I was hoping to get some feedback on this story idea I have planned for my players. I posted the basic idea a while ago and got some great feedback, but I've actually developed it out now. My only real life D&D peeps are the ones in my party, so I can't exactly bounce it off them, lol.
I know it's not the most original idea, but I think I've come up with a somewhat unique take on the "magic library" trope (think The Librarian, Warehouse 13, The Magicians, etc.) My description and details of my Library Eternal is below.
In our session zero the party found this mysterious book in a language they can't read or even recognize (It was just something I threw in to a loot stash they found for some fun flavor, not really intending anything with it at the time, lol). On their quest to identify the book (assuming they decide to pursue it but they have already expressed interest in doing so which is why I developed a story behind it) they will learn about the Library and become embroiled in a mission to find various books and artifacts that have been stolen from the library and ultimately find out who stole them and why. They'll have the opportunity, if they choose to pursue the quest, to visit some of the other planes and I have various hooks for other adventures laid in along the way that they can do as well, if they choose. Ultimately they will learn that Vecna is behind the thefts pulling the strings from the shadows, trying to get his Book of Vile Darkness back, which is currently housed in the Library. I'm still working on the interim bad guys they will face along the way before learning Vecna is the real BBEG. Ultimately they will have to find a way to get to the Library and stop Vecna's assault on the Library and prevent him from getting the book and destroying the Library.
"The Story of the Library Eternal
Formed at the dawn of existence, the Library Eternal exists as the repository of all knowledge in existence. Inside its infinite stacks exists a magic book for every sentient creature and world in existence known as its Tome of Reality. These books are a detailed accounting of every event and action in the life and history of the given creature or world.
What the Library Eternal does not have is the knowledge and works created by sentient beings. For that the Library has its agents to collect and add to the collection.
The Library also serves as a repository for the most powerful and dangerous artifacts in existence. Notable items currently in the collection:
Vecna’s Book of Vile Darkness
Demonomicon of Iggwilv
Luba’s Tarokka of Souls
2 of the 5 Orbs of Dragonkind
The Wand of Orcus
The Teeth of Dahlver-Nar
The Library Eternal exists deep in the Astral Sea. Appearing as an ivory and gold citadel with an uncountable number of towers and bridges in shapes and dimensions that defy explanation. The inside of the Library is an infinite series of stacks of books, rooms and chambers for discussion and study, secured areas housing artifacts. Anyone but the High Librarians that serve in the Library that attempt to navigate the Library will find themselves forever lost in its endless reality defying depths.
Access to the Library is only possible via the outposts that exist on the material planes or by spelljammer vessel. How the outposts connect to the Library itself is a closely held secret only known to Head Librarians.
Library outposts:
There exists on every plane an outpost of the Library, presented as the greatest library of that plane. Examples:
Faerun - Candlekeep
Eberron - University of Wynarn’s library in the nation of Aundair
Exandria - the Cobalt Reserve in Westruun
Oerth - the Great Library in the Free City of Greyhawk
These locations serve as an outpost to collect unique works of writing and artifacts for that world. The majority of librarians working for the outpost library’s are unaware of the connection to or even the existence of the Library Eternal.
There are several levels of Librarians that work for the Library:
The Librarian Eternal - A powerful supernatural creature whose existence is tied to the Library itself. Indeed it is rumored that the Librarian Eternal is the actual manifestation of the Library’s latent sentience. The Librarian Eternal has an innate connection to and knowledge of any piece of information stored in the Library. Their power is on par with or exceeds the most powerful of the gods and demons of creation. Information removed from or that has not been added to the Library’s collection is denied to the Librarian Eternal’s knowledge. In fact, the knowledge does not exist from their perspective. The Librarian Eternal is an enigmatic and aloof figure, their attention usually elsewhere, lost in the sea of knowledge they have access to. If one manages to attract their attention, they are easily annoyed by interactions it sees as wasting their time and not adding to their knowledge. The Librarian Eternal and by extension the LE itself does not take sides in any conflict. Anything seen as a threat to the LE brings down the full wrath of the Librarian Eternal. Slow to action, once engaged the Librarian Eternal wields the very powers of creation in defense of the Library.
