Monster Lore
Libraries
Libraries can be used by player-characters to get one-time bonuses on a skill check, or to perform simple skill retraining between levels.
Research
Libraries can be used to grant one-time bonuses to a single skill check. After 1d4 hours of research, characters can make a roll on a skill of their choice and add a +4 circumstance bonus to the roll. This roll may be repeated after another 1d4 hours of research on the same topic, though the bonuses are not cumulative. Some libraries might not be capable of granting a research bonus to some skills (for example, a library in a city where magic is outlawed would not grant any research bonuses for Spellcraft or Knowledge: Arcana skills). Truly exceptional libraries might grant a larger bonus, while small or sparse libraries might grant a smaller bonus.
Skill Retraining
Spending a full day (8 hours) in a library can allow a player to permanently re-allocate 1 skill point from one skill to another. This same system may be used to allow characters to pick up a skill they do not already know. If this is used to add a rank to Linguistics, the time to learn the new language follows the rules presented on the Linguistics page.
Note that class-restricted skills cannot be learned in common libraries as this knowledge is often a carefully guarded secret. This use of libraries also does not allow a character to add more ranks to a skill than he has character levels. It is merely a way for players to perform some minor retooling of their character in addition to that provided by retraining upon leveling up.
Non-Magical Books
Some books can be read to provide special benefits. While these benefits are non-magical in nature, they are nonetheless useful, making such books rare and treasured. Books of this nature will not be found in libraries, but instead in private collections or even carried on the person of well-to-do creatures seeking to better themselves through learning.
Treasure values listed are what such a book might cost if bought from a merchant. Sale values will be half the listed value (or as adjusted by a diplomacy check). Treasure values are suggestions only, and more powerful or rare versions of the books should have higher values, as determined by the GM.
Field Guides
These books are illustrated guides to local flora and fauna in a specific geographic region of the world. The book can be used to grant a circumstance bonus to a monster lore check for a monster you can perceive, if you spend 1 minute looking it up in the book first. Some rare monsters and especially named creatures will not be in such books, but common creatures and plant-life of the area will have entries.
- Amateur Field Guide: +2 circumstance bonus, treasure value: 500 gp
- High-Quality Field Guide: +4 circumstance bonus, treasure value: 800 gp
- Detailed Field Guide: +6 circumstance bonus, treasure value: 1,200 gp
- Authoritative Field Guide: +8 circumstance bonus, treasure value: 2,000 gp
Adventurer's Diary
This journal can contain campaign-specific clues, or wild tangents for dungeons or buried treasure. The journals are not well known for their accuracy, completeness or honesty, but they can certainly add a little spice to a campaign. Notes about dungeons or buried treasure are usually either terribly incomplete (if they fully explored the dungeon, there'd be no reason to go there now), or full of riddles to prevent future readers (you!) from knowing where they buried their precious treasures. Of course, some adventurer diaries might point to such things because the author figured anyone reading it would be doing so over their dead body. Depending on their (former) alignment, this might mean it's not full of puzzles and codes and is just the plain, honest truth, or it might mean it's a trap to cause some random suffering from beyond the grave. Using a diary such as this typically requires 8 hours of study to pick out any of the good stuff, and the ability to reference it as needed if the party decides to follow up on the clues they find.
- Campaign-related clue: treasure value: 100 gp
- Blackmail material, juicy secrets, etc.: treasure value: varies
- Notes about a dungeon, or other site of interest: treasure value: 2,000 gp
- Notes about a buried treasure: treasure value: 4,000 gp