Warlock Patron: the Hungry Crone

Warlocks work with old, dark forces for power that society won't give them. Here's the first Patron spirit to petition. Part of a series. Rules and overview here.

THE HUNGRY CRONE

Patrons are aimed at specific Estates but will welcome anyone's service. Here's one for downtrodden commoners in the Third Estate. Based directly on Gloomtrain's Hungry Crone.

She visits her coven at the witching hour as an ancient woman, impossibly twisted and shivering. The Hungry Crone brings cold, curses, and resolve. Her hate is for those who are blessed with life, beauty, status and children. She does not love.

Alternate versions: the Bitter Abbess teaches harsh lessons to the faithful. The Austere Stewardess has no patience with mewling subjects.

Three witches - from

MINOR PACT

• To summon: expose yourself to the elements under the New Moon and cry her name three times at the witching hour.
• When: whenever you gain a feat, or swap out an existing feat, or give up 2 ability points.
• Service: roll once on the Hungry Crone's list of tasks below.
• Forbiddance: you can never return another person's love.
  Gain: either the Ritual Caster or Magic Initiate feat.

MAJOR PACT

• To summon: expose yourself to the elements under the New Moon and cry her name three times at the witching hour.
• When: whenever you have enough XP to gain a level.
• Service: roll on the Hungry Crone's list of tasks below, every time you gain a level.
• Forbiddance: you can never return another person's love.
• Gain: a Warlock level

From

Hungry Crone spells

spell level	spells (choose two per spell level)
1	fog cloud, hideous laughter, sanctuary
2	animal messenger, blindness/deafness, pass without trace
3	bestow curse, fear, sleet storm
4	blight, ice storm, polymorph
5	contagion, dream, geas

Hungry Crone gifts

Stolen Vitality
Starting at 1st level, when you reduce a hostile creature to 0 hit points, you gain temporary hit points equal to your Charisma modifier + your warlock level (minimum of 1).

Entropic Ward
At 6th level, you learn to magically ward yourself against attack and to turn an enemy's failed strike into good luck for yourself. When a creature makes an attack roll against you, you can use your reaction to impose disadvantage on that roll. If the attack misses you, your next attack roll against the creature has advantage if you make it before the end of your next turn.

Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

Icy Heart
At 10th level, your patron teaches you how to turn the mind-affecting magic of your enemies against them. You are immune to being charmed, and when another creature attempts to charm you, you can use your reaction to attempt to turn the charm back on that creature. The creature must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against your warlock spell save DC or be charmed by you for 1 minute or until the creature takes any damage.

Join the Coven, they said. From

It beats being cold and hungr all the time, they said. From

Hungry Crone tasks 
The lessons of the Crone require payment of health and twisted devotion to the coven. Her servants may perform these tasks themselves or trick someone into performing them. To gain a warlock level, roll on this chart (d20) and fulfil the Crone's demands.

1. My stomach growls. Give me your (d8) 1-2 toe. 3-4 finger. 5 hand. 6 foot. 7 eye. 8 tongue (cannot speak but can mewl spells).
2. I hunger so but the pious misers in the village refuse me. Spoil their feast by hiding a knot of frog skulls and rat tails in the village food storage.
3. The baron feasts nightly while his serfs break their backs on his fields. Replace the bread and meat in the castle stores with these stones and distribute the food to the poorest serfs.
4. A hunter steals the meat from my traps. Hobble him and leave him for the wolves.
5. I wish to have one of your nonborn - an egg or semen sample.
6. Secretly place this toad in the well of the midwife's house.
7. The Baroness has a beautiful child. Bring it to the forest at the witching hour for (d4) 1 a blessing. 2 a curse. 3 an instruction. 4 a swap with a changeling babe.
8. The young lady of the manor cannot bear child and is about to be turned out into the cold. Take this sack of sticks, blood and faeces and bury it under a tile in her bedroom that she may be with child.
9. My cauldron requires your blood. Painful, weakening (d4) 1 pin prick - 1 hp damage. 2 thimble - 2 hp damage. 3 a pint; [level] hp damage and 1 level of fatigue. 4 three pints; 3*[level] hp damage and 2 levels of fatigue. Hit points heal at 2/night; fatigue heals when these hit points are all healed.
10. The wild hunt draws near. Lend me your vitality that I may survive their attack. Once a night at witching hour for the next d4 nights (exploding), lose [level] hit points and suffer a level of fatigue. You heal only half the normal amount during this period.
11. Cold and ache squeeze my poor old bones. Share your warmth with me. For the next week, you suffer from cold whatever the weather and have disadvantage at Dexterity saves. Lighting a fire and hunkering close will help, but the fire chews through fuel thrice as fast.
12. Let me experience youth once more - age 1d10 years.
13. My senses are old and feeble. Give me one of your senses for a week and a day: (d4) 1 sight. 2 hearing. 3 taste and smell. 4 touch. (Take a -4 penalty to rolls involving this sense; attack rolls, perception checks, fine motor skills.)
14. Lend me the use of your voice for a day and a night. You are mute but can still howl spells - your speech is under the control of the Crone and may appear anywhere.
15. Your body is strong. Grant me its use during the night. For d4 (exploding) nights, you wake up in the morning within a mile of where you went to sleep, without knowing what happened. Covered with (d4) 1 blood. 2 mud and scrapes. 3 whip marks. 4 a knight's bed sheet.
16. Bring a root of the Mandrake from the graveyard to the apothecary's servant girl.
17. One of mine has been held for a crime. Frame another for it so s/he may walk free: (d4) 1 theft of food. 2 brewing of poisons. 3 cursing another with infertility. 4 performing black magic.
18. A priest of the Authority has planted a shrine in the village. Desecrate it with the blood of wild animals. Do it tonight.
19. One of mine has betrayed me. This wretch has been taken in by an order of monks and is fasting in their chapel before their morning confession. Bring me their lying tongue.
20. Take this grimoire of dark spells and bring it to my servant in the (d4) 1 nearby farm. 2 town council. 3 monastery herb garden. 4 castle dungeon.