Sometimes I wonder if I should save builds and try to post them when they'd be more relevant, such as around holidays or even just certain times of the year, but most of the time, I don't have the patience for it. This is one of those characters, one that I think might have been better suited for October around Halloween but I was too eager to post before that. Building characters from comic books is a fun experience because they usually have such a varied and well-documented history for me to draw upon that much of the issue just comes figuring out how to replicate their powers. As always, it's worth noting that this build and the gear for it is picked in a vacuum without consideration for what adventure it may be in, so certain options might be better in specific situations.
With that out of the way, let's get into the build for Scarecrow from Detective Comics!
SCARECROW
CHARACTER Jonathan Crane
SOURCE Batman (DC)
GOAL Jonathan Crane is better known in the city of Gotham as the supervillain Scarecrow, wielding a potent fear toxin. His obsession with fear and studies into it have allowed him to capitalize it in others. Before his descent into villainy, Jonathan Crane was a professor of psychology at Gotham University until he was dismissed for his unethical experiments. This prompted his turn as he began to kill those that had fired him, drawing the attention of Batman. Experiments also once turned Scarecrow into the Scarebeast, a monstrous form that possessed inhuman strength and durability as well as the ability to breathe out fear toxin.
LEVEL 1 We’ll start where we always do, at our ABCs – ancestry, background, and class. While a human in the source material, I’ve never felt bad about picking an ancestry that thematically made more sense while not being entirely accurate. In this case, we’ll be picking the hobgoblin ancestry for the ancestry feats that mesh super well with the build we’ll be doing. None of the heritages immediately leap out at me, but I like smokeworker. It gives us some fire resistance but also lets us make attacks unbothered by smokes. As a hobgoblin, we receive boosts to Constitution and Intelligence but take a flaw to Wisdom. We take that free boost to Dexterity, and then pick our ancestry feat. We’ll start with Alchemical Scholar since we have to take that at 1st level – taking it later isn’t an option. This gives us a whole host of alchemical formulas, including as we level up, which is great for Scarecrow as while he was a psychology professor, its his work with chemicals that have earned him renown as Scarecrow.
To reflect his history as professor at a university, we’ll grab the scholar background, which nets him another boost to Int and a free boost that we’ll take to Charisma. We’re given a slew of options for skills from this background, but Occultism makes the most sense of the options presented, so we’ll become trained in that and Academia Lore. We also gain Assurance (Occultism) so that in certain cases, we don’t have to roll to use our skill.
As mentioned earlier, Scarecrow is most famous for his fear toxin and other substances and I feel that the best way to reflect that is with the alchemist class. This will give us an automatic boost to Intelligence followed by four free boosts that go to Dexterity, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma (Str 10, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 18, Wis 10, Cha 14). Out of the four research fields available to us, I think that bomber makes the most sense so that Scarecrow can make greater use of the dread ampoule, which is available from level 1 rather than toxicologist who don’t start getting poisons that inflict the frightened condition until much later. We automatically become trained in Crafting and then become trained in Acrobatics, Deception, Intimidation, Medicine, Society, Stealth, and Thievery. This array of skills gives us a good amount of subversive tactics, and Intimidation is something we have to take for this build because Crane has demonstrated the ability to terrify others even without his fear toxin. All alchemists automatically receive Alchemical Crafting as a skill feat, further increasing our access to formulas. Out of the starting class feats, Quick Bomber seems like the best fit, allowing Scarecrow to draw and chuck a bomb as a single action. Our signature items will be the lesser dread ampoule and lesser necrotic bomb so that we can make three instead of two of these items with advanced alchemy.
Formulas: blindpepper tube, lesser acid flask, lesser antidote, lesser bestial mutagen, lesser blight bomb, lesser dread ampoule*, lesser frost vial, lesser juggernaut mutagen, lesser necrotic bomb, lesser smokestick, lesser thunderstone, minor elixir of life
LEVEL 2 We’ll be starting with some skill feats focused around Intimidation, the first of which will be Intimidating Glare so that we can make Intimidation checks without penalty even if we don’t share a language. Our class feat will be Rogue Dedication, which would make us trained in Stealth and Thievery but since we’re trained in both of them, we’ll become trained in Nature. We will also gain the Quick Coercion skill feat from this, allowing to put the pressure on people swiftly.
Formula: lesser bloodhound mask, lesser darkvision elixir, lesser infiltrator’s elixir
Gear: ring of discretion
LEVEL 3 To make Scarecrow better at making his fear toxin, I want to start our skill increases in Crafting, pumping it up to expert proficiency. We can take the Ancestral Paragon general feat to gain a 1st-level ancestry feat, which will be Remorseless Lash, allowing our strikes to instill lasting fear in frightened targets.
Formula: moderate bestial mutagen, moderate dread ampoule, moderate necrotic bomb
Gear: +1 sickle, ring of discretion, predictable silver piece
LEVEL 4 Another skill feat nets us Group Coercion, so that we can put the screws on multiple people at once. Our next class feat will be from our Rogue Dedication, so that we can take Basic Trickery and pick up You’re Next. When we down a foe, we can use this reaction to Demoralize a foe with a circumstance bonus though honestly I’m just taking this so that we can qualify for Advanced Trickery.
