As part of my game prep, the players come across a Wizard's study...and books!
There's a few threads like this around, but I figured I'd share my ideas so far, and if anyone else has a good idea, by all means, share! Some of these might be a bit too meta for someone's taste; while my campaign is mostly serious, I feel people have fun with the occasional joke or reference (many of mine are so obscure only I get them, but that's ok!).
The study also has some knickknacks and curiosities, I'm going to look over examples of trinkets for those- I always forget those are a thing!
The Books
The Underworld Cookbook, 8th edition, by Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar. A character proficient with Cook's Utensils can use this book to harvest and cook or prepare Supplies from a wide variety of monsters. This requires an Intelligence (Cook's Utensils) check and 1 hour. 1 unit of Supplies can be gathered with a check result of 15, the finished product can be eaten, counting as a unit of Supplies for the purposes of taking a rest. Further, the first healing surge spent during this rest adds 10 to the healing acquired. With a check result of 20, a special quality of the monster's components is discovered: possible benefits include a d4 bonus on one kind of die roll for an hour after eating, curing a condition, recovering a spell slot, and so on.
Elementals, Celestials, and Fiends- a Guide to how many Men-at-Arms you need, by Ketheric Thorm: consulting this book can allow someone to determine the CR of a creature of these types (given in units of “Mercs” (short for Mercenaries, ie, how many you need to win. It's assumed 25-50% of these will die in the effort). So for example, a CR 8 Fiend is rated at 8 Mercs. An Intelligence check (DC equal to the CR) is required.
Wines and Spirits: A Wizard's Guide, by Spendelard the Oenophile: a dry, rather boring account of Spendelard's “brewery research expeditions”. While not exactly thrilling subject matter, it has two things of note. The first is a legendary beverage known as “The Soul Special”: stir lemon juice and sugar until dissolved. Add cognac, 1 pinch of rosemary, 1 strip orange peel with 2 cups cracked ice. Cover and shake vigorously until well-chilled, 10-15 seconds. Strain into chilled glass and garnish the rim with the remaining orange peel.
If properly prepared, the book claims this drink can “ward off evil spirits”, in fact, it grants the benefits of Protection from Good and Evil for 10 minutes after drinking, but since the drink must be kept cold, it's not certain how useful this is in the field.
The other benefit is a new spell, Spendelard's Chaser, which can be learned by Wizards or Bards.
4th-level Necromancy
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Touch
Components: V, S, M (a drop of holy water)
Duration: 10 minutes
Upon receiving this spell, the target becomes temporarily immune to the poisoned condition for the duration. They can also make a new saving throw against any effect that inflicted the poisoned condition on them that allows for a saving throw, with advantage on the save. Further, if subject to a new effect that would cause the poisoned condition, the recipient gains advantage on the save, if any.
Spendelard's Chaster also negates the effects of alcohol and drugs upon the system, restoring the individual to mental coherenece and relieving hangovers and other ill effects. Real damage to the boy or mind is not healed by this spell, it merely aids the body in purging the chemicals within.
Fun with Fireballs, Second Printing (with NOW UNBANNED BY THE DRUID'S ASSOCIATION) plastered across the front cover in big bold letters. The book (whose author is unnamed) opens with a dedication “To the victims of the First Annual Fireball Faire- I'm sorry”. The book begins with a brief history of fire magic, the origins of the fireball spell and how it has changed over the years, including a chapter devoted to dispelling an urban legend “there was never a firecube!”.
It goes into details about the reasons behind it's infamous material components, how to gather the best gauno, and where to easily get sulfur. It talks about the analogies with black powder, but suggests one does not attempt to use black powder to cast fireball as the resulting spell is highly volatile and prone to making one's associates very displeased with you! In addition, it says to always use yellow sulfur, not whatever the local alchemist claims to be sulfur- “if what he says isn't yellow, then he's not your fellow”- sound advice indeed! There's an entire chapter of calculations pre-worked out for a novice caster to accurately place a fireball in the “sweet spot” of any battlefield (ie, the position where you can catch the maximum amount of foes and the minimum amount of angry allies”), some advanced tips and tricks, such as, “did you know that you can allow your fireball to detonate in mid-air? Good for fighting large foes without risking your party!”, and “when dealing with invisible foes, remember that a fireball will detonate if the initial manifestation (a small pea-sized flame) comes into contact with a physical obstruction!”, Finally, a the end, the final chapter, called “how to cast fireball” is blank but for a small message reading “content removed due to agreement with the Druid's Association”.
