Books and Lore

I'm sure there's not a mage around here that hasn't spent an entire hour IG hunting through bookshelves for exp while the server is empty, I know I have, and let me tell you, finally finding one of those books and having it be a blank Generic Tome is slightly unsatisfying. I mean, you pass a spot DC of at least 15 (pretty high for a level 4 wizard lol) and not only do you get trash, but you have nothing to read while you search for more. Now, I think we can fix this pretty easily, after all we already have so much material for books, we could have 5 very easily and that's just from races, like a History of the Dwarves, which would containcommon knowledge about their kingdom, their lands, important events, etc. Even more if we start adding Lore about creatures, like dragons, or adding books that are about myths and legends, which can be used to say "vampires and werewolves aren't real" or "go here to find some ruins"
Even books about the city would be cool, travel guides and such, not just "these are the shops and the baths" but also "this is where the current Lord of Dohral was born" or such things that would help make the gameworld more 'real'

Tomes about each School could be made, like Karl's Compendium of Conjuration, which players could read to learn about applications of each, like binding an fire elemental to a torch or lantern to create an unending flame. (Just an example, but I think this is a handy idea, could be done with a bag of capture, a lantern/torch, and a research desk)
Or Earl's Illumination of Illusion, which could reveal a component for an illusion school custom spell.
And Advanced Enchanting, which describes how the Wand/Magic Staff making works

Books, yes we need books...

Books can be added via Log Book system (that fresh logbook you get on entry)

Or DMs can add by just copying text to the Description of a Book item.



Either of these can be easily added to the random book system to replace those generic books. (Text files can be added too but not sure how we'll collect them.)

Secrets can be hidden within books dependent on class,level,skill,language,race, etc...
Spells, Prays, Recipes, etc can also be attached to be added into the player's spell book.

So I can just write some books, DM style, and they'll be added into the system automatically? Or do they still need to be replaced via toolset?

Also, how would I go about adding secrets?

We very much want books. From the start, however, I did not want all those books "written in a single voice" - hence I've held off on creating a great deal of them myself to date.

For those interested in writing such works, I have a general timeline to follow (or at least avoid colliding with) and a world map - just PM me.

That said, YES - DMs can create books in game and they can be made part of the treasure system with ease, thanks to another fine Eriniel design feature (or two).

Be well. Game on.
GM_ODA

Wait.. If I write in my logbook, books with my story can start spawning randomly in shelves around AR? o.O

Yes if the logbook or DM made book is placed into a special container it gets added to the Random Book item's database of choices.

These books can turn up anywhere, there are only two book in the random book list at the moment, you will probably have run across 'Puff the Dragon' and 'Bane's guide to Werewolf slaying'

Eriniel wrote:Yes if the logbook or DM made book is placed into a special container it gets added to the Random Book item's database of choices.

These books can turn up anywhere, there are only two book in the random book list at the moment, you will probably have run across 'Puff the Dragon' and 'Bane's guide to Werewolf slaying'

What special container?

Is the database cleared at reset/update or is it permanent?

permanent

BUMPITY BUMP BUMP!

THIS IS WHY YOUR PCS SHOULD BE WRITING IN YOUR LOG BOOKS!!! YOUR stories could be the stuff of legend!

With one of my PC's, I've been writing detailed information about different creatures in the region. There should be a place where you could store those books permanently.

One of my characters is writing travel guides and the like- but the library doesn't work at the moment, I don't think?