Lore: This tome is the result of a legendary, if contentious, collaboration. Zharan the Whisperer, obsessed with the celestial knowledge of the Eclipsed Codex, found his work incomplete. He believed the heavens influenced the world, but he did not understand the world itself. He sought out a reclusive order of Daoist agricultural sages, who guarded the Daoist 47 amulet and its connection to the earth’s bounty.
After decades of debate, the two traditions merged: The Daoists’ amulet was reverently inlaid into the cover of the Codex, and its earth magic tempered the book’s celestial madness. To lock the tome and ensure only a balanced mind could use it, they transcribed the full text of an Ofuda of Vigilant Insight onto the frontispiece. The resulting Almanac is a single, unified object—a guide to understanding that the cycles of the stars and the growth of the soil are one and the same.
Description: A large, heavy tome bound in deep black leather adorned with silver filigree (the Codex). Set into the cover’s center is the Daoist 47, a polished, leaf-shaped wooden amulet that now serves as the book’s intricate clasp. Upon opening the cover, the inside frontispiece is not paper, but a perfectly transcribed Ofuda of Vigilant Insight, its sacred characters glowing with a faint, steady light. The book’s pages are fine, luminescent parchment that seem to absorb ambient shadows.
Stats (Tier 3)
- Magic Attack: 30
- Magic Defense: 35
- Physical Attack: 10
- Physical Defense: 30
- Health: +200
- Mana: +100
- Agriculture Skill: +30
- Survival Skill: +25
- Persuasion Skill: +20
Tags: Tier 3, Book, Daoist, Celestial, Arcane, Divination, Healing, Support, Nature, Elemental, Vigilance, Tome, Almanac, Merged, Artifact, Agriculture, Insight, Eclipse, Wisdom, Held
Multiple Passives Magic
- Vigilant Insight: The wielder’s mind is constantly sharpened. Grants a +20 bonus to all passive perception and insight-based skill checks.
- Verdant Aura: Grants a 15% bonus to nearby allies’ health regeneration and mana recovery.
- Fertile Ground: Increases the yield of crops and all other gathered natural resources by 25%.
- Celestial Attunement: The wielder instinctively knows the exact timing of all upcoming solar and lunar eclipses for the year and can accurately predict the weather 24 hours in advance.
Multiple Active Magics
- Healing Harvest (Mana Cost: 40): As an action, the wielder chants from the book, restoring 75 health to all allies within a large radius. This also grants allies a temporary 10% increase to their magic attack for 1 minute.
- Nature’s Bounty (Mana Cost: 50): As an action, the wielder summons a swirling vortex of celestial and elemental forces, dealing 50 damage to all enemies in a large radius and granting allies a temporary 15% increase to physical attack for 1 minute.
- Foresee Danger (Mana Cost: 20): As a reaction when an ambush is sprung or a trap is triggered, the wielder can expend mana to grant all nearby allies a +20 bonus to their Physical and Magical Defense for 1 minute.
- Eclipse Veil (Mana Cost: 60): This ability can only be used during an eclipse (solar or lunar) or during the dead of night. The wielder and all allies within 30 feet become partially invisible. This effect lasts for 10 minutes or until an ally makes a hostile action.
- Revelation (Mana Cost: 150): Once per day, the wielder can meditate on the Ofuda frontispiece for 10 minutes to ask a single, specific question about a course of action. The GM will provide a short, truthful, and often cryptic answer (e.g., “Weal,” “Woe,” “Weal and Woe,” or “Nothing”).
Specific Slot: Tool (Held Item) Spell Book (part farmer’s almanac, part cosmic horror story, and part mindfulness journal)
Item Durability & Repair
Item Hit Points (HP): 60
This item is a robust, Tier 3 artifact, but it is still a book. If an attacker specifically targets the Almanac while it is being held, they must declare their intent to strike it.
- Disabling Magic (Broken State): If the Almanac of the Verdant Eclipse 821 takes 60 or more points of damage, the magical fusion breaks. The Daoist amulet on the cover cracks, the Ofuda frontispiece is torn, and the book’s binding is sundered. The item enters a Broken state. A Broken item loses all magical properties (passive and active) and cannot be used or attuned to. It is just a very heavy, very damaged book.
