Necronomicon

The Necronomicon is an ancient artifact of vile knowledge and unholy magic. It has existed since time immemorial, granting evil wizards the power to shake the world. It has been destroyed numerous times, but it always returns through some lingering magic, reappearing in history to usher in some new terrible calamity.
The contents of this foul manuscript of ineffable wickedness are the meat and drink of those in evil's thrall. No mortal was meant to know the secrets it contains, knowledge so horrid that to even glimpse the scrawled pages invites madness. Most believe the goddess Loviatar authored the Necronomicon. She recorded in its pages every diseased idea of treachery, every secret of the dark art of necromancy, every unhinged thought of eldritch mysteries, and every example of alien magic she came across or devised. Loviatar covered every vile topic she could, making the book a gruesome catalog of both mortal and divine wrongs.
Other practitioners of evil have held the book and added their own input to its catalog of vile knowledge. Their additions are clear, for the writers of later works stitched whatever they were writing into the tome, or in some cases, made notations and additions to existing text. There are places where pages are missing, torn, or covered so completely with ink, blood, and scratches that the original text can't be divined.
The book itself is written in black wax on thin sheets made of some unknown leathery substance and bound in thick slates of an dark and alien material that is somewhere between chitin, stone, and petrified wood. The covers are embossed with an organic-like texture of intricate detail, and on the front is pictured a nightmarish visage of a face with empty eye sockets and a gaping maw, locked in an eternal scream. The original author has written the book in various languages – mainly arcane script, Primordial, Deep Speech and some ancient human language using the Common script. Additions to the book are either scrawling on existing pages or new pages made of various materials – ranging from human skin to cloth and parchment – using even more languages such as Elven, Gnomish, and Undercommon. Strangely, whoever reads the book is able to understand all these languages at once, gleaning the full meaning of all the words written on the book’s various pages.

Magical properties

Ward of Slaying. The book can only be destroyed by a good-aligned character. The book is highly resistant to both mundane and magical damage, but through sufficient efforts the book can be damaged and even destroyed (the DM is the arbiter here). The character that destroys the book is killed and their soul vanishes to an unknown fate. This cost is absolute, ordained by a divine imperative of the highest order, the rule having been put in place by the dread Loviatar herself. However, even if destroyed, the Necronomicon will return to the world at a location of its own choosing exactly after 100 years have passed -- but the book will be missing one of its pages. This is largely a non-factor for the continued longevity of the book, for new pages can be added and have been added over the years.
Unnatural Presence. Nature can't abide the book's presence. Ordinary plants wither in its presence, animals are unwilling to approach it, and the book gradually destroys whatever it touches. Even stone cracks and turns to powder if the book rests on it long enough.
Unholy Warding. All holy water within 10 feet of the artifact is instantly destroyed. While attuned to the artifact, this effect applies to you as well.
Aura of Death. Creatures with a challenge rating of O, as well as plants that aren 't creatures, drop to 0 hit points when within 10 feet of the artifact.
Codex of Necromancy. Scattered on its pages, the tome contains the details of every known spell of necromancy. These pages functions as spell scrolls for these spells – however, they are not consumed when casting the spell.

Army of Darkness (movie, 2012) by Universal Pictures

Legendary artifact, trinket

Other names

Book of the Dead, Codex of Necromancy, Tome of Vile Darkness

Item type

Book / Document

Material

The book is made of various materials, most of them grotesque, such as skin and blood.

Creator

Loviatar

Past owners
Loviatar
Nepthys
Orcus

Click to reveal a mythic secret about the nature of this artifact!

The Necronomicon is built around the Arcanomicon, a primordial artifact of such incredible power that its very existence defines the nature of the Universe. The creator of the Necronomicon wanted purposefully to hide the Arcanomicon from others as well as to corrupt and pervert it to suit her needs. Should someone be able to destroy the Necronomicon completely (preventing its 100-year regeneration), the Arcanomicon will be revealed. The Arcanomicon itself is absolutely indestructible.

