Happy Halloween! To celebrate the spooky occasion, you can run your players through "The Haunted Cornfield," a free Dungeons & Dragons adventure! It is set in Barovia, a grim burgh found in Curse of Strahd, and can be run as a one-shot for a party of 1st-level adventurers. Over the course of the game, your players will uncover the secrets behind a legend involving a scarecrow and a brutal murder.
The legend of the cornfield
Every farming town has its superstitions. Some are pleasant tales such as the stories of the great Green Man, a fairy who visits farmers in the guise of a traveler and blesses their fields in exchange for a night of merrymaking. This tale is more sinister, and worst of all — it's true.
Some years ago, there was a farmer by the name of Cassandra O’Vana. She and her husband, Phineus, lived in a small house on the outskirts of town. They were close friends with the burgomaster, and despite their status in the village, were not well known, for they rarely ventured into town. Their adult daughter, Sibyl, traveled to the market in her parents’ stead, and she did not begrudge this duty, for she welcomed any chance she could get to spend time in the village and away from the farm.
One day, Sibyl departed with her cart to the village and bade her parents goodbye as crows cawed overhead. Cassandra and Phineus were in the cornfield, building a scarecrow. Phineus was hanging sacks upon a wooden cross to make its body, and Cassandra was carving a face into an overlarge gourd to serve as its head. Sibyl looked upon it and shuddered. It was a grotesque thing, with gaping eyes and a crooked, lopsided mouth.
She shook the scarecrow from her mind and traveled to the village as she often did. But that day, she stayed longer in town than she expected and decided to spend the night with Telyma, a woman she knew, rather than attempting to brave the road after dark.
As Sibyl slept, she was visited by a vision. She saw her mother raise her carving knife and stalk up to her husband. Sibyl tried to scream at her father — to warn him — but Cassandra plunged the silver-plated knife into his back and carved the life from his body. She hefted the corpse and draped it in the scarecrow’s arms, and as Sibyl watched in soundless terror, the scarecrow’s arms began to move. It picked up the corpse and raised it to its grotesque head, and began to eat it. Its mushy teeth tore through flesh like knives, and in an instant, the body was gone.
Adventure start
Sibyl never returned to her farm. Over 20 years have passed since that night, and Sibyl still lives in the village with her companion, Telyma. Every night, she dreams of the scarecrow that haunts her family’s cornfield. Telyma has posted a notice, asking for adventurers, mercenaries, or investigators who are willing to investigate the abandoned O’Vana family cornfield.
Adventurers who respond to the call are greeted by Telyma, a woman with pale skin, sorrow-creased eyes, and graying brown hair. She offers them 10 gp apiece to investigate the O’Vana farm and help give Sibyl the confidence to return, or at least help her move past her trauma. Telyma strongly suggests they find the carving knife that Sibyl saw in her dream. It’s probably still on the property, she suggests. Meanwhile, Sibyl sits in a rocking chair by the hearth, gazing absently into a fire. It is difficult for her, but she is willing to recount the legend of the cornfield, if asked.
Travel to the O’Vana farm
You exit the village and travel along a well-worn road. At first, you seem to pass another traveler or a farmhouse every five minutes or so. After an hour of travel, however, you find yourselves completely alone on the road. The tiny silhouette of the O’Vana farmstead in the distance grows ever closer—and then you arrive.
The journey from the village to the farmstead is uneventful, and the characters arrive at the farmstead unharmed.
Private DM information
As the Dungeon Master, you should know the truth of what happened the night Sibyl failed to return to her farmhouse. Her father, Phineus, was bitten by a wereraven several hours after she left. Her mother, Cassandra, tried to save him, but when Phineus succumbed to the curse and lashed out at her, she took her silvered carving knife and killed him. However, Phineus’s confused and tortured spirit failed to pass into the afterlife. Instead, it passed into the scarecrow that they had carved together. The scarecrow took Cassandra by surprise and killed her, but not before she was able to plunge the knife into its wooden body, burying it to the hilt.
The scarecrow still haunts the cornfield, killing and devouring any creatures that wander into it. A group of imps have been drawn to the cornfield by its dark power, and tend to circle the field in crow form. They feed on the souls of the creatures that the scarecrow kills, or deliver them to their infernal superiors in the Nine Hells.
Arrival at the farmstead
A long-abandoned farmhouse stands before you. The house itself is dilapidated and crumbling. Its wooden walls bear deep scars, and termites crawl around the deep gashes. It looks as if a single strong blow could knock down the entire structure. Behind the farmhouse is a broad cornfield. Despite being abandoned for over 20 years, it is filled with tall, verdant stalks of corn.
Investigating the farmhouse. The farmhouse is structurally unsound. Trying to open the door causes it to fall off its hinges. Characters that enter find a room covered in cobwebs and reeking of mildew. A single raven (an imp in raven form) lurks in the rafters, and it caws as the characters enter the house, then makes a great show of flapping its wings and flying through a smashed window, into the cornfield.
Moments later, a tremor shakes the foundation of the farmhouse, and the ceiling caves in. Everyone inside the house and within 5 feet of it must make a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw, taking 5 (1d10) bludgeoning damage on a failed save or half as much damage on a successful one.
Characters who search the rubble find a wooden carving of a raven with the name “Phineus” inscribed on the bottom.
The cornfield
Somehow, this cornfield is filled with life. Its stalks are tall, and the sound of buzzing insects fills the air. The stalks are so thick and so close together, they form a tiny ocean of green and yellow. Crows circle the cornfield like buzzards, and begin cawing as soon as you come into view.
The cornfield counts as difficult terrain and any creature with at least 5 feet of corn stalks between it and another creature or object treats it as lightly obscured. This field is a rough circle about 40 feet in diameter.
