Tomes - An alternative to slot-based spells w/ 20 examples
In games like Cairn and Knave, characters can begin play with a spellbook containing a spell that emulates / reflects the low accessibility to magic that Magic-Users have in older versions of D&D. These spellbooks typically hold a single spell and take up a single inventory slot each. Some of the strains of these games allow for more than one spellbook based on the character's starting stats during character creation, but it averages out to roughly the level of 1 spellbook.
In my recent open table, I've replaced the starting spellbooks, along with the included spell lists, with Tomes containing 3 random spells all relating to a single theme. PCs that would get a spellbook during character creation get a Tome instead, and they get a choice of Tomes based purely on the names of the Tomes without knowing the spells if they would get multiple spellbooks. A Tome still takes up 1 inventory slot.
I did this because I like to use random spell generation from the likes of Nameless Grimoire and Maze Rats, but starting a new character and getting stuck with 1 spell named "Canary Blade" is a bit of a feelsbad moment. Giving that PC a "Tome of Canary" instead where you have access to Canary Blade, Summon Canary Flock, and Transmute Rats to Canaries gives the player more to go on. It's still a randomly generated theme and not one they would have picked normally, so I get to be happy pushing them out of their comfort zone. Everyone wins!
Follows are a list of 20 Tomes for use in your own games. You could also yoink the spells out and use them directly, this list also functions as d60 system-agnostic spells.
20 Tomes
- Tome of Cloaking
- Tome of Coils
- Tome of Dust
- Tome of Eyes
- Tome of Fists
- Tome of Inks
- Tome of Lighting
- Tome of Lightning
- Tome of Mirrors
- Tome of Mouths
- Tome of Rot
- Tome of Slime
- Tome of Sounds
- Tome of Spears
- Tome of Spheres
- Tome of Stone
- Tome of Swords
- Tome of Tangle
- Tome of Warding
- Tome of Wheels
Tome of Cloaking
Comrade's Cloak
The caster pulls up the hood of their cloak and joins the ranks of some specified faction. So long as the hood is up and they don't speak, members of that faction will see them as a friendly one of their members. Fails if any of the faction attempt to determine who they are specifically (though the spell does what it can to delay that impulse). Lasts an hour or until sunrise, whichever comes first.
Cloak of Camouflage
The caster's worn cloak takes on the appearance of the local dirt, sand, rocks and foliage. If they remain motionless or move very slowly, they're effectively invisible in all-natural locations. Lasts an hour or until sunrise, whichever comes first.
Air Cushion
This spell is cast in advance. If the caster falls more than 20', the caster's cloak billows outwards and catches them on a cushion of air, preventing them from hurting themselves with the fall. The spell lasts until the next sunrise.
Tome of Coils
Big Scary Snake
The caster forms an illusion of a Big Scary Snake adjacent to them. Any creature seeing the illusion will flee in fear from the Big Scary Snake unless they have good reason why not (such as: they saw you summon it). Snake follows the command of the caster but can't directly interact with the world. Lasts 10 minutes or until next sunrise, whichever comes first.
Spring Fling
The caster casts the spell initially, marking their location as they cast it. They have 30 seconds to move themselves afterwards. After 30 seconds, they are flung towards their initial position at 10x the distance they initially moved, likely hurling them hundreds of feet in the opposite direction. As an example: Caster casts spell and moves 30' directly west of their initial position. After 30 seconds, they are flung eastwards 300', ending up 270' east of their initial position. The caster is protected from any damage caused by crashing into an object (they'll just stop at the crash).
Animate Rope
Caster touches a coil of rope as they cast this spell, turning it into an animated creature. The rope follows the caster's commands and acts roughly like dog. It can uncoil itself and stretch in any direction, including straight up. Animation is lost when the rope takes any damage or at the next sunrise, whichever comes first.
Tome of Dust
Fiery Breath
The caster breathes a 15' cone of flaming particles from their mouth, dealing damage as a greatsword to any creature within the cone and setting them on fire. Any flammable objects in the cone are also set alight.
Sparkle Cloud
The caster conjures a 10'-radius cloud of glitter and sparkles at their current location. All creatures in the cloud (including the caster) are blind until they leave the cloud, and any creature outside the cloud can hit any creature inside the cloud without making an attack roll. Effect lasts 10 minutes.
