Books explain dungeons

Noisms has just posted a typically thought-provoking blog on books: "Before the printing press, books were rare".

It's an excellent point. Here are some of its implications for your typical pseudo-medieval (or pseudo-ancient) RPG setting:

1. Books are treasure. Noisms notes that they're "rare, special objects, almost unique and very expensive". Indeed: and they're the best sort of treasure from the GM's perspective, because they're heavy, fragile and not immediately useful. You might be able to sell one in a big city, but you can't bribe an orc with one.

Discover a wizard's library in his tower, and you're potentially very rich indeed. But first you have to get the books to somewhere you can sell them. And that could be tricky. In a game with a decent encumbrance system, loading up with books means abandoning weapons, armour or other equipment.  And it also means taking great care with water hazards, fire and slime of all kinds.

2. Books explain dungeons. Libraries are treasure-houses. That's why wizards need (or breed) hobgoblin guards. Non-human minions are a rational choice for your average sorcerer, because they probably can't run off to the nearest big city to sell a few volumes for a fortune. And the value of books is why libraries are often located underground and guarded by both monsters and traps.

3. Books are magic. My old English teacher used to delight in the etymological link between read and riddle. "Reading is magic," he would say. "You can pass someone a note and make them pass out. Imagine how that looks to a people in a preliterate society."

Let's extend that. I have a deep suspicion of standard spell lists and even the magician as player character. But what if magic is simply literacy? What if a character who can read - most can't - can use grimoires or scrolls to cast spells - provided that character can read the (often archaic) language in which they are written?

Some of these formulae can be memorised, perhaps, but that's exceptionally difficult. [A player might be presented with some lines of Old English verse - or a Hungarian or Turkish poem, perhaps - and asked to learn and recite it.] So it's better to carry a spell book around if you're adventuring. But then those books are vulnerable to fire, water and theft. That's what makes adventuring such a difficult business ...