Kalendraf
Explorer
This is pretty cool item that I introduced into my campaign, and it's led to too very successful adventures so far, with the potential of more to come. For lack of a better name, it's become affectionately known by the players in my group as the "evil book". Here's a quick look at it:
History - The book was created long ago by the priests of an evil god connected with the undead. The book is effectively a cursed item that does the following:
1. Upon viewing the book, the character hears a voice in their head that says, "Read me". The character is allowed a will save DC12 to avoid being lured into reading the book. If they succeed in the will check, they are able to resist the lure to read the book. Otherwise, they immediately open it and begin to read it.
2. If a character succombs to the initial charm to read the book, they begin to read the book. The book seems to be a recipe for healthy living and everlasting life. Upon finishing this reading of the book, the character is again allowed an additional Will save, this time with a DC14. If they make this save, they realize that something is wrong with the text and aren't compelled to do anything else. If they fail this check, they perform one of the rituals contained in the book.
3. Finally, if the ritual is performed, the character must make a Fortitude check DC 15 or be turned into an undead creature. The type of undead is generally related to their level and class. A 2nd level character might turn into a ghoul, while a rogue might turn into a shadow, etc. It's up to the DM as to how long the ritual requires. It may be relatively short such as a few days, or quite lengthy like several months.
The book resists all normal kinds of destruction including fire, acid, tearing and even Holy water. To destroy it, a 14th+ level priest must pronounce a Holy Word which will turn it to dust.
The history of this book in my campaign was that it was eventually found by some priests who knew how to destroy it, but lacked a high enough level priest to do it. So they buried it along with other relics of power in a secluded mountain temple. However, the temple was eventually sac'ed by the forces of evil who were seeking the items hidden there. Fortunately, this book was not found.
Soon after this raid, the continent sunk beneath the ocean, and only a few of its higher locations were left dry. Hundreds of years later, these newly formed islands were eventually settled by seafaring barbarians. They found the ruined temple and decided it was a place of worship. They declared it off-limits to all but their shaman. And for many generations, that occured.
But then an earthquake shook the island, and opened a passage into the depths of the old temple. The shaman discovered this on one of his monthly visits to the place. He entered the temple and stumbled upon the "evil book". He failed his checks and spent the next several weeks performing the rituals inside. It turned him into a Ghoul. The ghoul attacked the village and over the course of a few attacks created a small army of undead.
Enter the party. They came to the island after getting blown of course, and found a deserted village. The surviving villagers were hiding in caves on the far side of the island.
The party discovered signs of attack, and eventually followed some dried blood on a path to the old temple. There, they encountered the ghouls, and narrowly defeated them. 2 characters were paralyzed, with the other two at 1 and 2 hit points when the battle was over. Talk about a close call!
The ranger in the group discovered the book, and resisted it's charm to read it. They stuffed it into a burlap bag and hauled it back to their boat. Then upon reaching shore, they lugged it up to their room at the in. The next day they planned to take it to a temple to get it destroyed.
Unfortunately, a rogue sent to spy on the party found the book while searching thru their room, and got charmed by it. He took the book with him, and then read it while hiding out in a thieve's guild safe house. He followed the ritual which promised to make him better at hiding in shadows and it turned him into a shadow.
The party got back to their room only to discover the book was missing. Eventually, they got a lead on who might have broken into their room, and went exploring. They found the safehouse, and navigated the traps and monsters that guarded it. Finally, they encountered the newly formed shadow and one of his victims (now another shadow). The battle was again quite close. The party had 3 magic items, but the 50% miss effect of non-corporeal proved to be quite effective in shrugging off their attacks. When the battle was over, the 18 strength barbarian was at 4 strength and another character was at 6. The party found the book, and the ranger who is now immune to it shoved it back in the bag, to take back to the temple.
So what's cool here is that this one book has led to two very cool adventures for the party. Both encounters with the undead has proven quite tough for them. They don't have a cleric in the group which makes undead a lot harder to deal with.
The party is also totally paranoid about any books now. They tried to burn the book and also pour holy water on it, but it did nothing. I've got them really spooked by this item. Sometimes a DM gets lucky, and in the case of this book, I think I nailed it pretty well.
