Command your scarecrow to speak wizard we must know what it saw! *uses awaken* Silence and then rough words rasp from the pumpkin head. "MY ARSE IS FULL OF STRAW!"
I find it funny that my first thoughts don't go to D&D, but the book series "Scary Stories". Harold the scarecrow was always being pushed around by the farmers, one day they pushed him too far. All that was left were the farmer's skins, stretched out over the rocks to cure in the morning sun. I'd love to see an awaken spell cast on a Scarecrow just to see what kind of atrocities it could commit.
I actually just ran a Scarecrow encounter last week. There were rumors some people had been attacked by scarecrows in thier fields for an unknown reason - reason for them animating. I ended up having them appear in waves rather than all at once to avoid TPKing my low level party, but the firebolt slinging Sorcerer Warforged and Elf Wizard made pretty quick work of them. The cornfield battlefield also made for an interesting, interactive environment. I made rows of corn 5' wide, seperated by 10' wide blank areas. The rows with corn obscured vision and was difficult terrain, which hasn't come up a lot at our table and forced the players to think differently ans change up their battle style. 10/10 encounter.
Me First time Dming: the Fields are covered in scarecrows also there has been a murder in the village My Players : *imediatly start burning the fields down* Me: Why did you do that????? The murderer was the old inkeeper ...
Why is my first thought after hearing that they are made using evil souls, is to design one where the creation ceremony goes wrong and the psychopathic murderer who's soul was used kept his identity and murders the one who turned him into it, and proceeds to read and learn the magics used in his creation and uses it to upgrade himself and make others....why did I just give him wings, an enchanted scythe and vials of poisonous gas?
Imagine a BBEG that employs a scarecrow to ravenge the countryside. Every time the scarecrow dies another one appears, but with different abilities (bag of poison, hornets, etc) The players eventually learn what is happening and who is creating the scarecrows. Really never thought of using a scarecrow but I might have to now
I imagine having a large maize field outside of town with multiple scarecrow dotted around the area, first time they go through the area nothing happens, second time a perception check will notify the party that two of the scarecrow are gone from their post and the others are staring blankly directly at the party.
As a gm I want to place a farm out side the main gate of the city each time the players go out to do a quest I describe the farm with normal scarecrows in it. Then after a few sessions they have gone through it half a dozen times or so if they haven’t been paying attention the number of scarecrows keeps increasing each time. The first time they travel through at night cue battle music.
Thx, AJ, now I have a terrifying alternative for my Lv. 1 players if they don't want to enter a forrest dominated by a long-forgotten vampire castle: they can fight in the fields just outside the woods
Oh man, this brings back memories! This monster was my very first encounter. 3 out of 4 of our group, my cousin, my girlfriend at the time, and myself were first time players. The other (the DMs wife) had only played a couple of times previously. The rest of us had no idea what we were getting into, and we were all, basically playing Fighters. To this day I can’t even remember what we were doing. Some fetch quest for a wizard I think, but we were traveling north, I think. It gets dark as we travel and we run into this sprawling farm with a cozily lit up farmhouse in the distance. Moving through the fields we come up on the obligatory scarecrow, and notice, by the light of the moon, blood all around the scarecrow. Not having played d&d before, but having watched our fair share of slasher movies, we were naturally cautious. Upon investigation we find that the figure nailed to the post in the field is not a scarecrow, but the corpse of a human man, presumably the farmer, and drag marks leading back to the farmhouse. So now, super paranoid, we creep carefully up to the farmhouse. Not able to see much through the lit windows and hearing nothing, a couple of us sneak around to the back while the others go to the front. Before any of us can figure out what to do next, my cousin just opens the front door, and BAM! The scarecrow was waiting right inside the door and slugged the crap out of my cousin’s character, knocking him off his feet. This was 2e and for whatever reason, there was no saves for any fear effects, but with my cousin’s character stunned on the ground from the hit, and the carnage we could see by the light of the fireplace in the farmhouse, the rest of us were pretty freaked out. Combat ensued, and we got our butts pretty well handed to us, until one of us , memory fails me on this point, pushed the scarecrow into the fireplace. It burned, we lived (barely), and that turned into one of many memorable encounters over the years.
I have fun memories of these things. As a noble I had been exiled for a particular treason I did not commit. Could have just let it go... But lets be honest unleashing an army of scarecrows on an unsuspecting farming village and warring against the kingdom was much more fun. Thus the duchess of scarecrows was born.
@@kevinbarber2795 a corn cult. They learned pretty early that pulling eviler than thou doesn't really work on an unstable noble bored and with access to a large amount of gold. So made Vlad the impaler proud and a farming community made fun of her dressing habits so clearly they had to go. Duchess was only stopped because a hound archon bit off her head.
Nevermind werewolves and vampires player characters. The aesthetic Scarecrows have is awesome. Either a friendly construct commanded to tend the gardens and watch the land or a terrifying enemy that will stop at nothing to kill you. Imagine fighting a Scarecrow akin to the Grave keeper from the blood and wine dlc for the Witcher 3. A sharpened shovel for a polearm. Garden shears that can split into dual sabers and a pitchfork for a throwing spear. And any number of spells to enhance the creep factor from conjuring spider webs to summoning swarms of pest animals or controlling vegetation. Id love to play a campaign as a scarecrow
Two Words. Miniature Scarecrows. Hundreds of them. Each one about 6 to 8 inches tall with a little pumpkin or gourd as a head. Not as lethal individually, but capable of swarming a person if in a group, and able to completely engulfing them if the Scarecrow Horde is large enough. I’d give them roughly the same stats as a full sized scarecrow, but only doing 1d4 per attack since they’re tiny.
Zhondor Toth I like this idea. I was just gunna have they act like evil Kodama haunting a Hag’s woods, but that’s a way fucking better idea. Thank you.
A soul trapped in a construct. So, their at least partially undead, cool, then I can see some liches or necromancer creating a few of them as guards for their lairs. Getting more devious, the Liche could magically disguise one as a ghoul and embed it with a ghoul pack. Getting some ideas to build an undead empire in a spelljammer setting, they could operate spelljammers, crewed entirely by scarecrows and are used as special forces units.
I rarely used these monsters. I take that back, let me clarify. I never used them until a gaming session near Haloween came around. I always involved at least one of these in those. I liked doing holiday-inspired gaming sessions, don't judge. My first one was the return of an executed murderer. That was the evil soul in the Scarecrow. The party discovered the murderer was wrongly accused and executed, the murder he was charged with was done by another evil murderer. In their quest to clear the name of the Scarecrow's spirit, they discovered the falsely accused and condemned murderer was far Far FAR worse but was really good at getting away with his crimes.
