Wood Animations: Some of these look very much like scarecrows in a farmer’s field. Others may resemble bird-shaped kites. They are built of sticks or planks and are, at best, rickety. They are not very strong. They have a low intelligence and are not very dextrous. The bird-shaped scarecrows (called “blood kites”) are the only synthans described here that can fly.

The creation of a “scarecrow” requires the following Primary or Secondary Skills:

Carpentry or Woodworking (at +50%)
Identify Plants (at +35%)

The Mage need not build the “shell” himself. It can be fashioned for him. The artist must use pine or similar wood for the shell. The use of other materials adds to the basic strength of the construct as defined later. The shell need not be built of the same kind of wood throughout its construction. The artist may choose to use a flexible wood for the legs to increase Dexterity and a strong, stout wood for the torso to increase Strength and Constitution. These are merely suggestions for the gamemaster. Blood Kites must be built of light wood. Once the shell is built, the Mage must cast the following spells. They must be cast in this sequence and consecutively. No resting period is allowed.

The creation of a scarecrow requires the following spells in the following order:

(1) Create Inanimate Object
(2) Enchant Item
(3) Protection from... Elemental
(4) Summon Elemental
(5) Command
(6) Unalterable Aura

If any one of the spells fails, the construct will not animate and the elemental summoned forth to animate the shell may attack the Mage (50% chance). The Mage can deter this and begin again only by immediately dispelling the magic and starting from scratch as soon as he knows the spell failed.

Scarecrows start with the following base statistics:

1 Attack per Combat Cycle
Damage per Attack: 2d10 + 1 D10 for every Monster Level over first.

DAP: 5
ST: 40
IN: 10
WI: 5
DX: 30
CN: 30
Speed: 80 ft/5 sec. (120 ft/5 sec. if flying)

The following materials add bonuses in the areas listed:

For the limbs:
Balsa: ST -15, CN -15, DX +25, Speed +50 ft/5 sec
Birch: DX +15
Oak: ST +20, CN +15, DAP: +15
Redwood: ST +20, CN +20, DAP: +20

For fastening limbs to trunk:
Hemp Rope: IN -5
Ivy: DX +10
Kudzu: ST +5, CN +5, DX +15, Speed +25 ft/5 sec
Nails: ST +5, DX -5, CN -5

Other options abound and are solely at the gamemaster’s discretion.