Bibliotaph (Character Kit)

Bibliotaph
Description: Most learned men value the written word, but a bibliotaph hoards it. Bibliotaphs are priests and wizards who have become obsessive about collecting and guarding books, scrolls, and tomes. Their entire life has meaning only in relation to the number of volumes they have acquired and kept locked away for their eyes only. What might begin as a career hunting down knowledge soon turns into a passionate desire to acquire text after text, regardless of the subject matter, the rarity, or the worth of such volumes.
Priests may choose this kit. Such men and women tend to worship gods of lore or knowledge. Such deities are rarely more than Lesser Powers and may be as miserly as their followers. The various acts of worship may not be held in an open temple but rather in the pri- vate holdings of the cult. All this secrecy further instills a devotion to the written word in the bibliotaph.
Wizards of this kit are rarely specialists; such men and women are privy to far too much knowledge to limit them- selves to any one school of thought. They often seek out the rarest of spells simply because such incantations are often kept in the pages of the rarest of books.
Most bibliotaphs are human simply because that race feels the nagging voice of time the most. A collector is aware of his finite life span, but still he tries desperately to hoard as much as possible during his years. Elves may experience some level of the thrill collectors feel, but their extended life spans tend to make such pursuits seem frivolous. But there are rumors of elven bibliotaphs who have spent centuries caching writings from countless cultures. Such a thought is tantalizing to adven- turers, maddening to other bibliotaphs.
A bibliotaph character must have a minimum Intelligence of 13 and a Wisdom score of no more than 15. This latter restriction reflects the short- sightedness of the character who cannot see past his own obsession.
Role: Bibliotaphs are usually found locked away in their libraries or monasteries, but they are sometimes encountered traveling the land, searching for more writings to steal and lock away. At lower levels, such men and women are forced to be involved personally. As they progress in power and rank, they can hire a network of rogues and underhanded merchants to help them acquire the tomes they so desperately seek. Some of the most powerful bibliotaphs have not stepped foot outside their domiciles in years. Like one of their treasured manuscripts, they have become a prisoner of the collection.
Bibliotaphs tend to be Neutral in alignment; their obsession may have originally been noble (the safeguarding of knowledge for generations), but soon the desire to hoard overcomes any altruism, and thus Good alignments soon develop into more Neutral ethics. There are some Evil bibliotaphs, but such men and women tend to become so vicious in the acquisition of books that they draw notice of authorities and may find themselves thrown into dungeons without even so much as a page to comfort them.
Weapon Proficiencies:
* Required: None. Recommended for priest/wizards: dagger or staff.
Secondary Skills: Scribe.
Nonweapon Proficiencies:
* Required: Reading/writing, screed lore (new).
* Recommended: Ancient history, languages (ancient), languages (modern), spellcraft.
Duties of Priest: Guidance. A bibliotaph priest believes he has been charged by the god to ensure the survival of tomes and lore (this may or may not be a delusion). As such, he does everything in his power to defend his library from intruders and thieves.
Spheres of Influence: Major: All, Divination, Guardian, Learning, and Summoning. Minor: Enchantment, Protection.
Special Benefits: Mages with this kit gain a bonus of +5% to learn a spell (but this bonus will never increase the chance over 99%).
Priests gain access to a new sphere called Learning, which deals with the accumulation of knowledge, books, and lore. (This is opposed to magical learning through the Divination sphere).
Because of their stubborn, obsessive nature, bibliotaphs are naturally resistant to Enchantment magic. They gain a +1 on all saves against such spells and, whenever commanded to perform an action that would be against the welfare of their collections, they are entitled to another, immediate saving throw at +5 to resist. If successful, the spell is broken.
Special Hindrances: Because of his lack of social skills, a bibliophile suffers a -1 penalty to his loyalty base and reaction adjustment when dealing with anyone not interested in books (such as sages, scribes, and other bibliotaphs). As the character becomes progressively more a recluse, this penalty worsens by -1 for every 2 levels of ability gains (so -2 at 3rd level, -3 at 5th, and so forth).
Wealth Options: 5d4 x 10gp
== NWP ==
Excavation
The character with this proficiency has learned the techniques for the careful unearthing of a site or ruin. This process involves shoring up crumbling foundations, choosing the proper tools, and protecting exposed finds. Without the proper use of this proficiency, deli- cate finds may be destroyed by crude and reckless digging. Characters with the excavation proficiency can ensure that the structural details of a dig are left intact so that further visits to the excavation site can still yield useful knowledge.
Relic Dating
This proficiency proves useful whenever the character comes upon an object of questionable age. He can use this skill to gain an educated guess as to when the item was made. There is no roll necessary for those objects fashioned in the last 20 years (the age of these will be obvious to the character), unless it has been altered through non- magical means to appear much older; in that case, a successful proficiency check reveals the fraud. This proficiency can be combined with ancient history to give more accurate information as to the past of a relic.
Sacred Legends
A character with this proficiency is well-learned in the myths, stories, and
tales of a single religion. This knowledge is not the same as the theology and practices that are gained with the reli- gion proficiency. The character, when confronted with a question or evidence of the faith’s past, may roll this proficiency to recall a specific event or leg end that has relevance. For instance, when an ancient idol is discovered, a successful proficiency check might reveal that the statue resembles a long-forgotten paramour of the goddess, and the character could retell some of the important stories about them.
Additional proficiencies can be chosen to gain knowledge of the sacred legends of other religions.
Screed Lore
A rare proficiency, screed lore offers expertise in the care and collection of books, tomes, scrolls, and the like. This proficiency is crucial to librarians, sages, and scribes. A check would be required whenever the character handles a particularly delicate or worn manuscript. This proficiency also allows a collection to be searched and a specific volume found. Failed rolls indicated problems from the annoying (a torn page or lost book) to the disastrous (an entire scroll crumbles to dust at the slightest touch) depending on how badly the check fails.
This proficiency also provides some knowledge of the safeguards used in protecting books. This knowledge covers not only mundane traps, like poison painted along the edges of the pages, but also magical means of safeguarding libraries. The character can attempt a roll at a -5 modifier to notice any evidence of such traps.
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