Can anyone point me to a tome of arcane knowledge that even Boccob wouldn't mind seeing destroyed? I'm trying to send a party after an evil tome of arcane lore at the behest of Boccob's clergy and I'm stuck on one that would fit.
Books Boccob wouldn't like.
Fri, 2006-09-01 11:27
#1
Books Boccob wouldn't like.
Fri, 2006-09-01 16:20
#3
Books Boccob wouldn't like.
The Arcanum of Contradictions
This large, carefully bound libram contains a consice listing of all known planar magics and effects. However, they are all wrong. Unfortunately for the reader, the effects are true for them. For instance, a mage thinking of going to Pandemonium might look it up in the book and read that one of the common planar hazards there is the deadly silence that can drive a man mad. Later, while traveling in Pandemonium, that mage will act as though silenced, but still have to make the will saves to avoid wisdom damage. This sort of thing may not seem very destructive, but is quite troublesome to the workings of magic and can cause permanant damage in the form of dead magic and wild magic zones when the book is overused.
A book of knowledge that can be very useful in the right sort of situations, but which can harm magic in general seems like the sort of thing that Boccob would be interested in keeping under wraps.
Then again, I really like the idea of the Book of Ignorance above, too 
Fri, 2006-09-01 16:24
#4
Books Boccob wouldn't like.
*Double post*
Fri, 2006-09-01 23:38
#5
Books Boccob wouldn't like.
The problem with a book filled with lies and deceits is that even a lie is still information, and I can imagine Boccob having many books that are packed full of knowledge that's completely wrong. Just the fact that it is wrong is a type of information he may see as important.
The Book of Ignorance contains absolutely no information at all. There's not a single snippet of text in the whole thing--all it does is present the reader with a funhouse mirror of their own perspective, enhancing it to make it seem all the more beguiling. The result is that instead of learning something, the reader just becomes all the more assured that they are right, to the point of madness.
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The Book of Ignorance (Artifact)
Crafted by God-knows who for God-knows what reason, the Book of Ignorance is a leather-bound tome nearly a foot thick, three feet wide, and three feet tall. An obscenely grinning goblin appears on the cover, with a lockable metal buckle strapped over its cover. Any attempts to identify it magically with a spell lower than 8th level reveals it to be capable of casting Legend Lore once per day. When targeting something the user is unfamiliar with (but they at least know the name), the Book of Ignorance will allow them to treat the target as if they were intimately familiar. Additionally, the book allows any reader to take 20 on any trained Knowledge check, and 10 on any untrained Knowledge check (the normal rules for taking 20 and taking 10 apply).
This use of the book is deceptive, however. The book contains not even a single scrap of information--all information supplied is merely a pollutted reflection of the user's own mind. All knowledge acquired through Legend Lore and the necessary Knowledge checks will simply confirm the suspicions of the character. Knowledge checks made with the book are actually useless (the checks always supply faulty information based on the reader's biases), and the Legend Lore spell only exagerrates what the reader already knows (or just believes). The book presents the reader's views back to them so seductively that those who read the Book of Ignorance often become absolutely convinced that their worldview is superior, no matter what it may be. Whenever someone uses the Book of Ignorance's Legend Lore ability or attempts a Knowledge check with it, they must make a Will save (DC: 30) or permanently lose a single point of Wisdom. This point can only be regained through means of a Wish or Miracle, and then only one point at a time.
If someone uses a divination spell of 8th level or higher (including a Wish spell) to identify the book, its true nature is revealed.
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Of course, this isn't a book of arcane knowledge, which means it isn't exactly what the OP requested. Seeing how Boccob's all about arcane knowledge, that's a tough one to meet. Maybe you should change the definition to a book Boccob wants for himself, because anyone else who had it would abuse it? But if not, then how about a book of arcane knowledge that contains spells to actively destroy knowledge? Literally, a spell-book that can wipe out other spell-books. Other spells. Permanently erasing them from existence. A sentient (or just magic) spell-book which has become convinced of the idea that knowledge is worth more when no one else has it.
Now that would be something Boccob would want annihilated ASAP.
Additional ideas include an Arcane spellbook with a type of 'virus spell' which isn't a spell at all, but once memorized by a Mage actually wipes spells from the Mage's memory and starts eating their intelligence, or stealing their brain-power to fuel some insidious Illithid plot or something. Just imagine the sort of chaos that might be caused by a type of spell that, upon memorization, does nothing but charms the memorizer into scribing itself into more spell-books and more scrolls, with some sinister intent in mind*.
Lots of weird/crazy angles you could stab from here.
* You know, I think I'm going to use something like this idea for later. DIBS ON MEMETIC SPELL VIRUSES!