- Repairing (Restoring Magic): This is not a “patch it with glue” job. The item’s power comes from the perfect, harmonious fusion of three separate, powerful magics. To repair it, the item’s creation must be partially re-enacted.
- The Specialists: Repairing the Almanac requires at least two master-level crafters working together: one with a high-level skill in Arcana (to tame the Codex’s celestial magic) and one with a high-level skill in Agriculture or Nature (to heal the Daoist amulet’s earth magic).
- The Binding Agent: The original Ofuda of Vigilant Insight was the key that bound the other two. Its magic is now torn. A new, uncharged Ofuda of Vigilant Insight must be crafted from scratch (requiring its own rare ingredients and crafting recipe).
- The Ritual: The two specialists must conduct an 8-hour ritual. The newly crafted Ofuda is laid upon the torn frontispiece, and the specialists must channel their energies, making two simultaneous, very difficult skill checks (one Arcana, one Agriculture/Nature).
- The Outcome: If both succeed, the new Ofuda is consumed as it merges with the old, and the Almanac is restored to 60 HP. If either specialist fails the check, the ritual fails, the new Ofuda is destroyed, and the Almanac remains Broken.
The “Almanac of the Verdant Eclipse 821” is a unique, Tier 3 artifact of immense power. It is not an item that can be found in any shop, emporium, or market. It is a one-of-a-kind tome, and its exchange would be a major event in its own right, handled only by the most powerful and wealthy factions. Its sale would be limited to a few specific, high-stakes venues.
1. The Great Sages’ Conclave
- Where: This is not a shop, but a semi-annual event held at a neutral, magically-shielded location (like a hidden mountain monastery or a floating sky-citadel). It is a gathering of Saṃsāra’s most powerful mages, wisest Daoist elders, reclusive scholars, and representatives from the great libraries.
- How It Is Sold: The Almanac would be the centerpiece of the Conclave. It would be “sold” not in a public auction, but in a closed-door session of “bids.” These bids would be presented to the current owners (perhaps the very Daoist order that helped create it). Bids would be a combination of currency and “favors” of equal or greater value.
- Cost: The Sages would likely be uninterested in simple coin. They would demand a price that furthers their own goals, such as:
- Price in Coin: A minimum bid of 20,000 Platinum (200,000 Gold) to fund their entire order for a generation. They might also accept (or prefer) a bid of 100,000 Golden Lotus Coins, valuing the currency of their own agricultural and spiritual communities.
- Price in Trade: The complete, lost library of a forgotten sage, a map to an uncharted island, or a “seed” of pure elemental magic.
2. The Imperial Arcane Auction (A “Legendary” Lot)
- Where: Held in a major metropolis, often sponsored by the ruling sovereign or a council of archmages. This event is a display of power and wealth, with attendees being the most powerful nobles, guildmasters, and high-ranking officials in the world. Access is by engraved invitation only, and the auction house is guarded by magical constructs and elite Tiers 3 and 4 avatars.
- How It Is Sold: The Almanac would be the final, “legendary” lot of the auction. It would be displayed under immense magical protection. An auctioneer, likely a powerful mage, would detail its lore and abilities. The bidding would be public, fierce, and a matter of supreme public prestige.
- Cost: The bidding would start at an astronomical figure. The auctioneers would set the opening bid at 15,000 Platinum (150,000 Gold). Given the item’s power to predict eclipses (a huge strategic advantage) and its agricultural benefits (the ability to feed an entire nation), the final price would be expected to reach 35,000 to 50,000 Platinum (350,000 – 500,000 Gold), paid in universally-accepted platinum or rhodium bars.
3. The Shadow Syndicate’s Ledger
- Where: A non-location. This is the highest-end, most secretive black market in Saṃsāra. It’s not a physical place but a process. A potential buyer must put out feelers through trusted, high-level intermediaries. A “Broker” for the Syndicate, an enigmatic figure who is never seen, would then arrange a “dead drop” or a meeting in a pocket dimension.
- How It Is Sold: The transaction is cloaked in paranoia and magic. The Almanac would be held in an extradimensional space until payment is verified. The buyer would likely never know who they are buying from—only that the item is genuine. Payment must be made in full, in untraceable, non-magical assets.
