Grimoires

[Malakor]

I'm starting to do write ups on the various areas, political and religious factions within the world (especially within the starting region), and I wrote up the following that sort of touches on all of the above, in addition to providing information about a Grimoire that sorcerously (sp?) inclined characters could possibly gain access to or start out knowing.

The Dragonspire

Located on the coast of the Inner Sea, guarding a pass that leads through the mountains into the Sea of Dust, Dragonspire is an independent community that has existed in the area since before the Corycc pathfinders first came to Lekarsha.

The Lord of Dragonspire, is the great, great, great grandson of the man who first took possession of the castle and who first laid forth the laws of the Wulf Clan. The first lord of dragonspire was McConnel Wulf, a minor djarran noble who was cast out of his family, Clan Redwulf, for daring to strike his elder brother (repeatedly), in order to keep him from raping a servant of the clan's manor. His attack was not prompted by any particular interest in the woman, simply in a sense of moral outrage at his brother's actions. McConnel was branded and disowned, and the woman, Alena Windsong, was declared outlaw (During the attack, she had given the elder Redwulf a solid kick in the man's exposed private regions and fled, shouting bloody murder).

McConnel came upon the woman upon the road as he was leaving the lands of his former family and asked if she would like to travel with him. She readily accepted and as the two traveled in search of a safe haven, he began to teach her the ways of the sword and the shield and the ways of the bow as well. She was a swift learner and proved to be an asset to him during their travels.

Eventually, they came upon an abandoned castle at the edge of the sea of dust. Likely the castle had been abandoned since the creation of the sea of dust, which, according to legend was at least 200 years prior to the present. Cautiously approaching the somewhat ruined castle, they found it to be mostly empty, except for a few restless dead, which were easily dealt with, and a large number of vermin, also easily dealt with. Carefully climbing the stone stairs to the tallest, most intact tower, they found at it's summit, the skull of a dragon, which had apparently crashed into the tower, and died there. The remainder of the skeleton was draped down the side of the tower, with a few bones scattered on the roofs and in the courtyard below.

The two decided that this was the place they wished to make their new home, and set to making parts of it livable. They decided to name the place dragonspire, after their bony tenant, and incorporated his skeleton into various repairs and bits of furniture that they made as they went along. Over a period of years, word spread of their residence, and of their history, and others began to show up, requesting shelter and building the new community. 'Lord' Wulf as he had come to be called, declared the primary rule of law for the community to be "Honor and Friendship." As long as all members acted with honor and treated the rest of the community as true friends, any disputes should be able to be settled. He appointed Alena Windsong as Master of Arms of the castle and his deputy. A few years after they arrived, a beautiful young lady from Artagili arrived, with her injured uncle in tow. The two were welcomed within the community, and it turned out that her uncle was a runelord within the order of the Spear of Artagilas, the primary religion of the Artagili. They joined Dragonspire and within two years, the niece, Freona, was wed to McConell, and her uncle, Brother Balbon, wed Alena Windsong.

As time passed, the castle was strengthened and many others joined the community. The Spear of Artagilas is no longer the religion of the Community, it has evolved into a cult known as the Honor of the Dragon Lord.

The current Dragon Lord is Maximillian Wulf, and the formidable Tara Windsong is his general and deputy.

Also within the community, there is a grimoire, some discovered, some developed and some remembered, but added to by many. This grimoire is carved along the walls of the northern catacombs of the castle and currently tended by Srikret du Phar, a sorcerer who has been at the castle for nearly 70 years. He is willing to take on new students, as long as they meet with the approval of the council, and promise to adhere to the rules of the community.

The Grimoire of the Dragonspire contains the following spells:
Abjure Water
Abjure Food
Abjure Air
Abjure Sleep
Attract Missiles
Banish
Damage Enhancement
Damage Resistance
Fly
Glow
Haste
Holdfast
Mystic Vision
Neutralize Magic
Protective Ward
Sense Undead
Teleport


NOTE
This campaign will be set in my home-brew world, so some of the place names will most likely not mean anything to you, I want to see if I've set up and described a location to where it would be of interest to players and list a grimoire to be available

thanks for any information

 

[Loz]

Wow... that's a LOT of spells in a Grimoire...!

Still, sounds interesting - and good luck with things!

 

[Deleriad]

Wow... that's a LOT of spells in a Grimoire...!

That brings up an interesting point: how many spells in a grimoire?

I've been trying to figure out God Learner grimoires and they seem to be pretty hefty to say the least.
The Abiding Book, going by Cults 2 has a lot.

Now I can imagine that something as important as the Abiding Book would have a lot of spells but would a middling order only have a half-dozen spells in a grimoire? More? Fewer?

Obviously, your RQ will vary but it is useful to know what the authors think. Possibly also important for Living Glorantha as I suspect that the major grimoires will have to be detailed and guidelines given for creating new ones.

 

[Malakor]

I sort of wondered the same thing myself, as regards how many spells in a grimoire. . . I have tentatively decided to just go with what feels right based on my setting and the history it has, and the other grimoire's I've made notes on so far have variety to them, those that are in the control of an organization or very powerful sorcerer may have more, some have less. I've actually got two or three written up that have several more spells in the grimoire than what Dragonspire has, with a number of differences between them.