High Librarians - Beings of great power and knowledge, they are responsible for the management and protection of the Library. Any visitors to the Library are met with and deal with one of the High Librarians. High Librarians all have a special area of focus and study and have access to all information stored in the Library related to that subject. High Librarians can request access to information outside their subject area, but requests must be approved by the Librarian Eternal. It is said that High Librarians are former Head Librarians chosen by the Library to join their ranks. High Librarians are ageless and immortal, immune to all natural forms of death such as age or disease but they can be killed by beings of sufficient power. They have an innate sense of direction and location in the Library, allowing them to navigate its endless twisting ever changing corridors. High Librarians have power equivalent to most minor gods from the material planes in a general sense, but in their specific area of expertise they are unrivaled in their knowledge and power in all the multiverse. High Librarian’s areas of expertise are as varied and esoteric as there are worlds in the multiverse. It can be as broad a subject as the movement between planes and as narrow as the study of a single species of insect that only exists on one small island, of one insignificant continent on one world in the entire multiverse.
Traveler Librarians - Travelers serve as the hunters and gatherers of unique works and artifacts to add to the LE main collection. Travelers each have their own specific strengths and weaknesses, but have a general level of power equal to High Librarians outside their areas of expertise. Travelers do not have the general level of access to knowledge stored in the LE that High Librarians have. Knowledge that aids them in their quest to obtain information and knowledge is generally freely given, information outside of that scope must be approved by a High Librarian. Travelers are given a great deal of freedom and latitude in pursuit of knowledge for the LE. Travelers have the power to travel between worlds but the power is not unlimited. Travelers are often requested for their aid in assisting Collector Librarians in the acquisition of or protection of particularly important or powerful knowledge or artifacts by Head Librarians.
Head Librarians - Head Librarians are in charge of one of the branch libraries on a material plane. They are responsible for all operations of their branch library, both those tied to the LE and the mundane. Collector Librarians report directly to their Head Librarian on matters related to their duties on that plane. Head Librarians are the only ones on a given plane that can make requests of the LE proper, whether it is a request for some information stored there, to petition for a visitor to be given access to the LE, or request the aid of a Traveler Librarians.
Collector Librarians - Collectors’s are agents of the Library that seek out unique books and artifacts in a specific world. Reporting to and working for the Head Librarian of their branch, Collectors are aware of the LE, but do not have access to the LE themselves. Collectors come from the many different species of their home plane and have skills and powers of varying levels depending on their personal experience. Collector’s seek out knowledge and artifacts of great power and uniqueness in their home plane for addition to the LE main collection.
Normal Librarians - These are the librarians that work for branch libraries unaware of the existence of the LE. Normal Librarians maintain the branch collection and seek out unique works of all sorts to add to the branches collection.
Access to the LE and its knowledge:
Access to the LE itself and the knowledge therein is tightly controlled and regulated given the danger posed by the misuse of its collection. The gods themselves have to make requests for access to the collection. Requests for information to aid in the furthering of learning and knowledge will generally be approved, but the information provided will be only the most limited amount of information possible to satisfy the strictest interpretation of a request. Requests for information to be used for personal advancement or aid are always denied.
The Library Eternal is not impregnable or infallible. Over the long eons of its existence individuals have at times managed to infiltrate the Library and steal from the collection. The weakness of the Library is that any knowledge not currently stored in its collection is unknown to the Library itself. As a result the full extent of the thefts in several of the incidents is not truly known.
Tomes of Reality:
The Tomes of Reality are the only works intrinsic to the Library, generated magically upon any sentient creature, plane or world coming into being. Every Tome of Reality is the comprehensive history of everything that happens in that creature or world as it happens. Opening the book, the pages are filled with dense, very small print in the Language Eternal, the language of the Library. The books are self-written, flipping to the last page shows new words rapidly appearing on the last page of the book detailing events as they happen. The book continues to write until the moment of death of the creature or destruction of the world or plane."
Did you ever watch or read The Magicians. They have a similar thing with a big library and books about each person, though the show goes into it in more depth. I recommend both, but for different reasons, and as I said, the show will have more stuff more relevant to your library idea.
This seems pretty cool. And I love when the thing you meant as a little bit of throwaway flavor turns into something. That’s good DM’ing that you ran with it.
