©1990 John Tynes
[Sigh again. I wanted to encourage people to send in rules-oriented articles,
so I wrote one. This system for creating tomes is one that I created for
TUO1. I never used the darn thing. Why bother? It more or less works, at
least as a good guideline. Just one of those useless articles about game
mechanics that populate so many magazines.]
The list of Mythos books in the CoC rules is quite large; experienced players,
however, are probably familiar with most of them. And anyone can look them
up. To give your campaign some flavor and keep your players on their toes,
try creating some new books more in line with the parts of the Mythos that
you plan to emphasize. Giving your books some background and flair will
add coherency and originality to a campaign. The CoC rules are sketchy in
this area, however; some more detailed instructions are in order.
Mythos texts have a number of investigatoristics that you must determine.
First is the book’s rank. The chart nearby breaks down the CoC list into
ranks; take a look at it, and decide about what level of power your book
should be. First or second rank books are probably known, published works
that make an incidental reference to the Mythos. An unusual one might contain
a spell, accidentally presented as a ritual chant or somesuch. Third and
fourth rank books are the meat of the Mythos. They are not powerful enough
to be a real threat or object of desire, but will give investigators a foothold
to confront the forces of darkness with. Books of the fifth or sixth rank
are major tomes. They will be found only rarely, and will be jealously guarded.
Theft of such a tome will not go unpunished. The seventh rank will be extremely
rare, but at least has a chance of being found, often in the library of
a high-ranking cultist. At the eighth rank, however, resides the Necronomicon.
If you create a book for your campaign at this level, bear in mind that
a great deal of responsibility goes with it. Miskatonic University librarians
can testify to the problems they have encountered with such tomes. Mere
possession of a book of this rank is bound to draw unwanted attention.
Mythos Tome Characteristic Table
| Rank | Mythos Points | Multiplier | SAN |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1-2 | x0 | 1D2, 1D3, 1D6 |
| 2 | 3-4 | x0-x1 | 1D3, 1D4, 1D6 |
| 3 | 5-7 | x1-x2 | 1D4, 1D6, 1D8 |
| 4 | 8-10 | x1-x3 | 1D6, 1D8, 1D10 |
| 5 | 11-12 | x2-x3 | 1D8, 2D4, 1D10, 2D6, 2D8 |
| 6 | 13-14 | x2-x3 | 2D4, 1D10, 2D6, 2D8 |
| 7 | 15 | x3-x4 | 2D6, 2D8, 2D10 |
| 8 | 16-18 | x5 | 10+Special |
Once you have chosen a rank, decide on how this book will fit into your
campaign. Specifically, what portion of the Mythos does it deal with? Is
it a wizard’s journal of his experiments with Yog-Sothoth? The trial transcript
of a witch of Shub-Niggurath? The diary of a doomed poet who dreams of sunken
Rl’yeh? Deciding what area of specialization the book will apply to is important,
since for the investigators it will become a known work (once read) to which
they can refer to for specific information. You can place hints and revelations
within the book that lead to your campaign; should the investigators encounter
the Yellow Sign, and they have a book that refers to Carcosa, you can use
the opportunity to point them to a related adventure. A book’s value to
different groups will also vary with its specialization — cultists of Yig
will be only marginally interested in a book devoted to Azathoth. Should
unknown enemies become interested in a book, its specialization may give
the investigators a clue as to who their opponents are; finding a tome of
Nyogtha worship in your mother-in-law’s home may raise suspicion. Books
can also be broad or narrow in their focus; broad ones will give a smattering
of info on a number of obscure topics, while narrow ones will be dangerously
specific.
With the specialization and focus of the book in mind look at the range
of options listed next to the book’s rank. From this, decide how much SAN
the book costs to read. At the same time, decide the spell multiplier. This
will help define the book and how many Mythos points it should contain;
books with high SAN and a low multiplier must have a good deal of Mythos
information. Books containing little but spells will be so sketchy in their
Mythos information that few SAN will be lost, but the multiplier will be
high. Books with both high SAN and a high multiplier are a special threat.
Loaded with information and spells, these books should have the highest
number of Mythos points available within their rank.
