Minor magic books

[eris404]

In most cases, I'm going to grant the bonus (whatever it might be - increased skill, improved saving throws, etc) for a temporary time period following a review of the contents of the book (which will take a certain number of hours). Any feelings on whether this is enough to provide game balance?

The characters get to keep these books, right? I mean they don't disappear or go up in a plume of smoke? The reason I ask is that for certain bonuses, maybe they have to consult the books for a period of time (in other words, do the research) every time they want get the bonus to the Knowledge check (or whatever the appropriate check is).

Additionally (and sorry for the double post), how would you handle CL, XP cost, and market value for books such as the following two examples:

Not too long ago, Dragon had an article on crafting masterwork performances for bards. The basic idea was that the bard wrote a piece of music, story, poem, etc. that was of such quality that it gave the author/performer a special bonus. It was published in the last year or so, so I could dig it up and give you the details their ideas if this sounds like something you'd be interested in.

 

[The Sigil]

Run, do not walk, and check out Bastion Press' "Ink & Quill" without delay (it's free!) http://www.bastionpress.com/Downloads/Ink_and_Quill.pdf

--The Sigil

(Just off the thread title, I was going to suggest my own pdf for sources for minor magical baubles, The Enchiridion of Treasures and Objects d'Art, but it sounds like you're looking for something else ... but just in case, here's the demo http://www.cooleys.org/publishing/docs/Ench2-Preview.pdf - if it sparks your interest please pick up the whole thing at RPGNow.com)

 

[der_kluge]

Additionally (and sorry for the double post), how would you handle CL, XP cost, and market value for books such as the following two examples:

Are you trying to create these as magical items?

You could use the rules in the Artificer's Handbook to calculate these very easily.