Quickleaf
Legend
In order to answer the question, "Why might the adventurers travel through several countries to get to a library?" I developed a new feat for a True20 game I'm running.
What do you think of the approach? Is the mechanic sound? Does it make sense to base the library's potency on wealth? Does the authoritative corpus seem interesting & useful?
Fyi, the game is based on the Golden Age of Islam cerca 800 CE.
Library
Prerequisites: Literacy, Wealth +5
You have access to a library of painstakingly hand-crafted books, and you are part of a greater society of scholars who value the codification of knowledge.
Wealth...Specialties....Authoritative Corpus....Study Time....Special
5-10........1.................0...........................1 hour.........Book Knowledge
11-15......3.................1............................6 hours.......Affiliation +1
16-20......5.................1............................1 day..........Lending +2
21-25......7.................2............................2 days........Affiliation +2
26-30......9.................2............................3 days........Lending +4
31+........11................3............................4 days.........Affiliation +3
Wealth: The size of your library grows with your Wealth, reflecting your constant work trading or buying new books.
Specialty: Allows anyone researching in the library to take 20 on any Knowledge skills which the library’s material covers, as well as to retest a previous check. Choose one Knowledge skill per specialty. Alternately, a library can be specialized in certain topics, trading one specialty for a +2 bonus to all checks for a Knowledge it is already specialized in.
Authoritative Corpus: Reflects the total number of Authoritative Corpuses in the library, though in order to benefit from them you must meet the prerequisites. If you wish to have other Authoritative Corpuses, you must take them as feats.
Study Time: This time reflects how long it takes to gain the benefit of taking 20, and how long must be spent researching before a Knowledge check can be retested. Any Knowledge check which fails in a library cannot be retested in that same library, as the library’s texts have been exhausted.
Book Knowledge: You can use any Knowledge skill you have to determine the location of a book pertaining to a topic covered by the Knowledge. The DC is 15 for books that are within your home kingdom, 25 for books within the Islamic empire, and 35 for books outside the empire.
Affiliation: Your library is known among scholars. It is either connected to the chief collector (probably you), the kingdom it resides in, or a higher institution (a monastery or university). Scholars are likely to know about your library. When a Reputation check is made for a scholar you don’t know, add the affiliation bonus. Even if they don’t know about you, they know about your library.
Lending: You may use your library’s materials as leverage when dealing with scholars, granting them access to your materials in exchange for favors. Typically this involves providing the scholar with free room and board while they research your texts. You gain a bonus to all Diplomacy checks made to haggle with scholars when they know about or you mention your library.
Authoratative Corpus
Many of the world's great scholars are being born (or translated) during this era. An authoratative corpus represents the collected works of a scholar on a particular topic. For example...
Jabir Ibn Haiyan
Prerequisite: Literacy, 8 ranks in Knowledge (Alchemy), 4 ranks in Knowledge (Supernatural)
The Persian father of chemistry, Jabir pioneered new developments in making steel, dyeing cloth, water-proofing, glass-making, preventing rust, gold lettering, and creation of acid (aqua regia) for the first time. His alchemical corpus is extensive, consisting of 22 books, of which the most famous are Kitab al-Kimya and Kitab al-Sab’een written around 790 CE. Jabir was known for his rigorous scientific method, and establishment of the law of constant proportions. He also pursued the radical goal of artificially creating life through alchemy. In 800 CE, he is still alive, though a very old man living in Kufa.
You gain a +3 bonus on all Knowledge (Alchemy) checks, you can make aqua regia, and you know how to create an alembic to assist in the process of distillation. Also, you understand how to make a Golem, though this requires a Craft skill and the Imbue Item feat.
Special: In orthodox circles possessing his books is considered sinful as they maintain that an alchemist can learn to create new life. Any adept with 13 ranks in Alchemy who studies these works can learn the exclusive Create Life power.
A good thread on the topic of medieval libraries:
http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=26289
What do you think of the approach? Is the mechanic sound? Does it make sense to base the library's potency on wealth? Does the authoritative corpus seem interesting & useful?
Fyi, the game is based on the Golden Age of Islam cerca 800 CE.
Library
Prerequisites: Literacy, Wealth +5
You have access to a library of painstakingly hand-crafted books, and you are part of a greater society of scholars who value the codification of knowledge.
Wealth...Specialties....Authoritative Corpus....Study Time....Special
5-10........1.................0...........................1 hour.........Book Knowledge
11-15......3.................1............................6 hours.......Affiliation +1
16-20......5.................1............................1 day..........Lending +2
21-25......7.................2............................2 days........Affiliation +2
26-30......9.................2............................3 days........Lending +4
31+........11................3............................4 days.........Affiliation +3
Wealth: The size of your library grows with your Wealth, reflecting your constant work trading or buying new books.
Specialty: Allows anyone researching in the library to take 20 on any Knowledge skills which the library’s material covers, as well as to retest a previous check. Choose one Knowledge skill per specialty. Alternately, a library can be specialized in certain topics, trading one specialty for a +2 bonus to all checks for a Knowledge it is already specialized in.
Authoritative Corpus: Reflects the total number of Authoritative Corpuses in the library, though in order to benefit from them you must meet the prerequisites. If you wish to have other Authoritative Corpuses, you must take them as feats.
Study Time: This time reflects how long it takes to gain the benefit of taking 20, and how long must be spent researching before a Knowledge check can be retested. Any Knowledge check which fails in a library cannot be retested in that same library, as the library’s texts have been exhausted.
Book Knowledge: You can use any Knowledge skill you have to determine the location of a book pertaining to a topic covered by the Knowledge. The DC is 15 for books that are within your home kingdom, 25 for books within the Islamic empire, and 35 for books outside the empire.
Affiliation: Your library is known among scholars. It is either connected to the chief collector (probably you), the kingdom it resides in, or a higher institution (a monastery or university). Scholars are likely to know about your library. When a Reputation check is made for a scholar you don’t know, add the affiliation bonus. Even if they don’t know about you, they know about your library.
Lending: You may use your library’s materials as leverage when dealing with scholars, granting them access to your materials in exchange for favors. Typically this involves providing the scholar with free room and board while they research your texts. You gain a bonus to all Diplomacy checks made to haggle with scholars when they know about or you mention your library.
Authoratative Corpus
Many of the world's great scholars are being born (or translated) during this era. An authoratative corpus represents the collected works of a scholar on a particular topic. For example...
Jabir Ibn Haiyan
Prerequisite: Literacy, 8 ranks in Knowledge (Alchemy), 4 ranks in Knowledge (Supernatural)
The Persian father of chemistry, Jabir pioneered new developments in making steel, dyeing cloth, water-proofing, glass-making, preventing rust, gold lettering, and creation of acid (aqua regia) for the first time. His alchemical corpus is extensive, consisting of 22 books, of which the most famous are Kitab al-Kimya and Kitab al-Sab’een written around 790 CE. Jabir was known for his rigorous scientific method, and establishment of the law of constant proportions. He also pursued the radical goal of artificially creating life through alchemy. In 800 CE, he is still alive, though a very old man living in Kufa.
You gain a +3 bonus on all Knowledge (Alchemy) checks, you can make aqua regia, and you know how to create an alembic to assist in the process of distillation. Also, you understand how to make a Golem, though this requires a Craft skill and the Imbue Item feat.
Special: In orthodox circles possessing his books is considered sinful as they maintain that an alchemist can learn to create new life. Any adept with 13 ranks in Alchemy who studies these works can learn the exclusive Create Life power.
A good thread on the topic of medieval libraries:
http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=26289
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