MAGISTELLUS

[Based on Skerples' ever popular Witch's Coven / Goat Class:
 https://coinsandscrolls.blogspot.com/2018/08/osr-class-witch-coven.html & https://saltygoo.github.io/class/magic-user/goat]

You are a demonic spirit inhabiting the body of a goat. Your Patron has tasked you with overseeing a coven of mortal witches. You teach them sorcery, oversee their rites, and speak with their Master’s voice when you must.

Requirement: This class can only be taken at 1^st level if you have a Demonic Soul. It can only be multiclassed into if you have Template D from the Witch class and you die.

Starting Equipment: None. You are a goat.

For every Magistellus template you have, you gain a Magic Die and attract three new people into your Witch Coven (12 at Template D and you are the 13^th so your coven is complete).

A: Goat, Dark Omen, Witch Coven (3), +1 MD
B: Dark Presence, Witch Coven (6), +1 MD
C: Black Mass, Witch Coven (9), +1 MD
D: Bargain with the Devil, Witch Coven (12), +1 MD

A: Goat

You are a goat. You cannot use objects. You cannot talk, except telepathically with witches in your coven. Roll your starting Agility twice and take the better result. You suffer no penalties for moving over broken or hilly terrain.

Generate your stats normally except for HP. Your HP is always 8 and will never increase. You cannot wear armor, carry items (a backpack would be beneath your goatly dignity), or manipulate things beyond kicking (d4 damage), goring with your horns (1d6 damage), or nipping (1 damage). You get 1 attack per round.

You know all of the Familiar Spells as well as three Witch Spells. You can cast them yourself (without relying on Familiars). Once a month your Patron allows you to bestow a new Familiar or Boon upon one of your Witches.

A: Dark Omen

You can cause a minor horrible omen to appear. Statues weep blood, ashes spell out “DOOM”, a bird falls out of the air dead, small children sing eerie songs, etc. This can’t deal damage or provide some handy secondary benefit, like triggering a trap, but it will most likely scare whoever witnesses it. You can also seem to grow as large as a horse or appear as a naked goat-headed humanoid for 1 minute. You can only do this in dim light.

A: Witch Coven

You gain three Witch followers for each template. Each Witch has:

HP: 3
Might & Agility: 8
Defense: 2
Morale: 6 or 8 if you are standing next to them
1 attack per round dealing 1 damage (punching/hitting things with a stick)
d2 Familiars (and the same number of MD)
3 ranks in a Skill related to their background.
4 Inventory Slots

Witches use your Save and your Agility for initiative. Witches can pool their magic dice to cast spells and you can add your MD to the pool if you wish. To pool dice, they need to be within 10' of each other. Your Witches suffer the consequences of the catastrophes caused by your spells instead of you. All witches count as 1 character for the purposes of concentrating, initiative, etc.

When you would take damage, one of your witches nearby can sacrifice themself to take the hit instead of your goatly majesty. Area of effect attacks or attacks targeting you directly will always hit a witch instead of you, provided you are within 10' of one. If one of your witches dies, you take 1 damage. If you still have at least 1 other Witch, you can recruit replacements after 3 days in a populated area. If all your Witches are dead, it takes 1 week to get 1 Witch back, plus 3 days for the rest of them.

Witches are like hirelings. You control them, but the DM gets to see if they run from danger, panic, fail at their tasks, give up, or do unhelpful peasant things. In dangerous situations, they won't move more than 10' from each other without a Morale check.

B: Dark Presence

If one of your witches is nearby and you are in a dark spot, you can spend a full round to cease existing, except for your red eyes glowing in the dark. You can take another round to fade back by walking from the shadows, from behind a tree, from tall grass, etc. as long as one of your witches is nearby. The intervening constraints of time and space are irrelevant.

C: Black Mass

Once per week, at night, you may lead your Witches in a ritualistic dance. You can do this every week but you probably shouldn't. Save it for times when you might really need extra power. You need an isolated area: a hilltop, a meadow, a basement, a ruined tower.

The ritual takes one hour and must involve some boundary-pushing act for the Witches. You don't need to go into detail, but in general:

1. The first time the Witches do the ritual, just doing it will be enough.

2. The next time, doing it naked will be enough.

3. The next time, doing it naked and sacrificing a small animal will be enough.

This resets if all the Witches die. If the ritual is interrupted by an outsider, it fails if the interloper lives past sunrise.

The ritual adds +1 MD for each Witch that participates (up to +4 total) to the next day's casting pool. No more than 5 MD can be used on any spell. In addition, for the day, the Witches have Morale 10 while near you.

D: Bargain with the Devil

Once per day for 3d6 minutes, you can appear as a naked goat-headed humanoid and speak, but only to one person who isn’t already a Witch (others still see you as a goat). If you convince this person to accept a Familiar or Boon from your Patron in exchange of a favor, you are bound by a supernatural contract and you can use your Dark Presence to manifest 3d6 minutes per day near them whenever they are alone in the future. If they fail their part of their bargain in the agreed time, you can possess their body.

Once you have a new body, you can create a new character but keep the powers you gained with this class.

Witch Coven Mishaps
1. MD only return to your pool on a 1 for 24 hours
2. You, the goat, take 1d6 damage.
3. You, the goat, and your witches take 1 damage.
4. One witch spends 1d6 rounds screaming, twitching, and frothing.
5. Nearest faithful and sensible NPC who is not aware of your coven becomes aware of your coven.
6. Spell targets you (if harmful) or enemy (if beneficial) or fizzles (if neutral).

Witch Coven Dooms
1. One witch dies. Messily.
2. All your witches die. Lots of screaming and wailing and bursting. Nearest faithful, sensible, and powerful NPC who is not aware of your coven becomes aware of your coven.
3. A wrathful team of 1d10x10 inquisitors, bishops, or peasants arrive to put an end to your wretched life of vice and heresy. While they hunt you, you cannot use your Dark Presence ability.