You must have read my mind AJ I was just thinking, two or three days ago after watching an old Esper the Bard video, that I would love to see AJ do a video on the scarecrow.
@@AJPickett Noun esper (plural espers) 1. A person who practices the development of psychic ability. 2. (chiefly science fiction) A person supposed to have paranormal abilities. Wow! Hahaha.
Remember seeing scarecrows in some games like high rollers for an early party. Definitely seems like a more unique monster to fight rather than a kobold or some goblins!
Party goes to clear a mansion of bandits, necromancer uses their souls to create scarecrows and unleashes them upon a town. Scarecrows have crows and turn into spectres upon death.
The Scarecrow seeking redemption. The Lion a Rakasha seeking to be more human. The Tin Man is a golem with empathy in excess, having a soul. Dorothy being a charming warrior queen. Yep, totally different. Just as interesting but different.
That80sGuy1972 The witch can be some really powerful Hag that wants to kill Dorothy. You know, one of those “bathing in blood with keep you young” type of issues.
Ravenloft in 2nd ed had a few good hags. Not a good race of hags; these were individuals who delved too deep into evil so utterly depraved and vile, they saw something horrific enough to shake even a hag, and changed their outlook on life and their place in the world. They tended to be broken, wretched creatures , weakened by swearing off the black magics they had spent a lifetime learning, and mostly served as plot oracles, due to their extensive studies and knowledge.
I actually used these guys once. A series of caves where proto-mummies we're all along the walls. The scarecrows blended in and would try to ambush. Really deadly
This gives me an idea for a magic item: Fearless Feather. This Feather is permanently enchanted to make the holder immune to fear effects & even normal rational fear. It was invented by were ravens who were at war with a hag using scarecrows. It's kind of a silly idea, but I like the idea that the only thing that isn't scared of these magically animated scarecrows would be a corvid.
Good stuff imo. Currently running ghosts of saltmarsh and there is a certain npc hinted at that has some scary witch stuff that I have a kenku group being against. I'll steal this idea for a magic item for the party to attain :P
Love these videos, they make me want to dust off my old home-brew campaign world and run D&D again. Love the Sack full o' Stirges idea. I can totally picture an unnaturally tall, stick-thin figure draped in a patched overcoat, with a weirdly bulbous head concealed under a wide-brimmed hat, lurching toward a terrified village with a two-handed farmer's scythe in one hand, and a huge burlap sack slung over its shoulder. As it reaches the edge of the village, it looks up... revealing a rotting pumpkin head with flaming, baleful eyes and mouth, as it dumps its sack open on the ground and takes up its scythe. For a bonus trick, it can tear its own flaming pumpkin head off and throw it as a one-shot fireball. It then makes a new head for itself out of a small burlap sack stuffed with hay. It might also be seen infected the village's wheat fields with ergot before it attacks, causing mass hallucinations and further enhancing its fear power. Ooh, and you could give it a Command Crows power. Not a whole lot of damage unless the target(s) are in a small, confined area (think The Birds by Alfred Hitchcock), but a murder of them can swarm around a group of people, forcing them to fight at disadvantage.
It is basically a golem. So you need the same knowledge. It just may be easier to animate a scarecrow than your typical golem and as such isn't as resource intensive.
Hey AJ, I just want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of the videos you work so hard on. You’ve rekindled so much of my creativity and been an incredible conduit of in inspiration for me as a DM. Seriously some of the best lore content out there. I will forever refer new DMs to your channel.
This feels so surreal for when I first got into dnd I made a scarecrow player race and like no that I find this my homebrew actually fits into the officeal lore.
You did not run (or play) holiday based AD&D missions. Scarecrows were perfectly a Halloween bad guy. You (as a DM) or your DM did not care about the holidays enough to inspire a mission or two based on them. No judgment here. I guess you never had a complicated game relative to a Cupid's arrow or an Irish-centric gaming session inspired by St. Patrick's day. St. Patty's day is the best time for Leprechaun prankster based sessions!
There's a similar creature in Pathfinder called a Jack-o-lantern. They employ a strangle ability to kill victims, and their victims turn into more jack-o-lanterns, so you can quickly get a zombie apocalypse situation. Recently ran my players through a one-shot featuring them; fun was had by all.
Scarecrows do actually exist in Pathfinder, athough they are CR4+. Despite the Jack-o-Lantern technically being a Plant creature, it can indeed deliver a similar experience, being CR1 (easily scaled up, and with entangling vines rather than fear paralyzing their victims). I'll keep it in mind for a future encounter, as it has an interesting arsenal and flavour. Good idea for the zombie apocalypse scenario and glad you guys had a blast!
This monster is one I would use for any villain that wanted to really mess with the party and fuck with their heads.Ive always thought of them as mocking the player who they are coming after with bloody intention.
Played a Halloween special once and had to battle the Great Pumpkin. Wound up being a fey flavored scarecrow who could absorb other scarecrows and the bodies of those it killed. Basically became a corpse "pumpkin" flower. Extremely satisfying night. I like the "template" aspect of them too. Can make whatever type you like with that stat block.
Inspired: A witch/ hag coven that has been terrorizing a village by astral projecting to weave the nightmares of all the children in the village into a wicker of pure terror. I have an image of a crone hovering over a sleeping child knitting their hair (nightmares) into yarn for their rituals. The players don’t know what’s going on but every night more and more children wake screaming and all complain of the same pale crone lurking above their heads.
The issue with scarecrows in a game like D&D is when the GM describes things, they stand out, unless EVERY farm they cross in the game has one or more mentioned, every time.
Sounds like a good carry companion and a better use for a soul trap than most undead spells and a lot simpler too. Very malleable, practically useful for anything you could want, and not necessarily bad all the time. Fill them with desires to serve, loyalty accompanied by sentience and you got yourself a pretty good companion. In fact, you could basically mix a flesh golem into it to create an almost real life doll of a person, almost as good as bringing it back to life. You could even have it grow and develop as a natural human being, mixing a sort of homunculus, flesh golem, scarecrow hybrid, give it full sentience with all the memories of its past life as well as the creatures soul then you basically got the same creature before you, just more malleable then before. You could even set it to live its life, growing older until it would naturally pass on (possibly using the steel dragon's way of using multiple lives as a base for these operations) and then just pick up the body afterwards while using all the experiences of the past life to recycle the body again and gain that power. Or you can can just break down the body into its separate parts, more powerful the before. Very interesting stuff AJ. Thanks for the inspiration!