Displacer Beasts and Blink Dogs: Fact or Fiction?: this dissertation on the infamous rivalry between these two creature types points out how rare encounters with the species are, and that avoiding Displacer Beasts is simply good sense. It quickly devolves into the author gushing about how amazing Blink Dogs are, and how they are very good boys and make for great companions. Finally, the last chapter promises another book (sadly never published) about the true rivalry- Blink Dogs and Phase Spiders!
Dragonchess for Dummies: this tome discusses a game of strategy called Dragonchess, which has it's origins in the Great Game, or Xorvintaal, a contest where dragons scheme against each other by proxy, through minions and unwilling agents to advance their goals and gain prestige.
Xorvintaal was devised by wiser dragons who realized the rivalries between members of their species would eventually lead to their extinction, so less lethal methods had to be invented to resolve disputes. The Great Game itself has it's origins in the Code Duello of the dragons, where dragons could challenge each other to nonlethal duels, and the loser would be beholden to perform one task for the victor. However, such duels still had a high mortality rate, as many dragons are too proud to admit defeat.
Dragonchess was adapted by learned scholars who had observed the Great Game. Play takes place on a 50' by 50' grid. Each player starts with 10 gold coins, a Ruler piece that is paradoxically the most powerful but must also be protected at all costs, and two lieutenants or “Talons”. The “board” is made of sand, and has terrain that is randomly determined by dice rolls; random chance can bless or hinder a player at any time. The game uses a wide assortment of strange geometric dice. There is a bazaar at the center of the map where you can hire mercenaries. There are heroes, neutral pieces with their own rules, that start as foes but can be employed, willingly or unwillingly. Defeated pieces can be destroyed, denying their resource to either player, captured and put in a special dungeon where they can be ransomed off or freed, or simply sold at the bazaar as slave for more gold.
Random events can occur to benefit or hinder players. There are complex rules that change depending on a variety of arcane factors such as the time of day, year, the location of celestial bodies, or even what direction north is in. Three individuals are required to play- the two players and a third, neutral arbiter of the rules and disputes, the Dragon Master. By reading the whole tome (which takes 6 weeks modified by your Intelligence bonus), you become proficient with the Dragonchess Gaming set (you still need to acquire such a set, but you're told how to improvise one for the low low cost of 50 gp). Dragons love this game and it's said that challenging one to a game can save you from becoming dinner- assuming you win, of course.
There's a few threads like this around, but I figured I'd share my ideas so far, and if anyone else has a good idea, by all means, share! Some of these might be a bit too meta for someone's taste; while my campaign is mostly serious, I feel people have fun with the occasional joke or reference (many of mine are so obscure only I get them, but that's ok!).
The study also has some knickknacks and curiosities, I'm going to look over examples of trinkets for those- I always forget those are a thing!
The Books
The Underworld Cookbook, 8th edition, by Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar. A character proficient with Cook's Utensils can use this book to harvest and cook or prepare Supplies from a wide variety of monsters. This requires an Intelligence (Cook's Utensils) check and 1 hour. 1 unit of Supplies can be gathered with a check result of 15, the finished product can be eaten, counting as a unit of Supplies for the purposes of taking a rest. Further, the first healing surge spent during this rest adds 10 to the healing acquired. With a check result of 20, a special quality of the monster's components is discovered: possible benefits include a d4 bonus on one kind of die roll for an hour after eating, curing a condition, recovering a spell slot, and so on.
Elementals, Celestials, and Fiends- a Guide to how many Men-at-Arms you need, by Ketheric Thorm: consulting this book can allow someone to determine the CR of a creature of these types (given in units of “Mercs” (short for Mercenaries, ie, how many you need to win. It's assumed 25-50% of these will die in the effort). So for example, a CR 8 Fiend is rated at 8 Mercs. An Intelligence check (DC equal to the CR) is required.
Wines and Spirits: A Wizard's Guide, by Spendelard the Oenophile: a dry, rather boring account of Spendelard's “brewery research expeditions”. While not exactly thrilling subject matter, it has two things of note. The first is a legendary beverage known as “The Soul Special”: stir lemon juice and sugar until dissolved. Add cognac, 1 pinch of rosemary, 1 strip orange peel with 2 cups cracked ice. Cover and shake vigorously until well-chilled, 10-15 seconds. Strain into chilled glass and garnish the rim with the remaining orange peel.
If properly prepared, the book claims this drink can “ward off evil spirits”, in fact, it grants the benefits of Protection from Good and Evil for 10 minutes after drinking, but since the drink must be kept cold, it's not certain how useful this is in the field.
The other benefit is a new spell, Spendelard's Chaser, which can be learned by Wizards or Bards.
