Books within the libraries within your campaigns?

[Treebore]

More I wrote up this evening:

Identification and Collection of Spell Components for non Mages.
Author: Pakitani Gustovich
Race: Human
Dimensions: 6x8x2
Weight: 1 lbs
Materials: Heavy Leather cover, Leather strap tie.
Field of Study: Magic Components
Special Knowledge Categories: Collection, preservation, sales
Value: 10 GP

This book allows the uninitiated to make a lucrative living by properly identifying, collecting, preserving and selling mundane spell components to users of magic. Includes proper techniques for the removal of insect legs, collection of spider webbing, harvesting of wool, and much, much more.

Non Human Heraldry
Author: Rahne Hernson
Race: Human
Dimensions: 8x10x3
Weight: 2 lbs
Materials: Fine Leather, Silver Lettering, Ribbon ties.
Field of Study: Herladry
Special Knowledge Categories: Heraldry of various non humans.
Value: 25 GP

This book helps the discerning Ranger, Woodsman, or other persons who need to know what groups
of Orcs, Goblins, Bugbears, Kobolds, etc... they are dealing with based on the Heraldic symbology these races use.

The Art of the Political Banquet: How to Serve Meals Without Making Enemies.
Author: Grimaryl Atyar
Race: Human
Dimensions: 10x12x6
Weight: 5 lbs
Materials: Fine leather, heavily waxed, tie bound.
Field of Study: Fine Dining in the Poltical Environment
Special Knowledge Categories: Racial food taboo's, Religious food taboo's, Cultural Food Taboo's
Value: 300 GP

This book helps greatly reduce the chances of starting a war between peoples, nations and
religions. It covers all foods and drinks that are taboo to what people's, religons and
cultures. It also provides favored recipe's of these same groups as well as handy lists of
ingredients.

Giants Bones and Dragons Teeth: Interior Decorating With the Remains of Your Enemies.
Author: Teleri
Race: Half Elven
Dimensions: 10x12x3
Weight: 3 pounds
Materials: Standard Leather cover with gold lettering.
Field of Study: Artful Interior Decorating
Special Knowledge Categories: Intimidation, Carving, Bonework, Gardening, Meditation
Value: 150 GP

This book covers the artful techniques of turning the remains of your enemies into your home
decorations. This covers a "Zen Bone Garden", Making of Bone furniture, such as thrones, Using
Scrimshaw on Dragons teeth, making bowls and cups with the skulls of your enemies, pelts as
throw rugs, hides and skins as book covers, and much, much more!

 

[Treebore]

My typical campaigns had more a high middle-ages feel, so books tend to be rare and expensive because the printing press was not invented yet. Personally owning more than a dozen books is for the rich or the sages, and a full "library" is probably maybe a few hundreds books at best but it's also maybe only to be found in a monastery or a royal castle.

I remember there was a free pdf book called "Ink & Quill" for 3ed (probably you can still google for it), but I also remember that I thought it was too concerned with magical books and what bonuses the PCs would get after reading them. I don't remember if it provided guidelines to create your own books, or just a list of ready-to-use books...

I agree, which is why the pricing on these books, so far at least, has been well out of the reach of "common" people, but with D&D pricing and treasure rewards being the way they are, well within the reach of adventurer types, and plenty of other people, such as Churches, Guilds, Wizards, nobles, etc...

 

[Jhaelen]

So have you done any write ups about what books your adventurers find in the libraries of your world, public or private?

Know of any good products that provide such write ups for fantasy settings?

The only campaign I ever bothered to write up detailed books for was (of course!) our Ars Magica campaign.

Ars Magica features detailed rules for many types of books, hermetic and mundane, going into brilliant detail and even covering the techniques used to create different types of parchment, paper, inks, book bindings, etc.

If you search the internet (or Project Redcap) for covenants, you should find plenty of detailed libraries. Here's one link to get you started: The Library of La Roche Caribet.

The primary source about books in Ars Magica 4th edition was 'The Wizard's Grimoire, Revised'. In 5th edition most of the rules are part of the core rules.

 

[Dioltach]

My campaign is set thousands of years into the future, like the Dying Earth. If a library ever features in any of the adventures, I'm sure it will contain the complete set of The Wheel of Time, Vols. I-MMCCXVII.

And Vols. I-II of The Gentleman Bastards.

 

[Janx]

you could do what Elder Scrolls did and actually write books. They tended to be 4-10 pages per book, in a large font.

Somebody extracted all the books from Skyrim and created an ePub file. I have it on my iPad, and it was convenient to read some of the stories and histories.

 

[Tamlyn]

My players have run across a few libraries, and one of my players is particularly interested in the books. I've included the following:

Ascension to Godhood: The Autobiography of Favrinus Tellem

Catalogue of the Great Library of Taprinophosunae

Emaeus' History

Historical Retributions of St. Cuthbert of the Cudgel

Lineage of Planetouched

Rampage of Vyrmintharax

The Binding of Elementals

The Gospel of the Shining One

Verification of Deific Motes in Unintelligent Quadrupeds

Dwarven Genealogies, Volumes 1 through 40

Khundrukar Trade History

Rumnaheim Book of Grudges

Also, a ton of ancient maps, horrible poetry, fiction, etc...