- Cost: The Syndicate cares little for lore; it only cares for power and profit. They would set a fixed, non-negotiable price. 25,000 Platinum (250,000 Gold), but they would demand it in the form of an equivalent value of raw, flawless, and magically-inert gemstones (like diamonds or rubies) to make the wealth impossible to trace.
Spells that one might find inscribed on the luminescent pages of the Almanac:
- Tier Level: 3
- Description: The caster chooses a point on the ground they can see. For the next 10 minutes, they can “see” through that point as if it were their own eyes, with full 360-degree vision, up to 120 feet in all directions (even through solid earth and stone). They can use this to scout an entire dungeon floor, find hidden chambers, or see the roots of the problem (literally). The caster’s own body is blind and deaf while using this ability.
- Roleplay: The caster places their hand on the Almanac and chants, their eyes rolling back and becoming milky white. Their perspective crashes down into the dirt, feeling the cool press of soil and stone. They don’t just “see” a 3D map; they perceive it. They feel the scuttling of insects, the slow creep of roots, and the hollow emptiness of a hidden tomb, all as a single, overwhelming sensory input.
- Tier Level: 3
- Description: This spell has two modes, depending on the time of day.
- Day (Verdant): The caster channels the Almanac, summoning a vortex of super-charged plant life and elemental soil (as per the Nature’s Bounty active magic).
- Night (Eclipsed): The caster draws on the Eclipsed Codex’s power, summoning a vortex of shadowy energy and cold, celestial light. In this mode, the spell does the same damage, but it also forces any enemy hit by it to make a magic defense check or be temporarily blinded and terrified.
- Roleplay: This is a full-blown ritual chant.
- Verdant: The caster shouts the Daoist rites as the Almanac’s pages glow golden-green. The wooden amulet on the cover grows warm, and the ground erupts in a tornado of roots, rocks, and thorny vines. The smell of fresh-tilled earth and ozone fills the air.
- Eclipsed: The caster’s voice drops to a sibilant whisper. The Almanac’s silver filigree glows ice-blue, and the air temperature plummets. A vortex of shadow and light rips through the area, like a photonegative tornado. It makes no sound but a faint, high-pitched ringing.
- Tier Level: 3
- Description: This spell is a powerful fusion of the Ofuda’s insight and the Codex’s madness. The caster designates one target (creature, object, or even a concept like “this room’s puzzle”). The caster gains a sudden, overwhelming, and truthful “revelation” about it. This is not a subtle hint. This is a magical data-dump.
- On a creature: Reveals its Tier, its primary weakness (e.g., “Fire,” “Silver,” “Pride”), and its immediate intent (e.g., “Wants to steal the book”).
- On an object: Reveals its purpose, its creator, and its magical properties.
- Roleplay: The caster opens the book to the Ofuda frontispiece, which flares with light. They stare at their target, their eyes wide. Their perspective shatters and is replaced by a flood of alien symbols, whispered truths, and terrifying celestial geometry (the Codex’s madness). They have to make a magic defense check.
- Success: They process the info and gain the knowledge, though they are stunned for one round, whispering “I see… I see it all…”
- Failure: The information is too much. They gain the knowledge but are overwhelmed, taking a chunk of magic damage (as per the Codex’s ‘Unfathomable Power’ negative) and are left babbling and confused for a full minute. It’s the ultimate “buyer beware” divination.
Perception of Activation:
(This describes the activation of one of the Almanac’s major active spells, like Nature’s Bounty or Revelation)
User’s Perspective (The Wielder)
- Sight: The Ofuda frontispiece flares with a blinding, steady, golden-white light, illuminating your face and the parchment. The luminescent text on the pages you are reading begins to swim, lifting off the page and swirling in the air before you. The silver filigree on the black leather cover shines like starlight.
- Sound: You perceive three distinct, layered sounds that harmonize:
- A deep, thrumming, vital pulse (from the Daoist amulet), like a distant, massive heartbeat.
- A faint, sharp, crystalline chime (from the Codex), like ice cracking on a star.
- A constant, low hum (from the Ofuda), which feels like it is inside your skull, locking your focus.
- Smell: A sudden, overwhelming rush of three scents: the rich, earthy smell of freshly tilled soil and blooming wildflowers (Daoist), the sharp, cold scent of ozone (Codex), and the dry, papery scent of ancient ink (Ofuda).
