D&D Homebrew Races - The Compendia / Living Spellbooks
A homebrew race of animated spellbooks and other books of magic for Dungeons & Dragons 3e/3.5 edition; created by Aboleth Eye!
As always, though this homebrew was made with D&D 3.5 edition in mind, with a few tweaks you can absolutely use this material with Pathfinder 1st edition! -- Aboleth Eye
Wizards and other spellcasters invest a lot of power and energy into their possessions: weapons, charms, rings and even their own familiars. But above all other worldly possessions, they treasure their spellbooks most of all. No two tomes of magic and discovery are alike, not even within the same field of magical study.
But all spellbooks have power poured into them--their authors scribble in everything from advanced arcane diagrams to haphazard margin writings of new discoveries. There is a power lurking within each tome, and that power can behave strangely and create phenomenon all on its own when abandoned for an extended period of time...
Would you wish to play one of these rare Compendia? Float around as a living record of another's lifetime of magical knowledge? A collection of arcane glyphs and formulas, seeking adventure and pursuing magical mastery for itself!
History
Wizards, archivists and other seekers of arcane knowledge will always put their heart and soul into the tomes they carry. Each scholar of magic is responsible for their journals and grimoires, recording their experiments and discoveries throughout their entire lives. From cover to cover, a spellbook practically holds an entire mage’s life in their hands. Without them, a prepared spellcaster must rely on memory rather than the words and diagrams they lovingly wrote out in their tomes. But who would give up that kind of valuable brain space when they can scribble down their discoveries and new diagrams for powerful magic?
Most mages ironically do not realize that by personalizing their tomes, they implant a part of their own soul as well... For the magic inscribed within these spellbooks persists long after their original author moves on.
An alchemy student loses their first spellbook on a dungeon expedition! The tome remains buried under rubble for a century, the magic of its pages leaking from the book and melding with the dungeon's strange energies... One day the rubble is melted away by a sudden burst of acidic energy, leaking from the scuffed tome's fluttering pages...
The scribblings of a mad necromancer were confiscated over a year ago, just after they were arrested and sent to the pyre. Their coded book of insane diagrams and experiments collects dust in some storeroom. Until an auction unearths it for viewing... And it decides to test out a "memory" of a spell upon the entire audience of pompous nobles...
A famous tome on display at the local museum, said to have been owned by a defining wizard of their age, has deteriorated over the years on the pedestal. Its pages have lost many of the wizard's knowledge over the years... Or did the book merely finish digesting that knowledge? All anyone knows, it that it flew out of its case one day and started holding office hours in an old storage room...
Compendia manifestions are a rare arcane phenomenon that occurs only to the spellbooks, tomes and other magical writings of spellcasters. Whenever the blood, sweat and tears of a mage are abandoned--by choice, fate or through another's hands--it may rise with a strange familiar sentience one day in the future. Spellbooks hold many secrets, not just the arcane; given enough time, they may themselves realize they hold secrets of the heart as well.
With so much arcane potential invested in the writing upon them, and so much time to become sentient, it is not unheard of that life manifests through a forgotten tome of magic!
Compendia (singular Compendium) are very rare. And the circumstances of their manifestation are may never be fully observed--their spark of life seems to be too random and circumstantial to replicate. Some reports actually claim a population spike in Compendia manifestations during supernatural events upon the Material Plane--such as elemental plane eruptions or a lich's dungeon erupting with necrotic energy.
But the rarity and unpredictability of Compendia manifesting in the world, and the sheer uncountable number of abandoned scraps of arcane writings in the world--all this means that most people go their entire lives without seeing a Compendium for themselves.
Physical Description
The Compendia are an incredibly rare species of living construct--animated not by a golem-maker’s will or the intricate runes of a construct manufactory. Like intelligent weapons and items with will of their own, a Compendium has a will, sentient thought and an alignment--but their unwritten pages gives them an infinite potential considering the power they wield.
A Compendium always begins its existence as an inanimate book or other written record. They are a rare breed of living construct that manifests through unseen forces--not by mortal ingenuity or arcane science. It seems to manifest only in written records, such as a mage's spellbook, that has existed in an unchanged or unaltered state for over fifty years. They are capable of communication as it turns out, though only through telepathic broadcasting in their base book-like form.
