Library related beasties?

[AustontheGreat1]

Where should I look for some monsters with books, ink, and/or paper as a theme. I'm mostly looking for maybe a Tome Golem, or a book swarm or something. Its for a adventure idea I have based on a magical library. It's 3.5/pathfinder.

Maybe a specific module or something based on the same premise with the monsters already stated up?

[Diarmuid]

Look up animate object and go nuts.

[Duke of URL]

You might find some ideas in the old Library Lovers contest thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=48597) (last official forum contest ever run, sadly).

[Baveboi]

I'd try and convince you to make your owns, since customization is better than copy-cating. But here goes some ideas...

You could try mummies made entirelly of paper, dust mephits who dwel in the dry air of the library. Some parts could be infested with some kind of magical fungus and/or insects, that feed on the tomes.
Wizard-types monsters are always interesting, and planar lore-keepers will probly be found in a magical library too. Mimics are a good thing, since they can copy anything, really.

Once in a kind of abandoned dungeon adventure I used many Animated Objects, like tapestry, chairs, tables and even doors to get the pcs a bit paranoid (they started setting fire to every piece of furniture.. hihihihi).

Demons of untold years are also interesting, since they could've been bound there. Some kind of defending Beholders (especially that extra-planar one) or undead guards do wonders for the air of Protected Place. There is a creature in Magic of Faerun called Scallamadrian or something... he's a book bound dragon extra-planar creature, very useful and interesting.


Anyway, those are my 2cents for ya. Good luck.

[kestrel404]

Closest I can find is the monster portion of the Truenamer portion of Tome of Magic.

Sphinxes in general are a good intellectual/librarian monster.

[AustontheGreat1]

Thanks for your suggestion, I'm specifically looking for constructs. The idea was its a long forgotten and abandoned library and the magical defenses are still up. but you guys gave me some ideas I will use. Thanks a bunch.

[Zaq]

Unbodied (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/monsters/unbodied.htm) would work if you called them beings of pure knowledge (having them be insane is optional).

Edit: Oh, you want constructs? Hmm. Going with the whole library -> books -> learning -> knowledge -> smarts -> brains chain of thought, Brain Golems exist, are freaky as hell, and are marginally appropriate. There's also a creature (the name of which I'm looking up) that's either an undead or a construct that comes to life when there's a lot of magic items and books and stuff all in one place for too long. Let me look it up and edit in the name, if I can find it.

Edit²: Found it! Grisgol, MM3 p. 76. Seems pretty nasty, so you may need to just take the fluff and rewrite the abilities to an appropriate difficulty if you're playing at a lower level.

Also, Revived Fossils (Libris Mortis) are awesome and would fit very well in a library that has some museum-like rooms full of specimens and curiosities.

[Bakkan]

If you are still looking for a BBEG, I would suggest an archivist (from Heroes of Horror). Matches the theme perfectly.

[LibraryOgre]

Working in a public library, I'd suggest stench golems, if you're looking for constructs. If you can find a way to have a the mating of an avatar of stupidity and foulness, they should probably be bothering the staff.

However, some of this is going to depend upon the library, and the level. Since you're looking at magical libraries, you might use regular bat swarms and just have their damage be papercuts and body slams. You might also reskin some less common monsters (like formians reskinned as golem-like library attendants), or monsters that are dungeon dressing (like stone golems that act more as moving barriers than actual things to fight). Dust mephits might also like the place.

[arguskos]

In Magic of Faerun, there is presented the Scalamagdrion, a draconic-like creature that serves as a guardian of books, by hiding in an illustration in a magical tome. Should someone interact with the tome without authorization, the dragon comes to life to defend it. CR is 7. They're pretty interesting as a library encounter, IMO.

[PretzelKing]

haha, the first thing i thought of was the ghostly librarian from ghostbusters!

"One, two, three... Get her!!!"

