So here is the gist of it lol. I gave my players a job board and included a helping unload a shipment of books at a book store. Besides a mimic what could these books contain that might cause some mischief for them? A book about love that when someone touches the book they fall in love with the first person they see? I need help lol please advise. 2 level 3 and 2 level 4 if that comes up. Thanks in advance.
Sounds like a great place to introduce some imp's or other shape-changing type creatures. If you wanted to be particularly nasty, a Glyph of Warding would give them a scare.
The main category of trouble that is in books is that the books contain some information that someone wants (e.g. a devil's true name), and therefore they send minions to retrieve it, but things trapped in books that are released when the book is opened or read are also traditional. A Ghost can plausibly be tied to just about any object and is a fair level of challenge for a level 3-4 party.
The first thing came to mind was a creature from the AD&D days called a “Tome Guardian.” It was published in the Monstrous Compendium Annual Volume Three, and found on pages 38, and 39z it was an “Elemental Fire-Kin” that Wizards could potentially summon and bind to an object to as a guardian, most commonly a Spellbook (hence the name) but could be bound to any object including weapons.* It was (and still kinda is) one of my absolute favorite D&D Monsters of all time. They were not supper powerful or anything (maybe CR 4ish equivalent), but I thought they were super cool.
Once one was bound to an object, it just slept there until anyone other than it’s summoner touched the object, or until anyone attacked either the guardian, or the the object, and if the object was a book that also specifically included the contents as well. Under those circumstances it would treat that offending creature (or creatures) as hostile. A Tome Guardian also granted immunity to Fire and Electrical Damage to any bound object. It was even suggested that multiple Tome Guardians could potentially be bound to the same object, but the process was “generally unknown” which was the AD&D way of saying “Use the Magic Item Creation Suggestions in the DMG to come up with a cool quest for the party to figure it out.”
There were only two ways to get one of these suckers out of a bound object (even if you were the summoner!): Kill it, or cast Dispel Magic on the object which forced the Tome Guardian to succeed at a “Saving Throw against Spells” (That would be either Wis or Cha in 5e) or be unbound from the object. An unbound Tome Guardian had the equivalent of a 30-foot walking speed and would naturally return to their home plane within 2d20 rounds. In the meantime it would look for a nice, cozy fire in which to stay warm (unless it was damaged or target with a hostile spell or ability.)
It doesn’t exist in 5e, at least not officially. Someone may have gone through the work to update it for 5e, like maybe on the DM’s Guild, but I cannot be certain. If not, here is the basic gist for ya (or anyone else) if you’re interested:
They had average Int, so 10 in 5e. Monster Stat Blocks didn’t list all 5 Ability Scores back then, but I think i reverse calculated a Str of 10 and a Con of 12 based on Other information. (If I’m wrong, I’m sure someone can tell us.) Off the top of my head I have no clue about the other three abilities at all. I would have to look stuff up and figure it out. Sorry, somebody else can pick up the baton from here.
They had an AC of 2 (which would be 18 in 5e),
they had 4d8+4 HP (average 23).
They were not only immune to Fire and Electrical (Lightning) damage, those damage types actually granted them Temp HP* (which I would probably change to a limited use Reaction for 5e, and if that’s still no good just replace it with standard Immunity.)
They had a natural Melee Weapon Attack that did 1d4 Fire Damage.
Their primary, go-to Special Action was called Fireburst. It required absolutely no attack roll, nor offered any save against it, it was an automatic thing like Magic Missile. It did 6d4 “Infernal” (Fire in 5e) Damage, and after that damage was applied, the creature then had to succeed at a “Saving Throw against Poison” (which would be a Con Save in 5e) or immediately fall Unconscious for 1d4+1 Rounds. It could be used 3 times per Long Rest.
*One special note, if a Tome Guardian were bound to an object that dealt any Fire or Lightning Damage such as a Flame Tongue, it would eat that damage and convert it into Temp HP and the intended target would take none of it.
You could use it as a quest hook. One of the books being unloaded used to belong to a wizard, and contains a treasure map! But Villians of some kind also want to get their hands on it, so are going to try to steal it.
Gives you both the outline of this encounter (minions trying to mess with this book unloading) and a hook for the players to follow.
You could have a book that someone tells them they absolutely, positively, must not read under any circumstances. Not not not. Not ever!
Most groups will have at least 1 player who is way too curious to let this go, and when they read it, something happens -- Maybe a Geas that forces the person to go on a quest. Or maybe a monster is summoned from another plane. Something like that.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
PS- One of the things that Wizards used to use Tome Guardians was to protect their Spellbooks against monsters called “Bookworms.” They couldn’t hurt anyone, but they ate books, and preferred magical writings such as Scrolls and Spellbooks so getting infested sucked. And they were very hard to detect.
How did we miss the obvious, a [Tooltip Not Found]?!?
PS- One of the things that Wizards used to use Tome Guardians was to protect their Spellbooks against monsters called “Bookworms.” They couldn’t hurt anyone, but they ate books, and preferred magical writings such as Scrolls and Spellbooks so getting infested sucked. And they were very hard to detect.
