Ye Olde Shoppe of Magicks – Monster Manuals – The Cat in the Hat

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.

The Cat in the Hat
(Monster Tome)

Medium Construct, chaotic neutral

Armor Class 13 (striped hardened cover)
Hit Points 84 (11d8+33)
Speed 10 ft., hover 20 ft.

STR 14 (+2) DEX 16 (+3) CON 16 (+3)
INT 12 (+1) WIS 12 (+1) CHA 18 (+4)

Saving Throws Dex +5, Cha +6
Skills Deception +6, Acrobatics +5, Performance +6
Damage Resistances psychic, bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks
Damage Immunities poison
Condition Immunities charmed, frightened, poisoned, prone, exhaustion
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 11
Languages understands Common; speaks in rhyme
Challenge 6 (2,300 XP)

Traits

• Rhyme and Reason. Whenever a creature makes an attack against the tome, it must first succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or be compelled to speak in rhymes until the start of its next turn. If the creature fails the save by 5 or more, it loses concentration on any active spell.
• Controlled Chaos. The Cat in the Hat Tome rolls on the Wild Magic Surge table (PHB p.104) whenever it takes 20 or more damage in a round.
• Summon Mischief (Recharge 5–6). The tome can summon up to three spectral minions — Spectral Cat, Spectral Thing 1, and Spectral Thing 2 — which last for 1 minute or until destroyed. (Roll D4: 1 The Cat, 2 Thing 1, 3 Thing 2, 4 All three)

Actions

• Whirling Pages. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 16 (3d8+3) slashing damage as spinning pages whip like blades.
• Chaos Juggle (Recharge 5–6). The tome releases a storm of flying objects — cups, chairs, and furniture. All creatures within 15 ft. must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or take 18 (4d8) force damage and be knocked prone as spectral household items collide with them.
• Summon More Mischief (1/day). The tome opens wide, releasing any of its chaotic servants not already summoned.

Summoned Minions
Spectral Cat

Medium Undead (Construct),
chaotic neutral
AC 13, HP 32, Speed 40 ft.
STR 12 (+1), DEX 16 (+3), CON 14 (+2),
INT 10 (+0), WIS 12 (+1), CHA 14 (+2)

• Actions
• Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (2d6+2) psychic damage.
• Hat Trick (Recharge 6). The cat produces a random object from its hat — roll a d6: 1–2: harmless illusion, 3–4: distracting flash (DC 13 Dex save or blinded 1 turn), 5–6: exploding teacup (2d8 fire damage, 10 ft. radius).

Spectral Things (1 & 2)

Small Undead (Construct), chaotic neutral
AC 12, HP 18 each, Speed 30 ft.
STR 10 (+0), DEX 15 (+2), CON 12 (+1), INT 8 (-1), WIS 10 (+0), CHA 12 (+1)

• Actions
• Slap of Silly. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (2d4+2) bludgeoning damage.
• Twin Trickery. When both Things are within 10 ft. of a target, they gain advantage on attacks against that target.

⚖️ Balance & Flavor Notes

• The tome is a chaotic controller, more about battlefield mischief than raw damage.
• The Spectral Cat acts as a support-disruptor, while Thing 1 & Thing 2 act as distractions.

Perfect for an encounter that starts silly and spirals into chaos — particularly in your Haunted Library setting.

Return to Ye Olde Shoppe of Magicks

Monster Tome base images were built using ChatGPT using prompts by Alien Graphics ©2025 Alien Graphics

All verbiage is ©2025 Alien Graphics and all imagery is ©2025 Alien Graphics and shared under the CC BY-NC-SA