BLUE WIZARD MANC:

SARADON'S BOOK OF LEARNING 

Saradon Leethrun Leruthpelf

This is a plain book of many pages. Finely crafted and intricately decorated in any style the creator wishes. Once created anyone may write in the book, using fine artistry and great illumination, they may write a manual on one topic, knowledge, or skill, that can be learned through reading to some extent. The writer not only must make the magical book and prepare the topic, but must also make a related skill roll on the topic, to place down all the information as they wish it to be documented.

To create the book takes someone with the skill to make a book; materials such as paper or parchment and the leather and binding materials may all be purchased separately or made from scratch by the creator which lowers the power by 2 levels; and takes typically 2 days before the book is ready for writing in. The writing time itself depends largely on the writer's skill and time available. There is no minimum time in which the writing must be completed once the book has been made and the closing chant created.

The total number of pages needed to write down a topic is equal to the writer's Rating for that skill, to a minimum of 5 pages. The time it takes to write the topic down is in days equal to: 1 day per page, minus the writer's total of their Writing Result.

The Writing Result is derived from the writer's Artistry: Writing Rating or INT and DEX + Artistry or INT and DEX alone (Occult skill can be used instead of Artistry, but the Rating is reduced by 75% before rolling):

• If the character has the skill Artistry: Writing, the Writing Result is equal to the difference between their Artistry: Writing Rating and the roll result in days. Failure in this skill roll results in the time of 1 day per page needed.
• If the character does not have Artistry: Writing but does have Artistry, then the Writing Result is the total of the difference of success roll to the Rating of this skill plus their INT and DEX both divided by 10 in Movements. Failure in this skill roll results in the time of 1 day per page needed + 10 days.
• If the character does not have any Artistry skill then it is simply the result of their INT and DEX divided by 10 alone, resulting in the time being reduced by Passages + 10 days.

The percentage of success determines the bonus percentage that the reader gains, to learn the work. If the topic consists of many different skills the mean of these skill ratings should be determined. This rating is used as the Topic Rating. The Topic Rating is composed of 50% + the reader's (INT ÷ 10) + Manc Level (if any).

E.g. Saradon knows a little on fishing and wishes to teach Azure all she knows on the subject. But fishing is made up of the skills: Trapping, Hunting, River Lore, Rowing or Sailing, and Animal Lore. Saradon's suggested Rating in these skills are: Trapping 10, Hunting 5, River Lore 24, Rowing or Sailing are both 0, and Animal Lore 67, this gives a mean Rating of 10 + 5 + 24 + 0 + 67 ÷ 5 = 21.2 (round off) becoming 21. Azure's INT is 82, dividing this by 10 = 8.2 (round off) = 8 and a Manc level of 6. This total Topic Rating is then: 50 + 21 + 6 + 8 = 85% chance of the reader to learn the work.

Once finished being written, the work is safe until someone reads the entire volume. Anyone may read 100% of the work and treat it as a normal manual on the topic written down. They may learn something from the work, just as if they had read a normal manual on the topic. It matters not who reads how much until someone reads the entire book and then completes the final spell incantation. The text can be in any language or languages the writer desires, but the reader must be able to read the language also.

When the book has been first read completely and the incantation chanted, the reader then sees the pages of the book begin to turn by themselves back to the beginning, and the words disappear from the page and float ghost-like towards the completed reader and enter their body. Should the connection between reader and these words be blocked 100%, by a wall or Manc barrier of some sort, the learning fails and the work is wasted. Anyone else blocking the words to the reader does not gain the benefit of the Manc, it may either pass around the blocking person, or if it can not pass around them they disappear and the work is wasted. Once the words have lifted off the pages and entered the reader, the reader learns instantly all they have read as if they themselves were the writer and scholar of such knowledge. The reader gains an equal skill Rating to the writer on the topic. They do not learn anything about the subject that the writer did know but did not contain in their work. Once the book has divulged all of its knowledge, the book can again be used to write another topic or the same topic again.

Subjects able to be learned in this way include any single spell creation (not necessarily the ability), any knowledge skill, any theory behind a practical skill that the reader already knows how to perform to at least 25%, and languages to a Speak and Read level (not write) of 45%. Skills not able to be taught in this way include the intellectual or instinctive skills such as: Acrobatics, Artistry, Bardic, Camouflage, Contortion, Detect (sp), Disarm Traps, Find Traps, Hide In Shadows, Jumping, Listening, Marketwise, Memorising, Move Silently, Musician (sp), Oratory, Pick Pocket, Sailing, Spider Climb, Spot Hidden Objects, Streetwise, Timekeeping, and Ventriloquism. Combat abilities also are restricted in their learning potential. No throwing weapon proficiencies, no wild weapon proficiencies (such as whips, flails, nets, or clubs), no martial arts or unarmed combat, and no special abilities, lores, weapon flares or other innate abilities may be gained, other than in a theory knowledge form, from this Manc.

Saradon's Book Of Learning by default is a Foolscap Folio (13.5 x 8.5 inches) in size and contains 100 pages. Books may have more than 100 pages or be larger in size. For each book size increase the page equivalent is increased: Crown Folio 125 pages - Royal Folio 150 pages - Imperial Folio 200 pages. This does not increase the Power but adds 1 day per extra page as needed. The book size may stay the same but more pages placed in at creation, making a fatter book. This increases the Power level by 1 for each 50 extra pages or part thereof. Alternatively, the book may be made smaller, or with less pages. Either change also increases the Power by 1.

If the book is destroyed the Manc is also destroyed. Banish Manc removes the Manc from the book but leaves the text as it is. Restoration removes the Manc and the text, reverting it to a plane book.