Ye Olde Shoppe of Magicks – Monster Manuals – A Wrinkle in Time

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In keeping with the Haunted Mansion our party is currently exploring, I came up with a WHOLE haunted library ala Gomez Addams

Encounter Mechanics

  • The books remain inert until one is pulled from the shelf. When disturbed, all awaken.
  • They can hover off the ground, flapping like birds. Some have the ability to run.
  • Their CR can be set between 2–3 each (slightly weaker alone, but dangerous as a group).
  • The fight can escalate as more books fall open—giving your party a frantic “stop pulling tomes!” realization.

Encounter Notes

  • Trigger: The fight begins when one book is pulled from the shelf. The rest join after 1 round, 1d4 books at a time, for rising tension.
  • Tactics: Books hover and swarm. “Art of War” boosts the others, “Odyssey” disrupts positioning, “Dracula” heals mid-fight.
  • Party Balance: Facing all 8 at once could overwhelm — consider staggering their arrival for a cinematic escalation.

A Wrinkle in Time
(Monster Tome)

Medium Construct, chaotic neutral

Armor Class 15 (shifting dimensional cover)
Hit Points 114 (12d10+48)
Speed 0 ft., hover 30 ft.

STR 14 (+2) DEX 16 (+3) CON 18 (+4)
INT 16 (+3) WIS 14 (+2) CHA 17 (+3)

Saving Throws Int +6, Wis +5, Cha +6
Skills Arcana +6, Insight +5, Perception +5
Damage Resistances psychic, force, radiant
Damage Immunities poison
Condition Immunities charmed, frightened, poisoned, prone, exhaustion
Senses truesight 60 ft., passive Perception 15
Languages understands all but speaks only in warped echoes of its reader’s own voice
Challenge 7 (2,900 XP)

Traits

  • Tesseract Shift. At the start of its turn, the tome teleports up to 30 ft. to an unoccupied space it can see. This does not provoke opportunity attacks.
  • Warping Aura. Creatures within 15 ft. of the tome must make a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw at the start of their turn or suffer temporal distortion: their movement speed is halved until the end of the turn.
  • Timeless Knowledge. The tome has advantage on all saving throws against spells.

Actions

  • Chronal Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 19 (3d10+3) force damage as the tome folds space against its victim.
  • Reality Fold (Recharge 5–6). The tome tears reality in a 20 ft. cube centered on itself. All creatures in the area must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or take 27 (6d8) force damage and be teleported to a random unoccupied space within 30 ft. On a success, they take half damage and are not teleported.
  • Chronal Stasis (1/day). The tome targets one creature within 30 ft. That creature must succeed on a DC 16 Wisdom saving throw or become trapped in a pocket of frozen time. While affected, the creature is incapacitated, cannot move or act, and is unaware of the passage of time. At the end of its turns, the creature repeats the saving throw, ending the effect on a success.

Design Notes

  • This tome is a mobility-disrupting controller with teleportation, forced movement, and battlefield warping.
  • CR 7 makes it a strong mid-to-high tier tome, a real threat to even seasoned adventurers.
  • Its “Chronal Stasis” is a scary save-or-suck effect, great for terrifying players in the middle of combat.

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