Tomes and Libraries - Secrets of the Written Word

It is frequently the thunderous syllables of arcane language that empower the magician’s will, enabling him to work wonders of magic. Even the word ‘spell’, with its connotation both of a magic formula and of arranging letters in the right and proper way, shows the intimate connection of language with magic. The old word for a book of spells, a ‘grimoire’ is etymologically connected with ‘grammar’. So, to arrange words or letters in meaningful patterns is the same fundamental process as making magic.

Those who work with magic in a written form, such as wizards and clerics, have a great respect for books. Many wizards in particular feel a strong desire to be surrounded by them, an urge that seems unrelated to the wisdom and power the books may contain. This may be down to an intuitive reverence for written material. Books are, after all, a small miracle in themselves, preserving the emotions and imagination of people thousands of years dead, enabling scientific genius to be passed down from one generation to the next.

Libraries are thus far more than mere collections of volumes. Socially, they have served as the storehouse for the collected wisdom of the tribe, or even of a whole civilization. When information is entrusted to a recording medium instead of to oral traditions, the library becomes the memory of the people. If that culture should die out suddenly or descend into decadence, the written records are often all that is left of them, a symbolic skeleton for the researchers of the future to pick over. Ancient, powerful secrets are stored in libraries; ancient dread and danger, too.

Tomes and Libraries – Secrets of the Written Word is another volume in the Encyclopaedia Arcane series, focusing on libraries and the tomes within them, both mundane and mystical. Designed for easy integration with any fantasy-based D20 games system, the Encyclopaedia Arcane series does far more than merely introduce new spells or items to extend existing magic-using character classes. Instead, each book covers wholly new forms of magic or details aspects of magic-using characters’ lives in extensive detail, adding fresh dimensions to campaigns. Such information is not intended solely for the Games Master to use in association with non-player characters, however. Each book of the Encyclopaedia Arcane gives full details for players themselves to try the new systems presented, along with plenty of information to aid the Games Master in the introduction of each book into his campaign.

Although wizards and libraries are so often connected, very little time has been spent on exploring the function and powers of the library. Libraries usually turn up as scenic backdrops or repositories for purely magical resources, whereas there are more potentially useful books in a library than there are supplies in an adventuring gear shop. We will therefore be taking a long overdue stroll down the library aisles and finding out how to use its stored wisdom to our best advantage. Magic-using characters, who have more of a natural inclination towards reading than characters of other classes, will find an abundance of new ways to apply the knowledge set down in their books – and a whole lot of new books to go searching for!

Players of any class who prefer to use their brains as well as their sword arms will find new roles to play and new ways to tackle the challenges they encounter. Strength can see you through a tough battle, health can keep you standing when you are wounded and luck can sometimes get you out of trouble; but knowledge can trump any of these, because knowledge can find ways of applying strength more efficiently, avoiding wounds in the first place and substituting a blind trust in fate with advance planning. You will never look at a library in the same way again.