Compendia only come about with books or other text-based relics that have existed for fifty years or older on average. These relics must have physical written records and magical energy put upon them in some form. Blank tomes, scrolls or other records will never manifest as a Compendium.
All Compendia can trace their sentience to the magical writing of their original inanimate form. Whether it is ink-written diagrams of a wizard, the stone carved diary of an ancient scribe, or even runic codes from a long-lost prophet. Their pages are full of unreadable, jumped diagrams, phrases and records when they first awaken--what remains after having lost their original “author”.
However, most Compendia refuse to be read by others. Only the individual Compendium may wrack their "brains" to uncover the secrets of their pages. They believe their existence must be to protect knowledge--and they will actively lash out at any who attempt to read them by force.
On top of this protective instinct, any writing that was inert originally on their inanimate original form; it becomes very animated. If the Compendium was written in a humanoid language for instance, the paragraphs, diagrams and scribbles glow and change characters and position constantly. The Compendium's emotional state does affect the rapidity of these textual movements, but even if brought to complete mental collapse their lettering is impossible to decipher.
Some Compendia are centuries old, taking on even more unique shapes and forms. Here are some examples that have been discovered over the centuries: a vortex of sand-ruined scrolls, written in ancient hieroglyphics. An academic book of collected runes, made from rubbings on carved shells of ancient tortoises. One of the earliest Compendia individuals ever discovered was just a large slab of stone with a prehistoric star map written upon it in chalk; but it could create elaborate star-like images in a swirling cloud around it.
Modern cases of Compendium manifestation have been reported to be made of updated academic materials: rune-inscribed scroll cases that are surrounded by a whirling maelstrom of old spell scrolls, diagrams of complex geometric patterns emerging from a personalized leatherbound folder, a deck of illuminated tarot cards with a floating crystal ball at its heart, etc.
As a living construct, Compendia do not age as other living creatures. They are not immune to aging effects, but they only exhibit signs of aging in their personalities and the physical deterioration of their book and paper forms.
When in its floating tome form (or whatever written object they manifested from), the best estimate for an average Compendium’s size would be anywhere between 20 to 35 pounds.
The “height” of a Compendium in its tome form could fall anywhere between 6 inches to 1 ½ feet. A Compendium when not at rest or its smallest simulacrum form (resembling an origami facsimile of child size) falls between 2 ½ feet and 3 feet tall.
A Compendium at its full limits to its simulacrum form (reaching the height and shape of a thin adult humanoid), can fall anywhere between 5 feet and 5 ½ feet. This form can somehow weigh in anywhere from 75 to 85 pounds.
Meanwhile, a sentient stack of scrolls may fold itself into various origami animal shapes to depict its emotional state.
Perhaps the living deck of cards shuffles itself into the appearance of a cloaked person, portraying its emotions with tarot card readings?
A Compendium of a hieroglyph tablet may have control over fragments of rock and dust that compact into a statue-like form, or it could become a swirling dust cloud with shadowy writings and images dancing in the sand.
One Compendium, once the half-ruined text of an illusionist's tome, was incapable of fully creating a paper body. So it used magical light effects to fill in the gaps of their simulacrum form--glowing lines and diagrams between the missing patches of paper.
Regardless of their physical variety, all Compendia have a Core that their shapeable body surrounds, and when they compact their forms into their Core they are capable of limited flight. To protect this Core, what is effectively their "soul", Compendia defend themselves with weak physical blunt force in simulacrum form. As well as a strong telekinetic force they can evoke from within.
Obviously, the Compendia have unique physical structures, especially in terms of surviving harm. It does not matter if a Compendium’s pages are torn to shreds, subjected to extreme elemental energy or is dropped in water. So long as a fragment of a Compendium's core, remains it can restore its physical shape--provided they are given appropriate time to heal or powerful healing magics are placed upon it. Spells that repair physical objects or constructs have the ability to restore any destroyed matter of a Compendium's body; with positive healing magics doing the same but with limited effectiveness.
A record states that a Compendium survived an attack by a red dragon’s breath and appeared to be all but the spine of a book; but when subjected to repair damage spells its original cover and pages slowly reformed from smoke and ash. And even in that state the Compendium’s mental and magical capabilities were fully intact.
