Ghostwriter

Medium undead, chaotic evil

Armor Class 13
Hit Points 58 (13d8)
Speed 0 ft., fly 30 ft. (hover)

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
7 (-2)	17 (+3)	10 (+0)	19 (+4)	14 (+2)	17 (+3)

Skills Arcana +7, History +7, Deception +6, Stealth +6
Damage Resistances acid, fire, lightning, thunder; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks
Damage Immunities cold, necrotic, poison
Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, grappled, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone, restrained
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 12
Languages the languages it knew in life
Challenge 5 (1,800 XP)
Proficiency Bonus +3

SPECIAL TRAITS

• Incorporeal Movement. The ghostwriter can move through other creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain. It takes 5 (1d10) force damage if it ends its turn inside an object.
• Rejuvenation. If destroyed, the ghostwriter magically re-forms fully healed after 5 (2d4) days in the library or other location where it first manifested. The ghostwriter can be permanently destroyed only if someone publishes the ghostwriter’s work to an audience of at least 100 readers, which allows the spirit to move on to the afterlife.
• Spellcasting. The ghostwriter is a 5th-level spellcaster. Its spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 15, +7 to hit with spell attacks). It has the following wizards spells prepared, which it can cast without material components:
  • Cantrips (at will): mage hand, message, prestidigitation, ray of frost
  • 1st level (4 slots): comprehend languages, detect magic, magic missile, sleep
  • 2nd level (3 slots): gust of wind, ray of enfeeblement
  • 3rd level (2 slots): dispel magic, glyph of warding, stinking cloud
• Undead Nature. The ghostwriter doesn’t require air, food, drink, or sleep.

ACTIONS

• Multiattack. The ghostwriter can use Quick Study. It then casts a spell and attacks once with its ghostly quill.
• Ghostly Quill. Melee Spell Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 15 (2d10 + 4) necrotic damage.
• Inhabit Text. The ghostwriter possesses a book, scroll, roll of parchment, or similar-sized text it can see within 20 feet of it. If a creature is holding the text the ghostwriter attempts to inhabit, that creature can make a DC 15 Intelligence saving throw to prevent the possession. The ghostwriter’s body disappears, and the possessed text gains the statistics and abilities of the ghostwriter. If the ghostwriter is destroyed while possessing a text, the text is destroyed as well. If the ghostwriter inhabits a spellbook, it automatically edits the text, making it difficult for the next reader to parse the words. The next time a spellcaster attempts to prepare spells from the spellbook, the spellcaster must succeed on a DC 17 Arcana check. On a failure, one randomly determined spell per spell level is made illegible and can’t be prepared until after the spellcaster’s next long rest. On a success or a failure, the edits then disappear and don’t affect subsequent preparations. The possession lasts until the ghostwriter drops to 0 hit points, ends it as a bonus action, or is forced out by an effect like the dispel evil and good spell. When the possession ends, the ghostwriter reappears in the text’s space and can’t use Inhabit Text again until the end of its next turn.
• Quick Study. If the ghostwriter is possessing a spellbook using Inhabit Text, it changes one of its prepared spells to a spell of the same level contained within the spellbook.

ABOUT

A ghostwriter typically rises from the spirit of an avid scholar or arcanist who labored endlessly but fruitlessly on a long-winded historical treatise or arcane thesis. Risen as a ghostwriter, this unswerving intellectual aims its creative energies at the writings of the living. Ghostwriters typically hide within spellbooks, twisting words and tweaking language in ways that can cause a wizard’s spells to flourish or fizzle.

Ghostwriters are easily offended by critics or readers that seem ungrateful for the spirit’s attempts to improve their spells and documents; flattery is a far more fruitful tack. Though difficult, if one can convince a ghostwriter that their work is finished, the spirit can finally drift to the afterlife.