- Touch: The wooden leaf-clasp becomes intensely warm, pulsing with life against your fingers. The black leather cover, however, becomes ice-cold, as if it’s absorbing all heat. The pages crackle with static energy, making the hairs on your arm stand on end.
- Taste: A sharp, coppery tang of ozone mixed with the faint, sweet taste of honey.
- Intuitive Perception (Extra-Sensory): A gift from the Ofuda. Your mind is wiped clear of all distraction. You perceive only the target of your spell and the “path” of the magic, as if all other possibilities have ceased to exist.
- Ethereal Connection (Extra-Sensory): A gift from the Daoist amulet. You feel a grounding sensation, a sudden awareness of the earth beneath your feet, the heartbeats of your allies, and the life-force in the plants around you.
- Cosmic Awareness (Extra-Sensory): A dangerous gift from the Codex. You feel a terrifying sense of vertigo, as if you are simultaneously falling into the earth (from the Daoist amulet) and being pulled into the cold, dark void of the sky. You perceive alien geometric patterns overlaid on reality and have the distinct, unsettling feeling of being watched by something ancient.
Observer’s Perspective (Someone Watching)
- Sight: The wielder becomes a beacon. The Ofuda inside the book casts a brilliant, focused, golden-green light, illuminating the wielder’s face and making their eyes reflect the glowing text. The silver filigree on the Codex cover flares with silver light, and the wooden amulet-clasp pulses with a deep-green, “heartbeat” glow. The ground at the wielder’s feet may glow with a faint aura of similar green light.
- Sound: A powerful, dissonant-yet-harmonious chord emanates from the wielder—a combination of a deep thrum and a high, crystalline chime that is loud enough to be heard over a quiet battlefield.
- Smell: The immediate 10-foot area around the caster is filled with the sudden, powerful smell of a thunderstorm in a forest (ozone and wet earth).
- Magical Intuition (Extra-Sensory): A magically-aware observer would perceive a massive and complex magical signature. They would feel the raw, chaotic power of celestial magic (the Codex) being wrestled into order, grounded by primal life magic (the Daoist amulet), and focused by a severe, unbending will (the Ofuda). It would feel both stable and terrifyingly volatile.
Positives
- For the User: An immense feeling of focus and power. The sensory inputs, while intense, are all centered on the casting of the spell, making it feel potent and purposeful. The Ofuda aspect actively fights the Codex’s madness, keeping the wielder sane.
- For the Observer: Allies feel an immense sense of reassurance; a “big” spell is on the way. The light and sound are a clear “friend or foe” signal.
Negatives
- For the User: The sensory overload is immense. The combination of vertigo (Codex) and grounding (Daoist) is physically nauseating and disorienting. The headache after casting a major spell from this book is legendary.
- For the Observer: The wielder is completely, utterly unsubtle. They are holding a magical lighthouse in a dark room, making them the number one, unmissable target for every enemy on the field.
This is a Tier 3 ritual, not a simple workbench job. Fusing three distinct, powerful magics (Celestial Madness, Primal Life, and Focused Insight) is less “crafting” and more “wrangling a barely-controlled explosion.”
The Sage’s Synthesis: Forging the Almanac
1. Items Merged:
- 1 x Eclipsed Codex (Tome)
- 1 x Daoist 47 of Verdant Harvest (Amulet)
- 1 x Ofuda of Vigilant Insight (Talisman)
2. Additional Materials Needed:
- 1 x Bolt of Shadow-Silk Thread: To re-bind the tome. Must be spun by a creature that has never seen the sun.
- 1 x Jar of Living Root Paste: A Daoist alchemical adhesive that grows and sets like wood. Used to mount the amulet.
- 3 x Vials of Celestial Ink: Made from powdered moonlight and a-cosmic aether. Used to draw the binding runes that fuse the Ofuda.
- 1 x Perfect, Flawless Sapphire: A single, large gem to act as the ritual’s focal point, which will be consumed.
3. Tools Required:
- An Arcane Bookbinder’s Press: Required to re-bind the tome under immense magical pressure.
- Ritual Carving Tools: A set of obsidian and silver tools to inlay the amulet’s mount without destroying its magic.
- Aethereal Calligraphy Kit: A set of brushes and pens capable of writing with Celestial Ink without being destroyed.
- A Consecrated Workspace: A room of perfect silence, inscribed with wards of focus and grounding.
