Angel Tarragon
Dawn Dragon
That would totally kick arse!RangerWickett said:
An idea for a nifty prop.
- Thread starter RangerWickett
- Start date
Thornir Alekeg
Albatross!
If you want to mass market it, for publicity be sure to send it to Patricia Pulling, Jack Chik and Pat Robertson. 
RangerWickett
Legend
I was actually thinking of working up a pdf with each spell getting its own page or multi-page spread, so you could print out the pages you want, age them or not however you desire, then bind them, preferably with black leather.
Do you have any ideas for sources to mine as I attempt to create an actual spellbook. In D&D, a spell takes up a level per page. Really, I know 9th level spells are complicated, but what do those 9 pages actually consist of? Sketches of hand gestures?
Do you have any ideas for sources to mine as I attempt to create an actual spellbook. In D&D, a spell takes up a level per page. Really, I know 9th level spells are complicated, but what do those 9 pages actually consist of? Sketches of hand gestures?
Dr Awkward
First Post
Thornir Alekeg said:If you want to mass market it, for publicity be sure to send it to Patricia Pulling, Jack Chik and Pat Robertson.
You'll probably not get a positive response from Mrs. Pulling - she left this mortal coil in 1997.
If you're not in the mood to create one, there's always this - the limited edition DVD of Evil Dead, which comes in a simulated Necronomicon book, complete with red-inked pages with strange writing and pictures on them -
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...f=pd_sxp_f/102-9292915-0195369?v=glance&s=dvd
You can actually read the characters if you look hard enough, too, and there are some funny hidden messages in there. There are only ten or so printed pages, but it still looks neat to have lying around. Oh, the only downside is that it will make your hands smell like rubber for a day or two after you handle it.
- DocAwk
sniffles
First Post
I haven't gone quite as far as you're suggesting, Ranger Wickett, but for a sorcerer character I did keep a spellbook (even though sorcerers don't need one) with all of the PC's spells written in it in unusual ink colors and odd handwriting. I bought a special book with blank pages from these good folks: http://www.moritorium.com/store.html One of the artists on this site is Jason Soles, who did the cover for d20 Call of Cthulhu.
My book has a bird skull on the cover - not a relief, drawing or embossing, but an actual 3-D casting of a bird skull. Looks great, but makes it a bit hard to put in a backpack.
My book has a bird skull on the cover - not a relief, drawing or embossing, but an actual 3-D casting of a bird skull. Looks great, but makes it a bit hard to put in a backpack.
Mark Hope
Hero
Three_Haligonians said:
No problem.
Take a thin elastic band and lay it across the cover of the book. Make sure that it lies in a curvy/organic shape, not in a straight line (it just looks better that way). Set fire to the elastic. It will burn freely and sear itself into the cover (it will also give off lots of icky smoke that probably isn't very good for you). The elastic itself will be consumed by the fire, leaving a scorched area on the book that looks like it came from a source other than simple fire. See the attached thumbnail. Does that make sense?
Attachments
RangerWickett said:
There is a company that makes, rather expensive Necronomicon books.
http://www.necronomiconbooks.com/order1.asp
Last edited:
Rel
Liquid Awesome
I think that if I were going to undertake this task then I'd probably do it like this:
Buy a smallish (6"x9") binder. If I can find a really fancy one then it will save me the last step buy I'd settle for a very plain one.
Buy a pack of paper that is already shaded to look like vellum. I'd go ahead and get an entire ream.*
Copy and paste spells from the SRD into Word (or some other word processing software), change the font to a script and change the format to a half page, 2-up layout.
Print out the spells that my PC has in his spellbook. Hole punch them. Put them in the binder.
To add a nice cover I'd go to the craft store and buy a square of thin leather (probably some kind of suede) and then cut it to fit as a cover on the binder. A little sewing with thick thread around the edges would assure that it stayed attached. For suede, you could probably decorate the cover with chalk or use markers if you wanted something that stood out a bit more.
I realize that this is not going to look utterly authentic but I'd rather compromise that in favor of being able to easily add more spells to the book over time without having to write them out by hand and have them out of order by spell level.