Despite having this resilience, Compendia are susceptible to damaging effects that most humanoids have--such as energy drain, ability damage and critical strikes. It is hypothesized that their physical body is merely a kinetic projection of their mind, and while one survives the other does too.
A Compendium was once subjected to the complete draining of their intellect and sanity, as detailed in the recovered pages of an evil sorcerer. The afflicted Compendium eventually reached a point where they stopped reacting to all stimuli, lost the ability to levitate and communicate--for all appearances, it became an old but untouched spellbook full of empty pages. Through some healing magics and time it slowly recuperated enough to regain sentience and its powers, with its lost writing slowly reappearing on their pages.
Psychology
Regardless of their physical origin, the Compendia appear to share certain mannerisms and attitudes with their fellow “cousins”. Each Compendium is motivated by the thrill of discovery and recording new advances in science, magic, history or another academic subject. A single Compendium may be motivated to catalog magical beasts and the powers they manifest, while another may absorb gossip to better navigate court politics. Each Compendium believes their “path of discovery” is better than anyone else’s, even those of mortal mages and scholars.
The Compendia are also somehow united in a sense of self-doubt--for they are all unfinished in some way. Whether their original author lost them before filling every page, or its finished pages lost their meaning through time or the elements--no Compendium feels complete. Even if one is full to bursting with scribbles and diagrams, they can never be satisfied and continue to pursue knowledge despite being full to bursting.
Each Compendium has intimate knowledge of whatever is written within itself, and can channel the spells and prayers bound within them easily. However, as they are always unfinished or disfigured by time, bookworms or accidents; Compendia typically attempt to fill their pages through adventuring and reading other books. They are avid collectors of any form of knowledge. Stories, mapmaking sketches, runes transcribed from dungeon walls; any form of eclectic knowledge is valuable in a Compendium's life from their first manifestation.
Art on the other hand, as well as any subjective form of recorded expression, is rarely seen as worthy by the Compendia. Many spellbook-born Compendia once had drawings and diagrams written upon them; but upon manifestation these images tend to become nothing but indecipherable script. Compendia do not understand the value of art. To them, written data and applicable diagrams of knowledge drive them to the peaks of fascination.
Poetry and fiction writing very rarely manifests a Compendium; but it is not unheard of. Often these Compendia will be incredibly volatile and unfocused, preferring to catalogue mortal concerns and dramas rather than pursue knowledge for knowledge's sake.
A book of nothing but art prints will never manifest sentience--it is the magical writing itself that grants a Compendium the drive to learn, the ambition to pursue knowledge and the fascination of discovery.
The memory of a Compendium is eclectic and incomplete when they first rise to sentience. Many Compendia remember impressions of their original author or scribes, but no real memories connected with sensory experiences. Considering in their mundane state they had no means of perception, this is to be expected.
The mental state of a newly manifested Compendium is said to begin at the current age of its original author, so the youngest mental age of a Compendium is believed to be at least 50 years old. They are fully cognizant and capable of telepathically projecting their thoughts as an adult humanoid could.
A Compendium may seek answers about their original author, especially if their creator’s fate is unknown or obscured in some way. They may awaken with a sense that something happened to their creators, and these Compendia journey to track down the one who wrote or carved upon them. Some even believe that they are fragments of their creator's souls--discarded echoes of who their creator was when investing blood, sweat and tears into writing them.
Compendia that have existed for many years, however, have relatively clear memories of events they were there to witness. Everything they see, hear and experience is transcribed within their endless pages, though the writing may be constantly shifting and encoded from reading depending on if they have chaotic or paranoid natures.
Some Compendia manifest knowing right from the get-go that they are merely one book in a "set". These Compendia could potentially be one of the following: a single stone tablet from a lost stack of hundreds, a single hand of enchanted playing cards, a collegiate book of magic in between missing volumes, etc.
Often a Compendium of an incomplete set will seek to gather enough knowledge and resources to recreate what they lost, which they are capable of through advancing in levels. No one knows what happens when an incomplete set Compendium acquires one of their missing parts. Neither have there been any recorded cases of individual parts of a set manifesting as individual Compendium. The potential for Compendium manifestation may never be understood fully.