[Coidzor]

Well, there's banshee/ghost librarians, bookbats, haunted/animated object'd writing/study desks (http://kol.coldfront.net/thekolwiki/index.php/The_Haunted_Library), bookgolems, scroll-work mummies (let's say rot-less, arcane flavored mummies not so much embalmed and prepared with funerary rites so much as half-eaten and preserved by the ambient magical energy of the texts that have bonded with their physical forms)...

Magical tomes that have become self-aware. Magical tomes that haven't managed self-awareness but have managed to become ambulatory magical beast-like "living" constructs with their own ecosystem and tropic levels. Sorta draws from Terry Pratchett's Discworld's Unseen University's Library there.

A puzzle encounter with a book that summons a mixture of real and illusory monsters to attack the party would also not be too out of order.

Or a bunch of binders, chameleons, or incarnum users in the form of tomes, so that they change their abilities by changing what page they're open to.

Ooo... Imagine a self-aware copy of the Art of War with armed and armored skeleton puppets that it uses to pull off various ToB maneuvers and stances as it plays general! :smallbiggrin: Of course, you could mix this with the classic scenario of an animated chess board easily enough...

I believe Return to Undermountain on the WOTC site has a bit about an animated chessboard which should be of interest.

[Ravens_cry]

All this and no one mentions an Orangutan (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/animals/primates/orangutan)?
What kind of geeks are you?:smallwink:

[Coidzor]

All this and no one mentions an Orangutan (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/animals/primates/orangutan)?
What kind of geeks are you?:smallwink:

Unless both parties are doing something very wrong, they shouldn't really run into him. But then, when do things go right when adventurers are around?

[Admiral Squish]

There was a mini-golem called an inkling I saw in the homebrew section. Basically origami scrolls that could cast their contents once/day.

[Ravens_cry]

Unless both parties are doing something very wrong, they shouldn't really run into him. But then, when do things go right when adventurers are around?
Indeed, like calling him a m . . .tailed primate.
In all seriousness, I know there was an Origami golem in one book or the other, that would be a pretty cool addition, in my opinion.

[Coidzor]

Annoyingly enough, I remember seeing those but they don't show up in the monster index. :/

[Darrin]

Indeed, like calling him a m . . .tailed primate.
In all seriousness, I know there was an Origami golem in one book or the other, that would be a pretty cool addition, in my opinion.

Official name is actually "Paper Golem". Printed in Dragon #341. Actually, kind of neat for only a 2HD construct. Only costs 600 GP, too. I could see a bunch of them as library "pages".

There's also the Paper of Many Forms in Oriental Adventures. 10000 GP, but can be folded into any large-sized animal... and there's no HD cap, so you could fold it into a legendary dire tiger if you like.

[Thrawn183]

A dry lich would work pretty well.

[Ravens_cry]

Official name is actually "Paper Golem". Printed in Dragon #341. Actually, kind of neat for only a 2HD construct. Only costs 600 GP, too. I could see a bunch of them as library "pages".

It made it on to second iteration that famous list of stupid D&D monsters, but I liked the look of it.


There's also the Paper of Many Forms in Oriental Adventures. 10000 GP, but can be folded into any large-sized animal... and there's no HD cap, so you could fold it into a legendary dire tiger if you like.
Hmm, versatile. Rather broken actually.

[Teron]

The grisgol (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20040905a&page=4) is on WotC's site.

[Darrin]

There's also the Tome Dragon and Rune Golem in Dragon #343. Actually, I like the Grisgol... lots of possibilities there.

[FelixG]

I forget what book its in but a Brain in a Jar could be good for a library

[Tvtyrant]

There is that Lich-thing that is made of scrolls from one of the later MMs. If you kill it and then a caster looks at it they have to make a will save or they become obsessed with understanding the secrets on its skin.

Also you could consider an animated spellbook, which was awakened and is a wizard that casts the spells in its pages. Then watch your wizard try to incapacitate it without killing it because he/she wants the spells inside!

[Otherworld Odd]

You could just have a crazed librarian with improvised weapon and levels in master thrower throwing books at your players. >.>... *Scribbles down for later use*

Edit: On a side note, I shouldn't have read this thread. I work in a library and it gets creepy in here at night.