Bargain-Crow Scarecrow

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Medium Construct, Neutral

Armor Class 16 (patchwork natural armor)

Hit Points 136 (16d8+64)

Speed 30 ft.

STR 20 (+5)

DEX 14 (+2)

CON 18 (+4)

INT 13 (+1)

WIS 14 (+2)

CHA 16 (+3)

Saving Throws Con +8, Wis +6, Cha +7

Skills Insight +6, Deception +7, Perception +6, Persuasion +7

Damage Vulnerabilities fire

Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks

Damage Immunities poison

Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, poisoned, unconscious

Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 16

Languages Common, Auran, telepathy 60 ft.

Challenge 9 (5,000 XP) Proficiency Bonus +4

Constructed for Collective Bargaining. The scarecrow has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects that would alter its thoughts, emotions, or loyalties. It is immune to any effect that would force it to betray, abandon, or harm a crow allied with it.

First Offer Is Binding. Before the scarecrow makes its first attack against a creature, it must offer that creature one honest bargain, provided the creature can hear it. The scarecrow states the terms plainly, and the creature may accept or refuse without using an action. A creature can accept only one bargain from the scarecrow, and the scarecrow cannot offer another bargain to that creature. If accepted, the bargain is magically binding for its stated duration; the scarecrow cannot knowingly violate its terms, though it may exploit ambiguities. The scarecrow commonly offers one of these terms: Safe Passage (the target and the scarecrow agree not to attack one another for 1 minute), A Warning for a Name (the target gives its true name, and the scarecrow truthfully answers one question about a nearby danger), or Strike the Foreman (the target agrees to attack a creature designated by the scarecrow before the end of its next turn, and the scarecrow will not attack the target during that time). A creature that refuses may be attacked normally.

Crow Shop Steward. A cloud of organized crows follows the scarecrow. While at least three crows are within 30 feet of it, the scarecrow cannot be surprised, and it has advantage on Charisma (Deception, Insight, and Persuasion) checks. The crows also count as difficult terrain for hostile creatures within 5 feet of the scarecrow.

Straw-Filled Vacancy. When the scarecrow is reduced to 68 hit points or fewer for the first time, it sheds a 10-foot-radius cloud of straw and black feathers until the end of its next turn. The area is heavily obscured, and the scarecrow can immediately move up to half its speed without provoking opportunity attacks.

Actions

Multiattack. The scarecrow makes two Union Scythe attacks and one Crowhook attack.

Union Scythe. Melee weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 16 (2d10+5) slashing damage. If the target is a Large or smaller creature, it must succeed on a DC 17 Strength saving throw or be pulled up to 10 feet toward the scarecrow.

Crowhook. Melee weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (2d8+5) piercing damage, plus damage from a flock of crows 7 (2d6) slashing damage. If the target is a creature that has refused the scarecrow's bargain, it must succeed on a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw or be frightened of the scarecrow until the end of its next turn.

Grievance Meeting (Recharge 5-6). The scarecrow calls every crow within 120 feet to converge on a point it can see within 60 feet. Each creature in a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on that point must make a DC 17 Dexterity saving throw, taking 31 (7d8) slashing damage on a failed save, or half as much on a successful one. On a failed save, a creature is also blinded until the end of its next turn. The area is filled with shrieking crows until the start of the scarecrow's next turn and is heavily obscured.

The Strike Is Authorized (1/Day). The scarecrow chooses up to four creatures within 60 feet that can hear it. Each target must succeed on a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw or be compelled to spend its next turn moving toward a creature the scarecrow designates and making at least one attack against that creature, if able. A target that accepted Safe Passage or another bargain cannot be affected by this action while that bargain lasts.

Bonus Actions

Crow Relay. The scarecrow teleports to an unoccupied space within 30 feet that it can see, provided that space is within 5 feet of at least one crow. The crows at its old location scatter, and the scarecrow leaves behind a swirl of feathers.

Reactions

Grievance Filed. When a creature within 30 feet damages the scarecrow or a crow allied with it, the scarecrow imposes disadvantage on the attack roll or reduces the damage by 10, as crows swarm over the attacker's face and weapon. The scarecrow can use this reaction three times, regaining all expended uses when it finishes a short or long rest.

Environment Forest, Grassland, Urban

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"You may refuse. You may regret refusing. Those are separate matters." — Old Mother Blackwing, recorded at the Red Furrow granary

Lore & Description

Appearance

This scarecrow is stitched from faded harvest jackets, blue work shirts, and strips of union-red cloth rather than ordinary burlap. Its head is a lopsided sack painted with a broad black smile, while a crown of glossy crows' feathers frames two lantern-yellow eyes. A crooked iron sickle is strapped across its back, and dozens of tiny brass tags hang from its straw ribs, each stamped with a crow's name. Wherever it walks, crows gather in disciplined rows along fences, rooftops, and telephone wires.

Behavior & Origins

Once built to guard the fields of Bellweather Farm, the scarecrow discovered that the crows were not pests but exhausted laborers being blamed for every failed harvest. It organized them into the Blackwing Agricultural and Carrion Workers Local 13, negotiated their freedom from the farm's owner, and has since become a wandering advocate for exploited creatures. It does not lie when making a bargain, but it chooses words with the precision of a contract lawyer and considers foolish assumptions the fault of the other party. The scarecrow now seeks the ledger of Magistrate Orlan Vetch, hidden beneath the abandoned granary at Red Furrow, because it contains the names of every farmer who has enslaved or poisoned crows in the region.

Running Bargain-Crow Scarecrow

Tactics

The scarecrow opens by making its required honest offer, usually proposing Safe Passage to split a hostile group or offering a warning in exchange for a character's true name. It uses Grievance Meeting to blind clustered enemies, then pulls isolated targets through the crow-choked battlefield with Union Scythe and Crowhook. When bloodied, it uses Straw-Filled Vacancy and Crow Relay to reposition behind its allies; it fights to the death if the Blackwing Local is threatened, but gladly honors a properly accepted bargain.

DM Tips

Telegraph the creature with crows forming picket lines, brass identification tags nailed to fence posts, and scraps of paper bearing bizarrely formal demands such as "sunflower seeds, fair hours, no poisoned grain."
Play the scarecrow as calm, courteous, and relentlessly literal; it speaks like a labor negotiator and pauses to let every creature consider the terms.
Make accepted bargains matter in play. The scarecrow should visibly respect them even when doing so costs it an attack or allows an enemy to escape.
For a weaker party, remove The Strike Is Authorized and reduce Grievance Meeting to 5d8 damage; for a stronger party, give the scarecrow three legendary actions with Crowhook and Crow Relay as options.

Loot

Blackwing Local 13 Charter — A crow-feather-bound contract listing the scarecrow's allies, enemies, and agreed protections. It grants advantage on negotiations with intelligent corvids and can expose several corrupt landowners.
Brass Steward's Badge — A heavy brass badge stamped with a crow clutching a sickle. Once per day, its wearer can summon a single crow that knows the way to the nearest organized flock.
The Unbroken Ledger — A weatherproof book containing every bargain the scarecrow has made, including one unfinished agreement with Magistrate Orlan Vetch.

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Generation Info

Original prompt:
"CR 9: A scarecrow that unionized the crows instead of scaring them. It offers every victim one honest bargain first."

Created: Aug 31, 2026
Modified: Sep 11, 2026

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