Books, Scrolls and Magical Texts

 

Books, scrolls and magical texts have a wide range of form, function and utility. Characters who are otherwise incapable of casting spells can use scrolls in a pinch to supplement their capabilities. Books, magical or otherwise, are generally more cumbersome, and require time to reference and take full advantage of. Mythmaster generally assumes that magical scrolls and texts must be created by hand, while ordinary books can be reproduced using early printing technologies - though the availability of printed books is a matter of world building and should be determined by the Director.

The prices listed here are only guidelines based on the availability listed. In a setting where even the most basic (common) scrolls are actually extremely rare, the prices listed here might be 20x higher (or more realistically, not available for sale at all) Similarly, in a setting where the printing press does not exist at all, every book should be extremely expensive, whether it is magical or not.

Spell Scrolls

Spell scrolls are somewhat more versatile than potions in the sense that the spells recorded on them are not cast on the user when read, but rather are cast by the user when read. This means that essentially any spell can be cast from a scroll. The trade-off for this utility, however, is that spells cast from scrolls require the reader to pay the Concentration casting cost of the spell in order to cast it. If they do not have enough Concentration to cast the spell, the scroll does not activate and the spell does not cast (but the scroll is not consumed).

As with spell potions, the default casting effectiveness of a standard scroll is 21, and the user of the scroll does not have to roll to cast the spell. This value of 21 should be used for determining the variable effects of the spell, or for Resisting the spell if its effects are negative.

Spell scrolls with an casting effectiveness of higher than 21 have an increased cost of (+10%x 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13... etc) per point of effectiveness over 21. Therefore a Zap (21) scroll (Power 3 Destruction) would cost $600, while a Zap (26) scroll would cost 80% more ($1080), but would be harder to Resist. For each 2 point increase in effectiveness (at 23, 25, 27, etc) a spell scroll becomes one step more rare in terms of its availability.

Because spell scrolls require the reader to pay the Concentration casting cost, and because scrolls are more often used for spells that effect a target, and can therefore be Resisted, scrolls tend to be less expensive than potions overall.

All scrolls have a Bulk of 1, and while scroll tubes do not reduce their bulk, they do offer the benefit of keeping fragile scrolls protected and handy so they can be accessed quickly when needed.

Spell Books

Just as warriors must constantly train with their weapons to maintain their combat readiness, spell casters must constantly study if they wish to maintain their ability to effectively bend magical energies to their will on command. Maintaining a spell book for research, note taking and continual reference is the spell caster's best practice. Of course the more powerful the magic a caster can wield, the more demanding the study and the larger and more expensive the tome required.

Note that casters do not need to read from a spell book to cast their spells, nor do spell books enable others to use them to cast spells the owner of the book may know. Their purpose is to support the caster's ongoing development of their magical skill and power. A caster may still cast spells even if their spell book has been lost or stolen, though they will not be able to gain new spells or increase skill in spells they already know without a spell book.

A spell book can be perceived as weakly magical using the Magic Sense perk.

Reference Books

In addition to magical scrolls, a wide range of non-magical books exist that can be used as reference by the reader. The information in these books cannot simply be 'learned' to gain a permanent bonus, rather these books must be kept on hand to be referenced when needed to gain a bonus to a skill roll in a specified Skill Field. Referencing a reference book requires at least a full minute, meaning they cannot be used in a reactive context (such as during combat).

Books of Wisdom

The Books of Wisdom are a series of unrelated texts generally recognized by scholars to provide profound insight into entire fields of knowledge. These are recognized as being essential reading for individuals in a given profession. Studying a Book of Wisdom requires 40 hours of effort, at the end of which, the reader rolls a 21C using the specified Attribute. If successful, and provided the reader has the pre-requisites, the reader gains a free skill roll in the Skill Field associated with the Book of Wisdom (award the character 5xp which must be spent on a skill roll in the associated Skill Field).