Incense Spell
The caster targets the spell of another willing caster as it is cast, turning the spell into incense. When the incense is next burned, the spell will take effect, targeting all creatures within 10' of the burning incense. Incense remains potent until next sunrise.
Tome of Eyes
Engineer's Goggles
The caster gains the ability to "see" how mechanisms and machines work. They can intuit the triggers and purpose of machines they can see, even if they can only see a small piece of it. This also means they can tell when something is a part of a mechanism just by looking at it. Lasts for 10 minutes or until the next sunrise, whichever comes first.
Recall Vision
The caster casts this spell initially, saving a mental picture of whatever they can currently see using their vision. At any point afterwards they can recall the picture. Effect does not terminate at the sunrise.
All-Around Vision
The caster's skin becomes covered in eyes. They can see all 360 degrees around themselves at all times and cannot be surprised. Seeing from so many different viewpoints also makes it easy for them to "see through" sight-based illusions or spells like invisibility. Lasts for an hour or until next sunrise, whichever comes first.
Tome of Fists
Summon Massive Hand
The caster conjures a facsimile of their clenched fist adjacent to their current location. The fist is the size of the caster. The fist attacks as if it were a greatsword and can move up to 30' from the caster (it can fly). The caster moves the fist by manipulating their own hand, allowing them to interact with distant objects. Lasts for 10 minutes or until next sunrise, whichever comes first.
Fistward
The caster is protected from the touch of others within a 5'-radius magic circle placed at their location. No other creature can touch the caster with their own limbs (or claws). Does not protect at all against projectiles or weapons. Lasts until the caster leaves the circle or until sunrise, whichever comes first.
Stonefist
The caster's fists turn to stone, allowing them to attack with them as if they were a greatsword. The stonefists also tear into anything less dense than granite, like dirt, glass, wood, or flesh. Lasts for 10 minutes or until next sunrise, whichever comes first.
Tome of Inks
Alter Text
The caster touches written ink, changing it to words of their choice. The new words have the same handwriting and style of the original text. This effect is permanent.
Summon Book
The caster calls the name of a specific book and summons it to hand. The book either has to be in a location known and accessible by the caster or has to be a location known and accessible to no living soul.
Liquify Book
The caster turns a touched book into a consumable liquid (it can be automatically put into a convenient flask if the caster has one to hand). Anyone drinking the liquid knows the contents of the book as if they read and memorized it. This destroys the book. Effect is permanent.
Tome of Lighting
Sense Life
The caster closes their eyes and opens them to a new sense for 10 minutes: lifesense. They can see the auras of living creatures within 60' of themselves and nothing else. This includes tiny lives like vermin and massive lives like giants. Caster has enough sense to be able to still move at half speed and can attack normally, assuming their target is alive and thus sensed. Lasts for 10 minutes.
Liquid Light
The caster transmutes a gallon of water into liquid light. Liquid light gives off light like a lantern but acts otherwise like water. It pools and melds with other water, obeys gravity, freezes, etc. A glass bottle of liquid light is indistinguishable from a normal lantern. The water reverts back at the next sunrise.
Ghostlight
The caster summons a small blue flame at the end of their fingertips. Spirits and the undead will not approach within 10' of the light. The caster knows the cause and time of death of any creature lit only by ghostlight. Lasts for an hour or until next sunrise, whichever comes first.
Tome of Lightning
Lightning Bolt
The caster shoots a ray of lightning 30' long. Any creature within the ray takes damage as if from a greatsword and gains char marks from being struck by the lightning. Creatures made of metal or wearing mostly metal armor take double damage.
Cloudreading
The caster casts a question into the sky, looking for an answer. They watch for 10 minutes before getting one. The sky and the clouds know a lot about the weather, a little about things that are outside ("in the weather"), and nothing about anything else.
Lightning-Shape
The caster transforms into a bolt of lightning, shooting either directly upwards or downwards up to 1000', or in any other direction up to 60' before transforming back into their current shape. If their movement would cause them to intersect with any creature, both the caster and the creature take damage as if they had fallen the distance between where the caster started and where the collision occurred.
Tome of Mirrors
Weapon Reflection
The caster casts a spell of reflection on a weapon they can see. So long as they can still see the weapon, any damage the weapon deals is dealt back to the wielder. Effects lasts until sunrise or until the weapon leaves the caster's sight, whichever comes first.