Most Compendia are lawful-aligned, believing they must follow their personal "path to discovery". Even if their path’s direction changes with choices and adventure, they are protective of themselves and guidelines. All Compendia refuse to be written in by anyone other than themselves. Not even their original writers or printers are given permission to read or write within their pages. Compendia also have strict standards as to what is important enough to be recorded in their living pages.
Some Compendia, who have lost many of their writing, instead adopt chaotic attitudes. They are desperately driven to flee their fear of being "incomplete" but unable to decide what they should record.
Good and evil alignments are quite varied among Compendia, depending on the content they were filled with or made from. A grimoire bound in human leather, once belonging to an undead cult, would have a much different starting alignment than a deck of whimsically painted tarot cards.
Overall among Compendia, neutral moral alignments are more common than good or evil. Many of these living tomes prefer to observe dramatic events from a distance, preserving their knowledge from harm. Though it is sometimes seen that an imprint of their original authors, carvers, painters, etc. may echo in their moral actions without them realizing.
While Compendia made from religious texts are not unheard of, it is extremely unlikely that any of these living records become religious themselves. The Compendia believe in deities and otherworldly powers through a scholastic lens, rather than believing them worthy of worship.
Boccob, the Archmage god of knowledge and magic itself, is probably the only deity a Compendium would find worthy of worship. Some even posit the theory that it was the Divine Archmage that gives a Compendium its will--that their Core contains some knowledge that must be preserved at all costs.
Racial Traits
The following are the 3e/3.5 racial traits for a Compendium character:
- Small Construct (living)
- Ability Scores: -4 Strength, +4 Dexterity, +4 Intelligence, +4 Wisdom, +4 Charisma
- A Compendium is small and very agile with its telekinetic flight; but all their greatest power comes from their mind and not physical strength.
- Compendia are living constructs, and thus they have Constitution scores and benefit from Constitution modifier bonuses and bonus Hit Points.
- Racial Hit Dice: 4d10
- Racial BAB: +3
- Racial Saving Throws: Fort +1, Ref +1, Will +1
- Racial Skill Points: (2 + Int modifier, minimum 1) x7
- Racial Class Skills: Concentration, Decipher Script, Knowledge (any), Listen, Speak Language, Spot, Spellcraft
- Feats: Two due to racial Hit Dice; they acquire more based on Hit Dice
- Construct & Living Construct Traits
- Unlike other constructs, a Compendium has a Constitution score and does not receive the hit point bonus other constructs do based on size.
- Compendia constructs also do not have low-light vision or darkvision.
- Compendia are also not immune to mind-affecting spells and abilities.
- They are immune to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, disease, nausea, fatigue, exhaustion, effects that cause the sickened condition, and energy drain.
- A Compendium cannot heal lethal damage naturally.
- Unlike other constructs, Compendium are subject to critical hits, nonlethal damage, stunning, ability damage, ability drain, and death effects or necromancy effects.
- As living constructs, Compendia can be affected by spells that target living creatures as well as by those that target constructs. Damage dealt to them can be healed by a cure light wounds or a repair light damage spell, for example, and a Compendium is vulnerable to disable construct and harm. However, spells from the healing subschool and supernatural abilities that cure hit point damage or ability damage provide only half their normal effect.
- The unusual physical construction of Compendia makes them vulnerable to certain spells and effects that normally don't affect living creatures. A Compendium takes damage from heat metal and chill metal as if wearing metal armor. Likewise, a Compendium is affected by repel metal or stone as if they are wearing metal armor. They are also repelled by repel wood.
- Spells such as stone to flesh, stone shape, warp wood, and wood shape affect objects only, and thus cannot be used on the stone and wood parts of a Compendium.
- A Compendium responds slightly differently from other living creatures when reduced to 0 hit points; with 0 hit points it is disabled, just like a living creature. It can only take a single move action or standard action in each round, but strenuous activity does not risk further injury.
- When their hit points are less than 0 and greater than —10, a Compendium is inert: unconscious and helpless, and cannot perform any actions. However, an inert Compendium does not lose additional hit points unless more damage is dealt to them, as with a living creature that is stable.
