A New and Horrifying Creature for 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons
The mastermind behind our Cities of Wonder line steps out of that arena for a ‘just-in-time-for-Halloween” offering for anyone running 5e. Bill “teh ebil bunneh” Keyes (The Widening Gyre) loves him some horror, and Jack Straw is a highly recognizable concept in horror – the scarecrow come to life, representing something from the realms below returned to Earth to bring terror and death. Based on a Grateful Dead song –
Jack Straw from Wichita
Cut his buddy down
Dug for him a shallow grave
And laid his body down
Jack Straw is a creature of vengeance. This makes it a fantastic choice for either a straight-up horrible monster encounter, or a deep and terrifying mystery whereby someone is due a vicious paypack for some truly evil deed, and the heroes have to figure out how to stop it… or even if they should.
Have a member of your party pulling some dark and twisted stuff in the background the rest of the party doesn’t know about? Jack Straw is a beautiful way to bring those birds home to roost.
Writing, design, and graphic design by Bill Keyes. Edited by Jennifer Shinefeld. Special thanks to Gordon Feiner for design and story input.