An idea for a nifty prop.

[RangerWickett]

How cool would it be to have a fake spellbook complete with fake incantations and fake rituals and fake diagrams, all done with high production values and detailed notes to make it all seem authentic? Imagine if you could buy a copy of the Necronomicon, and it looked like the 'real' Necronomicon would look? I think it would be a great piece for a wizard's costume at a con or RenFaire, and it'd make a hell of a conversation piece.

Anyone interested in brainstorming some ideas on how to make this a reality?

 

[Three_Haligonians]

Anyone interested in brainstorming some ideas on how to make this a reality?

Yes. Yes I am.

Edit: Hope everyone laughed at my exuberance to help without actually contributing anything but my good ole' computer decided to play tricks on me.

Anyway, I think one of the first steps that needs considering is the physical size of the book itself. It might be fun to create a large "tome-like" book but if its for costume purposes, who wants to lug that around? Even if it is just a game prop it might be unwieldy getting it around or having it at the game table etc.

As for visuals, just about everyone knows about tea-soakings and edge-burnings and the like, all very fine things. Calligraphy is nice if you can do it (or get someone to do it for you).
Diagrams are good too, though you might want to draw one on separate sheets until you get what you want and then trace.

Creating your own "runes" or "glyphs" to symbolize the alphabet or language is another idea if your feeling creative (which you should be, if your thinking of making this in the first place.)

2nd Edit: Just thought of a question: Do you prefer to write the information of your book before or after you "treat" it? Why?
J from Three Haligonians

 

[Berandor]

What I would love is a book that contains the spells from the PHB (maybe other sources, too) and lists the incantation and maybe some common somatic components. I am trying to do this for my Story Hour, making differences between casters (wizard sounds vaguely latin, cleric says a prayer, bard tells a story/sings a song). But only for a handful of spells. For the whole PHB - yeah, I'd buy it.

 

[Aeric]

I've seen some really nice leather-bound blank (sketch) books for sale at Ren Faires and the like...always thought about buying one and doing it up as a spellbook inside, but they're usually pretty costly. Plus, the amount of time it would take outweighs the usefulness it would have for me.

Now, maybe if you made a "magic" font on your computer and converted a really big text document that way, and then threw in some random diagrams and sigils and stuff to break up the text, and had Kinko's or someone print and bind it, and then had your leatherworking friend put a nice cover on it for you....

Damn, now I'm thinking about it!

 

[SubMensa]

As it just so happens I was surfing the Miskatonic U website just yesterday when I came across these pages.

General information as to how to create the book.
http://www.miskatonic.net/pickman/mythos/tome.htm

Specific hints such as faking blood, binding, aging of the papers...
http://www.miskatonic.net/pickman/mythos/whisper.htm

 

[Mark Hope]

I created just such a prop for my Mage chronicle (with the aid of an artistically talented friend). It wasn't designed as a spellbook, more as a Book of Shadows/diary but the idea and execution were the same. We took a small, leather-bound notebook and aged it by subjecting it to all manner of horrible abuses. It was soaked in very thin coffee, dried and the pages teased apart. We burned certain parts, dumped stained refuse all over it and even laid elastic bands across the cover and set fire to them (this produces a reall cool "spell-fried" effect but is a bit stinky). Then we inscribed the contents with an old ink fountain pen, added mystical diagrams, hidden titbits etc etc. For the game, it was separated into three or four segments and the players spent a large portion of the chronicle chasing the various segments across Europe in an attempt to recover the entire book. It worked very well indeed and the book itself ended up being so fragile that it genuinely seemed to be several hundred years old.

It cost us nothing more than a couple of bucks to by the little notebook and a bunch of time to age and write the contents. Well worth the effort, though.

 

[Pinotage]

Soak the whole book in tea, then iron the pages. Commence writing in a thick, heavy ink. Hey, that's what I used to do when I was a kid!

Pinotage

 

[Three_Haligonians]

'Splain How!

and even laid elastic bands across the cover and set fire to them (this produces a reall cool "spell-fried" effect but is a bit stinky).

This sounds intriguing,

Would you be so kind as to humour me and explain the process a bit more? It sounds awesome but I just can't get my head around the visual.

Thanks,

J from Three Haligonians

 

[cmanos]

Imagine if you could buy a copy of the Necronomicon, and it looked like the 'real' Necronomicon would look?

Well considering it is a totally ficticious work of literature, how would one be assured they are buying a copy that looks just like the real one???

"Yes, Yes. I assure you that it is an exact replica of the Necronomicon!"

"Um, it looks like The Complete Works of William Shakespeare wrapped in mouldy leather."

"Oh you just have to figure out the secret script used to cast the spells!"

If you are going to do it right, you'll have to scribe it on parhment with a quill and squid ink. I hope your calligraphy skills are up to snuff.

 

[sjmiller]

If you are going to do it right, you'll have to scribe it on parhment with a quill and squid ink. I hope your calligraphy skills are up to snuff.

I'll assume here that you mean this is what you would need for a Cthulhu book. Lovecraft mentions in a number of stories that the Necronomicon is written in various inks, including the blood of the writer. Squid ink is, however, not the only form of old ink. Various metals, clay compounds, and plant extracts have been used over the ages to create ink.

For the props I have made, I use india black ink for most parts, a medium brown to simulate dried blood, blue ink for margin comments and highlights, and occasionally red ink. If you follow the links given by SubMensa you will find some of the best tips for making a tome of unspeakable knowledge.