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Message: <blockquote data-quote="John Cooper" data-source="post: 2010848" data-attributes="member: 24255">Encyclopaedia Arcane: Tomes and Libraries - Secrets of the Written WordBy Adrian BottMongoose Publishing product number 101964 pages, $14.95Author Adrian Bott, in the latest of the Encyclopaedia Arcane books, has the unenviable task of trying to make doing research in a fantasy RPG interesting.  Surprisingly, he accomplishes his goal.  Tomes and Libraries takes what many would consider to be a dry and rather boring subject and breathes new life into it.The book is broken down as follows: <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Introduction: the link between writing and magic</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Tomes and Libraries - An Overview: different writing materials, hand-written and printed books</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Libraries and Their Contents: the differences between wizardly, noble, public, guild, bardic, clerical, and private libraries</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Library Sections: the different sections and subsections one might find in a given library</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The Art of Research: an easy-to-use formula for doing research in a library to answer a general or specific question, plus researching unknown spells and possible research mishaps</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The Rewards of Study: learning from manuals and reference books, plus a sample of definitive works on given topics</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Making Magic Items: augmentations on magic items during their initial construction</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Tomes of Magic & Other Curiosities: 32 magic items dealing with books and libraries, plus 3 artifacts</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Customizing Libraries: different things one might find in a library (like secret rooms and guardians), and the hazards of storing too many spellbooks in one area</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Help For Games Masters: getting your players to have their characters do research in libraries</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Rules Summary: the research rules and associated chart</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Designer's Notes: Adrian Bott's thoughts on writing this book</li> </ul>The cover artwork, by Jon Hodgson, depicts a daring female thief hanging upside-down on a line, stealing an important tome from a wizard's library while the wizard snoozes in a chair.  The color palette is primarily greens and browns, making for a rather cozy little library.  Detail is good, with plenty of ornamentation, and the tomes on the shelves look appropriately weathered and ancient.The inside covers are both used for advertisements - rather a pity, as the inside front cover has often held some of the best artwork in previous Encyclopaedia Arcane books.  The interior artwork is rather sparse, being only 14 illustrations by 5 different artists, and many of them having absolutely nothing to do with the subjects of books and libraries.  It's almost as if Mongoose felt there had to be so many pictures in the book regardless of their content.  This is especially surprising since most of the book is printed in a smaller-than-normal font size.  Had they gone with the normal font size I'm sure they could have filled up the book without the off-topic pictures.  Oh well, think of it this way - you're still getting some decent artwork, and the smaller font size only means that you're getting more words for your money!Adrian Bott has a well-polished writing style, capable of discussing the topic at hand in a scholarly fashion while still interspersing enough humor to keep it interesting.  (Apparently he's a bookshop owner when he's not writing game supplements, so perhaps this "insider's view" has benefitted him in this regard.)  I was struck by his expertise on the subject as early as page 2, when I read the following sentence, which I'll quote verbatim:Even the word "spell," with its connotation both of a magic formula and of arranging letters in the right and proper way, shows the intimate connection of language and magic.I found that observation to be quite profound.  He's also well-versed on the d20 game mechanics, as the various formulas he concocted for doing library research are not only up to par but balance on the fine line between "too simple" and "too complex."  No DM wants to have to determine ahead of time what exact books are found in each library his players' PCs enter, and with the guidelines in this book, no DM has to.  I found the research rules to be very concise, and will be implementing them immediately in my own campaign.Proofreading this time around had taken a much-wished-for turn for the better.  While there were still a few errors (several periods missing from sentences, the word "which" used in place of "wish," an extra "l" in the word "literate," the word "ancient" missing from a sentence), their number has gone noticeably down from previous books.  Kudos to proofreader William James, and let's all hope the trend continues.There were also some editing oddities, like font sizes changing from one paragraph to another in several places, but these weren't too distracting (just odd).  A hint for  future books, though: when a table or chart goes on for several pages, it's generally a good idea to reprint the column headers at the top of each page.  The Library Sections chart on pages 15-17 could have used the column headers on its last two pages.  Also, on the chart showing the maximum number of augmentations allowed in magic items of various types, there was no number listed for rods.  (I'd be willing to bet the maximum number is 2, though.)  I'd also recommend not referring to other chapters in the style of "(see chapter 3)" or "(refer to chapter 8)" when the chapters themselves are not numbered.  Otherwise, you force the reader to head back to the Table of Contents page and count the chapters listed, while puzzling whether or not to count "Introduction" as the first chapter or not.  (Apparently it is.)One thing I did have trouble understanding: a "wad" is a coverless collection of loose papers fastened together somehow.  Apparently, they're usually no larger than "A4 size."  What in the world is A4 size?  I don't know if this is just some British term (Mongoose Publishing being a British company) or some terminology patently obvious to those in the bookbinding business but not as apparent to simple laymen like myself.  Until I hear otherwise, I'm going to assume it means the size of a standard sheet of paper (8.5 by 11 inches).  It probably wouldn't have any game impact anyway.I liked the fact that there were numerous examples throughout the book.  I noticed, however, that while "browsing the shelves" can only be used to answer general questions (not specific ones), one of the two examples given is a specific question.  I also liked the fact that Adrian uses specific names for the authors of the definitive works and refers to specific places and empires.  These are well-named, by that meaning they roll off the tongue nicely, sound plausible, and yet are "generic" enough that they could be used in most campaigns as-is.  Not everyone has the gift for authentic-sounding names; Adrian's got it, and I'm glad to see he does.The magic items were well thought out and made logical sense for the most part, although I was a little sceptical about the vampiric books that "eat" other books.  I suppose that would work in some campaigns; I thought it was a little too silly for me to want to use in mine.  Still, one of the most useful (and creative) ideas in the whole book - my opinion here, naturally - is that of magic item augmentation.  Many of these ideas are simply beautiful, making any given magic item feel "unique" and not like something that was mass-produced.  Many of these ideas are so useful - again, I'm talking from a logical perspective here, thinking about what people commissioning magic items would want to be able to do with them - that I'm surprised I haven't seen similar concepts in a game book before.Congratulations to Adrian for a job well done.  He took an intimidating subject and crafted a 64-page book out of it, one I feel that many will want for their own libraries.</blockquote>

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