Says tooltip not found. Guessing the beastie you remembered isn't in 5e yet? (Bookworm maybe? You reference it later.)
That tome guardian thing is wicked cool. I might have to toss one in to the next dungeon my players are entering. (We're running tyranny of dragons and they're headed to Oyaviggaton next. All those texts stolen from the Arcane Brotherhood. One of them surely could have a tome guardian.)
They open a book and the characters/villains in the book escape into the real world and must be captured and returned to the book before reality begins to unravel. The monsters could be anything depending on the book eg Dracula, King Kong, etc.
alternately one of the players opens a book and gets sucked into the world of the book. The other players have to enter the book to rescue them and find a way out.
From memory there were some 1st ed modules set in the world of Alice in Wonderland.
PS- One of the things that Wizards used to use Tome Guardians was to protect their Spellbooks against monsters called “Bookworms.” They couldn’t hurt anyone, but they ate books, and preferred magical writings such as Scrolls and Spellbooks so getting infested sucked. And they were very hard to detect.
Says tooltip not found. Guessing the beastie you remembered isn't in 5e yet? (Bookworm maybe? You reference it later.)
That tome guardian thing is wicked cool. I might have to toss one in to the next dungeon my players are entering. (We're running tyranny of dragons and they're headed to Oyaviggaton next. All those texts stolen from the Arcane Brotherhood. One of them surely could have a tome guardian.)
No, just a typo.
I’m glad you liked it! I always have. I mean, it’s 20+ years and 3&1/2 editions later and still one of my top 5 favorite D&D Monsters of all time.
So I asked this same question on FB and someone came up with a Auto-Biography I renamed it and put it on dndbeyond for all. It's now called self writing biography. I've added to it a little and need to make some changes
So I asked this same question on FB and someone came up with a Auto-Biography I renamed it and put it on dndbeyond for all. It's now called self writing biography. I've added to it a little and need to make some changes
If someone else wrote it, and all you did was change the name, it is against DDB’s policy for you to publish it here as your own work.
PS- One of the things that Wizards used to use Tome Guardians was to protect their Spellbooks against monsters called “Bookworms.” They couldn’t hurt anyone, but they ate books, and preferred magical writings such as Scrolls and Spellbooks so getting infested sucked. And they were very hard to detect.
Says tooltip not found. Guessing the beastie you remembered isn't in 5e yet? (Bookworm maybe? You reference it later.)
That tome guardian thing is wicked cool. I might have to toss one in to the next dungeon my players are entering. (We're running tyranny of dragons and they're headed to Oyaviggaton next. All those texts stolen from the Arcane Brotherhood. One of them surely could have a tome guardian.)
No, just a typo.
I’m glad you liked it! I always have. I mean, it’s 20+ years and 3&1/2 editions later and still one of my top 5 favorite D&D Monsters of all time.
Typos get me all the time. (My writer friends and I joke that they breed like rabbits.)
Was the bookworm ever in a monster manual from previous editions? (5e is the first edition I've played. Only been playing a couple years, most of it DMing for my brother and his kids.)
Was the bookworm ever in a monster manual from previous editions? (5e is the first edition I've played. Only been playing a couple years, most of it DMing for my brother and his kids.)
Yes, it was originally introduced in Monster Manual II (1983) but doesn't seem to have made it into 3rd edition or later.
Was the bookworm ever in a monster manual from previous editions? (5e is the first edition I've played. Only been playing a couple years, most of it DMing for my brother and his kids.)
Yes, it was originally introduced in Monster Manual II (1983) but doesn't seem to have made it into 3rd edition or later.
That’s because they were horrifying. They could eat the Wizards book, and everybody’s scrolls so fast that unless players were actively checking on those things, they would notice until the worms had finished their meal.
Was the bookworm ever in a monster manual from previous editions? (5e is the first edition I've played. Only been playing a couple years, most of it DMing for my brother and his kids.)
Yes, it was originally introduced in Monster Manual II (1983) but doesn't seem to have made it into 3rd edition or later.
So here is the gist of it lol. I gave my players a job board and included a helping unload a shipment of books at a book store. Besides a mimic what could these books contain that might cause some mischief for them? A book about love that when someone touches the book they fall in love with the first person they see? I need help lol please advise. 2 level 3 and 2 level 4 if that comes up. Thanks in advance.
Sounds like a great place to introduce some imp's or other shape-changing type creatures. If you wanted to be particularly nasty, a Glyph of Warding would give them a scare.
The main category of trouble that is in books is that the books contain some information that someone wants (e.g. a devil's true name), and therefore they send minions to retrieve it, but things trapped in books that are released when the book is opened or read are also traditional. A Ghost can plausibly be tied to just about any object and is a fair level of challenge for a level 3-4 party.
Maybe some boggles trying to catch some attention?