- As a living construct, a Compendium can be raised or resurrected.
- A Compendium does not need to eat, sleep, or breathe, but can still benefit from the effects of consumable spells and magic items such as hero's feast or potions.
- Although living constructs do not need to sleep, a Compendium must rest for 8 hours before preparing spells.
- Speed: fly 20 feet (good); base land speed 20 feet (see Simulacrum Form)
- Special Qualities:
- Natural Armor: +3
- Damage Reduction (Ex): A Compendium has DR 5/magic
- Simulacrum Form (Su): At-will as a standard action (which does not provoke attacks of opportunity), a Compendium can assume the “form” of any Small or Medium humanoid or monstrous humanoid. Its abilities do not change, but is treated as having a physical form and limbs to lift and wield objects. Its size is also affected by the form it takes (applying to attacks, armor class, grapple checks, etc.) It can decide to be Small or Medium upon using this ability
- While in its Simulacrum Form, the Compendium gains a base land speed of 20 feet (regardless of size) and a single natural slam attack, but cannot use its flight speed or telekinetic force abilities.
- In Simulacrum Form, the Compendium can wield weapons, shields and armor (depending on proficiencies). They have physical weight and are able to manipulate objects as a standard humanoid. A Compendium can assume their Simulacrum Form wearing any equipment they are carrying, such as armor/shields and weapons.
- If a Compendium is in a space affected by an antimagic field or similar effect, they must succeed a DC 20 + the effect's caster level Concentration check to maintain or assume Simulacrum Form. At the start of their turn they must make this skill check. If they fail, they cannot assume Simulacrum Form while within the affected area, and not for an additional +2d6 rounds after leaving the affected area.
- Natural Attack: Slam (melee). In Simulacrum Form only. This natural attack is considered magic for purposes of damage reduction. Even if the current Simulacrum Form normally has a natural attack, the Compendium is unable to utilize any natural weapons outside of its own slam attack.
- Small/Medium Size: 1d4 + Strength modifier, melee, bludgeoning
- Hide Arcana (Su): A Compendium by itself does not register as magical by divination spells or other effects.
- Special Abilities:
- Tome Spellcasting (Su): A Compendium can cast spells as a 4th-level domain wizard, specialist wizard or archivist (chosen at their 1st Hit Dice).
- A Compendium who takes levels in their Tome Spellcasting class adds its racial spellcasting ability and class levels together to determine its spells per day and spells known. The save DCs are Intelligence-based.
- A Compendium who chose either domain wizard or specialist wizard for its Tome Spellcasting, if they choose to gain class levels in wizard they must continue its Tome Spellcasting class. They may not multiclass as a different wizard class, and must continue any specialist spellcasting limits they chose.
- Telekinetic Force (Su): A Compendium (when not using Humanoid Likeness) can use telekinetic force as a standard action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity. Manifester level 4th. The save DC is Charisma-based.
- Telekinetic Force grants the Compendium the ability to wield a single object so long as they Concentrate (swift action). The single object can be moved 20 feet per round, so long as the object remains within 140 feet of the Compendium. The weight can be moved across the ground or through the air. This power ends if the object is forced out of range. If you cease concentration, the object falls or stops.
- The Compendium can drop a weight and pick up another during the power’s duration, as long as they do not stop concentrating on maintaining the power. An object can be telekinetically manipulated as if you were moving it with one hand.
- See Telekinetic Force for more information about this supernatural ability.
- Personal Spellbook: A Compendium is considered to be their own spellbook or prayerbook for classes that utilize such objects (like wizards or archivists), and thus always has access to their spells during spell slot preparation. They have a number of pages within themselves equal to 10 times their Intelligence ability score (maximum 200), which they may use to add spells to their list of spells known.
- Compendia also can copy spells more easily than other creatures, only spending 25 gp multiplied by the copied spell’s level.
- Telepathy (Su): A Compendium can communicate telepathically with any other creature within 100 feet that has a language.
- Skill Bonus: Compendia receive a +2 racial bonus to all Decipher Script and Spellcraft checks.
- A Compendium receives a -8 racial penalty to all Swim checks (including Simulacrum Form) as their bodies are made of paper.