The scarecrow. The scarecrow animated by Phineus’s twisted spirit lurks in the center of the cornfield. The scarecrow has a fetid, distended gourd for a head with a grotesque face carved into it, made only more grotesque by the gourd’s sagging flesh. The hilt of a carving knife protrudes from its moth-eaten clothing. This silvered dagger is embedded in its wooden frame. A creature can make a successful DC 13 Strength check to pull it out, dealing 1d4 slashing damage to the scarecrow as it is removed.
This particular scarecrow is not resistant to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage dealt by silvered weapons.
The scarecrow hides within the tall corn stalks at the edge of a clearing. The clearing is 10 feet wide, and the scarecrow notices any creature that enters the clearing. It bides its time, waiting for its prey to approach. The crows’ cawing alerts it to approaching creatures. A creature must make a successful DC 16 Wisdom (Perception) check to see it in its hiding spot, otherwise it surprises them when it springs from hiding.
When the scarecrow dies, its carved face seems to soften into a smile. Its “eyes” close, and a whispered “Thank you…” drifts from its body as it collapses into splinters and mold. If the silvered dagger was not pulled from its frame before this, it glimmers on top of the scarecrow's deteriorated form.
Crows and imps. Four crows circle the field. Two are normal crows, but two are imps in raven form. They know exactly what happened the night when Sibyl’s parents were killed (see “Private DM information,” above) and attack characters that kill the scarecrow.
If your characters are gravely wounded after the scarecrow fight, only one imp attacks the characters. The other imp vanishes to report this news to its infernal master.
Conclusion
If the knife is returned to Sibyl, she hugs it against her chest — as if holding a person — and weeps. “All this tragedy is finally over,” she says. Afterward, she hands the knife back to the characters and asks them to keep it, as she no longer has any desire to hold onto the past. She resolves to burn the farmstead and the cornfield and put all of this behind her for good.
Telyma thanks the characters profusely for helping Sibyl make peace with her trauma, and gives them each 10 gp. One of the characters gets to keep the silvered dagger (worth 50 gp), as well.
James Haeck (@jamesjhaeck) is the co-author of Waterdeep: Dragon Heist and the Critical Role Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting and a freelance writer for Wizards of the Coast, the D&D Adventurers League, and Kobold Press. He lives in Seattle, Washington with his partner Hannah and his panther companions, Mei and Marzipan.
This is just perfect.
I received a copy of Curse of Strahd as a gift for DMing for my last party, and have been saving it for the season. Now, October is finally upon us, and you have given me this little something extra to work into the story—which I’m sure the party will love! I’m going to be hosting a party that will be equal parts veteran players and newcomers alike, and hoped to make it a memorable run for the lot of them by including props (thanks be to the unavoidable plethora of affordable Halloween decorations), as well as themed meals and drinks served at each session (inspiration for which I have borrowed from Bram Stoker’s Dracula). These Halloween encounters are just the sinful icing on the cake!
Also:
Enter Strahd von Zarovich. ;)
"a woman she knew rather than brave the road at night."
is this a mistake because i can't see it making sense
anyone know where i can find other little awesome oneshot adventures like this one?
I love horror settings in D&D. Even back to the old Ravenloft series, I have always enjoyed and revelled in the players discomfort and cautiousness within these settings. Will you be adding more minis like this in the coming month?
Love this little short quest. Only question is after her vision/dream she just never returned or got proof this happened before staying away for 20 years? The story just felt like it started on a Monday and went to the Wednesday without talking about the Tuesday and what happened to get to the Wednesday...
This is good stuff James. Thanks for sharing it.
awesome
Good story. I plan on running this but dropping Telyma since she seems to add absolutely nothing to the plot or theme. The story becomes far more foreboding and gloomy if the NPC is alone and without companionship, since she could never possibly start any relationship having witnessed something so horrifying between two people that loved each other. Better that the characters find her in the streets one night in a nightgown babbling and then perhaps find out she left the local halfway house. Keeps the tone of the story dark and creepy, plus it fits the emotional stability of the character far better. Once the quest is completed the story seems far more positive, since it's almost like giving her a second chance at life.
This is a cool quick adventure but I noticed a few logical issues that DMs may have a hard time explaining.
1. Sibyl didn't go back home because of a vision. Players might question this and may even see her as untrustworthy. To help with this I would suggest saying that Sibyl checked on her family and found the scarecrow eating her mother. That's much more traumatic. Sibyl ran away and never went back.
2. Why would Telyma wait 20 years to finally find someone to help her companion? At some point a person would likely go "that's just the way she is." Instead make the events recently happen. Instead of a dilapidated house, have an imp set some kind of a trap which could further hinder the players movement making it easier for the scarecrow to catch them.
100% agree. I had same thoughts but yours were more eloquently put. LOL
@jamesjhaeck Are you planning to do more holiday themed one shots ?
The timing for this could not be more perfect! I plan to start running Waterdeep Dragon Heist for some friends, but before we actually started the campaign, I wanted to run a simple one-session adventure for them to test out their characters and make sure they were happy with them. Even more perfect is that I had wanted to do something with a scarecrow because of an inside joke with one of my players. Thanks so much for posting this!
I am so using this for my 3.5 group on Sat. And maybe my 5e group on the following Sat. Thank you.
Joey. James? James, Josiah. Jimmeny.
****in beautiful man
that's cool! thanks!
I never understand why people constrain themselves so much to alignment specifications. All these things are there to provide tools not to constrain.
This was fantastic! please keep making these! I will use as many of them as you make. I would love to see a list of these to use for a quick go to for short sessions! Keep it up!
Awesome story that has inspired me to DM my own session. Just enough to get my feet wet.
Agreed me too! Gonna run this encounter for a short session as my first time being a DM. Thanks for this!