Maybe you can use something like this in your campaigns. It's been a blast so far, and given the fact that the party still has the book and needs to find a very high level priest to deal with it means there's still opportunities to milk this for another future adventure or two.
History - The book was created long ago by the priests of an evil god connected with the undead. The book is effectively a cursed item that does the following:
1. Upon viewing the book, the character hears a voice in their head that says, "Read me". The character is allowed a will save DC12 to avoid being lured into reading the book. If they succeed in the will check, they are able to resist the lure to read the book. Otherwise, they immediately open it and begin to read it.
2. If a character succombs to the initial charm to read the book, they begin to read the book. The book seems to be a recipe for healthy living and everlasting life. Upon finishing this reading of the book, the character is again allowed an additional Will save, this time with a DC14. If they make this save, they realize that something is wrong with the text and aren't compelled to do anything else. If they fail this check, they perform one of the rituals contained in the book.
3. Finally, if the ritual is performed, the character must make a Fortitude check DC 15 or be turned into an undead creature. The type of undead is generally related to their level and class. A 2nd level character might turn into a ghoul, while a rogue might turn into a shadow, etc. It's up to the DM as to how long the ritual requires. It may be relatively short such as a few days, or quite lengthy like several months.
The book resists all normal kinds of destruction including fire, acid, tearing and even Holy water. To destroy it, a 14th+ level priest must pronounce a Holy Word which will turn it to dust.
The history of this book in my campaign was that it was eventually found by some priests who knew how to destroy it, but lacked a high enough level priest to do it. So they buried it along with other relics of power in a secluded mountain temple. However, the temple was eventually sac'ed by the forces of evil who were seeking the items hidden there. Fortunately, this book was not found.
Soon after this raid, the continent sunk beneath the ocean, and only a few of its higher locations were left dry. Hundreds of years later, these newly formed islands were eventually settled by seafaring barbarians. They found the ruined temple and decided it was a place of worship. They declared it off-limits to all but their shaman. And for many generations, that occured.
But then an earthquake shook the island, and opened a passage into the depths of the old temple. The shaman discovered this on one of his monthly visits to the place. He entered the temple and stumbled upon the "evil book". He failed his checks and spent the next several weeks performing the rituals inside. It turned him into a Ghoul. The ghoul attacked the village and over the course of a few attacks created a small army of undead.
Enter the party. They came to the island after getting blown of course, and found a deserted village. The surviving villagers were hiding in caves on the far side of the island.
The party discovered signs of attack, and eventually followed some dried blood on a path to the old temple. There, they encountered the ghouls, and narrowly defeated them. 2 characters were paralyzed, with the other two at 1 and 2 hit points when the battle was over. Talk about a close call!
The ranger in the group discovered the book, and resisted it's charm to read it. They stuffed it into a burlap bag and hauled it back to their boat. Then upon reaching shore, they lugged it up to their room at the in. The next day they planned to take it to a temple to get it destroyed.
Unfortunately, a rogue sent to spy on the party found the book while searching thru their room, and got charmed by it. He took the book with him, and then read it while hiding out in a thieve's guild safe house. He followed the ritual which promised to make him better at hiding in shadows and it turned him into a shadow.
The party got back to their room only to discover the book was missing. Eventually, they got a lead on who might have broken into their room, and went exploring. They found the safehouse, and navigated the traps and monsters that guarded it. Finally, they encountered the newly formed shadow and one of his victims (now another shadow). The battle was again quite close. The party had 3 magic items, but the 50% miss effect of non-corporeal proved to be quite effective in shrugging off their attacks. When the battle was over, the 18 strength barbarian was at 4 strength and another character was at 6. The party found the book, and the ranger who is now immune to it shoved it back in the bag, to take back to the temple.
So what's cool here is that this one book has led to two very cool adventures for the party. Both encounters with the undead has proven quite tough for them. They don't have a cleric in the group which makes undead a lot harder to deal with.
The party is also totally paranoid about any books now. They tried to burn the book and also pour holy water on it, but it did nothing. I've got them really spooked by this item. Sometimes a DM gets lucky, and in the case of this book, I think I nailed it pretty well.
Maybe you can use something like this in your campaigns. It's been a blast so far, and given the fact that the party still has the book and needs to find a very high level priest to deal with it means there's still opportunities to milk this for another future adventure or two.
, which they are in a way responcible for.
