Why must a special ritual always come in 'Ancient Tome' format?

[kolikeos]

I've just read the 'Magic Events' section in the DMG II, and it got me thinking. Every time there is a special artifact or ritual as part of a plot in a RPG, it is either done by a NPC or it is discovered in some ancient tome (which was also written by a NPC).

I think it would be much more satisfying for the players to have their own characters invent those rituals, rather than a NPC. If I'm a powerful spell caster that can bend reality to his will, why can I not use my knowledge of magic and my mystic powers to invent a ritual of my own? Why do I need the help of other's books to accomplish this?
Sure, having a book describe how such a thing was already done in the past can be of great help, but I don't think it should be the default method, let alone the only method.

 

[Gez]

I've just read the 'Magic Events' section in the DMG II, and it got me thinking. Every time there is a special artifact or ritual as part of a plot in a RPG

There you go. If it's part of the plot, it already exist. If it already exist, it's known by a living NPC or has been recorded somewhere.

It's possible for spellcasters to do research, but if you have your plot relying on a player thinking about researching a special ritual and on his character surviving up to this point at least, then it'll be quite railroady. In essence, either he'll be clued by an NPC or an ancient tome (heh) that it's what he must do; or the player will just think he found a new way to exploit the game, from now on he'll make a new ritual to solve every problem that crops up long before the story can be brought to a climax.

 

[schporto]

It probably doesn't work as part of a plot, as those are usually pre-planned. But the next time a players asks to research a spell that's way out of wack, then I might just use this method. Treat them as the one having the 'ancient ritual'. The players should wonder why the bad guys and the good guys are gunning for them.
Although I do agree, why is it always ancient? Why do we think the 'ancients' knew more then us? Why is this such a standard? I'd like to think we can think up new and more powerful destructive forces on our own thank you.
-cpd

 

[jonesy]

It doesn't have to be an ancient tome. We found one that was only a week old. /rimshot

I think it would be much more satisfying for the players to have their own characters invent those rituals, rather than a NPC.

That ties a lot into the discussion here earlier about spell creation being a waning habit among players. There was a comment that it was because there already are so many in published material, but a lot of that is the same old stuff with slight changes.

 

[DragonLancer]

Although I do agree, why is it always ancient? Why do we think the 'ancients' knew more then us? Why is this such a standard? I'd like to think we can think up new and more powerful destructive forces on our own thank you.

Because they did. You only have to do a little research on the Pyramids to see this. Even with todays modern construction methods we cannot make them to the same exact dimensions as the ancient Egyptions did.

The Aztecs had a fully detailed calender that is incredibly accurate for such an ancient civilisation.

 

[Zimri]

Because they did. You only have to do a little research on the Pyramids to see this. Even with todays modern construction methods we cannot make them to the same exact dimensions as the ancient Egyptions did.

The Aztecs had a fully detailed calender that is incredibly accurate for such an ancient civilisation.

It's lack of motivation that comes from no longer being afraid or superstitious.

"Ramses will devour us", "Pharoah and his guards will murder me and/or my family" "Ares will bless the invading horde instead of us" etcetera carry more weight than .... well just about anything we can muster up as a threat these days.

As to the aztec calendar ... well they had to know when the snake thing was going to eat the moon.

 

[schporto]

Because they did. You only have to do a little research on the Pyramids to see this. Even with todays modern construction methods we cannot make them to the same exact dimensions as the ancient Egyptions did.

The Aztecs had a fully detailed calender that is incredibly accurate for such an ancient civilisation.

But then again they didn't. None of them had flying machines. None of them had computers to the point we have today. All I'm saying is that if there is one area where we are better then the ancients it is our ability to kill each other/destroy civilization.
If you are looking for a 'plot to end the world' I'd look for the mad scientist before I looked for the archaeologist. Unless I was Indiana Jones.
-cpd

 

[Werdnam]

Because they did. You only have to do a little research on the Pyramids to see this. Even with todays modern construction methods we cannot make them to the same exact dimensions as the ancient Egyptions did.

The Aztecs had a fully detailed calender that is incredibly accurate for such an ancient civilisation.

I find this a bit hard to swallow. You're saying that we can build skycrapers more than 1700 ft tall, and yet we could not replicate a stone pyramid only 485 ft tall? I must be misunderstanding you; do you mean "... even with today's modern knowledge we cannot make [the pyramids] with ancient construction techniques"? That I'd believe.

Regarding the Aztecs: we now have atomic clocks with precision far beyond anything this ancient civilization could have imagined, and with our knowledge of astronomy we can predict heavenly events (meteor showers, comet visits, eclipses) with extreme accuracy.

This is not to knock the Egyptians or the Aztecs; their accomplishments were truly astounding for their time. But we in the modern world certainly know more than they did.

 

[jonesy]

None of them had computers to the point we have today.

Well no, but there was at least the one Anti-kythera.

 

[Deset Gled]

Because they did. You only have to do a little research on the Pyramids to see this. Even with todays modern construction methods we cannot make them to the same exact dimensions as the ancient Egyptions did.

Rebuilding the pyramids would actually be ridculously easy if you had the same resources that the Egyptians did. You be surprised what you can accomplish with a seemingly endless supply of workers that you don't have to pay but will do anything you say, have no work safety standards, no need for permits, no unions, no building codes, limitless material resources, and no time contraints.

Of course, even then I doubt anyone would do it. The pyramids are lacking inner space, temperature control, ventilation, fire escapes, electricty/networking, plumbing, parking space, windows, or basically anything that resembles the functionality of what we consider a building.