4. Skill Requirements:
- Mastery-level Skill in Arcana: To safely handle the Eclipsed Codex’s raw, maddening power and not have your brain leak out of your ears.
- Adept-level Skill in Agriculture or Nature: To channel the Daoist 47’s life-force and prevent it from “rejecting” the other, unnatural components.
- Adept-level Skill in Insight (or similar mind-based skill): The Ofuda’s magic must be channeled by the crafter. You must maintain perfect, unwavering focus for the entire ritual, or the fusion will fail—likely catastrophically.
5. Crafting Steps:
- Preparation: The crafter must begin by placing the Ofuda of Vigilant Insight before them and meditating for one hour to attune to its focusing magic. This is not optional.
- The Anchor: The Daoist 47 amulet is placed on the Eclipsed Codex’s cover. The crafter must make an Agriculture check to channel its grounding, life-giving energy, forcing the Codex’s chaotic celestial magic into a temporary state of dormancy.
- Deconstruction: While the Codex is dormant, its original binding is carefully undone.
- The Fusion: The Ofuda is placed on the inside cover, becoming the frontispiece. The crafter must use the Aethereal Calligraphy Kit and Celestial Ink to draw a complex sigil that links the Ofuda’s paper to the Codex’s leather, making them one object. A difficult Arcana check is required.
- The Clasp: The Daoist 47 amulet is set into the front cover using the Ritual Carving Tools and Living Root Paste. The paste will animate, weaving into the leather and wood, securing the amulet as the book’s clasp.
- The Ritual: The single, perfect sapphire is crushed and sprinkled over the re-assembled book. The book is placed in the Arcane Press.
- The Final Binding: The crafter must make one final, incredibly difficult Arcana check (to bind the Codex) AND Agriculture check (to bind the Amulet) simultaneously.
- Success: The press activates, and a flash of green and silver light erupts. The items are fused.
- Failure: The three magics reject one another violently. The sapphire shatters, the items are thrown across the room, and the crafter suffers a massive backlash, likely taking both magic damage (from the Codex) and a debuff (from the Daoist amulet’s anger).
Almanac of Three Truths
(This is a telling from the Scribe-Priests, who wrote what the old ones spoke. The words are cracked.)
Hear now. This is the truth, but the truth is a bent thing.
In the age of the Long Sky, there were three men who were the [Greatest] of all, but they were not friends. They were enemies, but not of the sword. They were enemies of the idea.
First was Zharan, who was called the Star-Mad. His house was the Eclipsed Codex. He read it all day, and all night, and so he had the [Sickness: Sky-Madness]. He saw the [Future-Things] and the patterns of the void. He knew when the moons would bleed and the sun would hide. But he did not eat. He did not wash. He shouted at the [People] about the end of things, and so they threw rocks at his tower.
Second was Kai, the Daoist. His house was the soil. His heart was the Verdant Harvest Amulet, which he wore on his neck. He spoke to the rice and the root. He knew the [Song] of the earth. He could make a dead tree give fruit. He was slow. He was [Patient]. He thought Zharan was a fool, for the stars are [Useless] and you cannot eat a [Future-Thing]. You can only eat what is in the dirt.
Third was the Monk of the Silent Pagoda. He had no name, for names are [Burdens]. His treasure was the Ofuda of Vigilant Insight. He did not speak. He did not [Worry]. He sat on his mountain and watched. He watched the leaf fall. He watched the star move. He knew that Zharan and Kai were both fools, for they saw only one [Piece] of the world and called it the [Whole].
Then the Woe came.
It was Zharan who saw it. He ran from his tower, his hair on fire (this is a [Metaphor], his hair was not on fire). He ran to the village. “The Woe! The Woe!” he screamed. “The Codex told me! A star will fall, and it will drink the light, and the earth will become [Cold]!” The people threw rocks.
But Kai, the Daoist, felt it. His amulet became cold, not warm. The plants did not listen. The roots were afraid. The [Song] of the earth was sick. He looked to the sky, which he hated, and he saw a [New Star]. A crack. He knew the [Star-Mad] man was right.
So Kai, with his slow feet, walked to the [Tower] of Zharan. At the same time, the Monk of the Silent Pagoda stood up. He had seen the [Pattern] of the leaf, and the [Pattern] of the star, and he saw they were [Clashing]. He knew the Woe was here. He also walked.
