The Wizard's Library

The caravan of Polume the Farer was assailed on the Spice Road somewhere north of the great city of Obn. The assailants were a company of six falchios, together with a whirlwind they had, somehow, mustered and bound in plasmic chains. They set their captive whirlwind upon the caravan, whose carts it battered and rocked violently, breaking their appurtenances, disordering their furniture, and altogether enraging the buffalo harnessed to them. The six falchios bade the whirlwind forbear and shouted their demands. The caravan must give half of its commerce over, in good time and tidy order, or they would release their whirlwind again, and further, give it leave to murder the caravaneers, which, they avowed, it would do with gusto.

Polume the Farer submitted to no further inconvenience. With a word they dissolved the plasmic chains holding the whirlwind captive. With a gesture they turned it back upon its erstwhile commanders. The falchios flew ahead of it away down the rocky scarp, howling in dismay, and no one knows where they went next or which of them were thrown into the sky or smashed among the sliding stones...

The Wizard's Library

The Wizard's Library is a collection of three 1st- and 2nd-level spellbooks for use with the Wizard's Grimoire or the Thief & the Necromancer. By studying them, unlocking their secrets, and mastering the dangers within, you can follow in the footsteps of the great and the wise!

The first spellbook is the Dictum of Polume the Farer, an easy and useful 1st-level grimoire. It includes such spells as a scampering lantern, a plasmic mirror, and plasmic hornets.

The second spellbook is the Red Tome of Salabrusto the Wise, a powerful 2nd-level grimoire. Salabrusto the Wise was a traveler between worlds, and his spellbook includes such spells as invoking a howling otherworldly wind, summoning an alien psyche, and rupturing the membrane separating the worlds.

The third spellbook is the Three Scrolls of Jorvelte Wild-Crown, a demanding 2nd-level grimoire. It instructs its student in the art of enchantment, and includes such magical creations as the salve of vertiginous assent, the charm of the sacrificial effigy, and the deadly and powerful baton of glimmering menace.

The Wizard's Library also includes new alternate rules for studying your grimoires between sessions, solitaire. This way you can reserve your play sessions for adventures and other pursuits.

Warning

If you bring these spellbooks with you to your D&D game, I don't know what will happen.

System & Dice

The Wizard's Grimoire series uses a dice pool version of Powered by the Apocalypse's moves. Here they're called exertions, and they describe how you exert yourself to get things done:

• You can exert your empathy to study and understand someone.
• You can exert yourself mentally to study and grasp a situation's nuances.
• You can exert yourself physically against the mass and momentum of an uncooperative or unsensible thing.
• You can exert yourself violently against an enemy.

...And so on.

When you exert yourself, roll a number of 6-sided dice and count the 4s, 5s, and 6s as hits. Each hit you roll gives you an option, a chance, or a better outcome.

Content Warning

Content warning: Moderate fantasy violence. Moderate fantasy horror, including necromancy, body horror, magical enslavement, magical parasites, and questions of personhood.

Suitable for adults, young adults, and teens.

The Files

Free Downloads: The Wizard's Library doesn't have any printouts of its own, but if you need a wizard character sheet or a necromancer character sheet to play, you can find them in The Wizard's Grimoire's printouts or The Thief and the Necromancer's printouts.

The Wizard's Library eZine (pdf) is the digital version of the rules and grimoires.

The Wizard's Library - SPOILERS (pdf) contains the secret sections from all three grimoires. As you unlock them and bring them into play, you might need to print them, so they're collected here in printout form.

The Wizard's Library - Plaintext (txt) is the plaintext versions of the rules and grimoires.

The Zine

The Wizard's Library is the fifth issue of the Wizard's Grimoire zine series. Other issues include:

The Wizard's Grimoire: You're a conjurer, scholar, rogue, and minor wizard, and you've come into possession of an ancient and powerful grimoire. Will it see you to triumph and the achievement of your every ambition, or will you destroy yourself in the pursuit?

The Barbarian's Bloody Quest: A wizard murdered and enslaved your people. Now you're on a bloody quest for revenge. Let all wizards beware!

The Last Adventure: You’re dead, once a hero, but now old, alone, and dead in the land of death. Will you answer the calling voice? Will you seek the sup of oblivion? Or will you end your last adventure on your own terms?

The Thief & the Necromancer: You’re friends, a thief and a necromancer, both leaving behind oppressive situations, taken together in mutual amity. Let the world marvel at what you will together accomplish.