A Brief History of Scarecrows

Before I introduce scarecrow variants for lower- and higher-level play, from 'friendly' animated scarecrows in every farming village to serial killer scarecrows with scythes and flocks of birds of ill omen—and even scarecrows from different cultures, such as Japanese kakashi—I collected the history of scarecrows across every edition of Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder (with citations!) to give context to scarecrows in tabletop roleplaying games.

The scarecrow first appeared as a monster in the Fiend Folio for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (p. 77), and the elements established in this book show up in one way or another across editions. A scarecrow is a mindless construct, usually created by an evil priest or spellcaster, and it can use its gaze to fascinate one creature, who must then stand still—as if by a hold person spell—while the scarecrow kills them.

The Monster Manual for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition (p. 170) adds that scarecrows are neutral by default, but ones that become conscious also become evil killers. Finally, scarecrows also become vulnerable to fire and immune to cold.

Scarecrows begin to diverge in Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition. The version printed in Dragon #355 (pp. 50-51) and again in Dungeon #154 (The Bigger the Sin..., pp. 5-7) cannot fascinate its victims, but its presence causes creatures to become shaken, and its gaze and touch causes them to cower. It also gained all-around vision, because scarecrows can't break their necks. On the other hand, The Tome of Horrors revised edition (p. 309) let a scarecrow fascinate with its touch as well as with its gaze. Both of them emphasized the scarecrow's role as a jumpscare by giving the scarecrow ways to blend in among 'normal' ones.

Dragon also introduced scarecrow variants beyond just 'mindless' and 'conscious.' A dread scarecrow wields a scythe and casts summon swarm spells, and a quested scarecrow pursues a specific victim as a constant locate creature spell.

Scarecrows in Pathfinder 1st edition and Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition diverged in a similar way. The scarecrow in Bestiary 2 (p. 238) keeps its fascinating gaze like the Tome of Horrors version, but because the fascinated condition breaks after the obvious threat of an attack, its attacks cause fear. The scarecrow in Monster Manual 3 (p. 168) instead splits into variants like the Dragon version—the shambler, the guardian, and the haunter—and gains many different abilities. Their straw filling can explode into mold or reduce damage, they can push or pull the target of their gaze, and the haunter can even make a target attack its own allies. The 4th edition scarecrow also became closely tied to hags and the Feywild.

With all of these changes in mind, it's strange to see Pathfinder 2nd edition and Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition swap places. The 5th edition scarecrow (Monster Manual, p. 268) frightens and paralyzes its target, but it hasn't inherited any of the fancy tricks or Feywild connections of its 4th edition ancestor. On the other hand, the new Pathfinder scarecrow (Bestiary 2, p. 232) has some new tricks, such as frightening every creature within its aura instead of one (and scaring birds more) or dealing more damage to frightened creatures.