@@AJPickett I'd give more than one if I could. Don't ever stop what you're doing. I frequently rewatch your videos when I'm planning a session with something new.
Imagine fighting a Scarecrow in the water! A plague hits the city. To fight the epidemic you seek a Hag Eye from a coven of Sea Hags living in a hut made of driftwood. As you are fighting the hags, a scarecrow camouflaged amongst a pile of driftwood dashes towards the sea with the Hag Eye. One or more players runs after the scarecrow, plunging into the water. As the players wrestle with the Scarecrow, it turns on one of them with itsTerrifying Glare. The player is paralyzed under water! The Scarecrow is protected from fire attacks and doesn’t need to breathe! 🎃
Wait. You can put them in enchanted armor? Devious. Also: I've been thinking of good one liners. "You know what Piercer? What the underdark needs is a good two bit cup of Joe."
Hey AJ, thank you sir for doing this video. They are low level but super nasty. Thanks for stating that wotc had to reduce there appearing number, just shows how strong they really are. Big troble in Lil china makes sence now. Thanks AJ, (I could talk about this video all day) and have a great day
Jack Burton: Hey, what more can a guy ask for? Egg Shen: Oh, a six-demon bag! Jack Burton: Terrific, a six-demon bag. Sensational. What's in it, Egg? Egg Shen: Wind, fire, all that kind of thing!
Amazing and thorough job as always! Though there was one little detail that stuck out to me once I looked through the entries on the Scarecrow, and while it's attacks initially had the same effects as its gaze in the monstrous manual, *Their melee attacks in 3.5 and 5th Edition only specify they inflict fear*, and the paralysis(or, fascination) affect was only on their gaze. But other than that, amazing vid! There was stuff here I might have had trouble finding myself, thumbs up!
Might have just missed it but as someone who loves the idea of a have encounter that can go extremely far south. Where do I find the most "standard" stats for the Wicker you mentioned? Sorry if I missed it but really like the idea of chasing them down with a giant golem of haunting screams reminding them they could have prevented all of this...
oh lets have some fun as a DM for once. and make a twist on this part of Scarecrows breaking free of the hags. so..... scarecrows attack and kill one of the players. ….. player would be bummed out but you slip him a note saying don't roll up anything, I have "something for you" the scarecrows retreat if they drop a pc and take the body with them. the hag builds another scarecrow. pull the player aside, and have a little pow wow with them, and make them come back as a Revenant and since they have to inhabit their own body. they inhabit the scarecrow. LMAO Awesome video A.J. lol, speaking of using spells on a scarecrow. lol, spell engine...… just spell engine. and make when the engine exsorbes spells , it regenerates the scarecrow. if ya want. do a 30 ft, regeneration field, around the scarecrow and regenerates other scarecrows. lol, maybe that would be a bit over the top. unless you know your party can handle it...….. eventually.
I though of using them but doing the reverse they are created from good and pure soul that were twisted by fright into a scarecrow when attacked by one
Encounter Idea: A chaotic blonde woman in her fifties dressed up as a child, walking down a oath the players are in, followed closely by an iron golem, a scarecrow and a chimera
@@caiosergio5775 if that idea is gonna work youve gotta keep it close to the story line...for instance the woman should actually be a young girl with stunning skills in dweomercraft and the lion should actually be a permanantly awakened lion with an unusual fear of everything (needs courage or a moral boost),the iron golem should be a low intelligence golem of free will that is overly protective of "Dorthy"(and wants a heart),and the scarecrow is low intelligence and wanting to increase its int (it wants a brain) could be fun to have a group of adventurers help them on their quest to accomplish these things......and most importantly they have to help Dorthy find her way back home....possible memory loss due to a curse perhaps! 😁😁😁
This is AWESOME!! Love this one, AJ, thank you so much, the scarecrow always fascinates me. 👍❤👏👏👏 p.s. I know this is 2 years old but it's about THAT time of the year, yeah? 🎃
In the campaign which included Gloaming's hear (Titled: Season of Dying Light), the finale was going down at our group's Halloween get-together. Big bosses were a vampire witch-queen, her abyssal pfaltzgraf lover, and a lich whom became a shade to escape his phylactery. Along with undead, there were scarecrows. I took an approach i picked up from my learnings from a Seminole shaman friend i had the honor of knowing. Scarecrows are powered by the anger of the pristine lands that are mowed down by "civilization". Rage for all the life taken. Even the rage of the displaced fae. One of the few campaigns i am truly proud to have written. I figured I'd bring up the animist approach because of the possibilities it brings. In this case, the druid i mentioned with the 20 wisdom in another reply was actually able to stop the scarecrow troops by negotiating with the angry spirits and the townsfolk. Still left a lot of other troops to deal with, but that druid got kudos with attached experience bonuses for even thinking of that solution!
If you go the animist route, add some minor druidic powers... Entanglement, trip, summon/control animals, pass-plant/plant door, pass without trace. This can make for a much more interesting foe, especially if you need to coax some murder-hobos into THINKING for once!
@@AJPickett I just looked it's about ten.dollars but lord of the pit is like 25 or more but rare I had it as a kid broke it apart and lost it but scarecrow is at my.buddy's house waiting to be painted
PIERCER & ROPER (Continued from Pixie Video) _Theme Music Starts_ _Piercer & Roper logo pops on screen_ Announcer: “Last time on Piercer & Roper!” _Flash Back Montage starts_ “Our boys in blue had caught a Pink Ooze Dust dealer and, after some questionable questioning techniques, the Derro Dealer finally agreed to spill the beans on where he’s getting the dust.” _Scene starts with a close up of a dirty and terrified Derro’s face, then the camera slowly pans back to show the Derro being held against the wall of a back alley by Roper with Piercer sticking out of the street almost touching the Derro’s feet_ Derro: “I’ll talk! I’ll talk! Please, man, I’ll tell you whatever you want to know!” Roper, holding up a bag of pink powder: “WHERES THIS SHIT COMING FROM?!?!? WHOS YOUR SUPPLIER?!?!” Derro: “I get it from this cat named Snipdik. He’s one of them Snerfniblings or whatever, man. Dudes got down town Menzo on lock when it comes to dust, man.” Piercer: _Stares Blankly at Derro_ Derro: “That’s right. I just get it from him and flip it out here in the slums, man. He don’t let no body else deal down town. Prides himself on having ‘High Quality Product for High Class Clientele’, man. He’s got a little Apothecary thing set up on 123rd street he uses as a front for the dust. Real nice place, man. All sorts of peoples coming in and out. I don’t know where he gets it or if he’s making it, man, but he’s got it there. So, can I go now??” Roper: “PIERCER, RADIO OFFICER KHURGUUHUL AND TELL HIM WE NEED A PICK UP FOR ONE ON MYCONID AVE. WE NEED TO HEAD DOWNTOWN” Piercer: _Holds button on radio for a few seconds as static blares out from it, then releases the button_ Officer Khurguuhul, over radio: “On it Piercer. Be there in 5.” Derro: “Damn it!” _Screen goes black_ Announcer: “Piercer & Roper have found out where the dust is coming from and are on there way to investigate the Apothecary. Is this Gnomish Narco the producer or just a higher ranking dealer? Will Piercer be able to control himself in a Dust Den? How the hell was Officer Khurguuhul able to understand what Piercer said?? Find out next time on..” _Theme Music Starts_ “PIERCER & ROPER!!!!” _Credits Roll_
A Rutterkin possessed scarecrow. Ugh. Could a Coven of hags trap a hag that was excommunicated or maybe from a rival coven be used to animate one of these? Not sure if a Coven would want to. Or maybe a Coven doing that to an Oni that encroached on their territory. Using a pumpkin head immediately made me think of those pumpkin growing contests. If the head was 4 feet tall then maybe a giant scarecrow animated with maybe a frost giant or better, a fire giant.