The main criticism I’d have is the library having possession of the Wand of Orcus. Even if it ended up there, I can’t see him letting it stay there too long. Maybe something like the Sword of Kas, if you want some relic-level weapon. And you know if the players go there, they’re all going to want those books that give you +2 to ability scores.
Did you ever watch or read The Magicians. They have a similar thing with a big library and books about each person, though the show goes into it in more depth. I recommend both, but for different reasons, and as I said, the show will have more stuff more relevant to your library idea.
This seems pretty cool. And I love when the thing you meant as a little bit of throwaway flavor turns into something. That’s good DM’ing that you ran with it.
The main criticism I’d have is the library having possession of the Wand of Orcus. Even if it ended up there, I can’t see him letting it stay there too long. Maybe something like the Sword of Kas, if you want some relic-level weapon. And you know if the players go there, they’re all going to want those books that give you +2 to ability scores.
I haven't gotten around to reading the Magicians novels yet but we did watch the series (well we haven't gotten around to finishing the last season yet, but its on the list). My wife, who is in the party, and I are suckers for the magic library/warehouse genre of shows, and the rest of the party all have similar tastes, so I think they will like it.
It really was just complete throwaway flavor, they were looting the room (the lair of a mad mage they defeated) and asked to examine the bookshelves, I had neglected to plan anything for the bookshelves and they rolled a 20 on their investigation check, so made it up on the spot. Ever since they've been carrying it around trying to get it identified or figure out what it is. If they ever ask, I am ABSOLUTELY claiming it was my plan all along, lol
That's a good point about Orcus and the wand and I actually went back and forth on the BBEG being him or Vecna. The lore says that "Orcus allows the wand to slip from his grasp from time to time. When it does, it magically appears wherever its master senses an opportunity to achieve some fell goal." I may switch it back to him, he already has his Cult of Orcus followers so I can use them as the low level bad guys to work through before figuring out it's Orcus, and I can have the presence of the Wand of Orcus acting as an anchor letting his cultists sneak in the Library and steal things. If the party figures that out and stops it from happening, that can be the cause of Orcus attacking the Library himself. Then the party is technically partially responsible for causing the attack.
The Sword of Kas is a great idea as an alternative, and thematically works with Vecna as the BBEG, and the party's main spell slinger is the cleric, and he wouldn't want to wield such an evil object, but they do have a Barbarian and a Fighter who would both be cool with the Sword.
I skimmed it and I have not one clue what most of those items are, but from what I read, it's an incredible story idea. I wonder though, do they only hold dark objects and items? Maybe they have the book of exalted deeds which they are trying to keep out of the hands of people who would use it for good. Maybe they also carry the overpowered talismans, the talisman of pure evil and I forget the name of the other one. If so, they'd probably keep the good relics in the LE and locked in a sort of shadow shield case that would b very difficult for the party to destroy.
I skimmed it and I have not one clue what most of those items are, but from what I read, it's an incredible story idea. I wonder though, do they only hold dark objects and items? Maybe they have the book of exalted deeds which they are trying to keep out of the hands of people who would use it for good. Maybe they also carry the overpowered talismans, the talisman of pure evil and I forget the name of the other one. If so, they'd probably keep the good relics in the LE and locked in a sort of shadow shield case that would b very difficult for the party to destroy.
No, they hold artifacts and items of all sorts, good and bad and neutral, those are just the ones I had specifically identified at this stage as definitely being housed there as I was working out the story for who the BBEG will be and why they would be trying to get to the Library. I'm going to come up with a bunch of additional ones that are housed there that could potentially aid the party if they manage to find them.
It looks like the basis for a good story! This is not very substantial but the monster names seem like they could use work, so here are some suggestions I plucked from a thesaurus:
Librarian Eternal: The Bibliognost
High Librarian: Bibliosoph
Traveler Librarian: Bibliothecary
Head Librarian: Curator
Collector Librarian: Antiquarian
Normal Librarian: Archivist
I also feel that there should be some sort of corrupt or undead librarians, and possibly even a corrupted outpost full of bilbioghasts or whatever. Maybe put it in a necropolis or on a dead world.
It looks like the basis for a good story! This is not very substantial but the monster names seem like they could use work, so here are some suggestions I plucked from a thesaurus:
Librarian Eternal: The Bibliognost
High Librarian: Bibliosoph
Traveler Librarian: Bibliothecary
Head Librarian: Curator
Collector Librarian: Antiquarian
Normal Librarian: Archivist
I also feel that there should be some sort of corrupt or undead librarians, and possibly even a corrupted outpost full of bilbioghasts or whatever. Maybe put it in a necropolis or on a dead world.