Formula: lesser bomber’s eye elixir, moderate frost vial, moderate juggernaut mutagen
Gear: skinsaw mask, +1 sickle, hat of disguise, ring of discretion
LEVEL 5 We receive four ability boosts that we’ll place in Dexterity, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma (Str 10, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 19, Wis 12, Cha 16). We’ll take this skill increase to Intimidation, making us an expert in it. This next ancestry feat is one of the other main reasons that I picked hobgoblin for Scarecrow – Agonizing Rebuke. This causes creatures that Scarecrow demoralizes to take mental damage as long as it remains frightened, and it isn’t much, but it’s still fun.
Formula: blindpepper bomb, lesser elixir of life, moderate universal solvent
Gear: +1 striking sickle, skinsaw mask, crafter’s eyepiece, hat of disguise, ring of discretion, predictable silver piece
LEVEL 6 We can take Terrifying Resistance so that we gain additional resistances against creatures that we have frightened. I think the best choice here for class feats is Calculated Splash, so that we can deal splash damage equal to our Intelligence modifier instead of the base splash damage of the bombs.
Formula: lesser vermin repellent agent, moderate antidote, moderate bloodhound mask
Gear: +1 padded armor, +1 striking sickle, alchemist goggles, skinsaw mask, hat of disguise, necklace of knives
LEVEL 7 A skill increase to Crafting grants us master proficiency in that skill. I mentioned back in the Poison Ivy build that Gotham super villains always have some sort of thugs or minions helping out their schemes, so we’ll take Hireling Manager to represent his lackeys. For our two perpetual infusions, we’ll take lesser acid flask and lesser frost vial.
Formula: greater comprehension elixir, greater smokestick, skinstitch salve
Gear: fearsome weapon rune, +1 padded armor, spectacles of understanding, +1 striking sickle, skinsaw mask, crafter’s eyepiece
LEVEL 8 Scarecrow is one of those omni-disciplinary scientists that are common in media like TV shows and comics, so we can take the Inventor skill feat so that he can simply invent formulas that he doesn’t know if given time. Back at 4th level, I talked about wanting Advanced Trickery and we’ll be taking it at this level to pick up Dread Striker so that frightened creatures are also flat-footed to us, which will help with hitting enemies, especially since we’re only getting up to expert proficiency with our weapons.
Formula: greater darkvision elixir, mnemonic acid, moderate vermin repellant agent
Gear: greater hat of disguise, lantern of empty light, fearsome weapon rune, +1 padded armor, +1 striking sickle, demon mask
LEVEL 9 This time around, we’ll take a skill increase to Intimidation to reach master proficiency in it. With the Stone Face ancestry, Scarecrow becomes more resistant to the fear that he oft enjoys.
Formula: moderate elixir of life, sovereign glue, timeless salts
Gear: +1 resilient padded armor, greater hat of disguise, unmemorable mantle, fearsome weapon rune, demon mask, +1 striking sickle
LEVEL 10 Another four ability boosts pump up Dexterity, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma (Str 10, Dex 18, Con 12, Int 20, Wis 14, Cha 18). This increase to Intelligence makes us trained in Diplomacy. Our skill feat will be Terrified Retreat to send creatures fleeing when we critically succeed at an Intimidation check. With the Feral Mutagen class feat, our bestial mutagen makes us even more monstrous, making our weapons from it deadly, especially if we throw ourselves wildly into combat. This is to represent Scarecrow’s monstrous form in the Scarebeast.
Formula: fearweed, greater addiction suppressant, moderate bravo’s brew
Gear: mask of the banshee, +1 resilient padded armor, invisibility armor rune, greater hat of disguise, fearsome weapon rune, +1 striking sickle
LEVEL 11 We receive a skill increase to Occultism to finally get expert proficiency in it. Every now and then, Scarecrow has to be the one to get away so we’ll take the Fleet general feat to gain an increase to our Speed.
Formula: greater bestial mutagen, greater dread ampoule, greater necrotic bomb
Gear: +2 striking sickle, mask of the banshee, greater pendant of the occult, +1 resilient padded armor, greater hat of disguise, unmemorable mantle
LEVEL 12 We’ll use the Battle Cry skill feat so that we can make a Demoralize check as a free action when we roll for initiative. We can use Sticky Bomb so that our bombs deal persistent damage based on the splash, which should work well with our Calculated Splash.
Formula: greater frost vial, greater juggernaut mutagen, moderate stone body mutagen
Gear: +2 resilient padded armor, +2 striking sickle, cloak of the bat, mask of the banshee, invisibility armor rune, corrosive weapon rune
LEVEL 13 This time around, we’ll take a skill increase to Society to get up to expert proficiency in it since Scarecrow spends so much of his time in the city. Another ancestry feat gets us Sneaky to become more capable at Stealth. Oddly, this is another 1st-level ancestry feat, which is largely what we’ve taken for Scarecrow. I think some of the later hobgoblin feats are just too regimental military sort of feel for Scarecrow, but there’s still a lot of great ones for him.