I've got a combat encounter I'm working on for my party's (hopeful) second session. As the party investigates info on the Goblins attacking the camp they will pass the scarecrow and the player with the highest passive perception will have a chill run down their spine and feel like something is watching them but nothing will happen from it. However in the second session the party will be asked to investigate the disappearance of a farmer. They will find him hung up where the scarecrow was and be the scarecrow will stalk them in the field. I think it'll be a fun scary session as the players haven't ever played (or even know about the monster) so I can see it being scary. I just need to figure out why the scarecrow is in the field of a small logging village because I don't think a hag fits. Maybe a necromancer in the mountains to the north, any ideas would be appreciated.
I'd say skip the creepy passive perception bit and go right to the farmer's disappearance, they find him in the field done up like a scarecrow and catch glimpses of the creature out of weapon and spell range, stalking them through dense corn fields or whatever. Add another encounter with something like an Antheg or Bullete which are not uncommon in farmlands, and in the midst of the battle, the scarecrow shows up and strikes unexpectedly, just making hit and fade attacks, not sticking around for the whole fight. Its mission is to find easy victims, and merely hamper, delay, sap and terrorize the adventurers (who stand a chance of stopping it).
@AJPickett I was debating that, but I don't want it to be too heavy of a combat session. Because they will be three level one (two by the point of the field) and already are fighting rata, a group of Goblins, and then the main goblin camp. So I may need to cut the 4 Goblins that ambush them in the forest if I did the scarecrow fight. It's definitely something to think about, though
Command your scarecrow to speak wizard we must know what it saw!
*uses awaken*
Silence and then rough words rasp from the pumpkin head.
"MY ARSE IS FULL OF STRAW!"
I love when the master dies,the scarecrow invariably begins to travel north due to its unusual fear of fire! 🎃🔥😳
lol, topical
I find it funny that my first thoughts don't go to D&D, but the book series "Scary Stories". Harold the scarecrow was always being pushed around by the farmers, one day they pushed him too far. All that was left were the farmer's skins, stretched out over the rocks to cure in the morning sun. I'd love to see an awaken spell cast on a Scarecrow just to see what kind of atrocities it could commit.
I actually just ran a Scarecrow encounter last week. There were rumors some people had been attacked by scarecrows in thier fields for an unknown reason - reason for them animating.
I ended up having them appear in waves rather than all at once to avoid TPKing my low level party, but the firebolt slinging Sorcerer Warforged and Elf Wizard made pretty quick work of them.
The cornfield battlefield also made for an interesting, interactive environment. I made rows of corn 5' wide, seperated by 10' wide blank areas. The rows with corn obscured vision and was difficult terrain, which hasn't come up a lot at our table and forced the players to think differently ans change up their battle style.
10/10 encounter.
Here wuz Seamus!
Seamus is at work!
No one else is in at this hour!
Hi Mikma!
Town Crier: "Rocs eating all the crops and livestock."
Villagers: " That's the last straw."
Me First time Dming: the Fields are covered in scarecrows also there has been a murder in the village
My Players : *imediatly start burning the fields down*
Me: Why did you do that????? The murderer was the old inkeeper ...
Lol! Nice one :)
20 minutes ago I thought scarecrows in d&d were boring.
Now I'm planning on putting them in my game.
Why is my first thought after hearing that they are made using evil souls, is to design one where the creation ceremony goes wrong and the psychopathic murderer who's soul was used kept his identity and murders the one who turned him into it, and proceeds to read and learn the magics used in his creation and uses it to upgrade himself and make others....why did I just give him wings, an enchanted scythe and vials of poisonous gas?
Imagine a BBEG that employs a scarecrow to ravenge the countryside. Every time the scarecrow dies another one appears, but with different abilities (bag of poison, hornets, etc) The players eventually learn what is happening and who is creating the scarecrows. Really never thought of using a scarecrow but I might have to now
I imagine having a large maize field outside of town with multiple scarecrow dotted around the area, first time they go through the area nothing happens, second time a perception check will notify the party that two of the scarecrow are gone from their post and the others are staring blankly directly at the party.
As a gm I want to place a farm out side the main gate of the city each time the players go out to do a quest I describe the farm with normal scarecrows in it. Then after a few sessions they have gone through it half a dozen times or so if they haven’t been paying attention the number of scarecrows keeps increasing each time. The first time they travel through at night cue battle music.
Nice
@@AJPickett the original version of the scarecrow reminds me of jack from billy and Mandy
"There it stands. The Scarecrow.
You can to run but never hide.
There were many before you, there will be more after.
We're coming."
Thx, AJ, now I have a terrifying alternative for my Lv. 1 players if they don't want to enter a forrest dominated by a long-forgotten vampire castle: they can fight in the fields just outside the woods
Excellent plan.
@@AJPickett oh why! thank you!
Good show tell me how it turns out
Oh man, this brings back memories! This monster was my very first encounter. 3 out of 4 of our group, my cousin, my girlfriend at the time, and myself were first time players. The other (the DMs wife) had only played a couple of times previously. The rest of us had no idea what we were getting into, and we were all, basically playing Fighters. To this day I can’t even remember what we were doing. Some fetch quest for a wizard I think, but we were traveling north, I think.
