Letters from the Flaming Crab: Libraries

Letters from the Flaming Crab is a monthly series of Pathfinder-compatible supplements. Each Letter focuses on exploring a different topic to give gamemasters and players new, exciting options that can be dropped into any campaign.

Within Libraries, we introduce rules and guidance on inserting libraries into a fantasy society!

First, we give a brief history of libraries from 2600 BCE to 1850 CE before defining them.

Then we introduce new categories for library statblocks to help you build believable libraries: Type, Access, Circulation, and Audience.

We give an example for each of the following library types: Academic (Dwarven Mining College Library), Children's (Jolly Charred's Wagon of Wonder), Lost (Mistress Sandwind's Opera Omnia), National (Museum Verborum Dierum), Private (The Court of Lishaz), Public (Library of the Sunken City), Reading Room (Lidiana's Book Nook), Religious (The Temple of Healing's Medical Collection), Research (The Eccentric Professor's Library), and Virtual (MILI the Skyshard).

We also detail document types, such as clay tablets, parchment scrolls, tattooing, and so forth. The shape a document takes can be as important to understanding a civilization as the information it contains.

For games with a strong investigation focus, we introduce a Fluency subsystem for Linguistics to bring some nuance to the skill and allow characters to be Competent, Fluent, and Proficient in languages.

For characters with an academic leaning, we have a handy table with the list of currently existing academic character options, magic items, and spells. In addition, we introduce the Library cleric subdomain, the Words oracle mystery, and the Bookring magic item.