Books in D&D

[Ruethgar]

What are the uses for books in D&D apart from a cheap source of gold, Stronghold book lots, and of course spellbooks?

[frogglesmash]

Bonuses on related knowledge checks, plot advancement, and, in case of shenanigans, throwing weapon.

[Ruethgar]

The book lots are laughable. 1000g is only 10 reference books(40 at most) and takes up a 20ftx20ft area full of shelves for a massive +2 to one knowledge check.

[Ravens_cry]

Well, that price actually is pretty reasonable if you assume it's a world without printing presses, which most, though not all, D&D campaign settings are. If anything, it's cheap.

[Ruethgar]

The cost to create it is 6g and three weeks(assuming minimum check). And I was more concerned with how in the world 10 books fill a 20x20 library.

[Hamste]

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[Telonius]

The cost to create it is 6g and three weeks(assuming minimum check). And I was more concerned with how in the world 10 books fill a 20x20 library.

Word from the scribe: "Hey, they were paying me by the page. They never specified font size."

[Curmudgeon]

[SiuiS]

A library is more than just books on a shelf. You need your reference charts, your desk, a comfy reading chair, the expansive fireplace to keep the room from getting damp, lights situated around the area, literary statuary, and a comfortable rug. Housing for the in-library servant is squally neglected on account of "I already bought you a damn fireplace and a rug! Ingrate..."

[Seharvepernfan]

Here's an idea I had but never fully fleshed out.

Skill Books

A character may not benefit from more than (Int mod) skill books at a single time.

Amount of time studying affects bonus, typically one day for each +1 granted.

Each +1 bonus lasts for one day plus one day per point of Int mod, but days studying do not count if you were studying the skill in question.

A given book may benefit characters whose skill ranks (or total bonus?) do not exceed the books maximum. Regardless, bonuses from items, spells, and ability bonuses do not count against this.

Skill books are worth an exponentially growing price dependent on how high of a rank they can grant a bonus to.

A book can only increase your skill bonus by up to +3, and no more than the books maximum.

A book must be written by someone who has at least that high of a bonus in the skill in question. Or, at least, the information must come from them.

Example:

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Viris, a rogue with 14 Int, studies the Tome of Climbing, a specific skill book that can raise a person's climbing skill bonus to a maximum of +15. Viris is 5th level, and has 8 ranks in climbing. Viris spends saturday, sunday, and monday studying the book, and thus gains a +3 bonus (his bonus is now 11 + his Str Mod and any other bonuses he would normally gain). For tuesday, wednesday, and thursday, Viris maintains this bonus. On friday, it lowers to +2, the next monday it will lower to +1, and on the following thursday it will become +0. If, on the friday after studying the book, he studies again, it will rise back to +3.

Later, when Viris is 9th level, he studies the tome again. He now has 12 ranks and has taken the Athletic feat. His skill bonus is now +14 before studying the tome. Now, he can only gain a +1 from the tome, since it's maximum bonus is +15; he now knows so much about climbing that the book has little to offer. He only needs to spend one day studying to gain the +1 bonus, and further consecutive days studying will render no benefit.

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The presence of libraries can grant a studying character the ability to make knowledge checks higher than DC 10 if untrained, and may grant a bonus on the knowledge check dependent on the size of the library (unless the character has too many ranks in the knowledge skill in question).

[Milodiah]

Personally I've always been rather amazed that 3.5 decided to give everybody but one class literacy for free, even though it is before the printing press. Just a cop-out to modern thought, I suppose, since it's rather hard to imagine going through life without reading.