Illusory Reflection
The caster creates 1d4 mirror duplicates of themselves in space adjacent to themselves. The duplicates mirror the behavior of the caster, though oriented in different directions than the caster (they'll move other directions). The reflections dissipate if they take any damage. The duplicates last until damaged or until the next sunrise, whichever comes first.
Mirror Space
The caster stores an object inside the Mirror World by pushing the object through the surface of a mirror. The object remains there until retrieved by the caster (they can do so at any time by looking at the same point in space using a mirror). Effect is permanent.
Tome of Mouths
Roar
The caster lets loose an earth-shaking roar, dealing damage as if hit by a greatsword in a 15' cone. Any creature within 500' of the caster can hear the sound, though they may not necessarily approach a creature who could make such a terrible sound.
Sending
The caster whispers a message on the wind up to 50 words to a creature they can see. The target can whisper back.
Speak with Dead
The caster can speak with a corpse or skeleton, asking them up to 3 questions. The dead are compelled to give an answer but not necessarily the right answer. The corpse can talk conversationally until the last question is answered. Lasts for 3 questions or until sunrise, whichever happens first.
Tome of Rot
Putrefy Liquid
The caster corrupts a touched liquid, turning it into stagnant filth. Creatures drinking the liquid will vomit and get sick if forced to consume it and animals will flee the area. Effects an amount of liquid up to the size of the caster. Effect fades over time and is diluted in larger bodies of liquid. Lasts until sunrise.
Purify Biomass
The caster touches a rotted or putrefied object, removing the decay and restoring it to its original state. This can effect mass up to the size of the caster. Effects are permanent (though this doesn't mean the object won't get new, different decay).
Spell Decay
The caster corrupts an existing spell they can see or are otherwise in the presence of. If the spell was cast longer than 3 days ago, the spell begins to rot and decay, quickly losing power over a span of 10 minutes. At the end of that 10 minute timespan, the spell is dispelled. Effects are permanent.
Tome of Slime
Conjure Slime
The caster summons a small slime creature to their side. The slime obeys the caster's commands and has no need to eat, breathe, drink or sleep. It moves at half the speed of the caster and sticks to any surface. The slime deals damage as a dagger and dissipates on taking any damage. Lasts until taking damage or next sunrise, whichever comes first.
Beer to Slime
Caster emanates a 20'-radius aura. Within the aura, any alcohol turns to animate slime, which flees in terror from any creature willing to drink the original substance. The slimes turn back into beer once they're outside the influence of the aura. Effect lasts an hour or until the next sunrise, whichever comes first.
Bouncy Sphere
The caster is surrounded by a personal bubble of slime. The slime is bouncy and buoyant, filled with an hour's worth of air. While inside the bubble, the caster takes no fall damage and can move on any surface at half speed. The bubble is popped if struck by an arrow, a spear, or other pointy object. Lasts an hour or until the next sunrise, whichever comes first.
Tome of Sounds
Battle Crash
The caster surrounds themselves with the horrific sounds of battle. Swords crashing against armor, the cries of the dying and the damned, battle shouts and screamed mantras, dying horses and the gurgle of lifeblood leaking out of someone for the last time. Any creature that hears it is in for a nasty surprise and will react accordingly, most sane creatures leaving the area and guards summoning reinforcements. Sound is audible for 100' around the caster. Lasts for an hour or until next sunrise, whichever comes first.
Deaden Sound
The caster surrounds themselves with a 15'-radius aura that deafens sounds. Sounds are still made (like the speaking of spells), but none made within the aura can be heard. Anyone within the aura also can't hear anything outside the aura either. Lasts for 10 minutes or until next sunrise, whichever comes first.
Encouraging Shout
The caster lets loose a positive yell. Any creatures within 20' of the caster are immune to fear and terror and remain so for the duration of the spell. Lasts 10 minutes or until the next sunrise, whichever comes first.
Tome of Spears
Weapon Lore
The caster touches a weapon and learns its history. The caster learns who the last wielder was, who they killed or injured with the weapon, and what they felt during each event. May be traumatic for especially long or violent histories. The memories are transferred in a daze effecting the caster for 10 minutes.
