Quillpiercer of the Dimmed Stacks
The Dimmed Stacks were a vast archive said to have been consumed whole by a shadow-plague, its scholars and texts alike dissolved into clinging darkness between the shelves. This crossbow was carved from the lectern of the library's last cataloguer, who continued indexing long after death, pressing forbidden titles into wood and shadow until the two became inseparable. Those who attune to it sometimes hear whispered page numbers in the dark, as though something is still looking for a book it has not yet found.
Mechanics
A hand crossbow that fires bolts formed from torn shadow-script, silencing targets and pulling forgotten knowledge from the dark between shelves.
Shadow-Script Bolts
This hand crossbow requires no physical ammunition. When you make an attack with it, a bolt of solidified shadow-text materializes and fires automatically. On a hit, the bolt deals 1d6 piercing damage plus 1d8 necrotic damage. The necrotic damage bypasses resistance to necrotic damage from undead creatures only.
Hushed Index
When you hit a creature with this weapon, you may spend 1 charge (no additional action required) to force the target to make a DC 14 Constitution saving throw. On a failure, the creature is unable to speak or produce verbal components for spells until the end of its next turn. Spells that require a verbal component fail automatically if the creature attempts to cast them while silenced by this effect.
Consumed Chapter
As a bonus action, you may spend 2 charges to draw a fragment of necrotic memory from the crossbow's haunted shelves. You gain advantage on one Intelligence (History) or Intelligence (Arcana) check made before the start of your next turn, and one creature of your choice within 30 feet that can see you takes 2d6 necrotic damage as the extracted memory disgorges shadow-ink. A creature may attempt a DC 14 Constitution saving throw to take half damage.
Penumbral Catalogue
As an action, you may spend 3 charges to project a 20-foot-radius sphere of dim, ink-dark shadow centered on a point you can see within 60 feet. The area is lightly obscured for creatures without darkvision until the start of your next turn. Creatures of your choice within the area when it forms must succeed on a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened of you until the end of their next turn as they perceive phantom shelves closing in around them.
5 charges
Recharges at dawn
DM Notes
Balance considerations: The auto-generating ammunition removes the resource drain of bolt tracking, which is offset by the 5-charge pool governing the item's primary combat utility. Hushed Index at 1 charge is the most frequently used ability and is deliberately efficient — silencing a spellcaster for one turn is impactful but short-lived, keeping the 1-charge cost fair. Consumed Chapter combines a minor skill bonus with a damage pulse; the 2-charge cost keeps it from being spammed and requires the player to plan ahead. Penumbral Catalogue at 3 charges is the most expensive single-use effect and should feel like a meaningful tactical decision — the frightened condition on a save keeps it from being overwhelming. At 5 charges per dawn, a player who uses Hushed Index twice and Consumed Chapter once has spent their entire pool, so all three abilities cannot be used in the same encounter without restraint. The DC 14 is appropriate for level 4–6 play and should not overwhelm higher-CR enemies encountered at the top of the band. Recommend giving this to a Bard, Rogue, or Artificer player who enjoys tactical control — the silence effect particularly rewards players who scout enemy spell-users before combat.
Generated with: Level 5 · Bard · College of Creation · Weapon (Simple Ranged) · Haunted library · Cursed · Shadow / Necrotic · Rare · No curses