From the Library - Some Extraordinary Books (and some ordinary ones).

SO here's some stuff from the library module I'm writing. A frequently-found treasure type is 'extraordinary books'. Basically, these are books with some sort of intrinsic value to them, at least for adventurers. My model here is those 'manual of gainful exercise' magic items in D&D, but for other stuff too.

Extraordinary Books (roll d20+Depth)

Take the previous result if a duplicate is rolled.

Fully reading a text to gain its benefit takes at least a day’s worth of uninterrupted study. For each individual book, a character only gets the benefit once, but finding duplicates of the same sort of text allows the character to gain new insights and so repeat the benefit.

All extraordinary books are subtly magical.

1. A spellbook with one random magic-user spell.

2. A bestiary of strange heraldic monsters. The reader has a 1-in-6 chance to recognise any monster encountered that resembles two (or more) mundane creatures combined (such as centaurs or owlbears), and have a good idea of its capabilities.

3. An apocryphal scripture, allowing a cleric reading it to learn a random new spell from the magic-user list.

4. A book listing the true names of demons/angels/elementals/genies/fairies Whenever such a being is encountered, there’s a 1-in-20 chance that the reader will recognise it and know its true name and some hints as to its capabilities.

5. A genealogy listing the true heir to every nation’s throne. When the reader encounters or learns of a monarch, there’s a 2-in-6 chance that they know that monarch is not the true ruler according to the laws of succession, and a further 1-in-6 chance that they know the monarch is actively hiding their status as a usurper.

6. A spellbook with two random magic-user spells.

7. An alchemical guide, allowing the reader to brew some poison, drug or potion with a day’s work in a proper laboratory. The materials to brew an alchemical concoction cost 25 gold.

8. A hyper-dense dictionary, allowing the reader to learn a single language to near-native fluency.

9. An esoteric treatise, allowing a magic-user reading it to learn a random spell from the cleric spell-list.

10. A book of prophecies. To represent the vague insights gleaned, each reader gets to pick a type of dice and roll it, recording the result. They may substitute the result of a roll of that type of dice with the result recorded. Each reader gets to do this only once.

11. A spellbook with three random magic-user spells.

12. A manual detailing secret mental techniques to unlock the hidden potential of the mind. The reader improves one of their mental attributes (intelligence, wisdom or charisma) enough to increase its modifier by 1, or else by 1 if it was already 18 or higher.

13. A heretical scripture, allowing a cleric reading it to learn two new random spells from the magic-user spell-list.

14. An atlas extradimensional spaces and other worlds. The book describes a way of getting to Ynn/Voivodja/Carcosa/Hell/The Dream-world. The method will be one that is useful to the reader once they leave the Lyceum.

15. A book detailing strange funerary rites. The reader can spend a day preparing the body of a dead PC for burial: if they do, that PC’s replacement comes in at the same level as the reader.

16. A collection of cosmic secrets, granting enough XP to the reader to gain a level immediately.

17. A spellbook with four random magic-user spells.

18. A text detailing the techniques of a lost martial art. A fighter-type character (including paladins, barbarians, dwarves etc) who reads the book becomes able to do d8 damage with their bare hands, and when unarmed and dressed in a simple monks robe or gi has armour class equivalent to chain.

19. A manual of secret exercises and training regimes that can tap into the body’s reserves of power.  The reader improves one of their physical (strength, dexterity or constitution) enough to increase its modifier by 1, or else by 1 if it was already 18 or higher.

20. An occult manual, allowing a magic-user reading it to learn two new random spells from the cleric list.

21. An initiatory text, allowing the reader to swap their class to being a Cleric at any point once they’ve read it. Their attributes and any features like permanent injuries, mutations and so on remain un-altered. Take their XP total and work out what level cleric that makes them, which determines their new saves, hit-points etc. Once the character has become a cleric, they cannot go back.

22. A spellbook with five random magic-user spell.

23. A book detailing the hidden techniques of an order of oriental assassins. A specialist-type character (a thief, assassin, Halfling, etc etc) who reads the book can move with perfect silence (automatically passing quietness-based stealth rolls) and never leaves footprints or other traces of their passing.

24. A revelatory scripture, allowing a cleric reading it to learn three new spells from the magic-user list.

25. An evangelical screed, allowing a cleric who reads it to switch their patron deity to a new one and altering the list of spells they know appropriately.

