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+Hold, please.
-A '''carded library''' is a special in-game resource, a trove of books and scrolls containing useful knowledge on one or more subjects that can be accessed using the [[Scholar]] skill. Like all in-game resources, a library must be represented by a suitable '''phys rep''', and must carry an attached '''[[Equipment and Resources#Item Tracking|item card]]'''.
-Every library includes one or more '''subjects''', individually rated in quality by '''rigor''' and '''accuracy'''.
-==Subjects==
-There are three types of subject, depending on the scope:
-:* '''Broad:''' e.g. Algaia History and Arts
-:* '''Narrow:''' e.g. History of House Sforza
-:* '''Specific:''' e.g. The history of House Sforza during the civil war
-Broader categories require more resources to create and maintain (see [[#Creating and Expanding Carded Libraries|''Creating and Expanding Carded Libraries'']] below).
-====Rigor and Accuracy====
-Subject quality is rated by '''rigor''' (i.e. how complete is the subject?) and '''accuracy''' (i.e. how reliable is the information?), which determine how much information a scholar receives from [[#Using a Carded Library|using the library]]. These ratings are as follows (from worst to best):
-{| class="wikitable"
-! Rigor !! Accuracy
-|-
-| Scant || Hearsay
-|-
-| Detailed || Sourced
-|-
-| Comprehensive || Verified
-|}
-The same library may have multiple subjects at different scopes and various levels of quality.
-:'''Example'''
-: The necromancer Ernst Von Friedhof’s library includes the following two subjects:
-:* The Plane of Undeath (Broad, Comprehensive/Sourced)
-:* The Church of Mortis (Narrow, Detailed/Verified)
-==Faction and Player Carded Libraries==
-Every faction has a '''faction carded library''' in camp, covering the faction’s history and arts, along with one or more other subjects suitable to that faction’s interests and activities. A faction library is supplied from one of the [[#Off-Screen Libraries|off-screen libraries]] on their homelands, and the subjects available in camp can vary from time to time.
-Like other faction resources (such as [[Equipment and Resources#Artefacts|artefacts]]), faction carded libraries don’t need [[#Maintaining Carded Libraries|maintenance]] and cannot ordinarily be [[#Creating and Expanding Carded Libraries|expanded]], but they may occasionally trigger plot (e.g. a thief steals a valuable tome that needs to be recovered, players uncover some lost history that needs to be properly recorded and entered into the library), which may affect the contents.
-Players may create their own '''player carded libraries''' (see [[#Creating and Expanding Carded Libraries|''Creating and Expanding Carded Libraries'']]) on any subject they know or can investigate. These require maintenance as below.
-{| class="wikitable" id="Off-Screen Libraries" style="background-color: #ECE2FF"
-|-
-| '''Off-Screen Libraries'''
-Most factions and some other organisations have huge libraries in their homelands, which players can normally only access by writing letters to the librarians (or in some cases contacting them by magical means) and asking questions. Accessing these libraries does not require the [[Scholar]] skill, as the player is not using the library directly; but the librarians decide whether to answer, and what information to share.
-|}
-====Phys Repping Carded Libraries====
-As a minimum, a carded library requires some '''vessel''' (e.g. a box or a shelf), to which the '''[[Equipment and Resources#Item Tracking|item card]]''' must be attached, and phys reps of '''three texts''' – whether books or individual scrolls. Players are encouraged to exceed this minimum if possible, especially to represent extensive libraries.
-Moving a carded library (including to [[Theft, Assassination and Interrogation#Theft|steal]] it) requires physically carrying the vessel and at least three texts.
-====Evaluating Carded Libraries====
-Anyone with the [[Scholar]] skill can evaluate a carded library with about 30 seconds’ roleplay, examining spines and flipping through the books. This will reveal which '''subjects''' are included, and their '''rigor'''. With an additional few minutes’ roleplay, the scholar can assess the subjects’ '''accuracy'''.
-==Using a Carded Library==
-Players use carded libraries via the [[Scholar]] skill. The player must tell a referee when they’re investigating a subject, including:
-:* Which carded library they are using
-:* What question they are asking
-Ideally the player should do this '''before''' starting the roleplay, to give staff time to determine the answer to the questions.
-The referee will then radio Ref HQ to relay the question. Ref HQ will confirm the carded library’s suitability, then determine what information the player should receive.
-General advice for the player:
-:* '''Try to find the right carded library for the question.''' A library in the Fir Cruthen camp may not say much about vampires, for instance (except how to fight them!).
-:* '''Libraries aren’t for current events.''' If something is happening right ''now'', it’s not had time to make it into even the newest book.
-:* '''Libraries only know what the authors know.''' If it’s not public knowledge, then it’s probably not in a public library (a secret library is another matter, of course).
-====Guidelines====
-Guidelines for answering questions follow. '''These are guidelines only;''' the plot owner and Ref HQ may use their discretion deciding what answer is appropriate given the question, the player’s choice of library and the nature of the plot.