It gets dark as we travel and we run into this sprawling farm with a cozily lit up farmhouse in the distance. Moving through the fields we come up on the obligatory scarecrow, and notice, by the light of the moon, blood all around the scarecrow. Not having played d&d before, but having watched our fair share of slasher movies, we were naturally cautious. Upon investigation we find that the figure nailed to the post in the field is not a scarecrow, but the corpse of a human man, presumably the farmer, and drag marks leading back to the farmhouse.
So now, super paranoid, we creep carefully up to the farmhouse. Not able to see much through the lit windows and hearing nothing, a couple of us sneak around to the back while the others go to the front. Before any of us can figure out what to do next, my cousin just opens the front door, and BAM! The scarecrow was waiting right inside the door and slugged the crap out of my cousin’s character, knocking him off his feet. This was 2e and for whatever reason, there was no saves for any fear effects, but with my cousin’s character stunned on the ground from the hit, and the carnage we could see by the light of the fireplace in the farmhouse, the rest of us were pretty freaked out.
Combat ensued, and we got our butts pretty well handed to us, until one of us , memory fails me on this point, pushed the scarecrow into the fireplace. It burned, we lived (barely), and that turned into one of many memorable encounters over the years.
I have fun memories of these things.
As a noble I had been exiled for a particular treason I did not commit. Could have just let it go...
But lets be honest unleashing an army of scarecrows on an unsuspecting farming village and warring against the kingdom was much more fun. Thus the duchess of scarecrows was born.
Zachary Hawley Nice. How did your character learn how to make scarecrows?
@@kevinbarber2795 a corn cult. They learned pretty early that pulling eviler than thou doesn't really work on an unstable noble bored and with access to a large amount of gold. So made Vlad the impaler proud and a farming community made fun of her dressing habits so clearly they had to go. Duchess was only stopped because a hound archon bit off her head.
Nevermind werewolves and vampires player characters. The aesthetic Scarecrows have is awesome. Either a friendly construct commanded to tend the gardens and watch the land or a terrifying enemy that will stop at nothing to kill you. Imagine fighting a Scarecrow akin to the Grave keeper from the blood and wine dlc for the Witcher 3. A sharpened shovel for a polearm. Garden shears that can split into dual sabers and a pitchfork for a throwing spear. And any number of spells to enhance the creep factor from conjuring spider webs to summoning swarms of pest animals or controlling vegetation.
Id love to play a campaign as a scarecrow
Worsel Gummidge vibes
These are my favorite monsters, any creature that could both mechanically scare the party, and actually scare the players, are good in my book.
Two Words.
Miniature Scarecrows.
Hundreds of them. Each one about 6 to 8 inches tall with a little pumpkin or gourd as a head. Not as lethal individually, but capable of swarming a person if in a group, and able to completely engulfing them if the Scarecrow Horde is large enough. I’d give them roughly the same stats as a full sized scarecrow, but only doing 1d4 per attack since they’re tiny.
Actually, there is a version that is several of them all joined together to make a big one.
Better yet just stat them as familiars a disguised hag handed out at a harvest event to children. Corn dolls telling children to go play in the woods.
Zhondor Toth I like this idea. I was just gunna have they act like evil Kodama haunting a Hag’s woods, but that’s a way fucking better idea. Thank you.
Awesome! I have a hag I want to introduce to my players, with a scarecrow side kick.
A soul trapped in a construct. So, their at least partially undead, cool, then I can see some liches or necromancer creating a few of them as guards for their lairs.
Getting more devious, the Liche could magically disguise one as a ghoul and embed it with a ghoul pack.
Getting some ideas to build an undead empire in a spelljammer setting, they could operate spelljammers, crewed entirely by scarecrows and are used as special forces units.
currently have a pirate ship crewed by scarecrows some poor theft tried to sneak aboard was woken by the screams
I rarely used these monsters. I take that back, let me clarify. I never used them until a gaming session near Haloween came around. I always involved at least one of these in those. I liked doing holiday-inspired gaming sessions, don't judge. My first one was the return of an executed murderer. That was the evil soul in the Scarecrow. The party discovered the murderer was wrongly accused and executed, the murder he was charged with was done by another evil murderer. In their quest to clear the name of the Scarecrow's spirit, they discovered the falsely accused and condemned murderer was far Far FAR worse but was really good at getting away with his crimes.
If there's anything I learned from Medievil, it's that the scarecrows are horrible to deal with.
("Fly my minions, fly!")
Additionally, I wonder if you have seen the jeepers creepers movies?
If so, how would you work the creeper into a session?
You must have read my mind AJ I was just thinking, two or three days ago after watching an old Esper the Bard video, that I would love to see AJ do a video on the scarecrow.
Esper, psyhic powers, hmmmm... ;)
Ｋᶦᶫᶫᵉʳᵃᶰᵈᵘᶰᵈᵉʳᵗᵃᵏᵉʳ I was wanting a scarecrow video lately too!
@@AJPickett
Noun
esper (plural espers)
1. A person who practices the development of psychic ability.
2. (chiefly science fiction) A person supposed to have paranormal abilities.
Wow! Hahaha.
Remember seeing scarecrows in some games like high rollers for an early party. Definitely seems like a more unique monster to fight rather than a kobold or some goblins!
It's a good thing my DragonBorn breaths fire. He would be able to burn down the field of Scarecrows with him burning down the field.
Party goes to clear a mansion of bandits, necromancer uses their souls to create scarecrows and unleashes them upon a town. Scarecrows have crows and turn into spectres upon death.
Random Adventurer:
"FUCK!"
If you don't fight a scarecrow with the opening battle cry, "If you only had a brain!" Then you have failed this fight.
Heh!
The Wizard of Oz would have been a whole different movie in Toril...
The Scarecrow seeking redemption.
The Lion a Rakasha seeking to be more human.
The Tin Man is a golem with empathy in excess, having a soul.
Dorothy being a charming warrior queen.
Yep, totally different. Just as interesting but different.
That80sGuy1972 The witch can be some really powerful Hag that wants to kill Dorothy. You know, one of those “bathing in blood with keep you young” type of issues.
That80sGuy1972 I actually think I’d like this version more than the original.
Man, you guys have just written a damn good storyline lol! Hop to writing it please. I'm running out of books to read
Ravenloft in 2nd ed had a few good hags. Not a good race of hags; these were individuals who delved too deep into evil so utterly depraved and vile, they saw something horrific enough to shake even a hag, and changed their outlook on life and their place in the world. They tended to be broken, wretched creatures , weakened by swearing off the black magics they had spent a lifetime learning, and mostly served as plot oracles, due to their extensive studies and knowledge.