 

[grodog]

I have the Dragon Mag CD's. I'll have to search through them for more library content.

Bruce Heard's "Spells Between the Covers" (Dragon 82) was quite good, as were Ed Greenwood's "Pages from the Mages" series:

- "Pages From the Mages" in Dragon #62
- "More Pages From the Mages" in Dragon #69
- "Pages From the Mages III" in Dragon #92
- "Pages From the Mages IV" in Dragon #97
- "Pages From the Mages V" in Dragon #100
- "Pages From the Mages, Part VI" in Dragon #164
- "Pages From the Mages" in Dragon #181

Enjoy, Robert!

 

[Celebrim]

Books are such a hassle I'm thinking of setting my next game in a preliterate setting. There is something innately game breaking about a book within a world that exists solely as words. Each book is as large as the world itself. However, the following books have showed up so far in the game:

"One Hundred and Sixty-Eights Cunning Rites of the Sharpened Doors" - The sacred scriptures of Karophet, god of weapons and secrets. Written in code, it contains instructions to the initiated on how to perform the rites and cermonies mandated by the god of traps.

The following books were found in a foundry office:

“Forging, Drawing, and Soldering Metal”
“The Standard Bronze Compositions”
“Elvesier’s Dictionary of Metallurgy and Metal Work”
“Metal Bar Fabrication”
“The Basic Guide to Electro-Plating”
"Oskar’s Utilization of the True Metals”

The following were found in the secret meeting hall of a Kelternist cultist:

“The Truth of the Divine” by Gantro of Corval
“Dare to be Free” by Acrocos of Sarman’
“The Confessions of Keltern the Leper” by Keltern the Leper
“Who made the maker?” by Zhan
"Cosmic Theology vols 1-V" by Alapros the Lame Tongue.
"‘Rage Against the Masters” by Calocos the Black
“Dictionary of Dead Gods” by Akmed the Accursed
“Better By Far Silence” by Totopek the Mad.
"Unnamed Cults” by Tincture
"Unrepentant Ouroboros" by Holotor

Posistion of any of several of those will get you burned at the stake as a heretic in many locales.

In the loft apartment of a murdered austistic machinist:

The Geometry Governing Gears, a Primer – By Williax of Iotinia
Modern Principles of Mill Construction – By Jerrod of Selinica
Sheering Stresses in Materials under Practical Usage – By Froto Thrushbeard
The Lost Secrets of Wire Drawing, Excavations in Kroton – By Gilder the Dust Sage
A Practical Guide to Couplings – By Anaxion the Younger
The Smelter’s Handbook - Klain Hammerhand
Techniques for the Decambering of Copper, New Approaches – By Bert Shimmer of Selinica
The Lore of the True Metals, Secrets of the Dwarves Revealed and Translations from the Original Dwarf – By Glato of Talernga
The Ordering of the Creation, by Naban of Nicompolis

That last one has a quotation:

“One of the most important and interesting unsolved puzzles of creation is the question of whether the world in which we live in is one that has been biased in some fashion. That is to say, might we not be able to discern from what we can observe of the great machinery which moves this universe what sort of Creator might be behind it and whether if by careful study of the gears we might determine what intention and purpose – if any – this unknown Creator had in its fashioning. Can we say something definitive about the nature of the Great Tree, its Fearsome and Venerable Offspring, or the Cascade or the even structure of the broken and water cursed world we now inhabit? And by definitive let me say that if we could at least say with certainty that we could not say anything, then that itself would tell us very much indeed.
We must therefore make it our goal going forward to see if we can sift from the wreckage of the world what might have been its original purpose, noting how it has been touched, unmade, and remade and then seeing if anything remains which we can hold up to our jeweler’s glasses to observe the fingerprints or at least hammer prints of its maker.”

Appearing as a plotpoint and a subgoal of one of the quests was, "The Unopenable Tome of Menes the Third’". The party has just recently penetrated the author's tomb. The book was vandalized but a considerable portion was actually written on the walls of the tomb.

Along the way they found:

"A Primer On Overcoming Abjurations" – Sicellus Black

That one was actually worth a write up:

80 pages, bound parchment with canvas and wood binding. Printed in Harvite, wood cuts and illustrations.
Contains the spells: Detect Magic, Erase, Resistance, Mage Hand, Least Counterspell, Open/Close, Protection from Evil, Insight, Power Sink, Shatter, See Invisibility, Magic Circle against Evil, Dispel Magic.
50 pages of text on basic defensive magic and overcoming it. If used for research, gains +1 circumstance bonus on Spellcraft checks in relevant topics. Can't be used to assist in identifying a spell being cast.

