New Submissions
Additional Ideas (1)
Waterscribe's Aquaharp manual
A book from a water genasi who wrote under a false name. It describes a form of music making that can also be utilized in sex magic realting to the seduction of human sailors or other humans who might have a reason to be at sea. Notable is the section of the female anatomy, referencing athe existance of a nation that only uses female sailors. The section of men is fairly short and conscise, as if the author abuhored 'the vile creatures'.
5xp
2011-09-06 02:35 PM » Link: [6294#79240|text]
April 3, 2011, 12:43
Everyone has the same old Lost Books of Lore, and they're all pretty much the same, barring the ones that are Cursed Cthulhu Mythos Books of Lore. I wanted archetypes of lost lore with a little twist beyond the "Oh, cool, ancient secrets!" riff.
Credit where credit is due: my wife Amanda enthusiastically pitched in and came up with several of these. Beyond that, the names attached to many of the archetypes come from real books of the appropriate archetypes - Cardenio, for instance, was one of the two "lost plays" of Shakespeare, until a (somewhat suspect) text was unearthed in the 70s. As is the case with the Cardenio entry above, some of the flavor text quotations come from either the books named or other examples of the genre.
I was aiming at 30, but fell a bit short without getting into the aforementioned hackneyed Lost Books of Lore. If someone can come up with some to fill it out, terrific!
April 3, 2011, 17:21
I like how every one of them is actually a plot hook or several; it's well-written and evocative. Even one of them may start off a campaign.
A good one.
April 3, 2011, 17:43
Excellent work. Agree with Echo, almost everyone one of these books could be the start of something bigger. And yet none of them are "cursed" or "book of wonderous magic", which I believe tends to turn books into either magic items or worthless paper. Highly creative with wide variety. Thanks!
April 3, 2011, 19:28
Excellent. I can't wait to see more of these.
April 4, 2011, 3:12
Why, thankew, folks. Heaven knows if I'll get to the magic number 30 with these, but I think I'll ask a couple more of my players to take a swing at it and see if there are any offbeat archetypes I've overlooked. I'm certainly open to suggestions!
April 4, 2011, 7:01
Here's some ideas that may help you out.
Bestiary or Ecology describing different lore about a monster or monsters than is generally accepted.
Perhaps too cliche, but a mytho-narrative about a deity's affairs that differ from accepted wisdom.
My personal favorite, schocking love letters about two famous or infamous personages not known to have had a relationship.
Of course, salicious diaries of notable courtiers and courtesans are also fun.
The ever popular alternate cosmogony (creation myth) which differs from the most commonly known or accepted.
Another popular archetype is the pre-censored satirical play/story/song which defamed the government or ruler(s) of the period.
Secret martial techniques currently unknown.
Political narratives which expose new information about the motives of the involved power groups (nobility, guilds, criminal organizations, magical or religious bodies are popular choices).
Information about past cults which have been erased from history.
Exposure to the classic world domination secret society conspiracy (go Illuminati!).
What appears to be the original manuscript for a commonly known children's book turns out to actually be something else entirely (prophecy, religious doctrine, magical knowledge, alchemical formulae, medical cures, a satirical look at a famous personage, the history of an infamous criminal, etc.).
The complete history of a well-known "dungeon" which details previously undiscovered areas.
A bestiary, ecology, or other book which covers one or more previously unknown species.
The client and target list of an assassination group.
A diary detailing the theft of several well-known works of art, magical artifacts, crown jewels, etc. which have not been known to be stolen.
April 4, 2011, 7:32
April 4, 2011, 8:23
April 4, 2011, 8:55
Really good, this sub rocks my world. 5/5
April 5, 2011, 12:18
Oh how I love books. Very, very good. Each one entertaining! Each one with a built-in plot seed. Kudos.
April 8, 2011, 16:01
April 9, 2011, 17:57
An excellent work - there can never be too many of these.
April 16, 2011, 15:38
April 19, 2011, 17:59
Very, very nice. The only reason that this is not receiving a 5 from me is because some of the ideas are too closely related to really count as separate entries (in my opinion, which should always be taken with a grain of salt). To illustrate, the following three entries all deal with religious texts that contradict current practices:
Arzhang: The holy scripture of a major religion, long lost and passed down only in oral tradition. It may have sections contradicting in whole or in part current practice (which may have been corrupted in transmission), or detailing rites that have been forgotten, however consonant they may be with contemporary beliefs.
Book of the Watchers: A religious tome telling a familiar tale, well known to adherents of the dominant faith - so much so that the faithful all recognize the familiar phraseology, and many can recite sections from memory - but with numerous differences, in cadence, plot and characterization.
Gnostic Bible: An entire book - or collection of chapters, tales and/or essays - devoted to one of the world’s leading faiths ... and which completely contradict several major doctrines of that faith, or introduce doctrines hitherto unknown to it. The work may have been excised from the canon centuries ago as apocryphal.
Instead of contradicting, could one of these books have been used to offer compelling evidence of the factual basis of a dominant faith? What about a retelling of a major historical event, taking into account the direct actions of the gods/Chosen One that has been ruthlessly suppressed for centuries by the decidedly non-religious Empire?
On a different not entirely, I absolutely loved many of these entries -- especially Contes de la Mere Oye. That could kick off a particularly creepy campaign, in which the voices and songs of children are the vessel or powersource needed to bring back an Elder Evil, or somesuch. Well done, overall. 4/5
April 20, 2011, 1:24
What WOULD do so are completely unrelated books ... but I already do have an example of that, above.
May 7, 2011, 11:43
Congrats to RGTraynor for winning First place in the Fallen Empires Quest with this outstanding submission!!
September 6, 2011, 14:32
-edit-
September 6, 2011, 14:33
February 27, 2012, 19:54
I already voted and commented on this, but on second glance, i also like the clever use of the "real" and or the "fictional" combined with your ideas. Contes de la Mere Oye (Mother Goose!), Trebatius Testa, Unaussprechlichen Kulten (REH!). I'm impressed with that.