Something Wicker This Way Comes
This version of the scarecrow doesn’t sit idly by in a cornfield. It was made to hunt, focused on tracking down frightened enemies, and taking advantage of the frightened condition.
For a more feral scarecrow we use the sabertooth tiger stat block as the base creature. This version of the wicker beast has the skull of a feline with large incisors, and the general body shape of a jungle cat. The skull is usually carved from wood but could be the actual skull from a large feline. Its claws are made from the dull rusty blades of large knives; and the hide is a mixture of brittle hay, fur bound together with leather straps.
The wicker beast can be described as either a patchwork construct that was sewn together like a doll, or have the appearance of being grown as one cohesive monster. The tainted magic that animates the wicker beast causes a faint ghost-light glow to escape from the skull, illuminating the eye sockets and through the mouth like a foul glowing breath.
Fearful Symmetry
This form has the benefit of additional movement thanks to its feline frame, along with the heightened senses of a predator.
We are able to reflavour the scarecrow’s frightful glare into a roar to fit the bestial aesthetic. Since the roar doesn’t rely on line of sight, we can increase the range of the affect substantially. Increasing the range allows the beast to impose the frightened condition on a target anywhere within range, then gain advantage to tracking once the target is frightened.
When crafting a wicker beast for your game you aren’t limited to only using a tiger. Wolves, horses, or birds would also work. The abilities we used with the feral wicker beast only need to be reflavored to suit any type of animal.
Sharpening Your Claws
Using the wicker beast against my group was a lot of fun. They were use to battling humanoid constructs but had never fought one shaped like an animal before. Here are 3 ways I would improve on the monster:
Add one or two additional abilities that emphasize the brutality of the wicker beast. Blood Frenzy from the sahuagin stat block or the Wounded Fury from the quaggoth stat block for example.
Use ambush tactics with illusion spells against your players. Don’t charge straight in, which will give your players an easy target, instead use illusions to create duplicates before sending the real monster against the players.
Give it a ranged attack. One big weakness of monsters that attack in melee is that even a barbarian can take them down from range with a simple crossbow. So if your party is stocked full of rangers and wizards add an attack the monster can use from a distance. Thorn whip is a cantrip from the druid spell list with a range of 30 feet that also drags the target 10 feet closer to your monster.
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