"I Search the Bookcase!" eight random rolling tables to populate your libraries Random Book Titles, Authors, and Content Use the table below to roll for random books a character might find in a library or on a bookshelf. If the books belong to an important NPC, consider what their interests are, what their bookcases might look like, and what knowledge they would have gained from the books that they own. Feel free to augment or supplement the following table with your own ideas! Books 1d100 Book Name Author Contents 1-2 Bridge to Heaven Bruvin Darryo Planeshifting methods to travel to Elysium 3-4 What Prowls at Night Theus Wolfsbane Collection of werewolf sightings 5-6 Derytthic ("Rituals") Grokdos Spearbone Orcish ritualistic ceremonies 7-8 History of Elfin Wine Araina Reshtir Collection of historical elven orchards 9-10 The Sharp End Linus the Adventurer Swordfighting tips for beginners 11-12 A Tale of Giants Malayna Quasiv Account of the hunting of a clan of frost giants 13-14 True Ley Lines Unknown Hypothetical mapping of arcane ley lines 15-16 Borzog the Destroyer Borzog the Destroyer Inflated account of Borzog's endeavours 17-18 Gnomish Kin Yalenna Stone Genealogical reconstruction of gnomish heritage 19-20 The Webs Below Porthos Avoren Account of an encounter with driders 21-22 Mountainous Desires Babessa Puman Romantic fiction between a goliath and an elf 23-24 Conjuring Success Master Wan Amateur's guide to conjuration magic 25-26 7 Unknown Theory that everything is tied to the number 7 27-28 The Bearclaws part 3 Minnie Darova Part in a series about the fictional adventuring group 29-30 The Astral Sea Hellian Collection of dangers found in the Astral Sea 31-32 Navigation Captain Royce Basic guide to navigating on sea using the stars 33-34 Power of Fire Tartaros Overview of the uses of fire magic and arcane flames 35-36 The Ice Time Torop Bruska Guide to farming during multi-year winters 37-38 Beyond the Red Gate N. Otade Vil Structure and topographical overview of the Nine Hells 39-40 Worship of Ilmater Unnamed priest Guide to ceremonies, dress and prayer to Ilmater 41-42 The Twelve Unknown Account of the shattering of the Deepblade into 12 43-44 The Planes The Wayfinder Incomplete and incorrect overview of the Planes 45-46 Sending and Finding Master Kraven Guide to spells that send messages or find objects 47-48 Soothserum Unknown Step-by-step guide to brewing the illegal soothserum 49-50 Halfling Architecture Meynas Brinn Technical sketches of halfling architectural styles 51-52 To the Bottom F. Ish Fake account of a city at the bottom of the sea 53-54 101 Mockeries Stegey the Bard Collection of vicious mockery insults 55-56 Taming of the Ewe Brindleback Guide to handling aggressive or dangerous sheep 57-58 Fantastical Blades Mervyn the Sage Overview of historically significant magical swords 59-60 Zero to Zero Unknown Tale of an urchin who becomes a hero and fails 61-62 Uses for Alicorn Jenna Brodiger Material uses for unicorn horn, for brewing or imbuing 63-64 99 Plants Herb Dingus Arbitrary, illogical and unordered list of random plants 65-66 The Fir Archdruid Zevan Account of how a fir tree gave Zevan druidic powers 67-68 Guide to Hemocraft Unknown Advanced guide to the uses of illegal hemomancy 69-70 Wood vs. Thatched Brennan Duryan Argumentative essay on using wood or straw for roofs 71-72 The Missing Link Maybel Hypotheses surrounding the murder of Levos Brin 1 I search the bookcase! | fifth edition rolling tables | written by dev-the-dm.tumblr.com
1d100 Book Name Author Contents 73-74 The Skull Lord Unnamed historian Account of how the sorcerer Eskalaidos became a lich 75-76 The King's Line Batueva Genealogical royal line going back five centuries 77-78 Arcane Grammar Desthys Vuorin Guide to grammatical mistakes in spellcasting 79-80 Love Unbound Elennia False account of her romance with a prince 81-82 The Silence Within Mu-Win Guide to channeling ki and controlling enemy ki 83-84 Oremur Vistav Ustenar Guide to deciphering and reading the oremur-script 85-86 Snake-People Unknown Account of an encounter with various yuan-ti 87-88 Driv's Adventures Nemyn Desvin Children's book about a dwarf child