I like the idea for different names, the names as they exist now are placeholders as much as anything
I skimmed it and I have not one clue what most of those items are, but from what I read, it's an incredible story idea. I wonder though, do they only hold dark objects and items? Maybe they have the book of exalted deeds which they are trying to keep out of the hands of people who would use it for good. Maybe they also carry the overpowered talismans, the talisman of pure evil and I forget the name of the other one. If so, they'd probably keep the good relics in the LE and locked in a sort of shadow shield case that would b very difficult for the party to destroy.
No, they hold artifacts and items of all sorts, good and bad and neutral, those are just the ones I had specifically identified at this stage as definitely being housed there as I was working out the story for who the BBEG will be and why they would be trying to get to the Library. I'm going to come up with a bunch of additional ones that are housed there that could potentially aid the party if they manage to find them.
Ok, but are all of the LE librarians evil? Because if they are, that may change how certain items are stored. Good aligned artifacts would likely be held by dark magic to prevent any good-aligned trespassers from using them, just a thought. :)
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I was hoping to get some feedback on this story idea I have planned for my players. I posted the basic idea a while ago and got some great feedback, but I've actually developed it out now. My only real life D&D peeps are the ones in my party, so I can't exactly bounce it off them, lol.
I know it's not the most original idea, but I think I've come up with a somewhat unique take on the "magic library" trope (think The Librarian, Warehouse 13, The Magicians, etc.) My description and details of my Library Eternal is below.
In our session zero the party found this mysterious book in a language they can't read or even recognize (It was just something I threw in to a loot stash they found for some fun flavor, not really intending anything with it at the time, lol). On their quest to identify the book (assuming they decide to pursue it but they have already expressed interest in doing so which is why I developed a story behind it) they will learn about the Library and become embroiled in a mission to find various books and artifacts that have been stolen from the library and ultimately find out who stole them and why. They'll have the opportunity, if they choose to pursue the quest, to visit some of the other planes and I have various hooks for other adventures laid in along the way that they can do as well, if they choose. Ultimately they will learn that Vecna is behind the thefts pulling the strings from the shadows, trying to get his Book of Vile Darkness back, which is currently housed in the Library. I'm still working on the interim bad guys they will face along the way before learning Vecna is the real BBEG. Ultimately they will have to find a way to get to the Library and stop Vecna's assault on the Library and prevent him from getting the book and destroying the Library.
"The Story of the Library Eternal
Formed at the dawn of existence, the Library Eternal exists as the repository of all knowledge in existence. Inside its infinite stacks exists a magic book for every sentient creature and world in existence known as its Tome of Reality. These books are a detailed accounting of every event and action in the life and history of the given creature or world.
What the Library Eternal does not have is the knowledge and works created by sentient beings. For that the Library has its agents to collect and add to the collection.
The Library also serves as a repository for the most powerful and dangerous artifacts in existence. Notable items currently in the collection:
The Library Eternal exists deep in the Astral Sea. Appearing as an ivory and gold citadel with an uncountable number of towers and bridges in shapes and dimensions that defy explanation. The inside of the Library is an infinite series of stacks of books, rooms and chambers for discussion and study, secured areas housing artifacts. Anyone but the High Librarians that serve in the Library that attempt to navigate the Library will find themselves forever lost in its endless reality defying depths.
Access to the Library is only possible via the outposts that exist on the material planes or by spelljammer vessel. How the outposts connect to the Library itself is a closely held secret only known to Head Librarians.
Library outposts:
There exists on every plane an outpost of the Library, presented as the greatest library of that plane. Examples:
Faerun - Candlekeep
Eberron - University of Wynarn’s library in the nation of Aundair
Exandria - the Cobalt Reserve in Westruun
Oerth - the Great Library in the Free City of Greyhawk
These locations serve as an outpost to collect unique works of writing and artifacts for that world. The majority of librarians working for the outpost library’s are unaware of the connection to or even the existence of the Library Eternal.
