Carrion Harvest Barrow
Armor Class 17 (natural armor)
Hit Points 168 (16d10+80)
Speed 40 ft.
Saving Throws Con +9, Wis +6
Skills Stealth +6, Perception +6
Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks
Damage Immunities poison, psychic
Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 16
Languages understands Common but can't speak
Challenge 10 (5,900 XP) Proficiency Bonus +4
Actions
Bonus Actions
Reactions
Legendary Actions
The barrow can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature's turn. The barrow regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.
Lair
Lair Actions
On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the creature can take a lair action to cause one of the following effects; it can't use the same effect two rounds in a row:
- Furrowed Earth. A 20-foot-long, 5-foot-wide furrow tears open at a point the barrow can see within 60 feet. Each creature in the furrow must succeed on a DC 16 Dexterity saving throw or fall prone. The furrow becomes difficult terrain until the next round.
- Harvest of Hands. Spectral wooden handles and grasping roots erupt from a 15-foot-radius patch of ground within 60 feet. Creatures of the barrow's choice in that area must succeed on a DC 16 Strength saving throw or be restrained until the end of their next turn.
- Rotten Plenty. A 10-foot-radius area within 60 feet fills with the stench of rotting grain. Each creature that starts its turn there must succeed on a DC 16 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned until the start of its next turn.
Regional Effects
The region containing the creature's lair is warped by its magic, creating the following effects:
- Within 6 miles of the barrow's current hiding place, harvested crops spoil from the inside out, their cores becoming black and fibrous.
- Abandoned carts, wheelbarrows, and handcarts roll a few inches toward the nearest field whenever no one is watching.
- At night, furrows appear in fields and gardens, always leading toward the barrow's next intended hunting ground.
If the barrow is truly prevented from relocating, these effects fade over the course of 1d10 days; otherwise they follow the cursed object to its new location.
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It carried our bread to market. Now it carries our children to the field. — Mara Pell, last keeper of Bellwether Hollow
Lore & Description
Appearance
This monstrous wheelbarrow is built from warped applewood, its boards swollen into rib-like slats around a hollow, glistening basin. A single iron wheel has become a toothed black maw, while the handles twist upward like crooked horns. Roots and tendons knot around its axle, and its interior is always full of half-digested grain, fruit, bones, and pale mushrooms. When it moves, it rolls with a wet wooden clatter and leaves a dark furrow behind.
Behavior & Origins
The Carrion Harvest Barrow was once used by a starving farmer named Orven Pell, who begged the harvest gods to make his failing fields yield enough food for his family. When blight came, Orven packed the barrow with the last of his crops and sacrificed himself inside it. The curse learned that anything harvested could be food, and now the barrow stalks farms, battlefields, and marketplaces alike. The current barrow is called Old Redwheel by the villagers of Bellwether Hollow, where it seeks to consume the village's entire autumn harvest. Destroying it merely causes the curse to seize another wheeled object, making every abandoned cart a possible future monster.
Running Carrion Harvest Barrow
Tactics
The barrow opens by charging through the largest cluster of foes, knocking down a target before using Seed-Sack Eruption to restrain survivors. It uses legendary Lurch actions to circle isolated creatures and tries to Stuff the Barrow with anyone who falls prone or becomes restrained. When bloodied, it feeds on vegetation or corpses to gain temporary hit points; it fights to the death because death is only another route to its next hiding place.
DM Tips
- Telegraph its approach with fresh furrows, spoiled crops, and unattended carts that subtly turn their wheels toward the party.
- Give the barrow a constant wet creaking voice, as if wood is speaking through a throat full of seeds; it recognizes names of people it has eaten.
- Make relocation matter: after the party defeats it, place the next manifestation at a meaningful nearby site such as the village granary, a funeral cart, or their own supply wagon.
- For a weaker party, remove its resistance to nonmagical weapons and reduce its hit points to 126; for a stronger party, let it reform once at the start of the next midnight even if its remains are watched.
Loot
- Orven Pell's Iron Wheel — The barrow's original wheel, cold despite its blackened surface. A druid or cleric can use it in a ritual to track the curse's next manifestation.
- Black Harvest Seeds — A fistful of glossy seeds found in the basin. Planted in cursed soil, they grow overnight into a map showing every abandoned wheeled object within 1 mile.
- Pell Family Signet — A tarnished brass seal hidden beneath the warped boards, identifying the barrow's creator and providing proof that the curse began at Bellwether Hollow.