named Driv 89-90 Arcane Metallurgy Drakash Vertisn Guide to dwarvish metalcasting of magical hammers 91-92 Eight Eyes Unnamed thief Account of a thief who worked under a beholder 93-94 Eastern Riverfish Unnamed fisherman Overview of catchable fish in various rivers in the area 95-96 Meyistamev ("Bonds") Eristereav Mysteraniar Hypothetical overview of stars "bound together" 97-98 Arcana Unknown Extremely dry overview of historical use of magic 99-100 Significance Dav the Lover Overview of courtship and marriage in various cultures Book Materials, Color, Cover and General Appearance Use these tables to determine what the book looks like, what properties it has and whether a player can read it. Not all of the options within these tables may be compatible with the book contents in the table above. Options that end in a single asterisk (*) may give books unique properties, and could be used as plot hooks for adventures. Cover (roll 3 times) d8 Material Decorations Cover Color 1 Wood and leather Woodcut Black 2 Wood and cloth Engraved metal Red 3 Plain wood Painted Green 4 Embroidery Gold leaf Blue 5 Leather softcover Treasure binding* Brown 6 Layered vellum Metal corners White 7 Wraparound or tied Calligraphy Purple 8 No cover None Not colored Binding (roll 2 times) d6 Method Page Count 1 Coptic stitch binding 1-50 pages 2 Long stitch binding 50-100 pages 3 Girdle binding 100-250 pages 4 Stitched or stab binding 250-500 pages 5 Glued 500-1000 pages 6 Loose folios More than 1000 pages** **Books that contain more than 1000 (bound) pages may be contained in codices, multiple manuscripts or book series. Pages (roll 2 times) d4 Page Material Page Quality 1 Vellum or parchment Moldy or brittle 2 Papyrus Few tears 3 Paper Well-preserved 4 Leaves, bark, or other materials* New or spotless Penmanship (roll 2 times) d4 Types of Writing Writing Quality 1 Block letters Low, untrained, or illegible 2 Cursive Mediocre or scribbled 3 Calligraphy Excellent 4 Blackletter Masterful Language or Cipher (if Encrypted) d6 Language Cipher 1 Common Arcane cipher 2 Dwarvish Numerical cipher 3 Elvish Substitution cipher 4 Halfling Transposition cipher 5 Gnomish Musical cipher 6 Exotic Book cipher 2 ! | | --..
Additional Book Details and Features Use the following tables to give your books additional features or traits that make them stand out against the rest of the bookcase, or use the "Magical Properties" table to give your books a little extra power. Options that end in a single asterisk (*) may give books magical properties, and could be used as plot hooks for adventures. Special Book Features d20 Feature 1 The book is severly weathered or used. 2 The book has burn marks. 3 The book is missing several pages that have been ripped out. * 4 Most pages have handwritten notes in the margins. * 5 The book's cover has been reused from another book, and still has that book's title and author on it. 6 The book contains another chapter from a different book that has been bound into it. 7 The book has a crude map drawn into the cover. * 8 Some of the book's pages stick or are glued together. 9 The book's index contains a number of chapters that aren't in the book. 10 The book's cover has many arcane symbols drawn or painted on it. * 11 The book screams when it is opened. * 12 The book smells vaguely of perfume or refuse. 13 The book has extensive water damage. 14 Someone spilled a burning acid on the cover. 15 The book has multiple clasps or chains on it that keep it closed and locked. * 16 The book's pages are made from multiple different materials, alternated between sections. 17 The book is encrypted in an unknown script or cipher (see the "Language or Cipher" table). * 18 The previous owner of the book doodled pictures of themselves and their animal companions over the pages of this book. 19 Each of this book's pages starts with a cryptic sentence or message. * 20 This book was used as a spellbook by a wizard, or a hag or witch used it as a grimoire. * Page 2 image art from Final Fantasy, "Gran Grimoire" Page 3 image art from Pathfinder, "Psychic Manuscript" Magical Properties d201 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 3 ! | | --..