I was just having another look through Ultimate Magic, since my players have just looted a wizard's lab which included several books, and I thought some of them might be spellbooks from other wizards he'd killed.
However... and a quick forum search seemed to reveal that the mildly cool "preparation rituals" included in some of the stock wizard spellbooks were never developed further.
Can anyone confirm that this minor addition has never been developed further since Ultimate Magic first came out?
On a side note, are there any other extant resources for cool books of magic that I can give my players? I mean, tomes of plus x in ability scores are too powerful for 4th (soon 5th) level adventurers, but since magic books are a "thing" in literature, I'm mildly surprised that this hasn't seen more development anywhere. 3rd party perhaps?
Legendary Games has some Tomes among their Gothic Line iirc.
Also there's a ritual magic system called Pact Magic Unbound by Alex Augunas
Don't know how much "preparation rituals are involved, if any" but Rite Publishing 1001 Spells might be worth a look.
For me, the "preparation rituals" are just cool add-ons that help make a found spellbook a little more interesting.
Seems to me that the most logical use for a book of lore, aside from the specific, campaign-related info it might contain, would be to grant a small circumstance bonus (usually +2) on some specific lore or skill check.
Like a necromancer's book of anatomy that gives a +2 circumstance bonus on heal checks used to treat deadly wounds or provide long-term care if you spend at least 10 minutes consulting its complex and highly detailed anatomical drawings.
I'm pretty sure that I've seen books like this in some published material, but can't recall where. Does anyone have a better memory than I do?
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For me, the "preparation rituals" are just cool add-ons that help make a found spellbook a little more interesting.
Seems to me that the most logical use for a book of lore, aside from the specific, campaign-related info it might contain, would be to grant a small circumstance bonus (usually +2) on some specific lore or skill check.
Like a necromancer's book of anatomy that gives a +2 circumstance bonus on heal checks used to treat deadly wounds or provide long-term care if you spend at least 10 minutes consulting its complex and highly detailed anatomical drawings.
I'm pretty sure that I've seen books like this in some published material, but can't recall where. Does anyone have a better memory than I do?
There's some mundane equipment like that - I know there's one in the elf section of the Advanced Race Guide.
Book of harms is pretty awesome. Wish they would come out with more rituals.
Check out the Gothic Grimoires and Tomes of Ancient Knowledge by Legendary Games.
Might also want to check out Raging Swan Press' Whats the spell book like anyway? or Mundane No More:Texts and Tomes 2 by Christina Stiles Presents.