The Devourer Tome / The Tome of Emptiness
Like some scholar minds devour books, some books devour scholar minds. The Devourer Tome (although known as a Tome of Emptiness) is not distinguishable from a normal book and in fact it might be of any and every content.
If anyone starts reading the tome, nothing happens at first. But the more attention is given to the books content, the more the book starts to awake. If the reader wants to interrupt his studies, the pc has to pass an ordinary(+10) Willpower test. On a failure, the pc reads on four a number of hours equal one plus another for any level of failure. The reader will reason this away one way or the other. After about (7-Intelligence Bonus of the reader) hour of careful and uninterrupted reading, the tomes unholy nature blossoms and the reader must pass a challenging(+0) Willpower and Intelligence test. If the willpower test is failed, the reader loses 1d5 points of Intelligence and reads on for another hour. Each hour, another Willpower test must be taken and on a failure 1d5 points of Intelligence are lost. The difficulty of the Willpower test rises by one step each time unless the Intelligence test is taken (which remains challenging all the time). As soon as the Intelligence test is taken, the reader realises that something forces him to read on and that his mind clouds more and more. The reader will gain 1d5 Points of Insanity from this realisation, but from now on all roles to stop reading are Ordinary(+10).
If the reader manages to break free from the book, the Intelligence loss is temporary and will be regained by the normal rate of one point per hour. If all Intelligence is lost, the reader turns into an Empty Scribe . A mere husk for the plans of the Tome of Emptiness. The following changes are applied to the profile. Although not following the same rules, an Empty Scribe counts as possessed.
• Intelligence and Fellowship are reduce to zero (for game terms)
• Gains the “From Beyond” trait
• Immune to Stun and Fatigue.
• Gains the “Resistance (Psy Powers)” and “Frenzy” Talent (see below).
The Empty Scribe will not speak or make a sound and will not react to any approach. His or her single sense of existence became to write Tomes of Emptiness (Devourer Tomes), which the Scribe does with inhuman speed (a Tome a day). The content differs, but in all cases they are about fields and matters completely unknown to the person the Empty Scribe once was. And in all cases, they will contain wisdom only accessible to a few or even believed lost. And all of this works will be ready to devour the next reader.
Since the Scribe neither eats nor drinks, it is going to collapse and die after a couple of days (suggestion: TB in days). Eerily, this always happens after it finishes one final tome. If one tries to actively keep the Empty Scribe from writing, it will frenzy and will fight (gaining the according talent) until the attacker flees. At this point, the Empty Scribe will return to its work. If restrained and exorcised, not only Toughness and Willpower will be reduced by 2d10, but Intelligence and Fellowship as well.
Stats & Rules for a Tome
As long as it is inactive, it takes a very hard (-30) Psyniscience test to identify a Devourer Tome for what it is. After it devoured its first victim, it will gain a Willpower and Intelligence stat of 20+2d10, a Psi Rating equal to its WPB and Unnatural Perception (15m). The attributes drains away at a rate of one point a day and if one attribute reaches zero, it will become inactive once more.
As long as it is active, it is still a hard(-20) Test for Psyniscience to identify the book for what it is as long as it does not use its Psy powers. The following psy powers are suggestions for the GM, individual tomes might have other powers.
from DH:
Forget Me; Spectral Hands (usable on itself and of course other items); Compulsion
from DotdG:
Endure Flames; Suggestion (always to keep/read the Tome); Zone of Compulsion & Soul Killer