>A player wants to start a witch hunt with a bunch of peasants.

>>52860285
Let him do it. Then immortalize him in a folk tale for his troubles.

>>52860285
maybe the news of a witch hunt reaches the inn, where there's a higher level npc staying there. He comes along on the hunt and is able to whisk at least the PC away before a killing blow lands on him. He could be a mentor long past his prime and aids the PC in training until the PC can fight the witches. Bam, plot hook

>>52860285
have rumors abound of things the witch has done and previous failed attempts to stop her which give the PCs a clearer idea of what they're dealing with

>>52860285

The peasants break and run the first time shit gets serious.

>>52860285

You could just let him die.

You could make the witches weaker. If you want a kind of comprimise, you could let the player and peasants find and kill some underling witches, but then be confronted with blatant signs of the boss witches' awesome power (like in >>52860658 , or maybe a more direct show of force)
.
I like this one too: >>52861130

>>52860285
OP... uh... OP...

You do know he doesn't have to actually... you know... actually catch the witches, right?

There's nothing that says he can't just stumble around the woods for a couple days while peasants are picked off by weregoats.

>>52860285
His ass gets saved by the spanish inquisition.

Opportunity to introduce powerful witch hunter NPC that doesn't necessarily defeat the witches but saves the player from a sticky situation.

>>52861338
And maybe gives him valuable knowledge for the next time he faces Witches.

Let him battle uphill, through luck and preparation, into a bittersweet (or tragic) ending.

the witches capture him and dose him with a shit load of scopolamine steal all his shit and drop him off naked in the middle of the road.

Don't. Please, don't make efforts to save a player if they are doing something they know is hard. Let him try if he wants, and let him fail if he doesn't have a very good plan and enough resources to tackle the problem.

Saving players from failures they set up themselves only makes them try things even more stupid and takes from everyone's enjoyment at the table.

Witches don't confront directly. And they don't want to slaughter an entire village because that's how you get paladins sicced on you by the local big power.

She knows he's coming, so she either gets out of there or hides her home, as here >>52861223

Or she could shame them. Using magic and stealth, she hugely embarrasses the mob. Make them all feel like asshats, especially the leaders. Doesn't kill any, but makes it clear that they are going home with their lives at her pleasure.

>>52860285
Oh, that's pretty easy. You don't.