4th-level Necromancy
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Touch
Components: V, S, M (a drop of holy water)
Duration: 10 minutes
Upon receiving this spell, the target becomes temporarily immune to the poisoned condition for the duration. They can also make a new saving throw against any effect that inflicted the poisoned condition on them that allows for a saving throw, with advantage on the save. Further, if subject to a new effect that would cause the poisoned condition, the recipient gains advantage on the save, if any.
Spendelard's Chaster also negates the effects of alcohol and drugs upon the system, restoring the individual to mental coherenece and relieving hangovers and other ill effects. Real damage to the boy or mind is not healed by this spell, it merely aids the body in purging the chemicals within.
Fun with Fireballs, Second Printing (with NOW UNBANNED BY THE DRUID'S ASSOCIATION) plastered across the front cover in big bold letters. The book (whose author is unnamed) opens with a dedication “To the victims of the First Annual Fireball Faire- I'm sorry”. The book begins with a brief history of fire magic, the origins of the fireball spell and how it has changed over the years, including a chapter devoted to dispelling an urban legend “there was never a firecube!”.
It goes into details about the reasons behind it's infamous material components, how to gather the best gauno, and where to easily get sulfur. It talks about the analogies with black powder, but suggests one does not attempt to use black powder to cast fireball as the resulting spell is highly volatile and prone to making one's associates very displeased with you! In addition, it says to always use yellow sulfur, not whatever the local alchemist claims to be sulfur- “if what he says isn't yellow, then he's not your fellow”- sound advice indeed! There's an entire chapter of calculations pre-worked out for a novice caster to accurately place a fireball in the “sweet spot” of any battlefield (ie, the position where you can catch the maximum amount of foes and the minimum amount of angry allies”), some advanced tips and tricks, such as, “did you know that you can allow your fireball to detonate in mid-air? Good for fighting large foes without risking your party!”, and “when dealing with invisible foes, remember that a fireball will detonate if the initial manifestation (a small pea-sized flame) comes into contact with a physical obstruction!”, Finally, a the end, the final chapter, called “how to cast fireball” is blank but for a small message reading “content removed due to agreement with the Druid's Association”.
Displacer Beasts and Blink Dogs: Fact or Fiction?: this dissertation on the infamous rivalry between these two creature types points out how rare encounters with the species are, and that avoiding Displacer Beasts is simply good sense. It quickly devolves into the author gushing about how amazing Blink Dogs are, and how they are very good boys and make for great companions. Finally, the last chapter promises another book (sadly never published) about the true rivalry- Blink Dogs and Phase Spiders!
Dragonchess for Dummies: this tome discusses a game of strategy called Dragonchess, which has it's origins in the Great Game, or Xorvintaal, a contest where dragons scheme against each other by proxy, through minions and unwilling agents to advance their goals and gain prestige.
Xorvintaal was devised by wiser dragons who realized the rivalries between members of their species would eventually lead to their extinction, so less lethal methods had to be invented to resolve disputes. The Great Game itself has it's origins in the Code Duello of the dragons, where dragons could challenge each other to nonlethal duels, and the loser would be beholden to perform one task for the victor. However, such duels still had a high mortality rate, as many dragons are too proud to admit defeat.
Dragonchess was adapted by learned scholars who had observed the Great Game. Play takes place on a 50' by 50' grid. Each player starts with 10 gold coins, a Ruler piece that is paradoxically the most powerful but must also be protected at all costs, and two lieutenants or “Talons”. The “board” is made of sand, and has terrain that is randomly determined by dice rolls; random chance can bless or hinder a player at any time. The game uses a wide assortment of strange geometric dice. There is a bazaar at the center of the map where you can hire mercenaries. There are heroes, neutral pieces with their own rules, that start as foes but can be employed, willingly or unwillingly. Defeated pieces can be destroyed, denying their resource to either player, captured and put in a special dungeon where they can be ransomed off or freed, or simply sold at the bazaar as slave for more gold.
Random events can occur to benefit or hinder players. There are complex rules that change depending on a variety of arcane factors such as the time of day, year, the location of celestial bodies, or even what direction north is in. Three individuals are required to play- the two players and a third, neutral arbiter of the rules and disputes, the Dragon Master. By reading the whole tome (which takes 6 weeks modified by your Intelligence bonus), you become proficient with the Dragonchess Gaming set (you still need to acquire such a set, but you're told how to improvise one for the low low cost of 50 gp). Dragons love this game and it's said that challenging one to a game can save you from becoming dinner- assuming you win, of course.