I haven't found any guidelines (entirely possible that I've overlooked them), for how many spells from the Grimoire the character has access to, so I'm assuming all of them / as many as he wishes to or can memorize.

One thought I have on having somewhat extensive grimoires in certain areas (and most of the ones I'm writing up initially are those that the characters would have a reasonable chance of being associated with or having had access to if they have studied sorcery), is that the existence of spells being nearby that they didn't have 'space' to memorize but may have need of someday will encourage them to maintain their connections with the owners of those grimoires.

 

[Simulacrum]

It makes sense that an "order" may have a big old Grimoire with shed loads of spells in it. However for my purposes (and my setting) I'm presuming that a decent sized grimoire may have six-eight spells, and an average one maybe four or five or a similar number of versions of the same spell (e.g. "The Book of Abjurations"). A sorcerer needs a reaosnable number of spells in one Grimoire to give him a good start in life, but it should not be so much as to prevent them questing for more, and some really desireable spells may only exist as stand-alone copies.

If The Abiding Book is too much of a gift you could always, if it suited your game, break it down into chapters with separate Grimoire skills, assuming it is compiled in different styles and with different approaches to the content.

 

[Malakor]

That's an interesting Idea GeneralPanic. . . I'll have to give that some thought, thanks

 

[Malakor]

I dropped a couple of spells from the Dragonspire Grimoire, and taking some of the comments above into mind, adjusted some of the others I had originally considered as I wrote them up. The adjusted Dragonspire Grimoire contents are. . .

The Grimoire of the Dragonspire contains the following spells:
Abjure Water
Abjure Food
Abjure Air
Abjure Sleep
Attract Missiles
Banish
Damage Enhancement
Damage Resistance
Glow
Haste
Holdfast
Mystic Vision
Neutralize Magic
Protective Ward
Sense Undead

==========================

The Grimoire of the Laughing Bear

Deep in the hills of Djarr, in a large compound surrounded by a wooden palisade, lies the House of the Laughing Bear.

The House of the Dancing Bear is led by Bjorn Hragnarson, a huge, brown haired man of even temperament, who is a generous and gracious host to any who do not offer violence within his walls.

Bjorn accepts students based on his personal reaction to them, and has been known to toss out a student who has angered him, only to allow him back at a later date.

He never charges his students for his teaching, but graciously accepts any donations and gifts that are brought by his potential friends.

The Grimoire of the Laughing Bear is carved on a series of wooden posts that are kept in a large, circular room with no ceiling that is located in the center of the compound. The language of the Grimoire is Auld Djarra (a dialect of Djarran -20% difficulty modifier), and contains the following spells:

Abjure Pain
Animate Wood
Attract Spirits
Banish
Mystic Vision
Restoration
Shapechange Human to Ursine
Telepathy
Treat Wounds

===========================
The Andrashi Grimoire

In 474 CR, during the beginnings of the Karist uprising against the government of Leshan, Ursula Andrashi, a young Warden of the City-State of Clest and her protective guard were travelling to Leshan to offer their services as mediators in the brewing troubles, the City-State having had dealings with the Karist barbarians for a number of generations.

During the course of the trip, the Clestian party fell victim to a mud and rockslide as they traversed a mountain pass at the northernmost edges of Karist claimed territory. Several of Ursula's party died before anyone found them, and the rest, including Warden Andrashi herself, lost consciousness and were rapidly approaching the embrace of Thanatos.

They were happened upon by a small hunting party of Karist, who dug the victims from the rubble, buried the dead and took the survivors to a nearby cave, where they treated them as best they were able while one of their number went to summon a nearby shaman. All of the party from Clest died, from the wounds they sustained from the rockfall, except for one soldier, Ivan who lost the use of an arm and a leg, and Ursula, who unfortunately, did not recover from her wounds for nearly six months, by which time, the revolt was well underway and fighting was fierce. Ursula and Ivan, along with the two hunters who had stayed with them during their recovery returned to Clest. Ivan was pensioned by the Andrashi family for his wounds and since he was an intelligent and literate young man, wound up working his way up to position of chancellor of the Andrashi household, eventually marrying and fathering several children.

Ursula continued her studies in magic, a few years later marrying Wakana Sharad "Silent as Owl's Wings" who had been one of the hunters who remained by her side during her convalescence. The other Karist, Makali Doara "Fierce as Cave Bear" became the Master at Arms of Ursula's Estate near the pass that leads to the Sea of Dust from Clest.

Ursula takes on the occasional student, only accepting those who reveal themselves as free from prejudice towards the Karist, and whom she feels have no agenda against the city state of Clest. The Andrashi Grimoire is a very large tome, that measures 24" tall by 24" wide by 8" thick when closed. The current covers of the book are thick ironwood covered with the hide of a Cave Bear that Doara and Sharad slew when it ventured onto the estate four years ago and had begun attacking the sheep. The Leather is engraved with the symbol of the Rune of Communication, that is inlaid with pure silver. The information in the tome is written in Lekari

The following spells are detailed within the tome:

Animate Wind
Damage Resistance
Diminish Size
Enhance Charisma
Form/Set Stone
Glow
Mystic Vision
Neutralise Magic
Regenerate
Sense Gems
Treat Wounds

=================

There are two other Grimoires in the region that I haven't gotten a chance to write up yet (I'm doing these at work in between jobs), I'll include them after I get a chance to write them up.