26. A book of mind-rending revelations, allowing the reader to swap their class to being a Magician at any point once they’ve read it. Their attributes and any features like permanent injuries, mutations and so on remain un-altered. Take their XP total and work out what level magician that makes them, which determines their new saves, hit-points etc. Once the character has become a magician, they cannot go back.

27. A spellbook with six random magic-user spells.

28. A book detailing the secrets of eternal youth. Unlocking these secrets will require work in a laboratory for a full month, and rare materials from across the worth several thousand gold. Once achieved, the reader ceases aging and is forever protected from any degenerative diseases or conditions.

29. An arcane grimoire, allowing a magic-user  reading it to learn three random spells from the cleric list.

30. A cursed nihilistic manifesto. -1 HP, permenantly.

31+ Roll again twice, using a d30. The book found is an omnibus of both results.

  

Also, each area of the library is, of course, full of books. When it matters, here's a d100 table for what those books are. Spending ages going through these (mundane) books can still help you get closer to your goal, if you're looking for specific information, but it's pretty inefficient.

What Are The Books About? (roll d100)

1. Reference Materials to Other Books

2. Books about Libraries

3. Treaties on Information Theory

4. Essays About Mathematics

5. Essays About Statistical Analysis

6. Guides to Journalism

7. Books about Royalty

8. Books about Printing

9. Collections of Statistics

10. Treatise on Ancient Philosophy

11. Treatise on the Occult

12. Works Discussing Metaphysics

13. Works Discussing Parallel Worlds

14. Books about Children

15. Guides To Psychoanalysis

16. Books of Incomprehensible Gibberish

17. Guides to Treating the Insane

18. Self-Help Books

19. Essays on Gambling

20. Holy Scriptures

21. Translations of Holy Scriptures

22. Heretical Translations of Holy Scriptures

23. Scriptures for Extinct Religions

24. Guides to Funeral Rites

25. Guidebooks to the Afterlife

26. Books about Religious Customs

27. Books about the Restless Dead

28. Essays on Comparative theology.

29. Astrological Almanacs

30. Essays on Social Structures

31. Census Results

32. Genealogies

33. Books about Law

34. Books bout Politics

35. Books about Economics

36. Heraldic Indexes

37. Guides to Military Strategy

38. Collections of Prophecies

39. Social Almanacs

40. Dictionaries of Current Languages

41. Dictionaries of Dead Languages

42. Dictionaries of Constructed Languages

43. Dictionaries of Arcane Languages

44. Guides to Caligraphy

45. Books for Children

46. Books about Dragons

47. Survival Guides

48. Books of Military Protocol

49. Address Books

50. Scientific Essays

51. Bestiaries of Common Beasts

52. Bestiaries of Mythical Beasts

53. Medical Guides

54. Alchemical Texts

55. Books about Geology

56. Books about Botany

57. Books about Insects

58. Books about Meteorology

59. Starcharts

60. Technical Manuals

61. Cookbooks

62. Repair Manuals

63. Guides to Magic Items

64. Farming Almanacs

65. Books about Drugs

66. Commercial Catalogues

67. Books about Fashion

68. Exercise Manuals

69. Martial Arts Manuals

70. Encyclopaedias of Fine Art

71. Teaching Manuals for Craftsmen

72. Guides to Symbolism in Art

73. Books about Music

74. Books about Wine

75. Books about Cryptography

76. Children’s Picture-books

77. Songbooks

78. Musical Scores

79. Diaries

80. Romantic Novels

81. Epic Poetry

82. Collections of Mythology

83. Mystery Novels

84. Tragedies

85. Comedies

86. Scripts for Plays

87. Speculative Fiction

88. Works of Political Allegory

89. Erotic Poetry

90. Chronologies

91. Essays on Historical Battles

92. Biographies

93. Archaeological Catalogues

94. Essays on the Classics

95. Atlases

96. Navigation Charts

97. Travelogues

98. Guidebooks for Tourists

99. Collections of Gossip

100. Books about Games

 The rest of the module is slowly starting to take shape. I've got a bunch of locations mostly written up, which I might share any day now, and after that I need to start hashing out how all these different library-monsters work.
(I have two random encounter tables: one for 'guests' and one for 'intruders'. So if you start messing the library up, you'll start rolling on the 'intruders' table, which is somewhat more nasty.)