A hardened hardback is an enchanted book bound in a rare material such as monster scale, onyx or silver, and closes with a lockable metal clasp. If the book is unowned, or its previous owner has died, a new owner may touch it over the course of a short rest in order to claim sole ownership of the book, magically erasing any contents it previously had.
The clasp of the book is inert while closed, and can be magically unlocked only by its owner. To forcibly open the book requires a DC 25 Strength check, however doing so will visibly damage the clasp.
While opened anyone can read the contents of the book, but only the owner can write inside it – any other writing will disappear after a few seconds. A wizard may choose to use this book as their spellbook.
If stolen, a hardened hardback can be located by its owner using a Locate Object spell, ignoring the normal limit for range, but only if it is on the same plane of existence.
Since it is a magic item, a hardened hardback is resistant to most forms of environmental damage, and the book and its pages can only be damaged or destroyed using a magic item of the same or higher rarity. Page(s) removed from the book will be replaced by new, blank, page(s) after 24 hours, at which time the removed page(s) crumble into dust.
Notes: Utility
Previous Versions
| Name | Date Modified | Views | Adds | Version | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
8/18/2021 9:52:30 PM
|
9
|
0
|
1.0
|
Coming Soon
|
-
View User Profile
-
Send Message
Posted Aug 18, 2021Quick clarification on how the clasp is intended to work on this item; it is described as inert when closed because while the process of locking/unlocking the book is magical, the clasp itself is just a piece of metal when closed, so taking the book inside an Antimagic Field does not allow the book to be easily opened.
My thinking is that the clasp magically melds somehow with the cover of the book as part of locking and unlocking, i.e- there is no hinge to disassemble, no joint or interlocking pieces to prise apart etc. so forcing the book open requires physically breaking the clasp in a very obvious way.
However since the clasp isn't strictly magical in its own right, this also means you can probably use Mending to hide the evidence, if you have it, or take the time to very carefully repair it if it was cut rather than forced, however this should be difficult as damaging and repairing the clasp could break the enchantment that enables it to work, which would make the damage obvious even if physically repaired.