Lore: A Servant of Fear
When the time of harvest comes, when death arrives upon the twilit world and the summer withers, scarecrows stand in silently over the fields. These stoic immortal beings stand sentinel through storms and floods to protect their master’s land. Should any encroach upon them, they would be eager to frighten them off or even to rend them with their claws.
In order to animate a scarecrow, one must bind the body with the spirit of a slain evil creature. Hags and witches often use demons for this purpose, but any evil spirit can do the job. Aspects of that spirit’s personality may shine through, though it does not retain any memories of its former life.
Should its creator die, the scarecrow may react in many different ways. Some may continue following the final order given to it. Others might seek to avenge their fallen master. Plenty more will simply destroy themselves to bring an end to it all.
Simple as this lore is, it’s got a fair bit of storytelling potential! Perhaps the players are on the hunt for a witch and they come across a scarecrow set to protect her. Or maybe they come across a scarecrow bereft of a master and need to find a way to bring it to peace in order to reach a valuable treasure.
Can you make a scarecrow into a BBEG? Absolutely not. But you can still tell some really cool stories with one!
Design: A Rickety Horror
Damn, dude, chill! It just needs to scare the crows, not the literally everyone!
This is a really cool design. It’s very clearly a scarecrow, making the design effective. But it takes a much more creative and creepy spin on that concept, delivering us one hell of an interesting look! And that face! Thing almost looks like a Final Fantasy monster!
It works really well if you’re trying to creep your players out. Imagine it. As twilight blankets the worlds, the party makes their way through a field of golden grass. Then, just as it starts to get dark, they hear the swaying of hay. From the darkness emerges this monster with murderous intent.
Need something for a Halloween session? This might just be your guy.
So long as the players are, like, level two.
Stats: A Test of Courage
God damn, this thing has got a list of resistances and immunities longer than Santa’s naughty list! Dude is resistant to all nonmagical melee, all poison damage, and every single condition in the book!
Though none of that is worth diddly squat, considering its vulnerability to fire. Curse you, straw body!
As for the fight itself, it’s almost as simple as it can get. Its claws do a fair bit of damage for a low-level monster. However, the scarecrow’s true weapon is not its claws. It’s fear.
Anyone struck by the monster’s claws must make a Wisdom save. Fail that and they’ll be frightened until the end of the monster’s next turn. On top of that, it has the Terrifying Glare action. Once again, the target must make a Wisdom save. Should they fail, they’ll be paralyzed by fear until the end of the scarecrow’s next turn.
Overall, this isn’t an especially fantastic fight. In fact, it can get downright annoying. It’s a basic slugfest occasionally broken up by the players not being able to do anything. If you’re not careful, this could very well turn your spooky scary session into a whole different kind of nightmare.
Placement
As a whole, this is a surprisingly strong monster! It’s lore is simple but effective and the design is very strong. The only real issue is the stats; fighting this thing can be really unfun if you’re not careful and the players are unlucky.
With all that in mind, the Scarecrow is going to #58 on the Best of the Bestiary!
- Beholder
- Death Tyrant
- Mind Flayer
- Dragon Turtle
- Mummy/Mummy Lord
- Nagas (all three of ’em)
- Green Dragons
- Red Dragons
- Blue Dragons
- Black Dragons
- White Dragons
- Silver Dragons
- Couatl
- Behir
- Aboleth
- Sea Hag
- Lamia
- Bronze Dragons
- Brass Dragons
- Copper Dragons
- Gold Dragons
- Chuul
- Kuo-Toa
- Gibbering Mouther
- Kraken
- Intellect Devourer
- Chimera
- Death Knight
- Fomorian
- Bone Devil
- Dracolich
- Faerie Dragon
- Gelatinous Cube
- Lich
- Peryton
- Remorhaz
- Orcs (all four of ’em)
- Magmin
- Kobold
- Kenku
- Hobgoblins
- Night Hag
- Green Hag
- Black Pudding
- Ankheg
- Hook Horror
- Oni
- Purple Worm
- Storm Giant
- Hill Giant
- Empyrean
- Efreeti
- Grimlock
- Minotaur
- Dao
- Cloud Giant
- Manticore
- Scarecrow <—————–
- Drow (all four of ’em)
- Shadow Demon
- Modrons (all five of ’em)
- Marilith
- Drider
- Aarackockra
- Azer
- Demilich
- Spectator
- Gray Ooze
- Ochre Jelly
- Hydra
- Rakshasa
- Marid
- Salamander
- Harpy
- Werejackal
- Otyugh
- Satyr
- Half-Dragon
- Cambion
- Fire Giant
- Nothic
- Pixie
- Animated Armor
- Roper
- Banshee
- Basilisk
- Yochlol
- Bulette
- Cloaker
- Darkmantle
- Doppelganger
- Revenant
- Ghoul and Ghast
- Sahuagin (all three)
- Ettin
- Medusa
- Pit Fiend
- Erinyes
- Chain Devil
- Bearded Devil
- Barbed Devil
- Spined Devil
- Ice Devil
- Mimic
- Djinni
- Merrow
- Nalfeshnee
- Glabrezu
- Chasme
- Grell
- Barlgura
- Horned Devil
- Balor
- Shadow Dragon
- Myconids (all four of ’em)
- Piercer
- Werebear
- Lizardfolk
- Vrock
- Dretch
- Pseudodragon
- Gnolls (all three)
- Goristro
- Hezrou
- Manes
- Quaggoth
- Frost Giant
- Weretiger
- Werewolf
- Duergar
- Quasit
- Dryad
- Flumph
- Goblin
- Nightmare
- Rust Monster
- Wereboar
- Wererat
- Githyanki
- Owlbear
- Planetar
- Imp
- Ogres/Half-ogres
- Roc
- Clay Golem
- Flameskull
- Displacer Beast
- Carrion Crawler
- Githzerai
- Grick
- Invisible Stalker
- Rug of Smothering
- Bugbear Chief
- Bugbear
- Flesh Golem
- Vine Blight
- Twig Blight
- Needle Blight
- Mephits (all six of ’em)
- Bullywug
- Hellhound
- Ettercap
- Gas Spore
- Cockatrice
- Lemure
- Homonculus
- Merfolk
- Solar
- Deva
- Gorgon
- Hippogriff
- Griffon
- Cyclops
- Centaur
- Ghost
- Pegasus
- Fire Elemental
- Water Elemental
- Air Elemental
- Stone Giant
- Deep Gnome
- Dinosaurs (All six of them)
- Iron Golem
- Stone Golem
- Earth Elemental
- Galeb Duhr
- Helmed Horror
- Flying Sword
- Crawling Claw
- Violet Fungus
- Shrieker
- Gargoyle
Jonah's Daily Rants 