Baba Yaga (Dungeons & Dragons)
Encyclopedia
In the Dungeons & Dragons
fantasy
roleplaying game, Baba Yaga is a powerful spellcaster.
, where her hut appears as an artifact. Baba Yaga herself would appear in "The Dancing Hut," a 1984 adventure
in Dragon
magazine. A gamebook
, Nightmare Realm of Baba Yaga appeared in 1986. In 1988, Baba Yaga had a brief cameo in Castle Greyhawk
, (page 60). Baba Yaga's hut was once more described in 1993's Book of Artifacts
. A full-length adventure module, The Dancing Hut of Baba Yaga, was released in 1995. In Dragon #290, author Paul Leach said, "the origin of Baba Yaga (who does not necessarily represent just one witch) is likely to be the Death Crone, a common figure in most pagan mythologies." Leach described the Death Crone in more detail in the same issue. Baba Yaga has since been mentioned in two articles in Dragon (2005 and 2006), and an adventure in Dungeon
(2007). Baba Yaga has since been re-imagined in the 4th Edition Manual of the Planes as one of the few non-Eladrin, a hag to be precise, to become an archfey. In the account she is listed as disguising herself as an old woman in the Murkendraw swamp in the feywild and still lives in her bird-legged hut (2008).
, originally known as Natasha the Dark
, and by extension, the grandmother of Iuz
and Drelzna. She has another foster daughter named Elena the Fair. Baba Yaga is also responsible for providing Kostchtchie
the means to become a demon lord.
which travels via a pair of massive chicken legs jutting from its underside. The hut is far larger on the inside than its exterior size would indicate, because it has been built around a tesseract
.
cannibalistic hag in Slavic legend. She cooks children, causes storms, and traverses the country with Death at her side. Some say she is a spirit of the forest. Some say she protects the waters of life. She flies through the sky in a mortar and pestle, carrying a club that turns men to stone. She lives in a hut with chicken legs.
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
roleplaying game, Baba Yaga is a powerful spellcaster.
Publishing history
Baba Yaga was first mentioned in the Dungeons & Dragons game in the 1979 Dungeon Master's GuideDungeon Master's Guide
The Dungeon Master's Guide is a book of rules for the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons...
, where her hut appears as an artifact. Baba Yaga herself would appear in "The Dancing Hut," a 1984 adventure
Adventure (Dungeons & Dragons)
In the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, an adventure or module is a pre-packaged book or box set that helps the Dungeon Master manage the plot or story of a game...
in Dragon
Dragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
magazine. A gamebook
Gamebook
A gamebook is a work of fiction that allows the reader to participate in the story by making effective choices. The narrative branches along various paths through the use of numbered paragraphs or pages...
, Nightmare Realm of Baba Yaga appeared in 1986. In 1988, Baba Yaga had a brief cameo in Castle Greyhawk
Castle Greyhawk (module)
Castle Greyhawk is an adventure module for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game, set in the game's World of Greyhawk campaign setting. The module bears the code WG7 and was published by TSR, Inc...
, (page 60). Baba Yaga's hut was once more described in 1993's Book of Artifacts
Book of Artifacts
The Book of Artifacts is a supplemental sourcebook to the core rules of the second edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. This book, published by TSR, Inc. in 1993, details 50 different artifacts, special magic items found within the game at the Dungeon Master's...
. A full-length adventure module, The Dancing Hut of Baba Yaga, was released in 1995. In Dragon #290, author Paul Leach said, "the origin of Baba Yaga (who does not necessarily represent just one witch) is likely to be the Death Crone, a common figure in most pagan mythologies." Leach described the Death Crone in more detail in the same issue. Baba Yaga has since been mentioned in two articles in Dragon (2005 and 2006), and an adventure in Dungeon
Dungeon (magazine)
Dungeon Adventures, or simply Dungeon, was a magazine targeting consumers of role-playing games, particularly Dungeons & Dragons. It was first published by TSR, Inc. in 1986 as a bimonthly periodical. It went monthly in May 2003 and ceased print publication altogether in September 2007 with Issue 150...
(2007). Baba Yaga has since been re-imagined in the 4th Edition Manual of the Planes as one of the few non-Eladrin, a hag to be precise, to become an archfey. In the account she is listed as disguising herself as an old woman in the Murkendraw swamp in the feywild and still lives in her bird-legged hut (2008).
Description
Baba Yaga appears as a hideous, old, human-like woman, some five feet tall. She walks crouched over, and her limbs are almost skeletal. Her skin is grayish brown, and tattooed with magical runes. She has a protruding chin, a long nose covered in warts, and ice-cold black eyes framed by stringy white hair. Her fingers end in sharp iron claws, her stony teeth are filed to sharp points, and two large, tusk-like teeth protrude from her jaw.Relationships
Baba Yaga is the foster mother of IggwilvIggwilv
Iggwilv is a fictional wizard from the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game. She was created by Gary Gygax and was named one of the greatest villains in D&D history in the final issue of Dragon....
