Wondrous Item

Legendary Trial of the Dead

Forbidden Knowledge:

While attuned to the book, you gain proficiency in Arcana, Religion, and History. If you are already proficient, your proficiency bonus is doubled for checks related to death, undeath, or forbidden magic.  

Necromantic Mastery:

Spells from the necromancy school cost one spell slot level lower to cast (to a minimum of 1st level).  

Aura of Dread:

While holding the book, creatures of your choice within 30 feet must succeed on a DC 20 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened of you for 1 minute. Frightened creatures can repeat the saving throw at the end of their turns. This ability can be used three times per long rest.  

Tome of Souls:

You can cast Speak with Dead and Animate Dead at will without expending a spell slot.  

Enhanced Properties (Post-Attunement)

When attuned, the Black Book of Yxtarr reveals its darkest secrets, granting unparalleled power over life and death.  

Life and Death Unbound:

You can cast True Resurrection once per long rest, but each use ages you 10 years.  

Soulbinding Ritual:

Once per long rest, you can trap a creature’s soul in the book as it dies. While their soul is bound, they cannot be resurrected by any means short of divine intervention. You can release the soul at will or use it to empower your spells, adding 3d10 necrotic damage to a spell’s effects.  

Unholy Legion:

When you cast Animate Dead, you can target up to three times the normal number of creatures. These undead gain an additional +2 to their AC and attack rolls.  

Special Ability: Death’s Dominion

Once per long rest, you can invoke the Black Book of Yxtarr to summon the dead for a devastating display of necromantic power. As an action:  

• All creatures within a 60-foot radius must succeed on a DC 22 Constitution saving throw or take 8d10 necrotic damage. On a failed save, they are also paralyzed for 1 minute. On a successful save, they take half damage and are not paralyzed.

• You summon an army of undead (up to 20 skeletons, zombies, or similar creatures) that remain under your control for 1 hour. These creatures act on your initiative and obey your verbal commands.

• At the end of the duration, the undead collapse into dust, and you cannot use this ability again until you complete a long rest.

 

Curses

 

Bound Knowledge:

While attuned to the Black Book, the wielder is cursed with an insatiable thirst for forbidden knowledge. They feel compelled to study the book endlessly, and each night they must succeed on a DC 18 Wisdom saving throw or spend their rest reading, unable to sleep or recover hit points. Additionally, once attuned, the wielder cannot willingly separate from the book. Attempting to do so results in 6d10 psychic damage, and the book reappears within their possession at midnight.  

Whispers of the Void:

The wielder suffers disadvantage on Wisdom saving throws against spells or effects that involve fear, horror, or despair, as the book's whispers constantly fill their mind with dark visions and prophecies of death. They also occasionally receive glimpses of the Shadowfell and other realms tied to death, eroding their sense of reality over time.

The Black Book of Yxtarr is a sinister tome bound in cracked, black leather, its surface veined with glowing red sigils that seem to pulsate like a heartbeat. The pages within are impossibly dark, written in shifting, ghostly script that only the attuned wielder can read. This cursed grimoire is said to hold the forbidden secrets of Yxtarr, the goddess of Death, Undeath, and the Afterlife. The book whispers in the wielder’s mind, tempting them with the promise of ultimate necromantic power at the cost of their humanity.