Scarecrow Master (5e Subclass)

Scarecrow Master

"A scarecrow don't care what it watches — crows, men, or worse. It just waits, patient as the soil, 'til something needs burying. If you listen long enough, the fields will speak to you. If you answer, the Scarecrow King will hear." — Old Gramble, teaching his grandson the ways of the field.

Lore

Warlocks bound to the Scarecrow King draw their power from an ancient, forgotten sentinel of the harvest—an eerie figure standing alone in ruined fields, eternally watching. Through whispered pacts forged beneath withered moons and among rotting crops, these warlocks become conduits for fear, stillness, and slow, creeping decay. They embrace the patience of an immortal watcher and the terror of a sudden, unblinking gaze.

The Scarecrow King does not grant its magic freely. It binds its servants with threads of straw and shadow, threading dread into their breath and stillness into their bones. In return, its warlocks become more than mortal—they take on the guise of effigies, blurring the line between creature and construct, life and lifelessness. They channel fear like cold wind through tall corn, paralyze intruders with their presence, and raise lifeless husks to stand eternal guard.

The scarecrow-like transformation is not merely cosmetic. It represents the warlock’s slow metamorphosis into a vessel of dread and vigilance—half-warlock, half-sentinel—infused with the silent terror of abandoned places and the eternal guardianship of forgotten fields.

Pact Origin	Description
The Vigil’s Bargain	You took a solemn watch over cursed farmland or ancient battlefields, and in your endless stillness, something watched back. When you refused to blink, the Scarecrow King offered you purpose.
Sown in Silence	Your body was buried in a fallow field—dead or nearly so—and unearthed not by hands, but by roots and whispers. The Scarecrow King reaped your soul, then stitched it back into the world.
Inheritance of Straw and Bone	A family heirloom—perhaps a wooden talisman or a scarecrow’s head—held more than tradition. When you accepted your ancestor's burden, the King found you through the bloodline and the soil.
The Waking Watcher	You saw a scarecrow move, only once, but it was enough. You returned to it again and again. One day, it wasn’t there—but the wind spoke your name, and your dreams changed forever.
The Crows Chose You	Crows gathered outside your home for seven nights. On the eighth, you followed them into the fields. The pact was sealed before you returned.
Harvest’s Price	Your village suffered a blight, and desperate prayers were made to forgotten gods. You were the answer—not the one asking, but the one taken in exchange.
Built as a Scarecrow	You were hung on a post by cruel hands—left for dead. But the Scarecrow King saw your agony, and filled you with something older than breath.
Dreams Beneath the Furrows	Night after night, you dreamed of soft soil, crows’ wings, and a silent figure in the fog. When you awoke with straw in your mouth and black feathers in your bed, you knew your pact was sealed.
The Whispered Plow	While tilling cursed land, you struck something hard—bone? wood? metal? It whispered to you, and now your plowshare is a pactblade.
The Strawmask Rites	You participated in an old festival meant to ward off evil by wearing scarecrow masks. You took your mask off last—and found you couldn't remove it at all, at least not alone.
Slept Beneath the Scarecrow	You slept one night in a cornfield, using a scarecrow’s post as your pillow. Something about the quiet, the stillness—it welcomed you. When you awoke, the scarecrow was gone, but the pact had already taken root in your bones.
Buried in the Hay	You fell asleep in the hayloft of an abandoned barn during a storm. Thunder rolled, and you dreamed of crows, rusted tools, and fields that stretched forever. You awoke with a mouth full of straw and a whispering in your ear that hasn't stopped since.

Expanded Spell List

The Scarecrow King lets you choose from an expanded list of spells when you learn a warlock spell. The following spells are added to the warlock spell list for you.

Scarecrow King Expanded Spells

Spell Level	Spells
1st	Cause Fear, Disguise Self
2nd	Hold Person, Pass Without Trace
3rd	Fear, Bestow Curse
4th	Phantasmal Killer, Greater Invisibility
5th	Cloudkill, Insect Plague

Sentinel of the Fields

At 1st level, your connection to the Scarecrow King grants you unnatural patience and vigilance. You no longer need to sleep and instead enter a dormant state for 4 hours a day. During this time, you remain aware of your surroundings and count it as a short rest. You cannot be surprised, and you gain advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks.