, originally known as Natasha the Dark
Iggwilv
Iggwilv is a fictional wizard from the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game. She was created by Gary Gygax and was named one of the greatest villains in D&D history in the final issue of Dragon....
, and by extension, the grandmother of Iuz
Iuz
In the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, Iuz is the chaotic evil demigod of Deceit, Evil, Oppression, Pain, and Wickedness. Iuz is variously called "The Old One" and "Old Wicked," among other titles. Unlike most Greyhawk deities, Iuz makes his home on...
and Drelzna. She has another foster daughter named Elena the Fair. Baba Yaga is also responsible for providing Kostchtchie
Kostchtchie
Kostchtchie is a demon lord from the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game.-Publication history:Kostchtchie made his first appearance in the first edition module The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth...
the means to become a demon lord.
Artifacts
Baba Yaga lives in a mobile hutBaba Yaga's Hut
Baba Yaga's Hut, also called the Dancing Hut of Baba Yaga, is a powerful artifact and the home of the infamous witch Baba Yaga, in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Dungeons & Dragons :...
which travels via a pair of massive chicken legs jutting from its underside. The hut is far larger on the inside than its exterior size would indicate, because it has been built around a tesseract
Tesseract
In geometry, the tesseract, also called an 8-cell or regular octachoron or cubic prism, is the four-dimensional analog of the cube. The tesseract is to the cube as the cube is to the square. Just as the surface of the cube consists of 6 square faces, the hypersurface of the tesseract consists of 8...
.
Creative origins
Baba Yaga is based upon the eponymousBaba Yaga
Baba Yaga or Baba Roga is a haggish or witchlike character in Slavic folklore. She flies around on a giant pestle, kidnaps small children, and lives in a hut that stands on chicken legs...
cannibalistic hag in Slavic legend. She cooks children, causes storms, and traverses the country with Death at her side. Some say she is a spirit of the forest. Some say she protects the waters of life. She flies through the sky in a mortar and pestle, carrying a club that turns men to stone. She lives in a hut with chicken legs.
Additional reading
- Baur, Wolfgang. "Enemies of my Enemy." DungeonDungeon (magazine)Dungeon Adventures, or simply Dungeon, was a magazine targeting consumers of role-playing games, particularly Dungeons & Dragons. It was first published by TSR, Inc. in 1986 as a bimonthly periodical. It went monthly in May 2003 and ceased print publication altogether in September 2007 with Issue 150...
#149 (Paizo PublishingPaizo PublishingPaizo Publishing is an American publishing company in Redmond, Washington that specializes in game aids and adventures for "the world's oldest fantasy roleplaying game" and its flagship spin-off game and setting, Pathfinder...
, 2007). - Bulmahn, JasonJason Bulmahn-Career:Jason Bulmahn became the managing editor of Dragon in 2004 and is now the lead designer of Paizo Publishing and the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. The Beta version of the Pathfinder RPG received the gold ENnie award for "best free product or web enhancement" in 2008...
, James Jacobs, and Erik MonaErik Mona-Career:Erik Mona served as the editor-in-chief of Dragon magazine since 2004 and Dungeon magazine from 2004 to 2006; at the time, both magazines were published by Paizo Publishing, until the license through Wizards of the Coast expired in September 2007...
. Expedition to the Ruins of GreyhawkExpedition to the Ruins of GreyhawkExpedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk is an adventure book for the 3.5 edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. The adventure is set in the game's World of Greyhawk campaign setting, specifically in and around Castle Greyhawk and its dungeons. As such, it is an update to the...
. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2007. - Holian, Gary, and Owen Stephens. "The Demonomicon of Iggwilv." Dragon #336 (Paizo Publishing, 2005).
- Jacobs, James. "The Demonimicon of IggwilvIggwilvIggwilv is a fictional wizard from the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game. She was created by Gary Gygax and was named one of the greatest villains in D&D history in the final issue of Dragon....
: Kostchtchie." DragonDragon (magazine)Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
#345 (Paizo PublishingPaizo PublishingPaizo Publishing is an American publishing company in Redmond, Washington that specializes in game aids and adventures for "the world's oldest fantasy roleplaying game" and its flagship spin-off game and setting, Pathfinder...
, 2006). - Mona, Erik, ed. "Unsolved Mysteries of D&D." DragonDragon (magazine)Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
#359. Bellevue, WA: Paizo Publishing, 2006. - Nalle, David. "Larger Than Life." Dragon #53. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1981.
- Stephens, Owen K.C., and Gary HolianGary HolianGary Holian is an American author of several products and articles for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, especially for the World of Greyhawk campaign setting...
. "Spellcraft: The Demonomicon of Iggwilv." DragonDragon (magazine)Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
#336. Bellevue, WA: Paizo Publishing, 2005.