Formula: greater elixir of life, greater silvertongue mutagen, greater universal solvent
Gear: +2 greater striking sickle, +2 resilient padded armor, greater alchemist goggles, cloak of the bat, mask of the banshee, greater pendant of the occult
LEVEL 14 With the Lasting Coercion skill feat, we can make creatures that we Coerce comply with our demands for longer. We can get closer to the feeling of Scarebeast by using the Combine Elixirs class feat so that we can combine a juggernaut mutagen with a bestial mutagen.
Formula: blue dragonfly poison, greater bomber’s eye elixir, major antidote
Gear: keen weapon rune, +2 greater striking sickle, greater fearsome weapon rune, +2 resilient padded armor, cloak of the bat, greater demon mask
LEVEL 15 This time around, we’ll take our ability boosts to Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma (Str 10, Dex 18, Con 14, Int 21, Wis 16, Cha 19). Our first skill to reach legendary proficiency will be Intimidation with this skill increase. We’ll also pick up Toughness – Scarecrow might be a gangly fellow, but he regularly takes a beating from Batman and keeps on ticking.
Formula: greater bravo’s brew, greater stone body mutagen, major elixir of life
Gear: +2 greater resilient padded armor, bag of holding (type IV), keen weapon rune, +2 greater striking sickle, greater alchemist goggles, ring of maniacal devices
LEVEL 16 Naturally, since we have legendary in Intimidation, we’ll be taking Scare to Death for our skill feat so that we can kill a creature through fear alone. Next will be the Invincible Mutagen class feat so that juggernaut mutagens that we make grant us physical resistance, which we can still combine with our Feral Mutagen through Combine Elixirs.
Formula: greater bravo’s brew, greater smokestick, greater tanglefoot bag
Gear: dragonscale amulet, +2 greater resilient padded armor, major ring of cold resistance, keen weapon rune, +2 greater striking sickle, greater fearsome weapon rune
LEVEL 17 We’ll take a skill increase to Occultism, bumping it up to master proficiency. Recognize Ambush is a simple little ancestry feat that allows us to draw a weapon as a free action when we roll initiative.
Formula: major bestial mutagen, major dread ampoule, major necrotic bomb
Gear: +3 greater striking sickle, dragonscale amulet, greater corrosive weapon rune, +2 greater resilient padded armor, keen weapon rune, bag of holding (type IV)
LEVEL 18 If a creature somehow manages to recover from its frightened condition that we’ve imparted with Demoralize, we can use the Disturbing Knowledge skill feat to terrify others with esoteric mysteries. For our class feat this time around, we’ll take Expanded Splash so that our bombs hit in a greater area, which will take advantage of our Calculated Splash feat.
Formula: major frost vial, major juggernaut mutagen, major silvertongue mutagen
Gear: diadem of intellect, +3 greater striking sickle, speed weapon rune, dragonscale amulet, +2 greater resilient padded armor, major ring of cold resistance
LEVEL 19 We’ll put our final skill increase towards Crafting, allowing us to reach legendary proficiency in it. For our general feat, we’ll grab Feather Step so that we can Step into difficult terrain, helping us get out of sticky situations.
Formula: major cognitive mutagen, major universal solvent, true elixir of life
Gear: +3 greater resilient padded armor, diadem of intellect, dread blindfold, +3 greater striking sickle, dragonscale amulet, greater corrosive weapon rune
LEVEL 20 One final set of ability boosts increase our Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma (Str 12, Dex 18, Con 14, Int 22, Wis 18, Cha 20). Our increased Intelligence allows us to become trained in another skill, and picking Athletics makes as much sense as anything else. We can grab Magical Crafting just so that we can make magical items if we feel so inclined. Thinking back on it, maybe we should have grabbed this earlier but given that Scarecrow tends to spread his fear toxin in a gaseous, opaque form, we’ll grab Smoke Bomb. Honestly, thinking back on it and how well it works with our heritage, this might even be worth trying to take earlier on.
Formula: major blight bomb, major quicksilver mutagen, nightmare salt
Gear: +3 major striking sickle, +3 greater resilient padded armor, greater marvelous medicines, diadem of intellect, speed weapon rune, dragonscale amulet
CONCLUSION There we have it, our master of fear. Alchemist felt like the best fit for me given his work with chemicals, but I think there's a couple ways it could be done. During building this, I forgot that alchemist doesn't get up to master proficiency with their weapons, but given that frightened and flat-footed stack, and that frightened creatures are flat-footed to us due to Dread Striker, I feel like we have a decent chance of hitting. I really like the choice of hobgoblin for those fear-focused ancestry feats and some of the ideas here are things I considered for a build I'm working on for a regular character I'm building.
Be sure to lemme know what you think of the build. Does it work? Does it represent the character? Would you ever use it? What other characters should I build?
If you want to join in on the discussion of these builds and the ones I do for monsters or just hang out with a bunch of fellow TTRPG nerd, check out the Discord server. We also have a Twitter where we try to post teasers for the blog and are trying to get some milestones made up for. Next week, we're looking at a build for a character from League of Legends!
Have a fantastic Friday!
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