Books of the Known World
by Jesper Andersen
I am going to create 100+ book entries for all kinds of books found in Mystara, so that when the PC's are browsing a random bookshelf anywhere, I will usually have something fun to throw at them
Right now I have 13 titles done, and another 124 titles waiting to be fleshed out as well as ideas that still need titles, so there is going to be plenty of fun in the coming months. If anyone here feel inclined to add your own books, please feel free to do so!!
The project is "based" in two places - my blog and in a Google Doc for easy browsing and so you can download all the books in one go, if you feel like it. Use the books any way you like and have fun with them. On my blog and in the Google Doc you can find all the titles indexed and divided into topic categories. There is also an alphabetic list of authors with links from each author to his or her work. Some of them you already know - like Patriarch Alfrid Oderbry of Karameikos. Others can remain obscure until such a time as you may decide to introduce them in your campaign.
Whenever I add a new book description, it will be in a post on the blog and written into the Google Document, so if you need the latest version with the latest books just download it. When I add new books, I will post a notice here as well.
Shady Dragon Inn - Books of the Known World
The titles done so far:
Dust, Blood and Heat - 10 Years in the Colosseum
Coconut Again Tomorrow - Surviving Stranded in the Sea of Dread
Birthed in Blood - How the Empire of Thyatis was founded on Murder and Betrayal
Exodus of the Flaems
Foolish King Alinor and the Destruction of his Realm
The Age of Winter and the Rule of Akra, Witch-Queen of the North
Vanity and Dreams - the Colonization Policies of Emperor Volospin III
The Prince - A Guide to Glantrian Politics and Rulership
Eternity: The Authoriative Lore
Solving Problems with Ooze Crossbreeding
Getting Started with Magical Beast Crossbreeding
Principia Magica
Properties of Insidium as Fuel in Constructs
These are the 124 titles that still need fleshing out.
Other interesting posts at the Vaults and elsewhere about books from Mystara:
"Collection of books" by Geoff Gander
"The Lay of Almarand" by Geoff Gander
"A Short Reference to Thyatian Literature" by Giulio Caroletti and James Ruhland
"Tomes for the Tome: Magical Books" by Jens Schnabel (from Tome of Mystara)
"Glantrian Books" by Christopher Cherrington
by Geoff Gander
Here are a few more titles (taken from my campaign thread):
"Rock Gardening for Pleasure and Personal Gain”, by Marigan Ceredwon (Darokinian)
“On the Mating Habits of the Purple-Throated Warbler, with a Digression on Diverse Other Related Species”, by Aron of the Oak Grove (druid)
“Historical Inventory of Agricultural Implements – Vols. I-III”, by Francis Eversham (Glantrian)
“Dwarven Plumbing Systems: An Historical Overview – with Special Attention to Cisterns”, by Buroc Klangyst (Rockhome)
by John Calvin
Here are some of my own works that could be used as books found in a library:
Thonian Gremlinate
Catastrophe Myths (Volumes I and II)
Treatise on Lycanthropy
by Giampaolo Agosta
BTW, I just remembered I had done something similar in the past.
Here's the link. I don't think it contains new items, but there may be useful info from existing articles and books.
by AllanP
agathokles is correct, see these links in the Vaults:
Thonian Gremlinate
Catastrophe Myths
Scafra's Pyrography
Enigma's Variations
while browsing the Vaults, I also stumbled across these book related articles:
Glantrian Books
Tomes for the Tome: Magical Books
Collection of books
Selections from the library of the CFRC
A Short Reference to Thyatian Literature
Classification System for Glantri's Library
by Jesper Andersen
I See Dead People - The Power of Sciomancy
Magnifying Convocation Spells with Lion Urine
by AllanP
"Tenets of the Church of Karameikos"
You have this book listed in your GoogleDocs index.
Using information from Marco Dalmonte's description of the Church of Karameikos, here's a suggested description:
===========================================================
Book title: “Tenets of the Church of Karameikos”
Author: Patriarch Olliver Jowett
Rarity: Common
Year: 975 AC
Language: Thyatian
Contents: The book is the standard work available at all Church of Karameikos temples that describes the dogmas of the faith of the Church of Karameikos which are:
- The acts of violence, murder, theft, adultery, lying, treason and the cohabitation without being married in front of Immortals are all sins that stain the sinner’s spirit.
- The use of magic that does not have its basis in the rituals of the church is only ignorant superstition that leads the faithful astray, and it must therefore be avoided and condemned
- The sins demand action and a ceremony of purification of varying severity depending on the sin, for purifying the spirit.
- The lack of will to clean oneself is a sin itself, punishable by removal from the church with the final result to permanently condemn to eternal damnation the sinner’s spirit, which cannot be more purified.
- The role of each in the afterlife is determined by the amount of sins reached at the moment of the death.
- It is the responsibility of the members of the church to spread the philosophy of the church among the non-believers and to carry the benefits to other people and in other nations
Besides listing the tenets, the book goes on to describe how worshippers should conduct themselves in everyday life to uphold these beliefs; what they should do to encourage others to take up the faith of the church;and how an individual may seek to become a cleric of the church.
Legality: Legal
Number of pages: 128
======================================================
by Jesper Andersen
Alleged Properties of Natural Gemstones
Edible Plants of the Cruth Lowlands
What is Life without Sparkles?
Hangmen Trees and other Horrors of Nature
Oh, shiny! - Interview with Randolf the Famous Prospector
by Peet
Interesting... I have been working on an adventure and in one encounter the players find a small library belonging to a wizard that died hundreds of years ago, which includes:
- The Mystery of Fate, a treatise on astrology (no author is named), with diagrams, worth 100 gp
- Writings of Al-Razi, a collection of writings and on notes on alchemy including some formulae. Worth 100 gp; also a person with high intelligence could use the formulae within to make oil of volatility or oil of smouldering at a cost of about 50gp per flask.
- The Songs of Alato, a collection of poems and songs, mostly about love. A fairly common book, but with illustrations, worth 100gp
- The Tragedy of Prince Kirinos and 3 other plays (bound in one volume) by the playwright Agosthenes, well-known and worth 50gp
- Cryptica Demonica, a treatise on demonology, banned in many countries. Lawful characters will gain 100 XP each for destroying this book. Worth 100 gp, or likely more (as much as 500 gp) in places where it is illegal. Lawful characters get no XP for the sale of this book on the black market.
- The Ideal State, a book of political philosophy by Megenthones, a well-known philospher from ancient Minrothad. Worth 50 gp.
- The Propecies of the Oracle of Arkothad, a collection of prophetic and vague rantings collected by the priests of Arkothad (near Minrothad), worth 50 gp.
- The Ierendia, a semi legendary history of Ierendi by the poet Luganos, widely known and worth 50 gp. It includes a vague reference to the "Cynideans" who are related to the Ierendi and colonized Cynidicea.