Arcane Books
The party walks into the wizard's study, and begins perusing the books on the shelf. Obviously, there should be some exciting titles on strange and eldritch subjects here, but... what, exactly? The following ten books may be just what you need.
1. The Written Ward: The Role of Runes in Protective Magic. This moderately-sized tome, written by Sorlis Hallistone, is bound in blue leather, with the title and author embossed on the cover and spine in gold. As its title states, it explores the role of runes in protective magic, and the author argues that runes are particularly common in abjuration spells because their physical presence anchors the magic of the spell to the target, and makes it harder to overcome.
2. Outer Contacts: An Apprentice’s Reference. The original author of this slim volume bound in black leather is unknown, but several different versions have been produced by a variety of different scribes. Each page details a different unique outsider of CR 4 or less, with information on what sorts of offerings it prefers from summoners, what sorts of tasks it can perform, and what topics it is likely to have particularly useful information on. The different versions have slight variations, and the number of unique outsiders included ranges from 54 to 96. A few editions are rumored to include false information that, if used, can make summonings go horribly awry.
3. Know Thyself: A Diviner’s Guide to Discerning the Truth. Written by Reuben Drestatos (who refers to himself in the book as “Reuben of the Third Eye”), this tall but very thin book is bound in reflective metal plates, and has gold-leaf on the edges of its pages. A quick, if occasionally tedious, read, it explains the importance of identifying one’s own wishes and desires and setting them aside before performing any divinations, so that the caster does not misinterpret the answers he receives, or, worse, subconsciously alter the divination spell entirely to provide misinformation.
4. Master of None: The Art of Subtlety in Enchantment. Written by Ms. Combus B. Senpff, this moderately-sized book is bound in plain brown leather, with the title on the spine, but not the cover. Over the course of 17 chapters, the author first outlines the reasons why it is desirable to rely as little on magic as possible when using spells to control the actions of others, and then goes on to explore some of the ways that skilled manipulators can get others to do what they want by making them think that it is what they, themselves, want, rather than through the magical equivalent of brute force, through spells like dominate person.
5. The Fifth Element: Harnessing the Power of Aether. This book, written by an unknown author, is bound in wood, with a thin covering of grey felt. It proposes that, in addition to the four traditional elements, a fifth element, known as aether, exists, and also falls into the domain of evocation. The author makes an impassioned argument for how force spells and spells such as telekinesis and fly are both harnessing this same power, and that the latter spells should be reclassified as evocation.
6. Deep Within the Maze. More a puzzle than a book, really, this unusual tome is written on 22 pieces of loose parchment, which are contained in a reversible leather folder that is red on one side and yellow on the other. The pages of the book can be arranged in numerous different orders, and due to clever wording (and, in some cases, special codes, such as only reading every third word), different arrangements cause the book to discuss very different topics, including creative writing, stagecraft, a treatise on painting light and shadows, and more. Seventeen different configurations are known to produce intelligible results, and of those seventeen, eleven describe various topics directly related to illusion, with the remaining six being tangentially related. Many scholars believe other configurations may exist, as well.
7. Advanced Corpse Preparation. This small black book has no listed author, and is completely unlabeled on the outside. Within are numerous treatises on preparing corpses for use as undead creatures, complete with incredibly detailed (and often stomach-turning) diagrams. As the title implies, the volume assumes the reader has a basic familiarity with preparing corpses for necromantic use, and focuses on techniques required for more exotic undead creatures, or more difficult techniques, such as conditioning the body while it's still alive in order to create a better zombie or skeleton.
8. The Shapeshifter's Dilemma. Bound in purple leather with gold writing, this thick book contains not only an extensive treatise on the impact of regular use of polymorph magic on the caster's sense of self and identity, but also several recorded statements on the topic, supposedly from other polymorph specialists, as well as a collection of poetry.
9. Spells Within Spells: Mastering Metamagic. Written by Pietro Nostrali, this fat volume is bound in red leather, and serves as a beginner's guide to metamagic. Despite its age, it is still on the curriculum at many arcane universities. In addition to a discussion of metamagic in general, the book contains enough information to learn both the Silent Spell and Still Spell feats, albeit with significant study.
10. The Many Forms of Magic. Written by Kabaz M. Anvitz, this rather plain-looking book serves as a first introduction to the world of magic, and is written for the completely uninitiated. It discusses many of the different magical disciplines, and the differences between them, illuminating why one might choose to become a wizard instead of a magus or witch, or vice versa, and contains suggested further reading for each such path.