Hello,
One of the (minor) arc of my saga was finding the library of the PC's predecessors, and they finally did it!To reward them, they have already found useful books but I would like to add a bit of "fantasy" with a random table on which they can roll to find something unusual, like text labs for unique items, initiation script or something allowing to start a breakthrough or hermetic integration or basically anything except summae of art or something which give option not raw power
My saga is set in Wales but one of the magii has a huge interest in ancient Greece
Any suggestion ? The predecesor's known interests were: mechanic, Corpus (necromancy/medicine), ancient Greece/Pythagore, language, elemental magic, spirit, wales hedge magic and vim, but it could be something else: the interests of two of the previous magii are still unknown
Books on uncommon / rare Supernatural Abilities maybe? Something like that could certainly be used as a source of insight if that is what they like. Alternatively if it's an ability one of the players have, now they have a means of advancing further.
Maybe this Magus had one of tablets that could set the players on a path towards discovering Canaanite Necromancy?
An Initiation Script to Mathematicus (TMRE p.127f) for Hermetic Numerology (TMRE p.91)? Folded into the back off the Pythagorean's Numerologist's Book?
How about a map of interesting places? Instead of listing stone circles in Britian, a list of Caer Droia, with hints that the owners of the library hadn't figured out what they were for but with hints of things they have tried.
Caer Droia
In my campaign I have gone overboard with this. Troy was actually in Britain. The Hellespoint is really the pillars of Hercules, Scylla and caribdys are Mont saint michel. This was adapted from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where_Troy_Once_Stood
which is hilarous fiction but useful for us.
I added that Atlantis is actually Doggerland (destroyed by the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storegga_Slide) and most hubristically of all, since the campaign is set in the location of the present day Homerton College in cambridge, I decided that Homerton= corruption of Homer's Tomb. When they figured that out it was nice to temper the aura to give +1 to all books written there.
How appropriate: I don't know if I will use it for the newly discovered library, but thank you so much because but I am sure I'll use Caedroia in the quest to find Cantre'r Gwaelod!
Nice idea, a starting point to integrate Second Sight could be intersting
Thanks I need to read the rules but thematically it fits perfectly!
Seeing as the saga is set in Wales, a welsh themed idea:
The Mysteries Revised mentions that the order believe five of the great poets of Wales left daimones behind: Aneirin, Taliesin, Talhaearn Tad Awen, Blwchbardd, and Cian.
Aneirin is detailed in TM:RE and his spirit wanders the hills of Wales. It is especially strong in his tomb. It knows and can teach many names of power (a great hook for other stories related to spirits/theurgy)
Taliesin was allegedly a seer or prophet and is connected in mythology to both Bran the Blessed and King Arthur.
Talhaearn Tad Awen has no extant work so can be used in whatever way you want. We know little about him except that he was once considered the father of Welsh poetry.
Blwchbardd and Cian Gwenith Gwawd are similarly non-extant and we know nothing about them so they are blank slates as daimones. But they were famous enough to be listed alongside the other three by Nennius!
These five as daimones could be a great font of hooks into all sorts of mysteries and lost magics. In terms of the book maybe a "Life of the Poets" that has biographies of the five, and indicates the locations of their tombs? Or go more direct and have a grimoire with the names of power of their spirits. Or a middle ground - a damaged grimoire that is unusable (all the names of power are lost) but the undamaged portion indicates the names were learned from the spirits of the great poets and indicates how to contact them.