Hedge Magic

Hedge magic is the practice of using flora with magical properties to create and cast spells. Though it is practiced across many cultures, hedge magic is not a discipline of magic typically recognized as a wizardly tradition or categorized school of magic. While plants in most studies of magic have been used for spell components, potion ingredients, and spell focuses, hedge magic is about nurturing magic plants to reveal their hidden powers. Those who practice hedge magic, commonly called “hedgecrafters,” say that magical plants themselves are vessels of arcana and it is up to the individual to unlock these secrets through discipline and applied skill. Any individual has the potential to access a magic plant’s minor effect, but only those who understand and practice the traditions of hedge magic can tap into the craft’s most potent effects.
Invoking Hedge Magic

In hedge magic, each plant can produce different magical effects, called worts. Magical plants themselves come in two forms: fresh and dried. Fresh plants can be used in any wort casting while dried plants are only suitable for minor worts. Unless otherwise stated, when a character invokes a wort to cast a spell, the character uses the magic plant in place of the spell’s material components. The magic plant is always destroyed in the process of invoking a wort, regardless of the success or failure of the spell. When a wort calls for a saving throw, the DC is equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence or Wisdom modifier (your choice) or your spell save DC, whichever is higher.

Minor Wort.

The most accessible form of hedge magic, called a minor wort, is a single-use effect similar in scale to a
spell scroll or potion. Using a magic plant in this way takes an action and always requires a somatic component, such as crushing or cutting a plant, snapping a plant in half, consuming flower petals, or similar. Any creature can cast a minor wort, provided the creature is using the appropriate plant in the correct way.

Ceremonial Wort.
Ceremonial worts are rituals involving the magic plants, and they produce effects similar to spells. It takes time and preparation to invoke a ceremonial wort, and, due to their greater effects, most ceremonial worts have a level requirement, as noted in the plant’s entry.

Cultivated Wort.
Hedge magic’s most potent effects—and the reason practiced hedgecrafters are sought the world over—are called cultivated worts. These worts are both rare to witness and difficult to create. Cultivating plants to access these worts requires downtime, resources, and commitment to continual care, but the results can be monumental. To cultivate a magic plant and have access to this type of wort, see the Gardening downtime activity in the Adventuring Rules chapter.

Hedgecraft

Accessing the most potent hedge magic requires the Hedgecraft feat (see the Backgrounds and Feats chapter). If the option to gain feats isn’t used in the campaign, then Hedgecraft can be gained in place of a level-based ability score improvement, provided the GM approves. Alternatively, characters might need to accomplish other story-related tasks determined by the GM to gain the benefits of the Hedgecraft feat.
A character with the Hedgecraft feat can use ceremonial worts, provided the character meets any level requirements. Only characters with the Hedgecraft feat can cultivate a magic garden, allowing access to the magic plant’s cultivated wort.
Finding Magic Plants

Magic plants are rare, exceptional specimens that stand out among more common varietals and have a few notable qualities. Magic plants can grow nearly anywhere, though each type of plant has an affinity for certain locations. Unless carefully tended, magic plants expire swiftly when outside their preferred growing environments. A magic plant that is harvested or separated from its soil by someone without the Hedgecraft feat has a 10 percent chance of wasting away after 24 hours. Otherwise, a fresh cutting of a magic plant remains usable and magical for up to 10 days.
To find and identify a wild magic plant, a character must make an Intelligence (Investigation) check in a magic plant’s preferred growing environment (see each magic plant’s entry for details on these environments). To harvest a wild magic plant, a character must make an Intelligence (Nature) check. The DC is the same for both checks and can be found on the Magic Plant Rarity table. If the harvesting skill check is a failure, the magic plant is destroyed unless the harvesting character has the Hedgecraft feat. Due to their transient nature, there are no magic plants of common rarity.
If a magic plant was cultivated in a garden and the garden is maintained, a character doesn’t need to make either of these checks to find or harvest cuttings from the plants. However, other factors, such as angry gardeners or the garden belonging to a noble personage, might deter the character from harvesting magic plants from gardens.

Magic Plant Rarity

Rarity

DC

Magical Plants

Uncommon

12

bright bishop sage, champion’s lavender, nimbus daffodil, far traveler’s freesia, hoary valerian

Rare

14

emperor’s garlic, fiery snapdragon, merchant’s mint, mirthy hops, alseid peony

Very rare

16

asphodel, chaunic clover, gazing hydrangea, old elvish rose, wolfsbane

Magic Plants

Magic plants are presented in alphabetical order. Each plant entry includes the magic plant’s name, its rarity, themes commonly associated with the plant, environments where it grows or can be found, and the magical worts it can be used to evoke. A ceremonial wort with a level in parenthesis indicates that wort can be used only by a character of that level or higher. A cultivated wort with a level in parenthesis indicates that wort can be activated only when cultivated by a gardener of that level or higher. If an existing and maintained garden of the plant is tended for at least one workweek by a gardener of the appropriate level with the Hedgecraft feat, the plant’s cultivated wort then becomes active.
A minor wort always requires 1 dried or fresh cutting of a magic plant. Ceremony worts require fresh cuttings and each entry notes how many cuttings are required to perform these worts.
Alseid’s Peony