Sat, 2006-09-02 10:41
#6
Books Boccob wouldn't like.
Here's some more potentially useful fun. Sorry if I'm overloading this thread, it's just a subject I love.
Spell-Tricks are a particularly nasty breed of knowledge created by a Psionic who was sick and tired of Mages running the show. The result are spells that appear to be one thing on paper, but are actually something completely different once memorized. Identifying a Spell-Virus requires a Spellcraft or Knowledge (Arcana) check of DC: 25 + spell level. Otherwise, the spell is identified as whatever spell its supposed to appear as per the normal rules.
Deceiving Spell-Tricks are probably the least immediately harmful. These Spell-Tricks appear as one spell (Fireball, or Magic Missile, for instance) but are actually a completely different spell (usually a fire-and-forget one, so the Mage can't capitalize on the situation and control the spell somehow). Spells cast on a target still strike the target as normal, just with the new intended spell-effect. If the real spell is of the sort that couldn't hit the target, the spell hits the nearest target it can hit. Once the deception is revealed, the Mage may cancel or control the spell as if they had casted it normally.
Unforgettable Spell-Tricks are potentially the most dangerous for any Mage who memorizes too many. They appear to be a normal spell, but one memorized, do absolutely nothing. They can't even be cast. Additionally, they cannot be forgotten. Instead, they just sit in the Mage's spell-slot, taking up space for a spell that would actually do something. Unforgettable Spell-Tricks can only be forgotten with a Greater Restoration spell, Wish, or Miracle. Rarely will PCs come across more than a single Unforgottable Spell-Trick, but there are rumors of entire spell-books filled with them. Such spell-books represent a terrible danger to the careless Mage.
Whenever a Mage memorizes a Viral Spell-Trick, the Spell-Trick actively goes through their repertoire of spells, destroying them. The Wizard is unlikely to realize this until they try to cast one of the spells the Spell-Trick has all ready destroyed. Viral Spell-Tricks destroy one random spell every hour, starting with the spells of the same level it was memorized at and then working its way down to 0th level spells. Mages can forget a Viral Spell-Trick as if it were a normal spell, but if they cast it, nothing happens.
And finally, the Living Spell-Trick. Identical to an Unforgettable Spell-Trick, except that instead of doing nothing but taking up space, the Living Spell-Trick is actually considered a sentient magical item (Int: 22, Wis: 18, Cha: 17, Ego: 20) who can present himself as an illusionary image to the Mage that only he can see. Living Spell-Tricks are often created with some maligned agenda, and will often try to spread themselves (by convincing the wizard to scribe them into a spell) and convincing someone else (or a lot of someone elses) to memorize them in exchange for not bugging the hell out of the caster. Living Spell-Tricks cannot do anything overtly harmful, but can create up to a -4 penalty on all a character's rolls by tricking their senses with illusionary stimuli. True Seeing and other illusion-breaking effects renders the Living Spell-Trick harmless for the duration. Unlike Unforgettable Spell-Tricks, Living Spell-Tricks can only be removed through Wish or Miracle. They are by far the rarest of all Spell-Tricks.
I imagine Living Spell-Tricks being capable of doing a LOT MORE evilness, and actually having agendas that were invested in them upon creation (maybe they want to get the WORLD to memorize them, so they can actually exist). Again, this is only the tip of the iceberg--there's SO MUCH nastiness you can do with these sorts of ideas, and I'm just scraping the very tip off and showing it to you. But anyway, one book Boccob would absolutely positively want destroyed is a book with a Living Spell-Trick who wants to destroy all other spells (no more competition!).
Another idea I'd play around with are... Well, you know how in D&D, there are spells that create symbols or runes that upon reading, explode, kill you, or drive you insane? What about symbols or runes or even entire formulas that, upon reading, do something like implanting a version of the Living Spell-Trick in you? Or something similarly nasty that's more long-term and dangerous.
Boccob's going to want to destroy any sort of living memory or living information/knowledge that actively destroys/corrupts other knowledge, as the risk of allowing it to exist (and spread, destroying/corrupting knowledge on its way) is just too great.
The Book of Ignorance.
A book which actually hurts knowledge. Supposed to contain all known information, it actually only tells the reader exactly what they want to hear, and does it so well that they ignore any evidence to the contrary.
Something like that strikes me as a book Boccob would want very much destroyed, since it actually contains absolutely no knowledge and does nothing but reflect one's own ignorance back upon the reader.
If you're interested I can give you some mechanical stats and more information on the book, but I have to run to work soon and so I probably won't be back for a few hours (7 or
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Additionally, books that destroy knowledge (anything you write in this book becomes unknown? not sure how that would work) or any book which contains no useful knowledge and is actually detrimental to knowledge would fit.