There are several levels of Librarians that work for the Library:
The Librarian Eternal - A powerful supernatural creature whose existence is tied to the Library itself. Indeed it is rumored that the Librarian Eternal is the actual manifestation of the Library’s latent sentience. The Librarian Eternal has an innate connection to and knowledge of any piece of information stored in the Library. Their power is on par with or exceeds the most powerful of the gods and demons of creation. Information removed from or that has not been added to the Library’s collection is denied to the Librarian Eternal’s knowledge. In fact, the knowledge does not exist from their perspective. The Librarian Eternal is an enigmatic and aloof figure, their attention usually elsewhere, lost in the sea of knowledge they have access to. If one manages to attract their attention, they are easily annoyed by interactions it sees as wasting their time and not adding to their knowledge. The Librarian Eternal and by extension the LE itself does not take sides in any conflict. Anything seen as a threat to the LE brings down the full wrath of the Librarian Eternal. Slow to action, once engaged the Librarian Eternal wields the very powers of creation in defense of the Library.
High Librarians - Beings of great power and knowledge, they are responsible for the management and protection of the Library. Any visitors to the Library are met with and deal with one of the High Librarians. High Librarians all have a special area of focus and study and have access to all information stored in the Library related to that subject. High Librarians can request access to information outside their subject area, but requests must be approved by the Librarian Eternal. It is said that High Librarians are former Head Librarians chosen by the Library to join their ranks. High Librarians are ageless and immortal, immune to all natural forms of death such as age or disease but they can be killed by beings of sufficient power. They have an innate sense of direction and location in the Library, allowing them to navigate its endless twisting ever changing corridors. High Librarians have power equivalent to most minor gods from the material planes in a general sense, but in their specific area of expertise they are unrivaled in their knowledge and power in all the multiverse. High Librarian’s areas of expertise are as varied and esoteric as there are worlds in the multiverse. It can be as broad a subject as the movement between planes and as narrow as the study of a single species of insect that only exists on one small island, of one insignificant continent on one world in the entire multiverse.
Traveler Librarians - Travelers serve as the hunters and gatherers of unique works and artifacts to add to the LE main collection. Travelers each have their own specific strengths and weaknesses, but have a general level of power equal to High Librarians outside their areas of expertise. Travelers do not have the general level of access to knowledge stored in the LE that High Librarians have. Knowledge that aids them in their quest to obtain information and knowledge is generally freely given, information outside of that scope must be approved by a High Librarian. Travelers are given a great deal of freedom and latitude in pursuit of knowledge for the LE. Travelers have the power to travel between worlds but the power is not unlimited. Travelers are often requested for their aid in assisting Collector Librarians in the acquisition of or protection of particularly important or powerful knowledge or artifacts by Head Librarians.
Head Librarians - Head Librarians are in charge of one of the branch libraries on a material plane. They are responsible for all operations of their branch library, both those tied to the LE and the mundane. Collector Librarians report directly to their Head Librarian on matters related to their duties on that plane. Head Librarians are the only ones on a given plane that can make requests of the LE proper, whether it is a request for some information stored there, to petition for a visitor to be given access to the LE, or request the aid of a Traveler Librarians.
Collector Librarians - Collectors’s are agents of the Library that seek out unique books and artifacts in a specific world. Reporting to and working for the Head Librarian of their branch, Collectors are aware of the LE, but do not have access to the LE themselves. Collectors come from the many different species of their home plane and have skills and powers of varying levels depending on their personal experience. Collector’s seek out knowledge and artifacts of great power and uniqueness in their home plane for addition to the LE main collection.
Normal Librarians - These are the librarians that work for branch libraries unaware of the existence of the LE. Normal Librarians maintain the branch collection and seek out unique works of all sorts to add to the branches collection.
Access to the LE and its knowledge:
Access to the LE itself and the knowledge therein is tightly controlled and regulated given the danger posed by the misuse of its collection. The gods themselves have to make requests for access to the collection. Requests for information to aid in the furthering of learning and knowledge will generally be approved, but the information provided will be only the most limited amount of information possible to satisfy the strictest interpretation of a request. Requests for information to be used for personal advancement or aid are always denied.
The Library Eternal is not impregnable or infallible. Over the long eons of its existence individuals have at times managed to infiltrate the Library and steal from the collection. The weakness of the Library is that any knowledge not currently stored in its collection is unknown to the Library itself. As a result the full extent of the thefts in several of the incidents is not truly known.