-'''Relevance to the Carded Library’s Subjects'''
-The [[Scholar]] skill can be used to ask any question at any carded library, but not every library is suitable. Looking up a demon-summoning rite in a library with the subject “Demonology” is perfect, for example, while looking it up in a “Teutonian Magics” library is chancy and looking it up in a library of “Estragalean Wines and Cookery” is pointless.
-{| class="wikitable"
-| Unrelated || No information, but the player may get something, e.g. a passing reference to a more suitable library or resource, such as an NPC.
-|-
-| Adjacent || Information per tables below, but vague at best. The player is likely to get a clear reference to a more suitable library, NPC or resource, if one exists.
-|-
-| Directly Related || Information per tables below.
-|}
-If, in the referee’s opinion, the player has chosen the very ''best'' possible library (e.g. asking a question about the life of the very person who founded the library!), they may gain some extra details.
-'''Subject Rigor'''
-The pains the authors have gone to in their work affect the detail the scholar can find: a basic primer is less likely to answer specific or technical questions than an exhaustive academic reference.
-{| class="wikitable"
-| Scant || Although vague, the library covers some of the subject matter raised by the question, provided it would reasonably be found there.
-|-
-| Detailed || The library covers some areas of the specific subject raised by the question, provided it would reasonably be found there.
-|-
-| Comprehensive || The library has good coverage of the subject raised by the question, provided it would reasonably be found there. May grant some additional detail.
-|}
-'''Subject Accuracy'''
-In practice, less accurate subjects give less detail than their rigor suggests – the detail is there, but much of it is from a questionable or unreliable source, and the scholar has to sift through it to get to answers they trust.
-{| class="wikitable"
-| Hearsay || Regardless of coverage, the library has a lot of ‘noise’ and nonsense in it, which the scholar must spend their time sifting through to get to a scant few useful and true facts.
-|-
-| Sourced || Regardless of coverage, the library still has unreliable sources and biased opinions that the scholar must pick through, leaving gaps in their information but the information they get, though limited, will be accurate.
-|-
-| Verified || Regardless of coverage, everything in the library is true except in the case of deliberate [[#Interference|interference]].
-|}
-====Chance Discoveries====
-: “Look at this – I was just reading Aloysius of Oxford’s excellent ''History of the Kings of Albion'', looking up something about King Tristan, and found this note in the margins about the ‘Beast of Cornwall.’ It rang a bell, so I checked some of my notes and I think this may be a description of that hell hound you were looking into. Any use?”
-A '''chance discovery''' is a Scholar result unrelated to what the player is actually investigating. It may come from a mis-shelved book, a loose leaf tucked into a book, a scribble in a margin, or just a throwaway reference in the book that the author thought noteworthy although it isn’t relevant to the book itself.
-Chance discoveries always come in '''addition''' to the response to the scholar’s query as above.
-==Interference==
-Libraries can of course be ''manipulated'', affecting what can be learned from them. Scholars can maliciously destroy texts, write false texts or censor the existing texts in a library. Players seeking to manipulate their own, or other people’s, carded libraries will have to investigate how to do so in play.
-Players may '''detect''' interference by actively examining the library with a relevant skill:
-:* [[Artisan]] can reveal if pages have been removed or reglued.
-:* [[Evaluate]] can confirm if the handwriting or printing technique varies in a book, or gauge a book’s age and origin.
-:* [[Scholar]] itself can detect inconsistencies in language, etc.
-==Creating and Expanding Carded Libraries==
-Carded Libraries are created or expanded by '''[[#Subjects|subject]]'''. A new carded library must start with a '''specific''' or '''narrow''' subject. Once a carded library exists, players can invest in it to build the scope to broad subjects, although they are more expensive to build and [[#Maintaining Carded Libraries|maintain]].
-Any proposal for a new '''subject''' must be submitted to a research referee(s), who will (if the subject doesn’t already exist in the system) submit it for discussion on the appropriate forum to approve it and assign it a scope (i.e. '''broad''', '''narrow''' or '''specific''').
-If it is determined that the intended subject is too broad or narrow, or that the player cannot reasonably create a resource for it (e.g. because it is secret knowledge), they will feed that back to the player and suggest something more practical.
-Creating or expanding a carded library has three requirements: '''crafting''', '''scholarship''' and '''scribing'''.
-====Crafting====
-Crafting libraries is by a unit called a '''volume'''. A single volume consists of '''[[Crafting Designs#Paper and Printing|one superior or mastercrafted book]]''' or '''six paper or vellum scrolls'''.
-A subject requires the following number of volumes, depending on the scope and '''rigor''' of the subject.