Icicle Spear
The caster conjures 3 spears of ice from the ground within 30' of themselves. Any creature in the same space as one of the spears takes damage as if from a greatsword. The ice spears stay around, preventing movement through that space (until they melt). Conjuring the spears in a body of water will cause water to freeze within 5' of the spears, the ice supports up to the weight of the caster. The spears melt after 10 minutes.
Always Armed
The caster transmutes a touched skeleton into a weapon made from bone. The weapon can be no larger than the original size of the skeleton. Effect is permanent.
Tome of Spheres
Projectile Potion
The caster touches any mouthful of liquid, turning it into a magic dart. They can then shoot the dart at any creature they can see as a ranged attack. If the attack hits, the target is effected by the liquid as if they had drank it.
Extradimensional Sphere
The caster accesses a sphere roughly the same size as themselves outside of normal space. The opening to this sphere appears at their current location. They can store objects inside the sphere and even stay in it, but the sphere is not that big and the opening to it only lasts until the next sunrise. If the caster is inside the sphere at sunrise when the opening closes, they are cut off from normal space forever.
Sphereify
The caster touches an object no larger than themselves and turns it into a spherical version of itself with roughly the same mass. Only works on objects, does not work on creatures. Effect is permanent.
Tome of Stone
Multiply Stone
Caster touches an object comprised mostly or entirely out of stone and duplicates it, placing the duplicate adjacent to the original. Effect is permanent.
Split Stone
Caster touches a stone surface and splits it into two at the touched location. If necessary, the depth of the fracture only extends into the stone as far as the height of the caster. Effect is permanent.
Speak with Stone
The caster poses 3 questions to a stone or object mostly comprised of stone. Stones know a lot about which creatures touched them and how long ago, a little about events that happened within 5' of them, and nothing about anything else.
Tome of Swords
Consume Sword
The caster consumes a touched sword, gaining the benefits as if they had eaten a full meal. The sword is destroyed.
Circle of Swords
The caster projects a 5'-radius aura of blades. Any creature entering the aura or beginning their turn within the aura take damage as if struck by a shortsword. Foliage and other unattended objects are effected as if slashed with a machete. Effect lasts 10 minutes or until next sunrise, whichever comes first.
Blade of Grass
The caster transforms a touched plant into a greatsword. The blade acts in all ways as a greatsword, including growing to that size if necessary. The plant is still a plant in most ways (flammable, valid for spells targetting plants, etc). Effect lasts an hour or until next sunrise, whichever comes first.
Tome of Tangle
Tangle Traces
The caster mixes the aura, scent and signs of themselves, their immediate companions, and the local fauna. They become impossible to track or scry until they leave the local area (within about 2 miles or some other more obvious barrier, like a river) or until sunrise, whichever comes first.
Entangle Life
The caster touches another creature and adds their current HP to the creature's HP, setting the HP of themselves and the target to the new value. Whenever either takes damage, they both take damage. Whenever either is killed, the other is killed. Lasts until sunrise.
Conjure Net
The caster summons a 20'x20' fishing net to hand. The effect is permanent.
Tome of Warding
Magic Armor
The caster is protected by a suit of magical armor. The caster is treated as if they were wearing chain mail. Any spell targeting the caster hits the armor instead, consuming the Magic Armor spell and the offending spell. Effect lasts an hour or until next sunrise, whichever comes first.
Potion Rune
The caster turns a touched mouthful of liquid into a 1'-radius rune they place on a touched surface. Any creature touching that rune is effected as if they had drunk the liquid. Rune is potent until the next sunrise.
Cryptkeeper's Aura
The caster emanates a 15'-radius aura that keeps away undead and other creatures of purely magic make. Effect lasts an hour or until next sunrise, whichever comes first.
Tome of Wheels
Summon Steed
The caster conjures a mount made from magelight. The mount is whatever the local populace uses for a mount, or a circular riding disc otherwise. The mount moves at double the speed of the caster, whether for exploration or travel. Effect lasts until next sunrise.
Shape Vessel
The caster touches a distinct object larger than themselves (like a door) and grants it 4 wheels and a magical propulsion motor. The object must be distinct and not a structure, so a castle couldn't move but a boulder could. The new vehicle can be directed by the caster and moves at double the caster's speed overland. Effect lasts an hour.
Restore Circle
The caster touches a circular object or shape (like a round shield, a wagon wheel, or a poorly drawn circle) and alters it to form a perfect circle. This repairs broken shields and wheels, fixes magic circles, and other similar effects.