I got terrified by the intro...
I actually used these guys once. A series of caves where proto-mummies we're all along the walls. The scarecrows blended in and would try to ambush. Really deadly
Ah a traveling puppet theatre..
Or you could just make your own "Burning Man" festival....great for a fall harvest end...
Still one of my favorite videos!
This gives me an idea for a magic item: Fearless Feather. This Feather is permanently enchanted to make the holder immune to fear effects & even normal rational fear. It was invented by were ravens who were at war with a hag using scarecrows. It's kind of a silly idea, but I like the idea that the only thing that isn't scared of these magically animated scarecrows would be a corvid.
Good stuff imo. Currently running ghosts of saltmarsh and there is a certain npc hinted at that has some scary witch stuff that I have a kenku group being against. I'll steal this idea for a magic item for the party to attain :P
Never downplay your creative magic items. Man that’s great.
I find that making a scarecrow Pc is interesting to say the least.
Especially if they are a warforge dressed up as a Scarecrow
The art is so good in this video
Love these videos, they make me want to dust off my old home-brew campaign world and run D&D again. Love the Sack full o' Stirges idea. I can totally picture an unnaturally tall, stick-thin figure draped in a patched overcoat, with a weirdly bulbous head concealed under a wide-brimmed hat, lurching toward a terrified village with a two-handed farmer's scythe in one hand, and a huge burlap sack slung over its shoulder. As it reaches the edge of the village, it looks up... revealing a rotting pumpkin head with flaming, baleful eyes and mouth, as it dumps its sack open on the ground and takes up its scythe.
For a bonus trick, it can tear its own flaming pumpkin head off and throw it as a one-shot fireball. It then makes a new head for itself out of a small burlap sack stuffed with hay. It might also be seen infected the village's wheat fields with ergot before it attacks, causing mass hallucinations and further enhancing its fear power.
Ooh, and you could give it a Command Crows power. Not a whole lot of damage unless the target(s) are in a small, confined area (think The Birds by Alfred Hitchcock), but a murder of them can swarm around a group of people, forcing them to fight at disadvantage.
oooo, I like the Ergot idea!
So, in short, you need:
Some form of body structure (wooden shaped body or hay shape), some magic (I don’t know what), and a soul.
It is basically a golem. So you need the same knowledge. It just may be easier to animate a scarecrow than your typical golem and as such isn't as resource intensive.
Fantastic medley of aesthetics and mechanics. And with a CR that means you can use them in the lower levels where most campaigns live. :3
Just drop a nice dig aoe fear effect and some blights.
Hey AJ, I just want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of the videos you work so hard on. You’ve rekindled so much of my creativity and been an incredible conduit of in inspiration for me as a DM. Seriously some of the best lore content out there. I will forever refer new DMs to your channel.
Thank you Anthony!
This feels so surreal for when I first got into dnd I made a scarecrow player race and like no that I find this my homebrew actually fits into the officeal lore.
Did the hags also harvest honey and torment Nick Cage with bees when they built that wicker?
The BEES!
I didn't know that scarecrows were even a thing in D&D
You did not run (or play) holiday based AD&D missions. Scarecrows were perfectly a Halloween bad guy. You (as a DM) or your DM did not care about the holidays enough to inspire a mission or two based on them. No judgment here. I guess you never had a complicated game relative to a Cupid's arrow or an Irish-centric gaming session inspired by St. Patrick's day. St. Patty's day is the best time for Leprechaun prankster based sessions!
There's a similar creature in Pathfinder called a Jack-o-lantern. They employ a strangle ability to kill victims, and their victims turn into more jack-o-lanterns, so you can quickly get a zombie apocalypse situation. Recently ran my players through a one-shot featuring them; fun was had by all.
Scarecrows do actually exist in Pathfinder, athough they are CR4+. Despite the Jack-o-Lantern technically being a Plant creature, it can indeed deliver a similar experience, being CR1 (easily scaled up, and with entangling vines rather than fear paralyzing their victims). I'll keep it in mind for a future encounter, as it has an interesting arsenal and flavour. Good idea for the zombie apocalypse scenario and glad you guys had a blast!
@@Harrowed2TheMind Hey man, thanks! And you're welcome for the idea. If you run it, I'd love to hear how it went down.
love these things they were in the first game i ever ran as a dm
This monster is one I would use for any villain that wanted to really mess with the party and fuck with their heads.Ive always thought of them as mocking the player who they are coming after with bloody intention.
Great vid AJ, very helpful.
NOT A DRAGON JUST A EVIL ANIMATED SCARECROW THAT ACTUALLY WORKS AT KEEPING THINGS AWAY!!
dragonlord But why not make a dragon shaped scarecrow, with the soul of a dragon preferably but I suppose a strong drake may work.
YES PERFECT KEEP THOSE PESKY ADVENTURES AWAY!!!
dragonlord Indeed, gotta keep the hoard safe so they can grow up big and strong.
Played a Halloween special once and had to battle the Great Pumpkin. Wound up being a fey flavored scarecrow who could absorb other scarecrows and the bodies of those it killed. Basically became a corpse "pumpkin" flower. Extremely satisfying night.
I like the "template" aspect of them too. Can make whatever type you like with that stat block.
Scarecrows are heckin spoopy corn bois.
Oh, Fiddlesticks!
Love the David Lo Pan reference
This was lovely. Thank you.
Inspired: A witch/ hag coven that has been terrorizing a village by astral projecting to weave the nightmares of all the children in the village into a wicker of pure terror. I have an image of a crone hovering over a sleeping child knitting their hair (nightmares) into yarn for their rituals. The players don’t know what’s going on but every night more and more children wake screaming and all complain of the same pale crone lurking above their heads.
bees, …. OH GOD THE BEES!...…… (Nic Cage - the Wicker Man) lmao
The issue with scarecrows in a game like D&D is when the GM describes things, they stand out, unless EVERY farm they cross in the game has one or more mentioned, every time.
Perfect for my favorite setting in ravenloft
WOW that intro story. Thanks man I didn’t want to sleep for the rest of my life
Sounds like a good carry companion and a better use for a soul trap than most undead spells and a lot simpler too.
Very malleable, practically useful for anything you could want, and not necessarily bad all the time.
Fill them with desires to serve, loyalty accompanied by sentience and you got yourself a pretty good companion.
In fact, you could basically mix a flesh golem into it to create an almost real life doll of a person, almost as good as bringing it back to life.
You could even have it grow and develop as a natural human being, mixing a sort of homunculus, flesh golem, scarecrow hybrid, give it full sentience with all the memories of its past life as well as the creatures soul then you basically got the same creature before you, just more malleable then before.