One other thing - If you want an easy way to track your Wizard's spells you can take this book and stick post-it notes on the pages of the spells you have prepared. Pull them off when you cast the spell and you can quickly and easily flip through the book to see what is left in your arsenal.
*Since I bought a whole ream of the vellum paper then any scrolls that I make can be printed on the same paper and then rolled up and tied with a small ribbon. We've used props like this before and they are fun to whip out in play.
Buy a smallish (6"x9") binder. If I can find a really fancy one then it will save me the last step buy I'd settle for a very plain one.
Buy a pack of paper that is already shaded to look like vellum. I'd go ahead and get an entire ream.*
Copy and paste spells from the SRD into Word (or some other word processing software), change the font to a script and change the format to a half page, 2-up layout.
Print out the spells that my PC has in his spellbook. Hole punch them. Put them in the binder.
To add a nice cover I'd go to the craft store and buy a square of thin leather (probably some kind of suede) and then cut it to fit as a cover on the binder. A little sewing with thick thread around the edges would assure that it stayed attached. For suede, you could probably decorate the cover with chalk or use markers if you wanted something that stood out a bit more.
I realize that this is not going to look utterly authentic but I'd rather compromise that in favor of being able to easily add more spells to the book over time without having to write them out by hand and have them out of order by spell level.
One other thing - If you want an easy way to track your Wizard's spells you can take this book and stick post-it notes on the pages of the spells you have prepared. Pull them off when you cast the spell and you can quickly and easily flip through the book to see what is left in your arsenal.
*Since I bought a whole ream of the vellum paper then any scrolls that I make can be printed on the same paper and then rolled up and tied with a small ribbon. We've used props like this before and they are fun to whip out in play.
I've been thinking of doing something like this for my game.
I can get empty bound books pretty cheap. Hobby Lobby, Michaels and a couple other art shops sell them. To keep it affordable, I'd try something smaller, paperback sized. Large books cost more.
I'd want to have a prop book that had relevant clues or information in it. A journal would be good for this. A wizard's journal would probably be full of drawings, arcane spells, journal type entries, notes and observations on things.
I'd want the book to contain relevant clues to my game AND be populated with enough material that finding those clues is a challenge. So instead of saying the PCs find a wizard's journal, have them roll some dice, and tell them they find a note about the Demon Prince of Azur, I'd just hand them the book they found and let them have at it.
The tricky part in all this is the types of content needed. We'd need spell book content, some hand-drawn art, some general journal entries, and some clue entries that have bearing on the game. The trick is coming up with enough content to fill the book so it looks complete enough.
Take Journal entries for instance. Obviously, the last entry is the one before the writer went mad and disappeared. But before that, you need entries leading up to it, as well as completely mundane entries that show the general life of the writer.
If this were a PDF product, I'd see it being used in two formats, something that you'd print out and "bind" and use as a prop, or something you'd transcribe into a more authentic looking book. Either way, the content would have to be good, to make it a believable prop.
hmm, gets me thinking....
Janx
I can get empty bound books pretty cheap. Hobby Lobby, Michaels and a couple other art shops sell them. To keep it affordable, I'd try something smaller, paperback sized. Large books cost more.
I'd want to have a prop book that had relevant clues or information in it. A journal would be good for this. A wizard's journal would probably be full of drawings, arcane spells, journal type entries, notes and observations on things.
I'd want the book to contain relevant clues to my game AND be populated with enough material that finding those clues is a challenge. So instead of saying the PCs find a wizard's journal, have them roll some dice, and tell them they find a note about the Demon Prince of Azur, I'd just hand them the book they found and let them have at it.
The tricky part in all this is the types of content needed. We'd need spell book content, some hand-drawn art, some general journal entries, and some clue entries that have bearing on the game. The trick is coming up with enough content to fill the book so it looks complete enough.
Take Journal entries for instance. Obviously, the last entry is the one before the writer went mad and disappeared. But before that, you need entries leading up to it, as well as completely mundane entries that show the general life of the writer.
If this were a PDF product, I'd see it being used in two formats, something that you'd print out and "bind" and use as a prop, or something you'd transcribe into a more authentic looking book. Either way, the content would have to be good, to make it a believable prop.
hmm, gets me thinking....
Janx
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