On the Bookshelves

This is an encounter that takes place in the library of a cult temple, from my latest adventure Xanadu. Even though the most useful part for readers of this blog is the random table of books found on the shelves, I've reproduced the encounter in its entirety.  

Bibliotecha

Door, sandstone, arcane locked, painted with cult symbol. Stone pillars, flanking the door, each carved with a representation of female creatures with wings, similar to statue in area 5. Bookshelves, filled with tomes, various bindings, sizes. Smells like wax, stale incense.

Door
If door is touched: it is magically trapped. Touching the door causes (d20): 

• Result of 1–18: a fireball for 2d4 damage to everyone within 10’ of the door (save vs breath for half),
• Result of 19–20: a lightning bolt to explode for 2d20 damage to everyone within 10’ of the door (save vs breath for 1d20 damage).

How to disarm the door: trap is deactivated by pressing a release button behind one of the stone pillars next to door. A thief can find this by investigating for traps. 

Bookshelves
Books of various shapes, sizes, and colors. Some are ancient, some modern. Volumes of esoterica, occult, directories, almanacs, local histories, etc. There is nothing magical here.

On the bookshelves (d20): 

1. Instructions on exotic poisons.
2. History of the temple.
3. Methods of smuggling, extortion and various other activities this cult is involved in. 
4. Treatise of personal sins.
5. Names and notations that look like a collection of financial debts.
6. Journals of notes from failed experiments.
7. Guidebook to invisibility.
8. Interviews with the undead.
9. Handbook of cannibalistic recipes.
10. Opus on tales of astral seas.
11. Travel directory to other planets.
12. Formulas to perform the summoning ritual in area 26 (The Tooth Fairy).
13. Almanac listing locations of the birthplace of all monsters.
14. List of undiscovered cities.
15. Ancient torture methods.
16. Picture-book of decadent fashion.
17. Volume of love poetry.
18. Reference work on arcane dentistry.
19. Guide to ancient meditation techniques.
20. Manual of unpopular magical theories.

Review of Xanadu

My most recent adventure Xanadu, written for Old-School Essentials, was reviewed on Ten Foot Pole.

The Settlement of Protu

Here's a preview of a hexcrawl location from Aquilus issue #2, coming soon. Proto is located in a region of Aquilus called Ostaria, which the forthcoming issue will focus on.

Protu

Standing within a clearing of saturated swamplands is a settlement that has invented a thanatotic compound, which allows users to get a glimpse at life after death. The highly valuable, sought-after substance is supplied as an extremely addictive opiate to the very wealthy. It is extracted from highly poisonous fungal growth that is scraped from tree trunks in the surrounding areas. This area is pervaded by vicious predators, and teeming with disease. It smells putrid, like decayed animals and boiled urine.

What about the residents? 

• They have photosynthetic skin which allows them to produce their own food in sunlight. 
• They do not permit laughter or singing. Punishments for violations are severe. 
• A family of three lives here, with flesh that looks like translucent gelatin. The residents are secretive about them. 
• They can instantaneously eject ink from the pores of the skin, which envelops them in a mist and protects them from spells. 
• They make saving throws vs all magic at +2. 
• The children spend their days stroking dead animals with thigh bones of the dead. The stroking produces miniature lightning storms of static. They store the electrical discharges in jars, which are then used to illuminate the home interiors at night.
• They communicate with deadly insects that guard their settlement at night.

Halgarth's Magic & Spellcasting Academies

This is a preview of a random table that will be included in Aquilus issue #2, coming soon. There is a section in this issue which details the city of Halgarth. The table below generates magic schools found throughout the city. In a future post, I'll release another random table that generates the styles of magic that are taught in these academies. 

(d12) Roll 3 times and combine:

1.	The Seat of	Future	Chronomancy
2.	The Affiliation of	Ecological	Philosophy
3.	The Academy of	Natural	Hermeticism
4.	The Faculty of	Spiritual	Alchemy
5.	The League of	Practical	Inscriptions
6.	The Seminary of	Ancient	Alteration
7.	The Society of	Temporal	Divination
8.	The Alliance of	Geomantic	Experimentation
9.	The Foundation of	Hermetic	Necromancy
10.	The Union of	Evolutionary	Invocation
11.	The Center of	Sorcerous	Abjuration
12.	The Guild of	Mathematical	Summoning

Arcana, Magic Items & Devices from Aquilus

An expanded version of this table is published in Aquilus issue #1.

Roll (d10):

1. Jar of Life: A small jar formed of translucent material. Place organic matter or a severed limb inside, and it will remain alive forever until removed.
2. Dust of Forgetfulness: When thrown at a living creature, the dust causes the victim to forget everything that happened to them during the last day. After one week, the lost memories will be restored.
3. Essence Extractor: Extracts the consciousness of willing being. The consciousness can be stored in a vial and drunk by another being to absorb their soul.
4. Ice Pipe: When smoking this pipe using a particular strain of tobacco, any smoke exhaled will be of sub-zero temperature. It will deal 1d4 points of damage to a living target. Target must be with a 3 ft range.
5. Initiative Dust: Snorted through the nose, the dust creates paranoiac hyper-vigilance. It reduces sleep requirements, accelerates the aging process, creates constant perspiration, and adds +2 to initiative rolls. Lasts for 1 turn. 
6. Protective Gloves: The user’s hands are sheathed in gloves made of solid sound for one hour. The user can touch or handle poisonous substances
7. Purifying Incense: A stick of this incense will purify the air and allow a PC to smell emotions within 30 ft. It is 70% accurate and burns for about 20 minutes.
8. Thought Amulet: A character who successfully activates this ability may send a brief mental message to the mind of any intelligent creature within 360 ft. This message cannot be more than one short sentence.
9. Tobacco of Accelerated Healing: When smoking this strain of tobacco, the PC gains no additional benefit from magical healing, but instead, their natural healing rate is doubled for the next ­twenty-four hours. 
10. Protoplasmic Gel: A jar of gel made by the Riverfolk. It can dissolve any material at the rate of 1 inch per round. It has two uses and lasts for 1 hour.