Knowing what sort of contents it may have, decide on the book’s reading
time. Assume a base time equal to the book’s rank in months. If the book
has spells, add the number of the spell multiplier. You can decide if the
book is written clearly and cogently (as is more likely in a published item)
or if it is the mad scribblings of an insightful lunatic. With this in mind,
add or subtract up to four months of time for difficulty. You may want to
add a couple of requirements here for successful reading: access to a large
library, for instance, or rolls on the investigator’s history or archeology
skills (which could be supplemented by consulting an expert). Anyone wishing
to read the book may subtract their EDU/5 from the total number of months.
Now step back and look at your campaign again. You need to work up the book’s
background, language, and scarcity. Since you know what the book’s specialization
is, and what sort of contents (information, spells, or both) it contains,
decide who wrote it. A wizard? A frightened monk? How old is the book? Is
it handwritten or printed? What language is it written in? These questions
will give you a convincing backstory for the book and allow you to place
it firmly in the campaign.
If the book contains spells, you should decide what sort of spells it should
contain. Powerful, god-summoning spells? Lesser protective magicks? By looking
at the book’s background you should be able to achieve a focus within the
spell list: a book that narrowly focuses on the worship of Hastur will not
have Contact Deep One. Determining spells for your unique books now is essential;
it ensures consistency within your campaign and allows you to plant spells
that you think the investigators may need later on.
Lastly, you may want to make some special notes about the book. There is
no reason why a book should simply be a book; some, such as The King in
Yellow, actually cost SAN just to look at the cover. A book may have a guardian
or trap associated with it. For instance, a wizard’s spell book may be magicked
so that if it is not opened first from the back, a Hound of Tindalos will
be released from the crease of the binding. Other books may be wanted by
someone special; a cult leader might have people looking out for an obscure
text, ready to strike if it turns up. A book may also contain something,
such as an Elder Sign embossed in the cover or a slim ceremonial dagger
hidden in the binding.
Let’s create a sample book by going through this process. First, assume
that our campaign focuses on Hastur as the primary evil. We need a book
that the investigators can find early on which will lead them into some
of the adventures planned and warn them of possible dangers. It should be
a lower-rank book, second or third, not something that anyone is actively
seeking. The book will, by necessity, focus on the machinations of Hastur
in this world. It is primarily a book of information with perhaps one spell
and a x1 multiplier. The book is the diary of a writer who slowly grew under
the influence of Hastur, written within the last fifty years. Only one copy
exists.
The Diary of Randall Sylvester
Rank: 3
Area of Specialization: Hastur and his worship
SAN Lost: 1D8 (solid information in a disturbing narrative)
Spell Multiplier: x1 (one spell is present)
Mythos Points: 6 (a spell multiplier of x2 would rate 7 points; a
lower SAN cost would rate 5)
Reading Time: (rank 3, multiplier 1, difficulty +1) = 5 months –
the reader’s EDU/5
This book is a slim hardbound diary; similar blank ones can be purchased
in any bookstore. It records the year-long disintegration of its writer,
Randall Sylvester, beginning with his reading of The King in Yellow. The
early pages of the diary are easily read, but as Sylvester’s insanity grows
the writing becomes increasingly difficult, degenerating into long ranting
passages and obscure poetry. Towards the end Sylvester records one spell,
Enchant Bone Whistle, which creates an item useful in the summoning of Byakhee.
The last entry states that he is preparing to use this whistle in conjunction
with a summoning spell cast by an unnamed associate to bring one of the
winged horrors to their service. The results are unrecorded. This book will
serve the investigators well. Should they hear part of a ritual, or see
a scrawled Yellow Sign, they may perform research in this diary to learn
more. We can also plant an adventure hook here; with a successful INT roll,
it is possible to deduce where Sylvester lived from the contents of the
diary. An adventure can be set there, in which the investigators may discover
what happened to the unfortunate man and perhaps who his mysterious associate
was…
For some excellent examples of well-thought-out books, there is an unlikely
source: Dragon magazine. In issues 92 and 97, among others, writer Ed Greenwood
presented a series of “Pages From The Mages” which described the
physical attributes of unique spellbooks, the story of their authorship
(when known), a history of their ownership, and a list of spells (some with
variations) known to be within. While geared for a medieval fantasy setting,
the descriptions presented in those articles are a great source of information
for Keepers looking to add a little variety to their best-sellers’ list.