 

[Malakor]

The Croslyn Grimoire

Port Croslyn is the seat of Duke Aeric Cros, who was elevated to the seat of Duke when his father was killed during the Karist uprising of 475. Duke Cros has a younger brother, Marcus, who has dedicated a good portion of his life to studying sorcery. Lord Marcus has accumulated a fairly large grimoire over the years, and only takes on students or allows access to the grimoire to those he considers loyal to the Empress, the Prince and to the city of Port Croslyn.

The Croslyn Grimoire is written in Corycc, and is kept in a safe place within the Ducal Residence, somewhere in Marcus' wing of the building. It is a large book, approximately 30" tall x 18" wide by 10" thick when closed. The Cover is bound in the greenish, scaly leather of a Kraken, and has the Cros Seal and the Law Rune engraved on the front and embossed in a goldish metal.

The Croslyn Grimoire contains the following spells:
Animate Clay
Attract Missiles
Attract Magic
Banish
Castback
Damage Resistance
Form/Set Clay
Hinder
Mystic Vision
Palsy
Sense Undead
Sense Chaos
Sense Fey
Shapechange Human to Avian
Spirit Resistance

 

[Malakor]

For the moment, the final one. . . The Black Grimoire


Lorcin the Black is a notorious sorcerer who currently resides in the Dockside Quarter of the city of Baalbekis. His reputation varies, depending upon who you ask, some spit when his name is mentioned and swear that he is a blackguard of the lowest type, others claim that he is a champion for the Light who simply does whatever has to be done to help people.

The truth is most likely found somewhere in between, but one thing is certain, anyone who will admit to having studied his Grimoire is loath to speak of him in any manner, regardless of the consequences. This, of course, leads to it's own set of rumors.

What is known is that the Black Grimoire is written in Ancient Akuri, a very rare language and that it contains the following spells:
Abjure Heat
Abjure Cold
Animate Dead Flesh
Animate Bones
Attract Magic
Banish
Castback
Diminish Intelligence
Hinder
Mystic Vision
Palsy
Regenerate
Restoration
Sense Life
Sense Bones
Smother
Spell Resistance
Spirit Resistance
Tap Strength
Tap Intelligence
Wrack

 

[PhilHibbs]

I'd say those grimoires have about twice as many spells as I would expect - that's ok for your own setting, any setting can vary from the default "Glorantha-ish" one in terms of the availability of magic. Even if divine cults have a similarly extended list, individuals are still limited by the Dedicated POW mechanic so bear in mind that you are boosting sorcery's usefulness compared to divine in terms of game balance.

 

[Rurik]

I'd say those grimoires have about twice as many spells as I would expect - that's ok for your own setting, any setting can vary from the default "Glorantha-ish" one in terms of the availability of magic. Even if divine cults have a similarly extended list, individuals are still limited by the Dedicated POW mechanic so bear in mind that you are boosting sorcery's usefulness compared to divine in terms of game balance.

Remember though that each spell still has to be learned as well.

Cast Grimoire does NOT mean you automatically know all spells in that grimoire. Each spell has to be learned (similiar to learning an advanced skill). It is just that once learned you cast it with the Grimoire skill rather than having to increase it separately.

 

[Lord High Munchkin]

I'd personally halve the number of spells in each grimoire... each of those has a lot more than I'd allow a starting sorcerer to have potential access to.

Are you going to limit the choices (and I'd still halve the number) by rank?

 

[PhilHibbs]

Cast Grimoire does NOT mean you automatically know all spells in that grimoire. Each spell has to be learned (similiar to learning an advanced skill). It is just that once learned you cast it with the Grimoire skill rather than having to increase it separately.

Really? The rules say that a Sorceror can change the spells they have memorized from a Grimoire in D6 hours, there's no mention of buying them like Advanced Skills in the Character Creation chapter.

While searching, however, I did find this at the top of Page 27:

If a Grimoire needs to be developed from scratch, it will contain
up to four Sorcery spells appropriate to the sorcery order’s nature and teachings.

So there's a guildeline, 4 spells in a Grimoire. I'd say if a player wants to make up their own Grimoire, they get to choose 4 spells and the GM adds another three. GMs should feel free to make grimoires with more than 7 spells if they think it is balanced.

 

[Rurik]

Really? The rules say that a Sorceror can change the spells they have memorized from a Grimoire in D6 hours, there's no mention of buying them like Advanced Skills in the Character Creation chapter.

This was cleared up in an earlier thread. The intent was up to 4 starting spells for free at chargen. I'll try to find the link.

It is clear about learning spells in the Acquiring Sorcery section on page 129

 

[PhilHibbs]

It is clear about learning spells in the Acquiring Sorcery section on page 129

Ah, so it is.