You could even set it to live its life, growing older until it would naturally pass on (possibly using the steel dragon's way of using multiple lives as a base for these operations) and then just pick up the body afterwards while using all the experiences of the past life to recycle the body again and gain that power.
Or you can can just break down the body into its separate parts, more powerful the before.
Very interesting stuff AJ. Thanks for the inspiration!
Should of saved this video for Halloween man, it'd of been perfect.
I know, but, gotta get the monster manual done and dusted :)
Isn't a potion of heroisem just Vodka? ( As long as you shout by the spirits of my ansesters first )
Well, I prefer Rum, but yeah.
Tequila
Well that was spooky. Gives me many ideas, like soaking them in water and reducing their speed to get passed that nasty fire problem.
Oh this just gave me some very nasty ideas for my new campaign.
Then I hope you gave it a thumbs up :D
@@AJPickett I'd give more than one if I could. Don't ever stop what you're doing. I frequently rewatch your videos when I'm planning a session with something new.
@@LokiFar That's my secret plan :)
Hanz, get ze flamenwerfer, or ve von't see ze daawn.
This is awesome
@@thearchitect2112
Thanks?
@The King
It just gave me a good laugh, thanks.
@@thearchitect2112
Happy to help.
I love the bless spell and the counterpart curse spell lol
Good to know as i am about to run The Cures of Strahd!
Oh god.... that would be terrifying.... I LOVE IT!!!!!
Would a pc be able to make a scarecrow?
Also I was allowed to play a scarecrow for a one shot Halloween session. I LOVED IT
Imagine fighting a Scarecrow in the water!
A plague hits the city. To fight the epidemic you seek a Hag Eye from a coven of Sea Hags living in a hut made of driftwood.
As you are fighting the hags, a scarecrow camouflaged amongst a pile of driftwood dashes towards the sea with the Hag Eye. One or more players runs after the scarecrow, plunging into the water.
As the players wrestle with the Scarecrow, it turns on one of them with itsTerrifying Glare. The player is paralyzed under water!
The Scarecrow is protected from fire attacks and doesn’t need to breathe! 🎃
Wait. You can put them in enchanted armor? Devious.
Also: I've been thinking of good one liners. "You know what Piercer? What the underdark needs is a good two bit cup of Joe."
I don't know why, but I like an idea that kobolds would use scarecrows with the soul of abishais inside them.
I love har you knew what I wanted somehow! Thank you!
Hey AJ, thank you sir for doing this video. They are low level but super nasty. Thanks for stating that wotc had to reduce there appearing number, just shows how strong they really are. Big troble in Lil china makes sence now.
Thanks AJ, (I could talk about this video all day) and have a great day
lots of nice ideas in this one, thanks Sir
Most welcome!
You know what Egg Shen’s got for them Scarecrows???
A Six Demon Bag.
Jack Burton:
Hey, what more can a guy ask for?
Egg Shen:
Oh, a six-demon bag!
Jack Burton:
Terrific, a six-demon bag. Sensational. What's in it, Egg?
Egg Shen:
Wind, fire, all that kind of thing!
AJ Pickett I’m gunna be honest, almost all of my old wizard NPCs are based on either Egg Shen or Mako’s character from Conan.
Amazing and thorough job as always! Though there was one little detail that stuck out to me once I looked through the entries on the Scarecrow, and while it's attacks initially had the same effects as its gaze in the monstrous manual, *Their melee attacks in 3.5 and 5th Edition only specify they inflict fear*, and the paralysis(or, fascination) affect was only on their gaze.
But other than that, amazing vid! There was stuff here I might have had trouble finding myself, thumbs up!
I see your demon Scarecrow hoard with a herd of topnot wearing Kender.
If I was a DM I would do the scarecrow mob. You try to destroy a forest? Face my wrath
Might have just missed it but as someone who loves the idea of a have encounter that can go extremely far south. Where do I find the most "standard" stats for the Wicker you mentioned? Sorry if I missed it but really like the idea of chasing them down with a giant golem of haunting screams reminding them they could have prevented all of this...
I would also like to know.
www.5esrd.com/gamemastering/monsters-foes/monsters-by-type/constructs/wickerman/
Some farms were made for burnin'.
And that's what the rogue will do
oh lets have some fun as a DM for once. and make a twist on this part of Scarecrows breaking free of the hags. so..... scarecrows attack and kill one of the players. ….. player would be bummed out but you slip him a note saying don't roll up anything, I have "something for you" the scarecrows retreat if they drop a pc and take the body with them. the hag builds another scarecrow. pull the player aside, and have a little pow wow with them, and make them come back as a Revenant and since they have to inhabit their own body. they inhabit the scarecrow. LMAO
Awesome video A.J. lol, speaking of using spells on a scarecrow. lol, spell engine...… just spell engine. and make when the engine exsorbes spells , it regenerates the scarecrow. if ya want. do a 30 ft, regeneration field, around the scarecrow and regenerates other scarecrows. lol,
maybe that would be a bit over the top. unless you know your party can handle it...….. eventually.
You mentioned a tome of scarecrow making, Would Candle keep have a copy? I could really use one for a camp guard.
Most certainly yes
Great video, and what timing! Just about to paint some scarecrows for my players to meet. : )
I though of using them but doing the reverse they are created from good and pure soul that were twisted by fright into a scarecrow when attacked by one
Nice work AJ! thanks for all your videos. heres to many more!
🎶If i only had a brain,doo do do doodle DA DOO🎶......next up,the Tin man and the Cowardly Lion! Awesome vid man...awesome!
Encounter Idea: A chaotic blonde woman in her fifties dressed up as a child, walking down a oath the players are in, followed closely by an iron golem, a scarecrow and a chimera
@@caiosergio5775 if that idea is gonna work youve gotta keep it close to the story line...for instance the woman should actually be a young girl with stunning skills in dweomercraft and the lion should actually be a permanantly awakened lion with an unusual fear of everything (needs courage or a moral boost),the iron golem should be a low intelligence golem of free will that is overly protective of "Dorthy"(and wants a heart),and the scarecrow is low intelligence and wanting to increase its int (it wants a brain) could be fun to have a group of adventurers help them on their quest to accomplish these things......and most importantly they have to help Dorthy find her way back home....possible memory loss due to a curse perhaps! 😁😁😁
I'm listening to Creeping In My Soul by Cryoshell, and there is no excuse for it to fit this well.
I have a question for you AJ: Would something like sunglasses negate the effect of the scarecrows' gaze or give an advantage on saving throws?