The spell book of an apprentice necromancer with the following spells inside:

Detect Poison, Disrupt Undead, Expeditious Retreat, Ghost Light, Ray of Frost, Light, Mage Hand, Read Magic; Alarm, Burning Hands, Hold Portal, Comprehend Languages, Identify, Protection from Good, Protection from Evil, Protections from Chaos, Mage Armor, Mount, Detect Secret Doors, Ray of Enfeeblement, Summon Monster I; 2nd Acid Arrow, Ambulatory Dead, Arcane Lock, Cause Fear, Chill Touch, Protection from Arrows, Protection from Elements, Ghoul Touch, Summon Monster II, Web; 3rd Dispel Magic, Flame Arrow, Fireball, Fly, Halt Undead, Sepia Snake Sigil, Summon Monster III, Stinking Cloud, Vampiric Touch, Wind Wall; 4th Arcane Eye, Enervation, Dimensional Anchor, Scrying, Remove Curse, Summon Monster IV, Fire Trap, Fire Shield, Dimension Door, Polymorph Self.

The first page has a sepia snake sigil trap.

Along with that were three invaluable tomes of magic:

"Conjuring With Fire" by Tolston the Younger
Dravit the Pestiliant’s "The Question of Vivamancy"
"The drafting of protective runes" by Halias of the Many Colors.

Unfortunately, the players took insufficient interest in the books, meaning I never needed to do a write up on them. There was also a book on undertaking:

"Burial Customs Along the Sea of Storms" by Itelmus of Tethyr

 

[Hand of Evil]

Web site I use: Seventh Sanctum


The Legendary Blessings from the Unknown Goddesses
This book is quite clear. A short look at the book will show that it has a lot useful information.

Rumors Concerning the Frontier's Theological Histories
This book is of average clarity. Perusing it will show that it is reasonably useful.

A Treatise on Remedial Theurgy
This book is quite clear. This clarity allows one to determine that it has little useful information.

The Chronicles of the Frontier
This book is reasonably clear. A small study will show it has a lot useful information.

The States' Minor Military Edicts
This book is muddled mostly due to the poor diagrams. With some work, a person can make sense of the book, which will reveal it has a lot useful information. Sadly, the contents seem to have been stolen from another work.

Practical Magical Arts for Magi
This book is clear. Sitting down with it will reveal it has no useful information. Though flawed, one can definitely see that the contents have a few areas of deep insight.

A Brief Peacetime Comparison of the Shortsword and Dart
This book is easily understandable thanks to careful, well-planned chapters. This clarity allows one to determine that it has little useful information. At least the contents display thoughtfulness and some new ideas.

The Capitol's Foreign Military Truces
This book is impressively clear thanks to extensive references. A short look at the book will show that it is reasonably useful. Perusing the book reveals that the contents have a few areas of deep insight.

Famous Prayers to the Divnination Goddess
This book is practacally incomprehensible mostly due to there being no coherent organization whatsoever. After a considerable effort to figure out what the book is actually trying to saying, one will find it has no useful information. The reader can take some comfort in the fact that the contents have a few areas of deep insight.

The Hidden Rituals of the Omnipresent Air God
This book is reasonably easy to understand despite a lack of coherent planning. With a bit of reading, it will be revealed that it has no useful information. To make things worse, one will eventually discover that the contents seem to have been stolen from another work.

 

[Voadam]

Here was something I posted in an email game I ran years ago.

Erepoth leads Jonas deep into one of the towers of the Sigil Hearth
Keep. As Erepoth opens a rune covered door Jonas notes the glinting
edge of abjuration magics as Erepoth walks in. Illuminated by
magically powered torches there are stacks and stacks of books upon
books. Titles call out to you as you walk down the hall: Ogham the
Lyrical Runes, Futhark a Runic Language, Lyrinthalas Quintipalas,
Kasteraeckz Kon Trigurth, Psychoreactive Tattoos of the Chintalean
Mind Mages, Alpha to Omega In the Beginning to the End of All, Graven
in Blood the Art of Runic Warfare, Syntax the Power of Words, The
True Language, Visturium Quintus Valerius, The Language Primieval,
Power Words and the Words of Making and Unmaking, Draconic the True
Speech, Fragments of the Book of Eldritch Might, Manual of the
Planes, Encyclopaedia of Angels, Encyclopaedia of Demons and Devils
Volume I, Volume II, The Slayer's Guide to Demons, Vinthalesus
Kinthalium, The Defiler a Treatise by Erepoth, Vistarok Kurn Talnok,
Death Masters Followers of the Goat, Aatxe the Bull Ertai the
Courtier Death in the Storm, Soul Harvest.

"There is plenty for you to start on here, I shall see if the
documents I recovered from the Goblin cultists seven hundred years
ago will help us shed light on anything revealed today."

Rob, Let me know which one you want to start with and I'll give you
some information on its contents. The ones listed above in English
are in Languages you read (Celestial, Draconic, and Common in these
cases, no Dwarven or Giant).

As you might be able to tell, many of them are game books.