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 looks like great fun! I actually sent this link to my DM so he can take a look at it for our game. If you guys like Halloween fun check out AdventureRoll (https://www.adventureroll.com), they are having a Halloween event coming up and would love for people to join in. Happy October to everyone and may your dice land favorably! :)
After running this, the party actually enjoyed it and wants to make a mini campaign for October. Will there be more for this or should I start writing up my own?
There will be more Halloween mini adventures throughout the month, but they'll all be standalones. Nevertheless, I'm sure you could link them together with a little creativity.
This is so cool, love the idea of a haunted setting. I would really like to see this expanded on, but it is definitely a great encounter.
I love the content that gets put out by The AL, The Guild Adept Program, DDB etc, but the editing and review of these documents is not good. I feel like everyone is in such a rush to get it out that simple mistakes like typos and continuity errors from earlier drafts always make it in the first few versions of the documents. It cheapens the merit and hard work put in to produce these things. Good job on all of it, but editing needs to greatly improve.
Hi, James.
Great work. Only one question: how are the players able to learn the truth of what happened to Sibyl's parents?
You wrote:
Is it your expectation that the players will interrogate the imps before killing them? What reason might the imps have for volunteering this information?
Again, great work. As a DM, I like knowing the true circumstances of our adventures. As a player, I enjoy the opportunity of discovering those truths.
This is really great article! Gonna use it in my campaign for a little Halloween flavour.
It matters in this instance because if wereravens aren't inherently evil, Phineus wouldn't have "succumbed to the curse and lashed out at [Cassandra]," so she wouldn't have stabbed him, so there wouldn't be an adventure.
Unless, of course, you do something like this:
Remember, kids, what you don't know can kill you.
If the parents were both dead, then who made the wooden carving of a raven and wrote 'Phineas' under it?
I think it would be better if, instead of a dream, the girl witnessed this at a young age, like 5 or 6 maybe. She ran into town, but was too emotionally paralyzed to explain what had happened. After Telyma's husband went to investigate and did not return, no one else in the village dared to go. After a few young stupid teens disappeared during a dare to go out there a year later, the villager's attempted to burn the field down one night. But it had grown back the next morning. Since then, no one has been willing to step foot near that farm and everyone will travel a few miles out of their way to go around it to get to the next town. Then, there could also be signs in the house of the teens who went there and attempted to stay the night. Maybe they found a dead raven and disturbingly hung a little sign around its neck labeled 'Phineas' based on what little information the little girl had babbled after the original event.
Or, even better, maybe the wereraven knew something about Cassandra that Sibyl didn't (like she was secretly a demon cleric or a necromancer) and it came to attack Cassandra, but Phineus was trying to protect his wife and got bitten first. She kills him in self defense and dies from her wounds. The reason he became a scarecrow was because of the inherent evil that surrounded the farm due to Cassandra.
I just ran this tonight, and when one of my players touched the dagger for the first time, I had them experience a vision of the events as they transpired. It was quite effective.
How long did this mini adventure take your players? I'm considering using it for a introductory halloween themed one-shot for new players on my campus, and want an idea of how long I might be able to make it last with a new group.
does anyone know the stats the scarecrow? or should I just make my own?
https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/scarecrow
Great stuff definitely gonna use this to influence my Halloween game
My players took quite a bit longer than they could have, but some other things were going on as well, what with food and the like. I took about five hours overall, delays included. I did have to improv a bit, due to them wanting to do things that weren't described. When they went around the back of the house, specially avoiding the cornfield, I added a locked cellar for something interesting. There was nothing inside, but it built tension. One of my players decided to tap the roof of the cellar three times with their sword, so I had the crows outside caw three times in return. It was a great session, and everybody hada ton of fun.
Thanks, Dormiens01. Something similar occurred to me though I think it might be more interesting to have the players learn of Sibyl's parents before they fight the scarecrow. This could add some interesting tension to the encounter, and also inform the players' actions. I tend to prefer this approach over a narrative epilogue they can only appreciate passively.
Might be using this for a game, its so well written
This actually looks like it could slip nicely into the new Dragon Heist module as a replacement for one of the faction missions.
My first time DM'ing has been this past September/October, so I'm excited to use this as part of the mini-campaign I've put together! Lots of horror themed one-shots on DMSGuild website, and this will be a great addition!