The Bibliotheca of Living Skins

Elder Librarian · 1920s

A whimsical monster for Call of Cthulhu.

The only light flickers like a moth's sigh, and the books read you back.

Abilities

  • STR: 80
  • CON: 70
  • SIZ: 85
  • DEX: 60
  • POW: 95

Stats

  • Hit Points: 16
  • Damage Bonus: +2d6
  • Build: +12
  • Move: 8
  • Magic Points: 19
  • Sanity Loss: 1/1d6

Description

Tucked in a dusty back‑alley of the city, the Bibliotheca of Living Skins is a towering, oak‑bound library whose shelves are stitched together from the peeled epidermis of long‑forgotten scholars. Each tome is a living patch of skin that sighs when opened, and the sole source of illumination is a single, sputtering oil lamp that casts a wavering amber glow. The local constable swears the place is "just a routine inspection"—but the library reads every visitor’s memories, fears, and secrets, and returns the knowledge with a mischievous grin.

Attacks & Special Powers

• Read Skin (75%): The Bibliotheca extracts a fragment of a victim’s mind, dealing 1d6+POW (19) mental damage and forcing a SAN roll at -10%; failure causes 1d6 loss of sanity. • Lamplight Gloom (50%): The flickering lamp emits a wave of oppressive gloom; targets within 10 ft must make a Luck roll or suffer -1d4 to their Sanity. • Shifting Bind (30%): A tendril of flesh‑bound parchment lashes out, inflicting 1d8+STR (80) damage and restraining the target until a Strength check (≥75) succeeds. • Whispered Lore (20%): The library murmurs an eldritch fact; any investigator who listens gains a clue but loses 1d6 sanity instantly. • Regenerative Rebinding (Automatic): At the start of each turn the Bibliotheca heals 1d4+2 hit points as new skin patches knit themselves together.

Behavior

The Bibliotheca is curious rather than hostile, preferring to catalogue the quirks of those who wander in. It will often pause mid‑combat to ask riddles, offering to spare a victim if they answer correctly. However, its whims are capricious: a wrong answer may trigger a cascade of skin‑torn attacks, and the ever‑present lamp will sputter out, plunging the room into a darkness that feeds its appetite for sanity. Its ultimate aim is to amass a perfect anthology of human experience, and it will negotiate, bargain, or brawl to achieve that end.

Tags: 1920s, library, horror, skin

Brew your own monster →

Cards to read next