Sigilian

Students of magic scoff at the idea of sigilians. Living spells fleeing their tomes- Ridiculous. More likely a hazing ritual to frighten new students.

Medium construct, unaligned

Armor Class 14
Hit Points 65 (10d8 + 20)
Speed 0 ft., fly 60 ft.

STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
6 (-2) 18 (+4) 14 (+2) 5 (-3) 10 (+0) 20 (+5)

Skills Perception +2, Stealth +6
Damage Vulnerabilities psychic
Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing and slashing from nonmagical attacks
Damage Immunities poison
Condition Immunities blinded, charmed, deafened, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, poisoned, unconscious
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 12
Languages understands Common but can’t speak
Challenge 2 (450 XP)

Special Traits

  • Amorphous. The sigilian can move through a space as narrow as 1 inch wide without squeezing.
  • Cognivore. At the start of each of its turns if the sigilian is inside a book that is not a spellbook, it removes the words from 3 (1d6) pages and regains 7 (2d6) hp.
  • Construct Nature. A sigilian doesn’t require air, food, drink, or sleep.
  • Home Sweet Tome. The sigilian can move half its speed to enter a book. If the book is being worn or carried by a creature, that creature must succeed on a DC 14 Dexterity saving throw or the sigilian enters the book. A creature can take its action to find the sigilian in a book by succeeding on a DC 12 Intelligence (Investigation) check. If successful, a creature can use a bonus action to tear out the pages where the sigilian is hiding, forcing the sigilian out of the book and into an unoccupied space within 5 feet. Alternatively, a creature can destroy the book with a successful melee attack, dealing half of the damage to the sigilian and forcing it out of the book into an unoccupied space within 5 feet.

Actions

  • Multiattack. The sigilian makes three attacks: one with its cut and two with its paste.
  • Cut. Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 60 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d6 + 4) slashing damage and the sigilian copies one of the target’s weapon attacks for 1 minute.
  • Paste. Melee or Ranged Spell Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 60 ft., one target. Hit: Damage die and type are determined by the copied weapon attack from Cut. Glowing runes in the image of that weapon appear as the sigilian attacks.
  • Devour Spell. While inside a spellbook, the sigilian eats one spell of the highest level present then exits the spellbook. It chooses to either make its next Paste attack with a number of damage dice equal to the eaten spell’s level or regain 3 hp per spell level. The sigilian can only eat one spell at a time and must use the devoured spell’s energy before attempting to enter another spellbook. The eaten spell’s entry is garbled, but the owner can repair it for half the gold and time usually spent to copy a spell. If the owner has the spell prepared, it can re-record the spell during a long rest for no additional cost.

About

Born of Ink And Page. More experienced mages know sigilians are no prank. Whether intentionally created or born from improperly transcribed spells, they exist. They commonly appear as swirling clouds of glowing runes.

Hunger for Knowledge. Sigilians live unseen in libraries, arcing between books, eating words, and leaving behind scrambled passages. They’re most dangerous when they enter spellbooks, where they can eat inscribed spells.

Sticks and Stones. Undisturbed sigilians are docile, but the destructive nature of their hunger makes it impossible for librarians and wizards to live and let live. Left alone, they can become powerful, self-aware, intelligent sigilians that store most of the words that form them in heavy tomes similar to a lich’s phylactery.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Creature Codex. © 2018 Open Design LLC; Authors Wolfgang Baur, Dan Dillon, Richard Green, James Haeck, Chris Harris, Jeremy Hochhalter, James Introcaso, Chris Lockey, Shawn Merwin, and Jon Sawatsky.