Attunement

Attunement to the book requires you spend 1 hour of time (a short rest) examining the book. Any attempts to read or even leaf through the book count, so anyone attempting to steal only a few secrets from the Necronomicon might accidentally become attuned to it. Whenever a non-evil creature attunes to the book, that creature may make a Charisma saving throw (the DM decides the DC). On a failed save, the creature's alignment changes to chaotic evil and they become attuned. On a successful save, their alignment does not change but they do not become attuned.
Vile Madness. When you become attuned to the artifact, you gain a form of long-term madness (ask your DM). This cannot be removed by any means.
Divine Attention. When you become attuned to the artifact, there is a chance that you attract the attention of a god that sends an avatar to wrest the artifact from you. The avatar has the same alignment as its creator. Once the avatar obtains the artifact, the avatar vanishes.
Villanous Willpower. While attuned to the artifact, you cannot be charmed or frightened.
Eldritch Armor. While attuned to the artifact, you gain +2 to AC.
Veil of Shadow. While attuned to the artifact, you are proficient in Stealth. If already proficient, you gain expertise instead.
Blessing of Evil. While attuned to the artifact, you gain +4 to Intelligence.
Unholy Warding. All holy water within 10 feet of the artifact is instantly destroyed. While attuned to the artifact, this effect applies to you as well.
Touch of Death. While attuned to the artifact, you deal 2d6 necrotic damage to any plant you touch that isn’t a creature.
Command Evil. While you are attuned to the book and holding it, you can use an action to cast the dominate monster spell on an evil target (save DC 18). You can't use this property again until the next dawn.
Doomed Soul. If you die while attuned to the book, an entity of great evil claims your soul.

Reading and studying the book

A creature attuned to the book must spend 80 hours reading and studying it to digest its contents and reap the benefits listed below. The creature can then also freely modify the book's contents, provided that those modifications advance evil and expand the lore already contained within.
Adjusted ability scores. After you spend the requisite amount of time reading and studying the book, one ability score of your choice increases by 4, to a maximum of 24. Another ability score of your choice decreases by 4, to a minimum of 3. The book can't adjust your ability scores again.
Mark of Darkness. After you spend the requisite amount of time reading and studying the book, you acquire a physical disfigurement as a hideous sign of your devotion to vile darkness. An evil rune might appear on your face, your eyes might become glossy black, or horns might sprout from your forehead. Or you might become wizened and hideous, lose all facial features, gain a forked tongue, or some other feature the DM chooses. If visible, the mark grants you advantage on Charisma (Persuasion) checks made to interact with evil creatures and Charisma (Intimidation) checks made to interact with non-evil creatures.
Dark Lore. After you spend the requisite amount of time reading and studying the book you can reference the Necronomicon whenever you make an Intelligence check to recall information about some aspect of evil, such as lore about demons. When you do so, double your proficiency bonus on that check.
Words of the Old Gods. After you spend the requisite amount of time reading and studying the book you learn to fluently speak Deep Speech – the maddening language of the Old Gods. While you carry the Necronomicon and are attuned to it, you can use an action to recite unholy incantations from its pages in this foul language. Each time you do so, you take 1d12+6 psychic damage, and each non-aberration creature within 15 feet of you takes 3d6+6 psychic damage.

Vile lore

Even after coming to grips with the dark contents of the Necronomicon, there will yet remain further vile lore to learn and master… To unlock any one of these terrible secrets, a character must spend a further 80 hours of study.
Vile Lore: Apotheosis. The book contains the dark rituals that allows one to become a lich or death knight.
Vile Lore: Eldritch Portals. The book contains instructions for opening dimensional portals into the dimensions of the Old Gods.
Vile Lore: Blood Magic. The book contains the secrets of the forbidden art of blood magic, a way of using the blood of a spellcaster as well as his friends and foes to power and amplify their magics.
Vile Lore: Ancient Spells. A myriad of evil spells are recorded on the pages of the book, ranging from terrible curses, disfiguring hexes and rituals of human sacrifice to contagions of disease and invocations of the mythic Plaguewinds. These spells can be designed by the DM or the players.