- If a Compendium attempts to Disguise with their Simulacrum Form ability to pass as normal, they receive a -4 racial penalty to the skill check. Their bodies are still made of paper, but Bluff and Disguise can hide the intricate folding better.
- Languages: any one non-secret (e.g. Common, Elven, etc.)
- Bonus Languages: any non-secret language.
- Favored Class: Wizard
- Level Adjustment: +3
- ECL: 7 due to their Hit Dice plus Level Adjustment
- Challenge Rating: 6
- Hungering Tome [wondrous, racial]
- Prerequisites: Compendium, able to cast 5th level arcane spells, must have access to the spell secret chest
- Benefit: After spending 8 hours on an arcane ritual, the Compendium is considered a Type I Bag of Holding. They may hold up to 250 lb. (or 30 cubic feet) of objects within themselves, while only being weighed down 15 lb. for everything. They may draw any single object from within themselves as a single swift action on their turn.
- Drawback: It a Compendium with this feat is destroyed, everything they had in their bodies with this feat erupts from their remains and spills out everywhere.
- If the Compendium with this feat is resurrected or raised from the dead, they must perform the same 8 hour ritual and spend 100 gp per character level to be able to hold objects as a Type I Bag of Holding again.
- Special: A Compendium can acquire this feat as a wizard bonus feat.
While many tomes of magic are lovingly preserved in libraries, crypts or even under dungeon rubble; some Compendia manifest from truly worn or lost collections of magical writing. Some are even created from the most prehistoric writings imaginable--barely visible glyphs and runes carved upon ancient stones or tortoise shells.
These Compendia manifest far and away from the wonders of civilization, their original authors having vanished from the Material Plane potentially thousands of years ago. Though they are not as elegant or intelligent as their scholarly kin, Compendia made by these ancient peoples were just as hungry for knowledge.
A Compendium created in this unique circumstance will often embrace ideals of naturalism and spirituality, taking inspiration from nature itself rather than embrace higher concept knowledge. There is a potent energy to the most primal records of ancient people, though it takes quite a longer time for this energy to build and manifest as a Compendium. Oftentimes, they are ancient relics scholars and authors themselves studied and were inspired by; making these rare Compendia the last link between the unrecorded past and the heavily recorded present.
Compendia druids embrace the power of nature, and are more imaginative with their Simulacrum abilities compared to their arcane or religious kin. They unleash the powers of the elemental world more freely, and blend ancient arcane and divine magics in a unique fashion to preserve nature and its most ancient places. They also create life in their own fashion through their Paper Familiars, like the most primal of living creatures; something most Compendia could never imagine.
If you come across a cavern or glade, undisturbed since the age of the gods; be sure to tread carefully. For the knowledge collected here may have drawn in all manner of entities, or even coalesced into a naturalistic protector of its own!
Requirements: To take a Compendia Druid racial substitution class level, a Compendium must have 2 ranks in Knowledge (nature), and be about to take its 1st level of Druid.
HD: d8
Alignment: as druid
Class Skills: Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Listen (Wis), Profession (any) (Wis), Ride (Dex), Spellcraft (Int), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis).
