“One Crow, Two Crow, Three Crow, Scarecrow” – Out of the Box D&D Encounters #49
A continuing challenge, especially for starting DMs, is how to take the mundane and make it special. Fortunately, there are a wide array of D&D monsters that fit the bill. Each has their specialty. Mimics can stand in as mundane items. Piercers look like stalagtites, as do Darkmantles. Grey Oozes can resemble wet stone or pools of water. After a time, though, players will come to expect this. Then it’s time to bring out classic themes from horror and surprise player characters when they least expect it. In a dungeon setting, they might well be ready for something. When travelling from “this town or village” to “that town or village” in patrolled or protected lands, the player characters will let their guard down. Farmlands are perfect for this setting, as they are cultivated lands typically already under the auspice of a local sheriff, regent, baron or other leader. They should be safe.
That’s when you can spring the surprise.
Doing that sort of thing early in a campaign can set the tone for the entire event. This is perfect for when a DM intends to later add a Hag, evil Wizard, or other supernatural foe as a central villain to a campaign. It provides the correct “feel” for the rest of the adventure or campaign. Tension is an important element for some campaigns and will define the nature of the ongoing undercurrent to all other events that follow.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
This specific encounter will draw upon the cultural acceptance or fear of scarecrows, as well as the almost ubiquitous presence of their intended target … crows. Both set within farmlands should be a normal and expected occurrence, allowing any DM to spring this encounter on lower-level parties with little or no set-up.
Environment: Farmlands
Suggested level: 2, adding 1 Scarecrow and 1 Swarm of Ravens per level after.
Description: The road is the same. More dirt trail with more ruts made by wagons laden with goods, and more corn fields lined with tall grass. Crows caw in the distance and scarecrows stand a silent vigil over crops. The birds either circle and caw at the crops’ guardians to mock them or to warn them of your passage. You cannot say which.
You’ve seen it all before a myriad times.
Or maybe not. A successful Wisdom (Perception) roll (DC:15) will pick up something unusual. The “eyes” of this/these scarecrow(s) flash with an eerie green light. A further successful Arcana check (DC:12) will determine something magical is at hand. Otherwise, it might be the fatigue of walking long hours, or it may just be the leaves of the corn flashing before their button eyes. Sometimes a DM just has to shrug and be vague.
As the players take their eyes off the birds, they may ignore this sight (or perhaps not) as their minds may be playing tricks on them, and continue on with their travel. When they look back at these silent guardians, the birds are no longer at their posts.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Scarecrows are now active and will cross the cornfields quickly. If the party failed their perception check, they will not have seen the green flash, and will thus be Surprised by the incoming scarecrow(s). It/They will burst out of the tall cornfields and wade into melee with the group. Once the Scarecrow(s) enter melee, a Swarm of Crows (Ravens) will enter the melee one round later. One swarm will enter for each Scarecrow in play. The hope is to make this combat confusing and chaotic. Feel free to tune this encounter up or down as the DM desires, adjusting for any difficulty. The intent is to create shock and fear, not to wipe out the party. If it fits within the theme of the party, have any defeated scarecrows burn or create a strange magical sigil into the road upon their death. That sigil might (Arcana, DC:15) be the signature of a specific Hag, Wizard or other related magical foe. This attack, therefore, could be the first salvo in the long campaign to defeat this dark and sorcerous villain. That sort of detail is completely up to the DM in question.
Monsters: Scarecrow (Monster Manual, page 268), Swarm of Ravens (page 339, Monster Manual)
Treasure: A plot hook!
Complications: Given the special abilities of both monsters in this encounter, balancing is important. The intent is to create fear and paranoia, not to wipe the party. The supernatural and unexpected nature surrounding this combat should create plot hooks and drive the players forward, if only for revenge. Keep in mind that, although the scarecrow (or scarecrows) will not retreat, the swarms of crows just might. Furthermore, should a party be defeated, they might find themselves outside the hut of a Hag and forced into some sort of magical deal to release them from a gigantic cooking pot … or in the prisons of a magical overlord who punishes all non-tax-paying residents who enter his realm. That’s the call of the DM in question.
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