SPOILERS ABOUND! GO AWAY, PLAYERS!
So, my mother works in a library and I watched a lot of Reading Rainbow as a toddler and I decided I was going to assign my players reading homework.
I figured that if they wanted their characters to read any of the books they got from the will, the players would have to read a real-life equivalent in order to win XP rewards and bonus Skill ranks.
What would be a good irl version for the Manual of the Palatine Eye? I chose From Hell but does anybody have a novel they could recommend?
And what about The Umbral Leaves? I never really got into occult studies, so is there any kind of readily-available book that purports to explain some kind of evil-ish religion? If not, what would make a good novel to substitute?
Thanks in advance for any help!
|
SPOILERS ABOUND! GO AWAY, PLAYERS!
So, my mother works in a library and I watched a lot of Reading Rainbow as a toddler and I decided I was going to assign my players reading homework.
I figured that if they wanted their characters to read any of the books they got from the will, the players would have to read a real-life equivalent in order to win XP rewards and bonus Skill ranks.
What would be a good irl version for the Manual of the Palatine Eye? I chose From Hell but does anybody have a novel they could recommend?
And what about The Umbral Leaves? I never really got into occult studies, so is there any kind of readily-available book that purports to explain some kind of evil-ish religion? If not, what would make a good novel to substitute?
Thanks in advance for any help!
For Umbral Leaves you could probably go with Aleister Crowley's Book of the Law.
Some people will enjoy the wierdness, others might find it a chore.
The Invisibles by Grant Morrison might work for Manual of the Palantine Eye. Or if you want a novel you could try THe Illuminatus! Trilogy.
Discordianism is probably the most fun piece of crazy thinking you will find.
Those all look like good ones. I doubt I'm going to find of them for cheap in the used bookstores, but I might be able to find Wilson if I'm lucky. Thanks!
There's a Hellraiser book, right? Anyone know if it's any good?
try and grab a copy of Frazer's Golden Bough....it is packed full of European folklore (among other things) which will give ideas for GMs and Players alike for the feel of Ustalav
EDIT: and my versions of the books are here on the boards somewhere lol!
|
|
Those all look like good ones. I doubt I'm going to find of them for cheap in the used bookstores, but I might be able to find Wilson if I'm lucky. Thanks!
Edit:
Golden Bough for a dollar
Those are all charging about $3 shipping within the US.
If you narrow down the Search by country to the US it then lets you search by state.
I did a random test and got the Golden Bough for $3 in North Carolina (1951 hardcover, slightly foxed, which would be suitably evocative for your situation). Just an example.
I adore ABE Books
Well, Mr. Elberion has certainly gone above and beyond the call of duty--thank you very much.
I have a copy of The Golden Bough and while, thematically, it'd be a good fit, it's a bit long and dry and I don't think I could assign it with any reasonable expectation that the player would actually read it. Thanks for the suggestion, though.
I didn't mention the other two books, but, yeah, it's definitely Lovecraft for On Verified Madness. I've never gotten around to reading him myself, so I'll definitely take Pan's suggestion.
Dracula is going to be Serving Your Hunger.
Thanks again, everybody!
|
Hellraiser is pretty good, but then, I am a sucker for Clive Barker novels... (this is more a novella lenghth, though).
Keep in mind, people have different reading skills - not only based on preferences (and, while reading this post and trying not to laugh about my spelling, keep in mind I'm writing this after a night and a dayshift in a foreign (to me) language...). I have two players who are fast readers (as in 4 - 6 Pages a minute), I am a reasonably fast reader myself, but I have one player who takes his time to read a book. Since he also runs another campaign and needs time to read / prepare for that he would look pretty bad, especially since he plays a lorekeeper.
My advice, try to keep more then one book as equivalent for the players, say one novel / one novella, a collection of short stories (like the Books of Blood), something different (like Crowley). Let the players chose among them, according to their skills and interests - reading is fun, but the amount of fun depends on the reader and on the motivation to read - homework to keep up with your character might not be as much fun as - well, reading for fun
Bah! I am the Dungeon Master and they will read as much as I tell them to or rocks will fall and they will die!
No, seriously, point taken.