The three men met on the [Middle-Hill], where they argued for one day and one night. Zharan said, “The Codex says we must do a [Great Magic]! We must shout a [Word] at the falling star to [Unmake] it!” Kai said, “You are a fool. Your [Shouting] will break the earth. The Amulet says we must [Nurture] the ground, to make it strong, so it does not [Care] about the star!” Zharan shouted. Kai sat on the dirt and would not move.
Then the Monk, who was silent, spoke. His voice was like a [Dry Leaf]. “[You],” he said to Zharan. “Your book is full of [Truths], but it has no [Roots]. It is a kite with no string. It gives [Sky-Madness].” “[You],” he said to Kai. “Your amulet is full of [Life], but it has no [Eyes]. It is a root with no plant. It is [Stubborn] and blind.”
The Monk held up his Ofuda of Vigilant Insight. “This,” he said, “is a [Focus]. It is a [Window]. It is the [String] for the kite. It is the [Eyes] for the root. But it is empty. It has no [Power] of its own.” “We are three [Fools]. We must be one [Wise Man].”
So the [Ritual] was done. It is written badly. Zharan brought the Eclipsed Codex. (His hands did shake). Kai brought the Daoist 47 Amulet. (His hands were steady). The Monk brought the Ofuda. (His hands were [Still]).
They did not [Craft]. They did a [Synthesis]. They put the Codex (the sky) on the altar. They put the Amulet (the earth) on the cover, to be its [Clasp] and its [Heart]. They put the Ofuda (the mind) inside the cover, to be its [Lens] and its [Guide].
Zharan chanted the [Words of Stars]. Kai chanted the [Song of Roots]. The Monk was [Silent], but his mind was a [Knife] that cut the [Magic] and wove it. There was a [Sound]. It was a [Green-Silver] light. It was the sound of a root pushing a star. It was the sound of a [Heartbeat] and a [Comet] at the same time. The three items became one. The Almanac of the Verdant Eclipse.
Zharan, the Star-Mad, opened it. He looked. He saw the [Charts] of the eclipses. But… he also saw the [Charts] for planting seeds. The madness in his head, it did not stop, but it became [Quiet]. “Ah,” he said. “The stars are not [Wounds]. They are… [Signs] for the harvest.” And the [Sky-Madness] left him.
Kai, the Daoist, touched the book. He saw the [Roots] in the soil. But… he also saw the [Pull] of the moon and the [Energy] of the sun. “Ah,” he said. “The harvest is not just the [Dirt]. It is… the [Child] of the sky and earth.” And his [Stubbornness] left him.
The Monk picked up the book. He smiled. He did not read it. He gave it to them. They opened it together. They found a new [Page], one that was not there before. It was the [Spell] to fix the Woe. It was not a [Shout] (like Zharan wanted). It was not a [Wall] (like Kai wanted). It was a [Song of Weaving]. They cast it. They sang the [Song] of the roots to the [Falling Star]. They used the [Mind-Quiet] to guide the [Power]. The WDon’t in the sky [Closed]. The [Song] of the earth was [Healed].
The three men, who were now one [Wise Man], took the Almanac. Zharan said, “It is too [Heavy] for one man. The [Truth] is too much.” Kai said, “It must be hidden. For the [Sky] and the [Earth] are strong, but [Man] is weak.” The Monk said nothing. He just pointed. And they hid the book on the [Umbra Peaks], where the [Sky] and [Earth] meet, and where only a [Quiet Mind] can find it.
Moral: A [Man] who only looks at the [Stars] is a [Fool]. A [Man] who only looks at the [Dirt] is [Blind]. [Truth] is only found when the [Eye] (the mind) sees both at the in-same-time.
Suggested conversions to other systems:
Call of Cthulhu (7th Edition)
The Almanac of the Verdant Eclipse
This tome is a dangerous artifact, not a true Mythos text, but something parallel. It blends the pre-human sanity-blasting truths of the cosmos with the grounding, life-affirming knowledge of the earth and the hyper-awareness of a prepared mind.
Tome Properties:
- Sanity Loss: 1d3/1d8 (for first full reading)
- Skills: The first full reading grants +10 percentile points to Occult, +15 to Natural World, and +5 to Spot Hidden.