Tomes of Reality:
The Tomes of Reality are the only works intrinsic to the Library, generated magically upon any sentient creature, plane or world coming into being. Every Tome of Reality is the comprehensive history of everything that happens in that creature or world as it happens. Opening the book, the pages are filled with dense, very small print in the Language Eternal, the language of the Library. The books are self-written, flipping to the last page shows new words rapidly appearing on the last page of the book detailing events as they happen. The book continues to write until the moment of death of the creature or destruction of the world or plane."
Did you ever watch or read The Magicians. They have a similar thing with a big library and books about each person, though the show goes into it in more depth. I recommend both, but for different reasons, and as I said, the show will have more stuff more relevant to your library idea.
This seems pretty cool. And I love when the thing you meant as a little bit of throwaway flavor turns into something. That’s good DM’ing that you ran with it.
The main criticism I’d have is the library having possession of the Wand of Orcus. Even if it ended up there, I can’t see him letting it stay there too long. Maybe something like the Sword of Kas, if you want some relic-level weapon.
And you know if the players go there, they’re all going to want those books that give you +2 to ability scores.
I haven't gotten around to reading the Magicians novels yet but we did watch the series (well we haven't gotten around to finishing the last season yet, but its on the list). My wife, who is in the party, and I are suckers for the magic library/warehouse genre of shows, and the rest of the party all have similar tastes, so I think they will like it.
It really was just complete throwaway flavor, they were looting the room (the lair of a mad mage they defeated) and asked to examine the bookshelves, I had neglected to plan anything for the bookshelves and they rolled a 20 on their investigation check, so made it up on the spot. Ever since they've been carrying it around trying to get it identified or figure out what it is. If they ever ask, I am ABSOLUTELY claiming it was my plan all along, lol
That's a good point about Orcus and the wand and I actually went back and forth on the BBEG being him or Vecna. The lore says that "Orcus allows the wand to slip from his grasp from time to time. When it does, it magically appears wherever its master senses an opportunity to achieve some fell goal." I may switch it back to him, he already has his Cult of Orcus followers so I can use them as the low level bad guys to work through before figuring out it's Orcus, and I can have the presence of the Wand of Orcus acting as an anchor letting his cultists sneak in the Library and steal things. If the party figures that out and stops it from happening, that can be the cause of Orcus attacking the Library himself. Then the party is technically partially responsible for causing the attack.
The Sword of Kas is a great idea as an alternative, and thematically works with Vecna as the BBEG, and the party's main spell slinger is the cleric, and he wouldn't want to wield such an evil object, but they do have a Barbarian and a Fighter who would both be cool with the Sword.
Great ideas, thanks!!
I skimmed it and I have not one clue what most of those items are, but from what I read, it's an incredible story idea. I wonder though, do they only hold dark objects and items? Maybe they have the book of exalted deeds which they are trying to keep out of the hands of people who would use it for good. Maybe they also carry the overpowered talismans, the talisman of pure evil and I forget the name of the other one. If so, they'd probably keep the good relics in the LE and locked in a sort of shadow shield case that would b very difficult for the party to destroy.
No, they hold artifacts and items of all sorts, good and bad and neutral, those are just the ones I had specifically identified at this stage as definitely being housed there as I was working out the story for who the BBEG will be and why they would be trying to get to the Library. I'm going to come up with a bunch of additional ones that are housed there that could potentially aid the party if they manage to find them.
It looks like the basis for a good story! This is not very substantial but the monster names seem like they could use work, so here are some suggestions I plucked from a thesaurus:
Librarian Eternal: The Bibliognost
High Librarian: Bibliosoph
Traveler Librarian: Bibliothecary
Head Librarian: Curator
Collector Librarian: Antiquarian
Normal Librarian: Archivist
I also feel that there should be some sort of corrupt or undead librarians, and possibly even a corrupted outpost full of bilbioghasts or whatever. Maybe put it in a necropolis or on a dead world.
I like the idea for different names, the names as they exist now are placeholders as much as anything
Ok, but are all of the LE librarians evil? Because if they are, that may change how certain items are stored. Good aligned artifacts would likely be held by dark magic to prevent any good-aligned trespassers from using them, just a thought. :)