Homebrew Bookian Species Details

 

As the mage whirled his wand, the world around him went dark. He assumed that the sickness had taken him, so he was surprised when he woke again. He was even more surprised when, moving his head to take in his surroundings, he heard the rustling of books.

 

Congratulations, Wizard, spell caster, or otherwise magically cursed individual! You've succeeded into transforming yourself into a Bookian - a last ditch effort to preserve life in the best of cases and a horrible, horrible mistake at worst. Bookians are a special outcast amongst magical races as one does not really belong truly to any group, regardless of the origin of the soul inhabiting the pages. 

Living Ink and Pages

The Bookian is a creature created by means of magical ritual or by magical trap, the soul from the original entity being held inside the 'heart tome' generally a spell book or the trapped tome through a series of arcane runes and magic. A Bookian can be made up of a collection of as few as ten tomes to as large as fifty, depending upon individual taste. The tomes may very from individual to individual, but the heart tome is always magical and centrally located in the collection.

Although they are souls inhabiting books, Bookians are living humanoids. Resting, healing magic, and the Medicine skill all provide the same benefits to Bookians that they do to other humanoids.

Bookians Personality

There is no typical Bookian, as they are as varied as the races which inhabit the world and those which may have had access to the magics necessary to reach their current state. Many Bookians can be assumed to be wizards or those of more arcane persuasions, most seeking an alternative to the inevitable march of death. However, there are Bookians who gained their nature through the trappings of a more cruel mind- a trap left behind in a wizard's tower, a spurned god, or a dishonored patron- and thus they hold their current position in contempt, often rising to anger against those who still possess bodies. Most Bookians have little interest in religion, but some feel their new forms will allow them the time to better serve their deities, most being retained from their old forms.

The Bookians generally begin their existence relying on the gender they most identified with in their previous forms; However, for those Bookians who have stayed in their book form for quite some time, the concept of gender can become altogether meaningless, with these Bookians taking on Sexless forms or simply wandering around their home as a mound of books. 

The more a Bookian develops its individuality, the more likely it is to modify the collection of books making up its body, purely aesthetic changes. A Bookian who adores the novels of a particular author, for example, might make themselves up out of titles entirely written by that one author.

Quirks

Bookians can display any number of quirks based on who they had been previously, but the most common are found below.

Bookian Quirks

Bookian Names

Most Bookians go by the names they had in their previous lives. Over time, many of them will lose their names through under-usage or through desire to forget. For these individuals, they will often adopt or adapt the title of their favorite novel as their own name, some taking up author's pen names instead. 

Bookian Names: Any race present in the world, any novel titles, or author's names.

Bookian Traits

Your Bookian character has the following traits. A few of the traits give you a choice; consider how your choice reflects the personality of your Bookian.

Ability Score Increase

Your Constitution score increases by 2, and one other ability score of your choice increases by 1.

Age

A typical Bookian takes on the mental age that it possessed in its previous form. The maximum Bookian lifespan, given that their Heart Tomes receive proper care, remains a mystery; so far, Bookians have not displayed any ill effects of older health, although it is hard to measure the effects being a Bookian has in ones psyche. The runes and magics within the Heart Tome essentially seize the Bookian's soul at the time of transformation, keeping it from deteriorating within its paper container, as such Bookians are immune to magical aging effects.

Alignment

As Bookians are formed from most any sentient race, their alignments vary wildly.

Size

Your size is Medium. To set your height and weight randomly, start with rolling a size modifier:

Size modifier = 2d6

Height = 5 feet + 10 inches + your size modifier in inches

Weight in pounds = 270 + (4 × your size modifier)

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Leather Bound Soul

Your paper and ink body is bound in leather and magic. As such:

• You have resistance to bludgeoning damage and vulnerability to fire damage.
• You don’t need to eat, drink, or breathe.
• You are immune to disease.
• You don’t need to sleep.

Sustained Silent Reading

When you take a long rest, you must spend at least six hours studying a tome of your choice, making no motion other then to move the pages or to set the tome down. Whilst reading, you cannot see around you normally, but can still hear.

Metallic Plating

Your books can become reinforced with metallic plates, which boost your AC. You can have a number of plates attached to your books equal to your INT modifier.

You must spend one hour merging the metallic plate to the tome, so your own soul bonds to it. Once a metallic plate has become properly attached, only you can remove it again.

Individualized books

Your knowledge on varitable subjects has become unbound. You gain two skill proficiencies of your choice.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common and one other language of your choice.