Additionally, your body begins to subtly reflect your patron's influence. Your skin takes on a weathered, stitched appearance, and your heartbeat slows to a near standstill. You can hold your breath indefinitely, and as long as you remain motionless, you are indistinguishable from a mundane scarecrow unless a creature succeeds on an Intelligence (Investigation) check against your spell save DC.

When you cast a spell that causes fear, the target suffers disadvantage on the initial saving throw.

As a bonus action, you can invoke the Scarecrow King's unsettling presence. Choose one creature within 30 feet that can see you. The creature must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC or become frightened of you until the end of your next turn. You can use this feature once per long rest.

Scarecrow Servitor

Starting at 6th level, your patron grants you the power to create tireless constructs. As an action, you can animate a Scarecrow Servitor — a Small construct made of straw, wood, and bone — from nearby materials. The servant uses the statistics of a homunculus but with immunity to the frightened condition and the ability to deliver melee attacks using your spell attack modifier.

You can summon this servant once per long rest, and it remains for 1 hour, until destroyed, or until dismissed as a bonus action.

Harvest the Fearful

At 10th level, you can siphon power from fear itself. When a creature within 30 feet of you fails a saving throw against being frightened, you can use your reaction to regain hit points equal to your warlock level + your Charisma modifier. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus per long rest, but only once per creature per turn.

Additionally, when you deal damage to a creature with a spell or weapon attack, if that creature is frightened or surprised, it must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC or become frightened until the end of your next turn.

Husk of the Reaper

At 14th level, you embrace the full power of the Scarecrow King. As an action, you can take on the visage of a living scarecrow for 1 minute. In this form, your body becomes gaunt and stitched, your eyes glimmer with malevolent light, and your motions become jerky and unnatural. You gain the following benefits:

• You become immune to the frightened condition.
• You can see through magical darkness.
• Creatures frightened by you have disadvantage on attack rolls against you.
• When you reduce a creature to 0 hit points, you can force one creature within 10 feet to make a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC or become frightened for 1 minute.
• When you assume this form, each creature of your choice within 30 feet that can see you must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC or become frightened until the end of your next turn.
• While motionless in this form, you are indistinguishable from a mundane scarecrow.

Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest. }}

Patron Lore

Patron Origins

Name	Title	Nature
The Crooked Harvester	Lord of the Forgotten Fields	A forgotten harvest deity cursed to watch over abandoned places.
Old Grinny	The Smiling Watcher	A trickster spirit bound to scarecrows, bringing fear to those who neglect the fields.
The Twinefather	Weaver of Husk and Bone	An ancient construct-god who animates broken bodies and stitched forms.
Harrow the Sleepless	The Restless Warden	A spectral guardian who watches over forgotten graveyards.
The Straw Emperor	King of Rot and Ruin	A cursed monarch stitched into a scarecrow husk, ruling over endless autumn.

Cult Names

• The Harvestbound
• The Rusted Circle
• Children of the Hollow Field
• Wardens of the Crooked Harvest
• The Strawbound Choir
• The Unseen Reapers

Pacts and Bargains

Warlocks of the Scarecrow King rarely make pacts in the light of day. Their bargains are whispered beneath crows' wings or carved into weathered fence posts.

Possible Pacts

Pact Type	Ritual
Binding Pact	Bury your own heart in a field, replacing it with **a crow's feather**.
Dream Bargain	Sleep under a scarecrow for seven nights without speaking a word.
Curse of the Husk	Be buried alive in straw for one night, emerging **changed**.

Eldritch Invocations

New Invocations

Name	Level Requirement	Effect
Eyes of the Crow	3rd Level	Gain **darkvision 120 ft.** and the ability to see through the eyes of your Scarecrow Servitor.
Huskbinder's Grasp	5th Level	When you cast Cause Fear, you can restrain the target if they fail their saving throw.
Fear Reaper's Grin	7th Level	Once per long rest, when a creature frightened by you dies, you regain **1d10 hit points**.

Roleplaying Tips

• Speak only when necessary.
• Carry straw or crow feathers as offerings.
• Always **watch** — never blink if you can help it.
• Tie small nooses from twine during long rests.
• Answer questions with riddles or distant stares.

---

Back to Main Page → 5e Homebrew → Character Options → Subclasses