Liber Fame - The Hungry Book

[jjordan]

Liber Fame (the hungry book)
Aberration, Unaligned
Armor Class 8
Hit Points 22 (5d8+2)
Speed 5 ft. climb 5ft
STR 1 (-4)
DEX 1(-4)
CON 10 (+0)
INT 12 (+1)
WIS 11 (+0)
CHA 10 (+0)

Damage Immunities: Poison,
Damage Vulnerabilities: Radiant, Fire
Damage Resistance: Slashing, Bludgeoning, Piercing from non-magical attacks
Condition Immunities: Charmed, Frightened, Paralyzed, Poisoned, Prone, Restrained
Senses Blindsight 30 ft., Passive Perception 12
Languages: Communicates in rudimentary telepathic thoughts with whoever is reading the book.
Abilities:

Detect Sentience: The book can sense the presence and location of any creature within 30 feet of it that has an intelligence of 8 or higher, regardless of interposing barriers, unless the creature is protected by a mind blank spell.
Stealth: The book is indistinguishable from other books. It can use it’s powers to disguise itself, changing its appearance and clouding the minds of observers to confuse them as to its exact location. Perception checks to locate the book when it is hiding are rolled at disadvantage.

Actions:
Charm: The book targets one creature within 30 feet of it (picking the target with the highest intelligence). The target must make a DC17 Wisdom saving throw against this magic or be charmed by the book. The target reacts to the charm according to how badly they failed the saving throw. Consult the table below. A charmed target will search for the book, with advantage, until they find it and open it or until magic which will dispel the charmed condition is cast upon them.

Wisdom Saving Roll	Result
21+	The target recognizes that something malign has been attempting to charm them.
17-20	Something has tickled the mind of the target and they recognize this, without knowing exactly what it was.
16-10	The target has a hunch there is a book nearby and the book catches their eye. They will innocently pull it down and open it.
9-5	The target sees the book and recognizes it. It’s vitally important. They will seize the book and open it.
4-1	The target sees the book and is consumed by a desire to open it. They will stop at nothing to read it, perceiving those that try to stop them as deadly enemies.

Bonus Actions:
Devour Intellect: Anyone who touches the book must make a DC 15 Intelligence saving throw or open it and be transfixed (not charmed) by the sight of the crawling text/symbols on the pages, paralyzed as they hungrily try to decipher their meaning. The book inflicts 2d6 points of slashing damage, a page-sized strip of flesh peeling away from the victim and being added to the book, and the target’s Intelligence is reduced by 1d2 points (1d4/2 rounded up). If the intelligence is reduced below 2 the character becomes a brain-dead husk, alive but unfunctional. Victims may re-attempt their saving throw any time the book inflicts damage on them.
Those that make their saving throw may read the book for one minute, gleaning 1-2 pieces of knowledge stolen from previous victims. At the end of each minute they must re-attempt the Intelligence saving throw, becoming transfixed and attacked if they fail.
Intelligence points may be restored by a greater restoration spell or at the rate of 1 point per long rest.

Lore/Fluff:

Libri fame lurk in the recesses of libraries, venturing out into more visited areas to feed. No one has ever observed one moving so the mechanism is a mystery. They are typically followed by packs of small (1d4+1, 10hp tiny-size variant) carrion crawlers which consume the flayed remains of their victims. If killed the book becomes a simple book with incomprehensible writing.

[quindraco]

1 in an ability is -5, not -4. Its base AC should be 5, although you could increase it with natural armor if you wanted to. You failed to specify a size, but I think you intend Tiny, which should mean its hit dice are d4s, not d8s. I think for your Stealth ability you intended False Appearance, so why not just grant it False Appearance? In fact, why is this an Aberration, not a special animated book? You have other rules issues, too, like how Devour Intellect is a bonus action, but seems to function as a reaction. Or how you miscalculated the HP - it has a Con mod of +0, yet you add +2 to its hit point total.

My suggestion:

Liber Esuriit (Hungry Book)
Tiny construct, unaligned
Armor Class 5
Hit Points 22 (9d4)
Speed 0 ft., fly 50 ft. (hover)
STR 1 (-5)
DEX 1 (-5)
CON 11 (+0)
INT 20 (+5)
WIS 11 (+0)
CHA 10 (+0)
Skills Perception +2
Damage Vulnerabilities fire
Damage Resistances slashing, bludgeoning, and piercing from non-magical attacks
Damage Immunities poison, psychic
Condition Immunities blinded, charmed, deafened, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned
Senses blindsight 60 ft. (blind beyond this radius), passive Perception 12
Languages understands the languages of its creator but can't speak*, telepathy (range touch)

Antimagic Susceptibility. The book is incapacitated while in
the area of an anti magic field. If targeted by dispel magic, the
book must succeed on a Constitution saving throw against
the caster's spell save DC or fall unconscious for 1 minute.

False Appearance. While the book remains motionless and
isn't flying, it is indistinguishable from a normal book.

Actions:
Charm as per your post. The save DC is Intelligence based.
Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: -3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 0 bludgeoning damage, and the book touches the target, allowing it to use Devour Intellect (see below).

Reactions:
Devour Intellect, but the save DC is 17 (Intelligence based).

*Usually, this means Deep Speech.

[jjordan]

Thank you.