-{| class="wikitable"
-! !! Scant !! Detailed !! Comprehensive
-|-
-| '''Specific''' || 2 scrolls || 4 scrolls || 1 volume
-|-
-| '''Narrow''' || 1 volume || 2 volumes || 3 volumes
-|-
-| '''Broad''' || 3 volumes || 6 volumes || 9 volumes
-|}
-Note that the number of volumes in the library '''doesn’t''' have to relate to the number of phys rep books present! It’s an abstraction for setting work and resource costs. Likewise, the vessel for the carded library is a [[#Phys Repping Carded Libraries|phys rep requirement]] for the whole library, but does not have to be separately crafted itself.
-{| class="wikitable" id="Creating Individual Volumes" style="background-color: #ECE2FF"
-|-
-| '''Creating Individual Volumes'''
-A scholar can write an individual volume to give, trade or sell, if wished, without having a specific library in mind for it. Once scribed (see below), this volume will be issued an '''item card''', and can be later added to an existing carded library to meet the above requirements.
-|}
-====Scholarship====
-When first creating a '''volume''', and again every time the scholar wishes to [[#Improving Accuracy|improve a subject’s accuracy]], they must go to a research referee, who will set them a '''scholarly task'''. This could include:
-:* To answer three questions about the subject
-:* To learn something new about the subject
-:* To investigate a particular person, place or thing
-The player may investigate themselves, ask other players or NPCs for answers or otherwise – it’s absolutely appropriate to copy the answers out of books!
-The player should return when they feel prepared and deliver their response, which may be in the form of a written essay, short presentation or spoken interview (as the player feels most comfortable).
-This response is not “marked” for accuracy or completeness of information, or for the confidence or polish of their performance. The intention is only to satisfy the referee that the player went out and investigated the subject.
-If the scholar is [[#Copying|'''copying''']] an existing volume, they can skip the scholarship step.
-====Scribing====
-Once crafted, every volume needs to be '''scribed''' by the scholar. Scribing '''1 volume''' costs '''6 ink''' and '''5 [[Character Progression#Study Units|study units]]''' (this includes scribing one volume consisting of six scrolls). Scribing '''1 scroll''' individually costs '''1 ink''' and '''1 study unit'''.
-As with other uses of study units, scribing requires about half an hour of roleplaying on a given day, whether scribing a whole volume or one or more scrolls.
-{| class="wikitable" id="Copying" style="background-color: #ECE2FF"
-|-
-| '''Copying'''
-A librarian can '''copy''' an existing volume if desired (they require access to the original text for the full half hour required to scribe it, above). They can skip the roleplay/investigation requirement listed under [[#Scholarship|''Scholarship'']], above, but must confirm to a research referee that they had access to the text.
-Copying has an additional benefit that the volume will have the same '''accuracy''' as the copied text. Note that if the copied text is Verified (and thus [[#Illumination|illuminated]]), the scholar will need to illuminate the copy as well, see below.
-|}
-====Improving Accuracy====
-Improving the '''accuracy''' of a carded library doesn’t carry any additional crafting requirements, but requires additional [[#Scholarship|scholarship]], as the scholar investigates, cross-references and corrects the content of the carded library, and then updates and revises the text.
-Improving the accuracy by one step (e.g. from Hearsay to Sourced) requires meeting the roleplay/investigation requirements detailed under [[#Scholarship|''Scholarship'']], above, and spending an additional '''5 study units''' and '''1 ink''' per volume (or '''1 study unit''' and '''1 ink''' per scroll) editing the texts.
-{| class="wikitable" id="Illumination" style="background-color: #ECE2FF"
-|-
-| '''Illumination'''
-Improving one subject from Sourced to Verified has an additional requirement: in order to convey the meaning clearly and without error, the scribe must embellish the text to imbue it with their will. This entails '''illuminating''' all volumes in the subject.
-Illuminating an already scribed manuscript costs '''4 ink''', '''3 powdered dye''' and '''1 copper, gold or silver metal''' (for foil) '''per volume'''.
-|}
-==Maintaining Carded Libraries==
-Like all crafted things, carded libraries need to be [[Crafting#Maintaining Crafted Items|maintained]], at a cost of 60% of the WU and materials required to create them (at superior quality) or 40% (at mastercrafted quality) every three years.
-For simplicity, the total creation costs of all volumes in a library will be added together before calculating maintenance costs. Costs can be spread out over the three years.
-The cost of '''[[#Scribing|scribing]]''' (including '''[[#Illumination|illumination]]''') isn’t factored into the maintenance cost of a library.
-:'''Example'''
-: Ernst von Friedhof’s library consists of 11 superior quality books, initially crafted for 1 leather (O), 5 paper (O), 1 oil and 10 WU each. Maintaining superior items costs 60% of creation costs every three years.
-: The crafting costs are added together to a total of 11 leather (O), 55 paper (O), 11 oil and 110 WU, before calculating maintenance costs of 7 leather (O), 33 paper (O), 7 oil and 66 WU per three years.
-: Ernst can spread that maintenance cost out to 2 to 3 leather (O), 11 paper (O), 2 to 3 oil and 22 WU per year.

Carded Libraries: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 07:18, 19 August 2025