Collection of Magic Books and Journals

Some of my other posts have added a completely new element to a game that facilitates play in a whole new genre, this post is not one of those. It’s more a collection of cool things to use in games, specifically a collection of magical books and journals. I hope you enjoy reading about them, and if you use one in a game, have a question about one, or for whatever other reason want to make your voice heard feel free to comment.

A Book to be Read by All

Any words written in this blank book may be read by any being who can read any language with the words appearing to them in their preferred language.

Autonomous Journal

When the name of a person is signed in blood by their own hand in this journal it begins to automatically record their actions in detail. The book will automatically write down, in third person and in the preferred language of its subject, every action the subject takes, even actions the subject is unaware they are taking (for instance while they are drugged or sleepwalking), though it cannot record thoughts or intentions. The Autonomous Journal functions over any distance and may be read normally by anyone, though the subject may search out recordings of any action they remember taking with uncanny speed and perfect accuracy as though it were an extension of their memory. Finally, the writing within the Autonomous Journal cannot be erased by any means and any attempts to blot or obscure it will be wiped away by the Journal itself.

Ghostwriter

Via a necromantic ritual, a recently departed soul is trapped within a book the paper of which is mixed with the crushed remains of their bones. The book-bound soul may communicate only via the writing on its pages, reading what others write in the pages and writing upon them itself. Through variations in the creation ritual, the soul within the book’s communication may be compelled in all manner of ways. The most common iteration of this is compelling the Ghostwriter to answer questions truthfully, either all questions it is asked or only questions asked under specific circumstances, such as being preceded by a specific phrase or when written by a certain pen. Other common ensorcellments include requiring the Ghostwriter to always answer questions mistruthfully, demanding it always speak in rhymes, or refusing to allow it to speak its name, the conditions placed upon the ghostwriter are only limited by its creator's imagination. Most ghostwriters are the result of their creators wishing access to the knowledge of another, a necromancer might make a Ghostwriters from a sage to inform them on a magical or mundane subject, or create one to steal secrets that will not be given up in life. Other ghostwriters may be created as a result of a wizard wanting to pass down their magical knowledge to later generations, or skilled advisors being immortalized to serve in the courts of continuous lines of rulers. A Ghostwriter may not be destroyed by any means other than blessed weaponry or fire, otherwise it will knit itself back together no matter how great the damage, truly destroying the book or blessing it will release the ghost inside.

Knowledge Eater

The Knowledge Eater siphons the information of those nearby into its pages, allowing readers to peer into the heads of others. When a topic is written within the knowledge eaters pages it begins to absorb all knowledge relating to the topic from minds within an area equivalent to an average house, a wing of a mansion, or an intersection of roads. The Knowledge Eater can siphon a sentence of information from a mind with less than a minute of contact, a paragraph with 10 minutes, a page with an hour and several pages with 8 hours or more, with any amount of information the knowledge eater also provides the name of the person it pulled the information from. If a mind is consciously or subconsciously keeping information secret it may attempt a difficult test of will to refuse the knowledge eater access to the information. The words within a Knowledge Eater are written in the same language that was used to write the topic it was set to seek information on. Finally, the knowledge eater does not remove the information from its targets minds, it simply copies it, thus the information is not forgotten.

An Account of a Soul

This book is created by its author writing the entirety of their soul into its contents. Thusly upon the book's completion the author's body, bereft of its soul, drops instantly dead. If the resulting book is read cover to cover, a task that takes 8 hours for the average reader, the author's soul will be transferred into the reader, at which point it will attempt to shunt the reader's soul out of their body to claim it for their own. When this happens the reader and author make an opposed test of wills. If the author wins the reader is killed and the author takes their body to continue their life. If the reader wins the authors soul is pushed back into the book and the reader gains a thorough understanding of the author that will allow them to recall any detail of their personality or memories. Once one begins to read An Account of a Soul they find it intensely engrossing. If they attempt to quit reading the book they must make an opposed will test against the author, a success allows them to quit reading it without dilemma, whereas a failure will give them a penalty to all tests they make due to nagging, clawing distraction. If they fail they may make another opposed test each day (without the penalty) to shake off or come to peace with the distraction and end the penalty. An Account of a Soul may also be looked through for specific details about, and memories from, its author's life. However while the author cannot attempt to possess a reader unless they read the book in full, the reader still must make a contested roll against them to stop reading or suffer intense distraction, as detailed above.