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The players in my game like their knowledge rolls, on Thassilonian history, the gods, infernal creatures, esoteric languages, necromancy, heraldry...etc. It's a good thing, the natural inclination of a thoroughbred gaming geek, but their checks have me constantly making up book titles and red herrings before dolling out nuggets of useful information.
In an early Renaissance setting books are rare and academia is cloistered. As a GM I feel like I should stop pulling throw-away book titles out of my ass and take some time to create a syllabus for the academic spheres of Varisia. Something that the players can sink their teeth into as a roleplaying tool.
I'd like to break it down by Knowledge skills, with two to four recognized authorities on each subject, the names of their works and the rarity of those works. For example.
Knowledge: Heraldry/Nobility
Phin Vultus. A 47th century steward of House Scarnetti. Regarded as one of the best illustrators of the modern age. Peppers his works with elitist and racist notations.
Men of War: Focuses on Chelaxian military heraldry. Commonly available.
The Burden of Blood : Detailed illustrations of manors and castles. Includes accurate portraits of famous Chelaxians. Rare.
Knowledge: Religion
Sister Arina Blackhood. 43rd century Priestess of Serenrae. Former vampiric paramour turned vampire hunter.
The Six Signs of Evil's Affection: A treatise on how to classify and identify undead. Uncommon.
Noontide: An epic poem to Serenrae about a farm boy who goes blind in his quest to follow the sun. Supposedly contains passages that can be used to frighten the undead. Uncommon.
Stuff like that.
I thought it might be fun to make this an idle group effort, for all GMs who have research obsessed players and to add extra detail and plot hooks. Toss out any ideas you have :)
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I thought it might be fun to make this an idle group effort, for all GMs who have research obsessed players and to add extra detail and plot hooks. Toss out any ideas you have :)
I'll look for my notes for skinsaw
Knowledge(Nature)
Falstan Mierlan (male elf). Head of the Varisian Naturalist Society (4567-Current). Responsible for issuing updates to the VNS Field Book series and maintaining the definitive source on cataloguing the natural world.
VNS Field Book 25th Ed. Vol 1-7 The latest collection of encyclopedic knowledge detailing the natural flora and fauna of Varisia.Common
The Wilds of Varisia (4603) Before it became the VNS Field Book series, this first edition gave a detailed study on both natural and magical plants and beasts encountered in the wilds of Varisia. A rumor that it also compromised the secret location of several sacred druidic groves resulted in a great deal of controversy. As a result most copies were destroyed and the future editions of this series were relegated to strictly nonmagical plants and beasts. Very Rare
Years ago one of my good friends had a character that had an obsession with knowledge and books and collected them throughout 20+ levels of adventuring. It finally got to the point that he had the most complete library on our game world...I can feel your pain on having to come up with book names on the fly.
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The problem is that we are in a post industrial setting regarding literacy , books and culture.
All Characters can read (except barbarian)
In sandpoint alone , there is a private library , a bookshop , a mapmaker and a school .
In the attic of Foxglove Manor there is even a room with books of no interest whatsoever!So you are going to need a really large list unless you only describe the classical works of any subject
Thats not a problem... I would love to see a list of books on different subjects, with notes on things that they conflict on. (IE is Pluto a planet?)
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http://www.wizards.com/forgottenrealms/FR_20001129b.asp
Here's a list of fictional tomes in the forgotten realms. Just incase anyone wants to borrow. :)
The finely warped minds at Strolen’s Citadel have a variety of books that you may find diverting. You wouldn’t want your players to miss out on such treatises as the Scrolls of the Crimson Eye, the unnerving Finger-Creep and Ear-Slicer, or the thirty interminable volumes of the The Song of Onahanalianaoilio.
The esteemed Murometz contributed a set of 30 Tomes, but that’s just the beginning: An additional selection of 101 Books may delight the avid fictional reader, or more lowbrow tastes may enjoy the cheaply-crafted Dogbounds.
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32
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Toss out any ideas you have :)
TOSS!: Check out Seventh Sanctum! Go to the EQUIPMENT Section of this Page of Generators and let them do the work for you.
There's this generator too, but no titles, just subjects.
As a GM I feel like I should stop pulling throw-away book titles out of my ass and take some time to create a syllabus for the academic spheres of Varisia. Something that the players can sink their teeth into as a roleplaying tool.
I've nothing to add here, just another "Selk's campaigns sound cool" comment.
If you find yourself with an open seat for Curse of the Crimson Throne, call me. Seriously, I'm just over in Silverdale.