Magic plant, rare

Themes: Guidance, secrets, and teamwork

Environments: In druidic circles, along animal paths, beside anthills

Alseid’s peony is a flowering plant with large, many-petaled blooms in shades of white, pink, and red. Its flowers have bright yellow centers and close at night or in cloudy conditions.

Minor Wort.

As an action, you can tear an alseid peony bloom from its stem to summon a small, red-petaled creature called a bloomling. The blooming uses the statistics of an awakened shrub and lasts for 1 hour or until destroyed. It is friendly to you and your companions. In combat, roll initiative for the shrub, which has its own turns. It obeys any verbal commands that you issue to it (no action required by you). If you don’t issue any commands to the shrub, it defends itself from hostile creatures but otherwise takes no actions. At the end of the duration or when it is destroyed, the bloomling crumbles into a pile of petals and sticks.

Ceremony Wort (3rd Level).

While holding a handful of alseid peony petals, you can spend 10 minutes concentrating on a specific location, such as Bentbow Bay, Splitleaf Village, or Worg’s Crag, then scatter the petals before you. The petals fall gently to the ground and land in the shape of an arrow, pointing toward the location you imagined. The petals scatter and don’t land in the shape of an arrow if the location doesn’t exist or if the location is on another plane of existence. A clump of petals forms at the point of the arrow if a major obstacle exists between your current location and the desired location, such as a magical barrier, a miles-long wall, or a desert, river, or other naturally occurring obstacle. This wort requires 2 cuttings of alseid peony.

Cultivated Wort.

A garden of alseid peonies that has been cultivated for at least 4 weeks whispers secrets, lore, and rumors to those who listen. Each peony bloom whispers, in the same language and voice as the original speaker, any words spoken within the bounds of the garden since the peony’s first blooming. To those standing in or near the garden, these whispers sound like wind through leaves, but a creature can put an ear next to a bloom to hear everything the bloom whispers. The peonies have no intelligence and don’t differentiate truth from lies or past from present or future. They simply repeat words spoken in the garden. For particularly old alseid peony gardens, the peonies might whisper fragments of conversations out of order or from different years. In addition, the
zone of truth spell can’t be cast inside of or within 100 feet of the garden, but creatures that can naturally distinguish truth from lies, such as planetars, know which whispers are lies.

Asphodel

Magic plant, very rare

Themes: Death, sacrifice, and passage to and from the afterlife

Environments: Battlefields, graveyards, hilltops

Asphodel is a hardy, flowering plant with tufted leaves on elongated stems, which boast white or yellow flowers.

Minor Wort.
As an action, you can eat half of an asphodel bloom and place the rest inside the mouth of a dead creature to see the last minute of the creature’s life through its eyes. Afterwards, you must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or suffer one level of exhaustion.

Ceremony Wort (4th Level).
You can bury a prized possession of at least uncommon rarity alongside asphodel to have advantage on death saving throws for the next 4 hours. Burying the possession requires 1 minute of work. Up to five other creatures can take part in the ceremony, though each must provide their own possession. A creature can retrieve a buried item at any time, ending the effect on the item’s owner. Once a creature has benefited from asphodel in this way, it can’t do so again until 3 days have passed. This wort requires you to bury an object in the soil beside a whole, healthy asphodel plant and doesn’t require a specific number of cuttings.

Cultivated Wort (9th Level).
A garden of asphodel that has been cultivated for at least 12 weeks can return life to a creature that has been dead for no more than 1 year and 1 day and that didn’t die of old age. After 1d8 hours in the field, the dead creature is returned to life as if it had been the target of the resurrection spell. The field of asphodel decays and wastes away after the spell has been cast and can’t be regrown in that field for 10 years and 1 day. When cultivating asphodel, the gardener can set parameters on this effect, such as affecting only humanoids or requiring a password to activate the magic.

Bright Bishop Sage

Magic plant, uncommon

Themes: Protection, sanctuary, and purification

Environments: Churches and temples, outside kitchen doors, near druidic circles

Bright bishop sage is an evergreen shrub with woody stems and small flowers in shades of blue and purple. Its short, broad leaves boast fine hairs, giving them a soft texture.

Minor Wort.

As an action, you can burn a bundle of bright bishop sage to protect one creature, doorway, or object. The creature is protected as if it had been the target of the
protection from evil and good
spell, except the creature is protected from only celestials, fiends, and undead.