This is AWESOME!! Love this one, AJ, thank you so much, the scarecrow always fascinates me. 👍❤👏👏👏 p.s. I know this is 2 years old but it's about THAT time of the year, yeah? 🎃
In the campaign which included Gloaming's hear (Titled: Season of Dying Light), the finale was going down at our group's Halloween get-together. Big bosses were a vampire witch-queen, her abyssal pfaltzgraf lover, and a lich whom became a shade to escape his phylactery. Along with undead, there were scarecrows.
I took an approach i picked up from my learnings from a Seminole shaman friend i had the honor of knowing. Scarecrows are powered by the anger of the pristine lands that are mowed down by "civilization". Rage for all the life taken. Even the rage of the displaced fae. One of the few campaigns i am truly proud to have written. I figured I'd bring up the animist approach because of the possibilities it brings.
In this case, the druid i mentioned with the 20 wisdom in another reply was actually able to stop the scarecrow troops by negotiating with the angry spirits and the townsfolk. Still left a lot of other troops to deal with, but that druid got kudos with attached experience bonuses for even thinking of that solution!
Of course, now having 100 scarecrows who didn't want the kand to die sure helped in the battle!!!!
If you go the animist route, add some minor druidic powers...
Entanglement, trip, summon/control animals, pass-plant/plant door, pass without trace.
This can make for a much more interesting foe, especially if you need to coax some murder-hobos into THINKING for once!
I got a old magic the gathering scarecrow metal mini from long time ago
That's probably a valuable collectible.
@@AJPickett I just looked it's about ten.dollars but lord of the pit is like 25 or more but rare I had it as a kid broke it apart and lost it but scarecrow is at my.buddy's house waiting to be painted
I should not have watched this at midnight with the light off. That was a bad idea. Quality continent though.
Don't make me imagine a country of these things, let alone a continent XD
Love your vids AJ. Thanks for the background on S'crows; right up there with revenants. ^_^
Always a gooden
PIERCER & ROPER
(Continued from Pixie Video)
_Theme Music Starts_
_Piercer & Roper logo pops on screen_
Announcer: “Last time on Piercer & Roper!” _Flash Back Montage starts_ “Our boys in blue had caught a Pink Ooze Dust dealer and, after some questionable questioning techniques, the Derro Dealer finally agreed to spill the beans on where he’s getting the dust.”
_Scene starts with a close up of a dirty and terrified Derro’s face, then the camera slowly pans back to show the Derro being held against the wall of a back alley by Roper with Piercer sticking out of the street almost touching the Derro’s feet_
Derro: “I’ll talk! I’ll talk! Please, man, I’ll tell you whatever you want to know!”
Roper, holding up a bag of pink powder: “WHERES THIS SHIT COMING FROM?!?!? WHOS YOUR SUPPLIER?!?!”
Derro: “I get it from this cat named Snipdik. He’s one of them Snerfniblings or whatever, man. Dudes got down town Menzo on lock when it comes to dust, man.”
Piercer: _Stares Blankly at Derro_
Derro: “That’s right. I just get it from him and flip it out here in the slums, man. He don’t let no body else deal down town. Prides himself on having ‘High Quality Product for High Class Clientele’, man. He’s got a little Apothecary thing set up on 123rd street he uses as a front for the dust. Real nice place, man. All sorts of peoples coming in and out. I don’t know where he gets it or if he’s making it, man, but he’s got it there.
So, can I go now??”
Roper: “PIERCER, RADIO OFFICER KHURGUUHUL AND TELL HIM WE NEED A PICK UP FOR ONE ON MYCONID AVE.
WE NEED TO HEAD DOWNTOWN”
Piercer: _Holds button on radio for a few seconds as static blares out from it, then releases the button_
Officer Khurguuhul, over radio: “On it Piercer. Be there in 5.”
Derro: “Damn it!”
_Screen goes black_
Announcer: “Piercer & Roper have found out where the dust is coming from and are on there way to investigate the Apothecary. Is this Gnomish Narco the producer or just a higher ranking dealer? Will Piercer be able to control himself in a Dust Den? How the hell was Officer Khurguuhul able to understand what Piercer said?? Find out next time on..” _Theme Music Starts_ “PIERCER & ROPER!!!!”
_Credits Roll_
A Rutterkin possessed scarecrow. Ugh. Could a Coven of hags trap a hag that was excommunicated or maybe from a rival coven be used to animate one of these? Not sure if a Coven would want to. Or maybe a Coven doing that to an Oni that encroached on their territory. Using a pumpkin head immediately made me think of those pumpkin growing contests. If the head was 4 feet tall then maybe a giant scarecrow animated with maybe a frost giant or better, a fire giant.
They would certainly murder an Oni to power a Scarecrow.
So, scarecrows are made of flammable materials, I presume?
Just grab something that can make fire. Job done.
Careful he’s a hugger!
@@zhondortoth8699 *And I'm a biter.*
Damn i wanna run an encounter where i put a fly spell on 1 now. Thing would be such a good surprise encounter
I've got a combat encounter I'm working on for my party's (hopeful) second session. As the party investigates info on the Goblins attacking the camp they will pass the scarecrow and the player with the highest passive perception will have a chill run down their spine and feel like something is watching them but nothing will happen from it. However in the second session the party will be asked to investigate the disappearance of a farmer. They will find him hung up where the scarecrow was and be the scarecrow will stalk them in the field. I think it'll be a fun scary session as the players haven't ever played (or even know about the monster) so I can see it being scary. I just need to figure out why the scarecrow is in the field of a small logging village because I don't think a hag fits. Maybe a necromancer in the mountains to the north, any ideas would be appreciated.
I'd say skip the creepy passive perception bit and go right to the farmer's disappearance, they find him in the field done up like a scarecrow and catch glimpses of the creature out of weapon and spell range, stalking them through dense corn fields or whatever. Add another encounter with something like an Antheg or Bullete which are not uncommon in farmlands, and in the midst of the battle, the scarecrow shows up and strikes unexpectedly, just making hit and fade attacks, not sticking around for the whole fight. Its mission is to find easy victims, and merely hamper, delay, sap and terrorize the adventurers (who stand a chance of stopping it).
@AJPickett I was debating that, but I don't want it to be too heavy of a combat session. Because they will be three level one (two by the point of the field) and already are fighting rata, a group of Goblins, and then the main goblin camp. So I may need to cut the 4 Goblins that ambush them in the forest if I did the scarecrow fight. It's definitely something to think about, though
NOT THE BEES!!!
Scarecrow lich!!!!