- Spells: The tome teaches the following:
- Healing Harvest (Ritual): Costs 12 Magic Points and 1d4 Sanity. Requires 1 hour of chanting. Heals all participants for 2d6 Hit Points and grants them a bonus die on their next physical (STR, CON, DEX) roll.
- Revelation: Costs 4 Magic Points and 1 SAN. Functions as a Divination spell, providing a cryptic, truthful answer to a single question about a future course of action.
- Eclipse Veil: Costs 8 Magic Points and 1d3 SAN. Can only be cast during an eclipse or at night. The caster and one other person become supernaturally difficult to see for 10 minutes, granting a bonus die on all Stealth rolls.
Passive Abilities (Keeper Only):
- Vigilant Insight: While the tome is on their person, the Keeper has an uncanny awareness. They gain a bonus die on all Spot Hidden rolls.
- Celestial Attunement: The Keeper instinctively knows the exact date and time of the next solar or lunar eclipse.
- Negative (The Unfathomable Power): Prolonged study of the book is maddening. Any time the Keeper fails a Sanity roll while in possession of the book, they take an additional 1 point of Sanity loss as they are overwhelmed by visions of the cold, dark void.
Blades in the Dark
The Almanac of Star and Soil (Artifact, [Ritual], [Tome])
A heavy, leather-bound almanac with a wooden, leaf-shaped clasp. It crackles with the contained power of the earth and the void. It’s an object of immense power, drawing the attention of forgotten gods and occult societies.
- This item is a powerful Artifact. It cannot be crafted normally and must be acquired through a desperate score. It takes up 2 Load and must be held in two hands to use its active abilities.
Game Mechanics:
- Passive: When you hold the Almanac, you gain potency on all actions related to natural sciences, agriculture, or predicting celestial events. You also have +1d to your Resistance roll when surprised.
- Active: You can spend 2 Stress to cast Nature’s Bounty. You unleash a vortex of elemental energy. This is a Wreck action with great effect against a small group.
- Active (Ritual): When you lead a group Downtime activity to Study the Almanac, you can ask the GM one question about an upcoming score or threat. The GM will answer truthfully, but cryptically (as per Divination).
- Active (Ritual): Once per score, during an eclipse or in total darkness, you can perform a 1-clock ritual to grant your entire crew a +1d bonus to their first Prowl roll of the score.
Dungeons & Dragons (2024 Revision)
Almanac of the Verdant Eclipse Wondrous Item, Legendary (Requires Attunement by a Druid, Cleric, or Wizard)
This heavy tome is bound in black leather with silver filigree, its clasp a polished, leaf-shaped wooden amulet. The inside cover bears a complex, glowing script. You must be holding the tome to use its properties.
- Verdant Mind. Your Wisdom score increases by 2, to a maximum of 22. You can’t be surprised while you are conscious.
- Fertile Ground. You have Advantage on all Wisdom (Nature) and Wisdom (Survival) checks.
- Verdant Aura. As a bonus action, you can activate a healing aura. You and all friendly creatures within 10 feet of you regain 1d6 hit points at the start of your turn. This aura lasts for 1 minute or until you are Incapacitated. This property can’t be used again until the next dawn.
- Spells. The Almanac has 10 charges. It regains 1d8+2 expended charges daily at dawn. You can use an Action to expend charges to cast the following spells from it (spell save DC 18):
- Augury (1 charge)
- Spike Growth (2 charges)
- Plant Growth (3 charges)
- Divination (4 charges)
- Wall of Thorns (6 charges)
- Eclipse Veil (1/Day). If it is night or you are in an area experiencing a solar eclipse, you can use an Action to cast Invisibility on yourself and up to five other creatures you can see within 30 feet. This Invisibility lasts for 1 hour or until a creature affected by it attacks or casts a spell.
Knave (2nd Edition)
Book of Star and Soil 3 Slots, 2-Handed, Wondrous, 10,000c
A massive tome bound in dark leather with a wooden leaf-clasp. It hums with a deep, green energy. Reading from it requires both hands.
- Passive (Vigilant): You have an advantage (roll 2d20, keep highest) on all WIS saves.
- Passive (Prognostication): You instinctively know when the next eclipse will be and can perfectly predict the weather 24 hours in advance.
- Passive (Fertile): Any rations you forage are doubled.