The first thing came to mind was a creature from the AD&D days called a “Tome Guardian.” It was published in the Monstrous Compendium Annual Volume Three, and found on pages 38, and 39z it was an “Elemental Fire-Kin” that Wizards could potentially summon and bind to an object to as a guardian, most commonly a Spellbook (hence the name) but could be bound to any object including weapons.* It was (and still kinda is) one of my absolute favorite D&D Monsters of all time. They were not supper powerful or anything (maybe CR 4ish equivalent), but I thought they were super cool.
Once one was bound to an object, it just slept there until anyone other than it’s summoner touched the object, or until anyone attacked either the guardian, or the the object, and if the object was a book that also specifically included the contents as well. Under those circumstances it would treat that offending creature (or creatures) as hostile. A Tome Guardian also granted immunity to Fire and Electrical Damage to any bound object. It was even suggested that multiple Tome Guardians could potentially be bound to the same object, but the process was “generally unknown” which was the AD&D way of saying “Use the Magic Item Creation Suggestions in the DMG to come up with a cool quest for the party to figure it out.”
There were only two ways to get one of these suckers out of a bound object (even if you were the summoner!): Kill it, or cast Dispel Magic on the object which forced the Tome Guardian to succeed at a “Saving Throw against Spells” (That would be either Wis or Cha in 5e) or be unbound from the object. An unbound Tome Guardian had the equivalent of a 30-foot walking speed and would naturally return to their home plane within 2d20 rounds. In the meantime it would look for a nice, cozy fire in which to stay warm (unless it was damaged or target with a hostile spell or ability.)
It doesn’t exist in 5e, at least not officially. Someone may have gone through the work to update it for 5e, like maybe on the DM’s Guild, but I cannot be certain. If not, here is the basic gist for ya (or anyone else) if you’re interested:
*One special note, if a Tome Guardian were bound to an object that dealt any Fire or Lightning Damage such as a Flame Tongue, it would eat that damage and convert it into Temp HP and the intended target would take none of it.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
You could use it as a quest hook. One of the books being unloaded used to belong to a wizard, and contains a treasure map! But Villians of some kind also want to get their hands on it, so are going to try to steal it.
Gives you both the outline of this encounter (minions trying to mess with this book unloading) and a hook for the players to follow.
You could have a book that someone tells them they absolutely, positively, must not read under any circumstances. Not not not. Not ever!
Most groups will have at least 1 player who is way too curious to let this go, and when they read it, something happens -- Maybe a Geas that forces the person to go on a quest. Or maybe a monster is summoned from another plane. Something like that.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
Maybe an allip? If there is forbidden knowledge in one of the books, one of those could appear
How did we miss the obvious, a Mimic?!?
PS- One of the things that Wizards used to use Tome Guardians was to protect their Spellbooks against monsters called “Bookworms.” They couldn’t hurt anyone, but they ate books, and preferred magical writings such as Scrolls and Spellbooks so getting infested sucked. And they were very hard to detect.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
Says tooltip not found. Guessing the beastie you remembered isn't in 5e yet? (Bookworm maybe? You reference it later.)
That tome guardian thing is wicked cool. I might have to toss one in to the next dungeon my players are entering. (We're running tyranny of dragons and they're headed to Oyaviggaton next. All those texts stolen from the Arcane Brotherhood. One of them surely could have a tome guardian.)
My Homebrew Backgrounds | Feats | Magic Items | Monsters | Races | Subclasses
They open a book and the characters/villains in the book escape into the real world and must be captured and returned to the book before reality begins to unravel. The monsters could be anything depending on the book eg Dracula, King Kong, etc.
alternately one of the players opens a book and gets sucked into the world of the book. The other players have to enter the book to rescue them and find a way out.
From memory there were some 1st ed modules set in the world of Alice in Wonderland.
No, just a typo.
I’m glad you liked it! I always have. I mean, it’s 20+ years and 3&1/2 editions later and still one of my top 5 favorite D&D Monsters of all time.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
So I asked this same question on FB and someone came up with a Auto-Biography I renamed it and put it on dndbeyond for all. It's now called self writing biography. I've added to it a little and need to make some changes
If someone else wrote it, and all you did was change the name, it is against DDB’s policy for you to publish it here as your own work.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
Typos get me all the time. (My writer friends and I joke that they breed like rabbits.)
Was the bookworm ever in a monster manual from previous editions? (5e is the first edition I've played. Only been playing a couple years, most of it DMing for my brother and his kids.)
My Homebrew Backgrounds | Feats | Magic Items | Monsters | Races | Subclasses
I did give them credit in version 1.1 because I forgot to in version 1 and they were fine with it
Yes, it was originally introduced in Monster Manual II (1983) but doesn't seem to have made it into 3rd edition or later.
That’s because they were horrifying. They could eat the Wizards book, and everybody’s scrolls so fast that unless players were actively checking on those things, they would notice until the worms had finished their meal.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
For a little shock, a swarm of rot grubs.
Enjoy my magic items, spells, monsters, my race, and a few feats. And GIVE ME FEEDBACK... or else.
Like what I say?
⬐ Just press this little guy right here.
Thanks! Gonna see if that MM is on DM's guild.
My Homebrew Backgrounds | Feats | Magic Items | Monsters | Races | Subclasses