2. The Blood Witch experimented on you. Your blood is green and acidic. Your eyes are green and raised spidery blood vessels cover your skin. Your blood inflicts 1d4 damage to anyone who touches it, apart from yourself. Performing medicine on you risks harm for the healer.
3. The Sea Witch tried to drown you. Your arms and legs are finned. You can breathe underwater, but you must quaff saltwater 1/day or become deprived. Take a pitcher of saltwater (3 uses).
4. The Woods Witch encased you in the Dying Oak. Your skin and bones are like kindling. You move faster. You are lighter, but more flammable.
5. The Crow Witch. An incomplete transformation. Your legs bend backwards. Your hair is black feathers. Take a Fatigue to see through the eyes of a bird. Take a palliative remedy (10 uses) and its recipe (3 ingredients, petty). Missing a dose leaves you deprived. Miss 3 doses and become a crow.
6. The Candle Witch tried to make you into a candle. Your skin is waxy and slowly melts when near open flames. You may slough off wax-flesh (1 STR) and mend yourself with wax (restoring 1 STR for every STR lost in this way).

More Orders

I’ll write something up in the future for the Exorcist and the Regulator, the two other Orders that feature in my game. I plan on writing an adventure set in a nunnery that will include these as backgrounds for PCs. Let me know what you think of the Witch-Finder as a background. Not sure how well it’ll work out in practice (particularly the Candle Witch curse).

OK bye!