Tomes of Knowledge in Mage the Ascension
By Dr. NimbusBooks are (sometimes) a wealth of knowledge. Give a magus the choice between a pile of gold or an ancient tome, even a mundane one, the magi will almost always pick the tome. Knowledge is the most valuable commodity to one that can shape reality.
Below is the system that I use in my Mage chronicles to deal with specific tomes. It is based somewhat on the Call of Cthulhu 5th edition system.
The first step in creating a tome of mystical or mundane lore is to describe said book. Size, age, language (and period), condition and general physical characteristics are all important to give the tome a unique feel and a sense of history.
Size — Exact size differs from tome to tome, as they tend to be designed to the patron's tastes. General sizes to keep in mind are:
- Folio: Your basic large evil-looking book. 12.5"x20" to 10"x15"
- Quartos: Your basic, average sized book. 10"x12.5" to 7.5"x10"
- Octavos: Your basic, small book. 6.25"x10" to 5"x7.5"
Of course, there are the odd sized books and even more important there are non-book written texts. These could include:
- Scrolls (or Papyrus rolls)
- Clay Tablets
- Pot Shards
- Wooden Plates, bound much like a book
- Metal Plates (engraved, enameled) could be bound as a book or put on walls, floors, etc.
- Painted Hide
- Cave Paintings
- Any other method of putting symbolic ideas onto a flat surface
Age — Not being real knowledgeable about such things, I always make sure that the book (or whatever) fits the time and place where it was written (of course having something come from a time that it could not or should not have makes things more interesting for the magi). A little research goes a long way. Helpful resources include Call of Cthulhu, the encyclopedia (great source for generic knowledge) and the World Wide Web.
Language — Very important. Also important is the version of the language, like old English or modern English. If anything else, it adds flavor to the tome. Another important factor to keep in mind is most people of knowledge (notably arcane or forbidden knowledge) hid their works from those that should not be reading them (or to protect themselves during the Burning Times) by writing in ciphers, symbolic languages or code in the form of mythological pictures whose meaning was (like the medieval alchemists) known only to them or their fellows in the field. This will have to be deciphered to even begin to read the tome.
Condition — Also very important. A page missing here, a blood stain there, could all lead to misunderstanding the work. This is the main factor (along with language) that is used to calculate the difficulty for understanding the work. Condition ranges from immaculate to abysmal. An abysmal tome could be more than half-burned, worm eaten, acid burned or whatever. Also common to these types of books are marginal notes, extra pages of notes and such stuffed in the books. These can either raise or lower the difficulty of a tome, depending on whether they help or mislead the reader.
General Description — Early books were considered works of art, bought by wealthy patrons or the clergy. Gilt, stones, leathers and other precious substances went into decorating these tomes. On the inside, hand illuminated script, color plates and marginal notes all add to the flavor of the book.
Subject — Most books have one subject. Some have two. Study points gained from the book must be applied to something related to the subject(s).
Game Systems
Along with the characteristics listed above, each book will have a Rating, Decipher Difficulty and Comprehension Difficulty. Player must know the language in which the tome is written or have at least a Linguistics score of 3 to begin to read/decipher/whatever the book in question.
Rating — Ranging from 1 to 5, this shows how many study points can be gained from the Tome and the power/enlightenment level of the book.
- Low Level Tome, max 5 study points, 1 Subject, could be a higher level tome that is in very bad condition
- Moderate Tome, max 8 study points, 1 Subject
- Good Tome, max 10 study points, 1-2 Subjects (if 1, the tome is extensive)
- Very Good Tome, max 15 study points, 1-2 Subjects
- Incredible Tome, max 20 study points, 1-3 Subjects
Decipher Difficulty — Extended roll of Intelligence + Enigmas. Each roll is a month of study time. If the tome is not written in a modern language the character knows, the difficulty ranges from 2 to 10. Factors that increase the difficulty include a personal cipher, ancient lost language, hard to read, cramped hand, etc. It will take 5-10 successes to decipher the entire work.
- English Dictionary — Diff 0
- Egyptian Tomb Wall — Diff 5-7 (depending on condition)
- Voynich Manuscript — Diff 10
Comprehension Difficulty — A roll of Intelligence + Research. Each success brings 1 study point for the given subject. Base difficulty is 6. Modifiers below.
- +4 Abysmal Condition
- +3 Bad Condition
- +2 Beaten Condition
- +1 OK Condition
- -1 Very Good Condition with Notes
- -2 Very Good Condition with Good Notes
Example
Size: 7 inches by 10 inches, 170-200 pages long.
Age: Speculated to be written in the 13th Century
Language: Unknown cipher, no known examples anywhere else in the world. Complicating the matter, it is believed that there are two distinct languages present in the manuscript.
Condition: The tome is crafted of vellum and written in colored inks. The manuscript itself is in fairly good condition, with a few pages being damaged, etc.
General Description: The manuscript is an enigma. The book is written in an unknown script and is illustrated with images of naked people frolicking in fountains. There are also illustrations of plants that are unknown to anyone.
Rating: 5 (20 study points, 1-3 subjects)
Decipher Diff: 10 (magick could lessen this)
Comprehension Diff: 7
Subjects: Life Sphere, Herbalism, Medicine, Occult, anything you want
For more inspiration, you can look at Books in the World of Darkness, an incredible work.