Snakes Are Books

Username17 · Post by **Username17** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 11:00 pm

Snakes Are Books.

One of the best ideas I've seen in a long time. Definitely goes into the next D&D game I run.

-Username17

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 11:23 pm

Must play with this now! Thanks for sharing Frank, I've got to see if my upcoming MC will allow a wizard whose snake familiar is his spellbook.

Krakatoa · Post by **Krakatoa** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 11:57 pm

That's a really cool idea. I doubt it fits in the slightest with the world my DM has established, but if so I might take a familiar.

Blasted · Post by **Blasted** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 11:59 pm

My next dungeon crawl may be a trip to the library.

Take antidotes.

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 11:59 pm

It's a really nifty idea, I just put some thoughts towards adapting it for Call of Cthulhu: Link.

Judging__Eagle · Post by **Judging__Eagle** » Thu Jan 06, 2011 12:04 am

Honestly, awesome. Thanks for that link.

K · Post by K » Thu Jan 06, 2011 12:20 am

Thumbs up.

Lokathor · Post by **Lokathor** » Thu Jan 06, 2011 12:55 am

Very cool.

MGuy · Post by **MGuy** » Thu Jan 06, 2011 1:28 am

I like little niche and new ideas like this. This could be the stuff that makes a whole campaign setting.

Koumei · Post by **Koumei** » Thu Jan 06, 2011 7:57 am

Oh, that is pretty awesome.

Maxus · Post by **Maxus** » Thu Jan 06, 2011 8:01 am

Koumei wrote:Oh, that is pretty awesome.

It made me give the Yuan-Ti another lookover.

Dominicius · Post by **Dominicius** » Thu Jan 06, 2011 12:16 pm

So what are yuan-ti abominations supposed to be?

Koumei · Post by **Koumei** » Thu Jan 06, 2011 12:33 pm

Dominicius wrote:So what are yuan-ti abominations supposed to be?

Ayn Rand's works.

Nebuchadnezzar · Post by **Nebuchadnezzar** » Thu Jan 06, 2011 12:52 pm

Aquatic applications stretch from Cantrip-Coelacanth to shagreen spell storing weapon grip to sprinkling deciduous herring scale during a stealth spelll. Nice.

CatharzGodfoot · Post by **CatharzGodfoot** » Thu Jan 06, 2011 4:42 pm

Sorry to be the one to rain on your parade, but this is fuckin' stupid. I'd be fine with having some specific kind of book-snake that's been bred by some magical group (maybe even the yuan-ti) for centuries. That would actually be pretty cool. I'd be OK with some group like druids being able to read the patterns in any creature (or even any natural object) and find some sort of meaning. But this whole 'every serpent can be read' thing is just dumb.

MGuy · Post by **MGuy** » Thu Jan 06, 2011 5:46 pm

In a game about mystical unicorns and ancient dragons, lost technologies and magics, druids being able to beckon fire from the spirits of flowers and trees, how does THIS set fire to your pantaloons?

CatharzGodfoot · Post by **CatharzGodfoot** » Thu Jan 06, 2011 5:55 pm

I really don't want to play a game where everyone spends the whole time beating around bushes and carrying big baskets of snakes.

TheFlatline · Post by **TheFlatline** » Thu Jan 06, 2011 6:27 pm

That's why 99% of snakes have shit writing on them.

It's not something I'd throw into *every* game, but it'd be an interesting plot device.

CatharzGodfoot · Post by **CatharzGodfoot** » Thu Jan 06, 2011 6:34 pm

TheFlatline wrote:That's why 99% of snakes have shit writing on them.

It's not something I'd throw into *every* game, but it'd be an interesting plot device.

And that's my point. If 99% of snakes are covered in inane scribbles, why even bother? I'm cool with having dragon wizards covered in their own spellbooks, and encouraging unscrupulous PCs to skin them for said magical texts. I'm cool with Yuan-Ti librarians tending to literary snake pits.

But the whole 'if it has scales, you can read it--you probably just don't want to' thing is a waste of time at best, and highly disruptive at worst.

Koumei · Post by **Koumei** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 4:15 am

You're just jealous that your biography is a small, uninteresting snake.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 4:29 am

Probably not even a snake. The biographies of most people here are probably flatworms.

CatharzGodfoot · Post by **CatharzGodfoot** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 5:04 am

Flatworms don't have scales. There would be absolutely nothing to read.

...oh, I see.

MGuy · Post by **MGuy** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 6:18 am

CatharzGodfoot wrote:I really don't want to play a game where everyone spends the whole time beating around bushes and carrying big baskets of snakes.

That probably wouldn't be the scene. It would probably be more like a bunch of people who just let snakes, you know, all over the place. I think there are a number of civilizations both past and present that just let wild animals pretty much do as they please for religious, symbolic, and every so often, practical reasons.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 6:30 am

MGuy wrote:
CatharzGodfoot wrote:I really don't want to play a game where everyone spends the whole time beating around bushes and carrying big baskets of snakes.

That probably wouldn't be the scene. It would probably be more like a bunch of people who just let snakes, you know, all over the place. I think there are a number of civilizations both past and present that just let wild animals pretty much do as they please for religious, symbolic, and every so often, practical reasons.

There's at least one area in India that lets rats have free reign for religious reasons. Yuan Ti already are typically portrayed as just having snakes all over the place. I believe I once heard that the rules of the road in some middle eastern country say that camels have the right of way over all else.

CatharzGodfoot · Post by **CatharzGodfoot** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 7:48 am

Nah, you'd want to keep very close tabs on any snake you care about. The book will only be finished when the snake dies; if it just rots in some ditch you're screwed. Or what if a mongoose eats it?

No, orphidarians would keep the snakes pampered in a safe environment and then carefully embalm them as soon as they kick the bucket. It would all have to be highly controlled to avoid scarring or premature ends.