Ceremony Wort.

As an action, you can sprinkle chopped sage on or in up to six plates, bowls, or glasses of nonmagical food or drink. The food and drink are purified and rendered free of poison and disease. This wort requires 2 cuttings of bright bishop sage.

Cultivated Wort (9th Level).

A garden of bright bishop sage that has been cultivated for at least 8 weeks is protected by heavenly magic. Aberrations, elementals, fey, fiends, and undead can’t enter the garden or a space within 15 feet of the garden, and dead bodies interred in the garden or within 15 feet of it can’t be turned into undead.

Champion’s Lavender

Magic plant, uncommon

Themes:
Devotion, swift healing, and truth

Environments: Near shrines, where vows were honored, after steadfast vigils

Champion’s lavender is a flowering shrub with narrow leaves and blue, violet, or lilac flowers growing up and around spike-like stems.

Minor Wort.
As an action, you can press a sprig of champion’s lavender to a creature’s wound to swiftly close it and dull the ache or bring reprieve to a tired creature. The target can immediately spend one of its Hit Dice to regain hit points as if it was spending Hit Dice at the end of a short rest, or the target can make a DC 13 Constitution saving throw, recovering from one level of exhaustion on a success.

Ceremony Wort (3rd Level).

If you spend 10 minutes chanting and walking the perimeter of an area no larger than a 40-foot cube while waving a bundle of lit and smoking champion’s lavender, you can create a ward to keep unseen intruders at bay. If you use a censer to concentrate the smoke, you can create a ward on up to an 80-foot cube. The ward lasts 8 hours. While an invisible creature is in the warded area, it is limned with a purple glow, and each creature that was present when you warded the area is mentally alerted to its presence.

Cultivated Wort (5th Level).

A garden of champion’s lavender that has been cultivated for at least 4 weeks is a shrine to truth, marking any trespassing oathbreakers and deceivers. While in the garden, a creature that has broken a vow or committed a deception that intentionally caused another great harm is marked with a dimly glowing purple mark, symbol, or rune chosen by the cultivating gardener (typically a rune or symbol denoting guilt). The mark remains until the creature exits the garden. This mark doesn’t appear if the creature has found justice or redemption for the act that would have triggered the garden’s effect, including paying the appropriate fines, serving the community, or atoning at a temple. The garden’s magic doesn’t distinguish between broken vows or deceptions, and it doesn’t mark creatures that have committed only minor or unintentional deceptions, such as failure to carry out promised plans or the unknowing spread of misinformation.

Chaunic Clover

Magic plant, very rare

Themes: Prosperity, luck, and risk

Environments: At the end of rainbows, near fairy circles, near places where major breakthroughs, discoveries, or successes occurred

Chaunic clover is a low-growing, sprawling plant with leaves growing in threes or fours on each stem. Its flowers are small and spiky and are typically white, purple, or yellow.

Minor Wort.
As an action, you can place a sprig of chaunic clover into a pouch of copper or silver pieces, totaling no more than 99 pieces, and roll a d100. If you roll a number higher than the amount of coins in the pouch, the number of coins doubles. If your roll is a 100, the number of coins doubles and each piece magically changes into gold. If your roll is a 1, all of the coins in the pouch are destroyed and a fey creature on the same plane as you learns of your failed attempt and takes an interest in you. Regardless of the outcome, the sprig of clover is destroyed after it is activated.

Ceremony Wort.
As an action, you can place a pot, kettle, or cup with a sprig of chaunic clover inside it under the shade of an old tree to summon a magic cauldron for 10 minutes. The first time you summon this cauldron, it is empty, and it becomes magically bound to you. Each time you use this wort thereafter, you summon the same cauldron. When not summoned by you, the cauldron exists on a tiny demiplane, and only a wish spell can access it. The cauldron can hold only coins, but it can hold any number of them. You can dismiss the cauldron early as an action. If you die, the cauldron is no longer magically bound to you, becomes nonmagical, and appears in the shade beneath one of the trees where you previously summoned it, holding whatever coins you stored in it. If you return to life and use this wort again, you become bound to a new empty cauldron. This wort requires 1 cutting of chaunic clover.

Cultivated Wort (8th Level).
A garden of chaunic clover that has been cultivated for at least 4 weeks causes nearby plant life to become healthy and bountiful. Within 1 mile of the garden, plants grow lush and full and are resistant to disease, crops double their yield, and plant creatures are 60 percent more likely to be neutral or friendly instead of hostile.

Emperor’s Garlic

Magic plant, rare

Themes:
Authority, immunity, and sight beyond sight

Environments: Among wildflowers, near ancient trees, in ruins or lairs once inhabited by creatures of great wisdom

Emperor’s garlic is a flowering plant that grows in a tall stem from a bulb. Its leaves are flat and blade-like, and its flowers grow in a sphere at the top of the stem, typically in shades of pink and purple.