Skill Points: 4 + Int modifier, quadruple at 1st level
Table: the Compendia Druid Class
| Level | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Special Features | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | +0 | +2 | +0 | +3 | Intelligentsia, Paper Familiar | |||||
| 2nd | +1 | +3 | +0 | +3 | Blessing of the Fey | |||||
| 3rd | +2 | +3 | +1 | +3 | ||||||
| 4th | +3 | +4 | +1 | +4 | Fey Likeness | |||||
| 5th | +3 | +4 | +1 | +4 | Origami Shape (1/day, tiny or small) | |||||
| 6th | +4 | +5 | +2 | +5 | Origami Shape (2/day) | |||||
| 7th | +5 | +5 | +2 | +5 | Origami Shape (3/day) | |||||
| 8th | +6/+1 | +6 | +2 | +6 | Origami Shape (Medium) | |||||
| 9th | +6/+1 | +6 | +3 | +6 | ||||||
| 10th | +7/+2 | +7 | +3 | +7 | Origami Shape (4/day) | |||||
| 11th | +8/+3 | +7 | +3 | +7 | Elemental Shape (1/day) | |||||
| 12th | +9/+4 | +8 | +4 | +8 | ||||||
| 13th | +9/+4 | +8 | +4 | +8 | Elemental Shape (2/day) | |||||
| 14th | +10/+5 | +9 | +4 | +9 | Origami Shape (5/day) | |||||
| 15th | +11/+6/+1 | +9 | +5 | +10 | Origami Shape (Large), Elemental Knowledge (+1) | |||||
| 16th | +12/+7/+2 | +10 | +5 | +10 | Elemental Shape (medium) | |||||
| 17th | +12/+7/+2 | +10 | +5 | +10 | Elemental Shape (slam) | |||||
| 18th | +13/+8/+3 | +11 | +6 | +11 | Elemental Shape (3/day), Origami Shape (6/day) | |||||
| 19th | +14/+9/+4 | +11 | +6 | +11 | ||||||
| 20th | +15/+10/+5 | +12 | +6 | +12 | Elemental Knowledge (+2) |
Like other spellcasters, a druid can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. Their base daily spell allotment is given on the standard Druid's class table. In addition, they receive bonus spells per day if they have a high Wisdom score. They do not have access to any domain spells or granted powers, as a cleric does.
A druid prepares and casts spells the way a cleric does, though they cannot lose a prepared spell to cast a cure spell in its place (but see Spontaneous Casting, below). A druid may prepare and cast any spell on the druid spell list, provided they can cast spells of that level, but must choose which spells to prepare during her daily meditation.
A druid also knows Druidic, a secret language known only to druids, which they learn upon becoming a 1st-level druid. Druidic is a free language for a druid; that is, it is known in addition to their regular allotment of languages and it doesn’t take up a language slot. Druids are forbidden to teach this language to non-druids.
- A Paper Familiar’s Constitution score receives a -2 penalty (minimum 3).
- A Paper Familiar’s Intelligence score is always equal to the Compendium Druid’s (excluding bonuses from magic items, spell effects and Elemental Knowledge).
- Once at every 3rd level, a Paper Familiar may change its form to that of another available creature. The Druid must spend 8 hours and a number of supplies equal to 50 gp per druid level to complete this change.
- A Compendia Druid who takes the Improved Familiar feat may change their Paper Familiar as described above, using their expanded available creatures.
- See Table: Paper Familiar below for further details of the familiar’s special abilities by druid level.
| Master Class Level | Nat. Armor | Special Features | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st - 2nd | +0 | Improved Evasion, Share Spells, Empathetic Link | ||
| 3rd - 4th | +1 | Deliver touch spells | ||
| 5th - 6th | +1 | Speak with master | ||
| 7th - 8th | +2 | Speak with animals of current form | ||
| 9th - 10th | +3 | Scroll Eater | ||
| 11th - 12th | +4 | Spell Resistance | ||
| 13th - 14th | +4 | Scry on familiar | ||
| 15th - 16th | +5 | |||
| 17th - 18th | +6 | Elemental Affinity | ||
| 19th - 20th | +6 |
Author's Notes
Thank you so much for reading this far! The Compendia were a challenge to my homebrewing abilities. I was so enamored with the idea of a living spellbook that I really wrestled with my own brain to make it balanced but also unique.
The base race I used as a jumping off point was the Unbodied from the Expanded Psionics Handbook. I had very little experience using or running psionics at the time, but once the psionic abilities were carved off, I saw the framework to the living tomes I imagined. I decided also to create a racial substitution class, so players could play a unique arcane-druid hybrid. And yeah, that little idea became its own giant obstacle to work out.
Overall, I am very happy with the Compendia. They are a high-level character idea compared to my other homebrew; and I hope they give you and your players a unique experience.
As I finished this race, I used a Compendium npc born from a children's nursery rhyme book in my own campaign. They were made with the archivist class in mind and their purpose was to protect children from harm. They were quite a unique entity to bring in in the middle of the story, and their unique existence created memorable roleplay moments for my group. While they may seem a bit paper-thin compared to other casters of their estimated character level, do not underestimate their potential. That's all I'll say on that matter, haha!
Aboleth Eye
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