Minor Wort. You can eat a raw clove of emperor’s garlic as an action and gain resistance to poison damage and have advantage on saving throws against being poisoned for 1 hour. However, you have disadvantage on all Charisma (Deception) and Charisma (Persuasion) checks for the duration. If you already have resistance to poison damage, you gain immunity to it instead.

Ceremony Wort (3rd Level).
Using a bulb of emperor’s garlic as a spell focus, you and at least two other characters can perform an exorcism on a possessed target for 1 minute. Each character must maintain concentration while staying within 30 feet of the possessed target. The exorcism fails if no character is maintaining concentration on the exorcism, or if all characters are more than 30 feet away from the target. If the exorcism fails, you can’t attempt an exorcism again for at least 24 hours. At the end of the duration, if at least one character has maintained concentration, the target is no longer possessed as if it was the target of the break enchantment effect of the
dispel evil and good spell. The emperor’s garlic is consumed by the exorcism, regardless of success or failure. This wort requires 4 cuttings of emperor’s garlic.

Cultivated Wort (5th Level).
A garden of emperor’s garlic that has been cultivated for at least 4 weeks protects the immediate area from undead. An undead creature that starts its turn inside of or within 100 feet of the garden must succeed on a Charisma saving throw or be turned.

Far Traveler’s Freesia

Magic plant, uncommon

Themes: Friendship, trust, purity, and innocence

Environments: At shorelines, alongside crossroads, outside inns, taverns, and trading posts

Far traveler’s freesia is a flowering plant with long, narrow leaves and conical flowers in shades of white, red, and yellow.

Minor Wort.

As an action, you can give a gift of far traveler’s freesia to one creature to win it over. If the target is hostile toward you, it must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or it becomes indifferent toward you. A beast with an Intelligence score of 3 or lower has disadvantage on this saving throw.

Ceremony Wort.

If you soak far traveler’s freesia in a bowl of holy water, you can perform a ritual of protection on a number of creatures equal to 1 + your proficiency bonus. The ritual requires 10 minutes of soaking the freesia, then you must brush the water upon the brows of the targets. Each target has advantage on ability checks and saving throws against exhaustion and gains 1d6 temporary hit points for 8 hours. This wort requires 2 cuttings of far traveler’s freesia.

Cultivated Wort.
A garden of far traveler’s freesia that has been cultivated for at least 4 weeks attracts friendly moths and butterflies. A moth or butterfly that feeds on the freesia for at least 24 hours has an Intelligence score of 6 and can speak Common and one other language spoken by the cultivating gardener. The insects are always at least indifferent toward other creatures in the garden and are usually willing to help those who ask, provided the task is simple and doesn’t take them out of the garden for more than 24 hours.

Fiery Snapdragon

Magic plant, rare

Themes:
Fire, strength, and presence

Environments: Areas devastated by forest fires, alongside scorch marks made by fire magic, near temples dedicated to deities of the sun

Fiery snapdragon is a flowering plant that grows in a series of tall, narrow stalks with leaves growing in a spiral around each stalk. Its flowers are shaped like a dragon’s gaping maw and typically come in shades of yellow, pink, and red.

Minor Wort.

As an action, you can place a sprig of fiery snapdragon in the flame of a lit torch to give any creature that carries it resistance to fire damage. The torch’s remaining duration shortens to 10 minutes unless it was already less than 10 minutes. A creature carrying the torch can use a bonus action to extinguish the torch and gain immunity to fire damage until the start of its next turn. The torch then crumbles to dust and is destroyed.

Ceremony Wort (5th Level).

If you create a bonfire laden with fiery snapdragon, you can perform a ritual of strength on one creature within 10 feet of the bonfire. The ritual requires you and the target to remain in the bonfire’s heat for 10 minutes. At the end of the ritual, the target’s Strength score increases to 25 for 1 hour. This wort requires 4 cuttings of fiery snapdragon.

Cultivated Wort (9th Level).
A garden of fiery snapdragon that has been cultivated for at least 4 weeks repels draconic invaders. A dragon that starts its turn inside of or within 150 feet of the garden must make a Wisdom saving throw or be turned as if it was the target of the Turn Undead feature of the cleric class. Draconic creatures, such as chimeras or kobolds, can be turned by the garden, but they have advantage on the saving throw.

Gazing Hydrangea

Magic plant, very rare

Themes: Unbinding, mental protection, and psychic strength

Environments: In desert oases, near theaters and stages, outside windows that face mirrors

Gazing hydrangea is a small shrub with short, broad leaves. Its flowers grow together in hemispherical bundles with tiny flowers in the center and larger, brightly colored flowers around the sides. The brightly colored flowers come in shades of pink, blue, and pur