- Active (Once per day): You may read from the book for 1 minute to cast Healing Harvest. All allies within 60 ft heal 2d8 HP.
- Active (Once per day): You may read from the book to cast Nature’s Bounty. All enemies in a 30 ft. radius take 4d6 damage (WIS save for half).
- Active (Once per day): You may spend 10 minutes in quiet contemplation with the book to Divine a course of action. Ask the GM a single “what if” question. The GM will answer with “Weal” (good outcome), “Woe” (bad outcome), “Weal and Woe” (mixed), or “Nothing.”
Fate (Core System)
The Almanac of Three Truths
This item is a powerful Extra; taking it costs 2 Refresh.
Aspects: Tome of Earth and Sky, Bound by a Vigilant Mind Permission: By holding the Almanac, you have narrative permission to instinctively know the exact timing of all local eclipses and weather patterns. You also cannot be surprised by ambushes (though you can still be overwhelmed).
Stunts:
- Revelation: Once per session, you can spend a scene in contemplation with the Almanac to ask the GM a single, complex question about a future course ofaction. The GM will answer truthfully, but cryptically (this functions as a Create an Advantage action using Lore where you automatically succeed with one free invocation).
- Healing Harvest: Once per session, you can spend a full action reading from the tome. This places the Boost aspect Verdant Rejuvenation on all allies in your zone (including yourself).
- Nature’s Bounty: Once per session, you can use an action to make a magical Attack with your Lore skill against every other target (friend or foe) in your zone.
- Eclipse Veil (Conditional): If it is an eclipse or the dead of night, you can spend a Fate Point to place the Shadow-Veiled aspect on your entire group (in your zone) with one free invocation for each member.
Numenera & Cypher System
Verdant-Eclipse Almanac Level: 7 Form: A massive, ancient leather tome with a wooden leaf-clasp. The inside cover is a single, glowing piece of inscribed parchment. Effect: This item is an artifact. While held, the user is trained in all tasks related to agriculture, survival, and celestial navigation. The user is also trained in all perception-based tasks to avoid being surprised.
It also has several active abilities:
- Healing Harvest (Action): The user chants from the book. All allies within a short distance heal 3 points of damage (bypassing the 1-hour/10-hour recovery rolls).
- Nature’s Bounty (Action): The user unleashes a vortex of elemental shadows and roots. All enemies within a short distance take 7 points of ambient damage (ignores armor).
- Revelation (1 hour): Once per day, the user can study the book for an hour to ask the GM one complex question. The GM must answer truthfully.
- Eclipse Veil (Action, conditional): If it is an eclipse or dark night, the user and all allies within short range become invisible for 10 minutes or until they take a hostile action. Depletion: 1 in 1d20 (When the user activates Healing Harvest, Nature’s Bounty, or Eclipse Veil, roll a d20. On a 1, the book’s fusion fails, and it becomes a mundane, damaged tome).
Pathfinder (2nd Edition)
Almanac of the Verdant Eclipse Item 14 Traits: Artifact, Divination, Evocation, Healing, Primal Usage: held in 2 hands; Bulk 1
This unique tome is a fusion of celestial, natural, and mental magic. You must be holding the Almanac to use its abilities, and you must be able to read its language.
Passive: You gain a +2 item bonus to Nature and Survival checks. You also gain the Vigilant Insight benefit, meaning you cannot be surprised as long as you are conscious.
Activate [three-actions] (concentrate, divination) Frequency 1/day; Effect You cast a 5th-level divination spell.
Activate [two-actions] (healing, primal, vital) Frequency 3/day; Effect You chant from the book. All allies in a 30-foot emanation heal 5d8 Hit Points and gain a +1 status bonus to their attack rolls for 1 round.
Activate [two-actions] (evocation, primal) Frequency 3/day; Effect You summon a vortex of elemental and celestial power in a 20-foot burst within 120 feet. All creatures in the burst take 8d6 damage (half elemental, half positive) with a DC 32 basic Reflex save.
Activate [two-actions] (illusion, shadow) Frequency 1/day; Requirements You are in an area of dim light or darkness; Effect You cast a 4th-level invisibility spell on yourself and up to 5 allies within 30 feet. The duration is 10 minutes.
Savage Worlds (Adventure Edition)
The Almanac of Star and Soil Item: Major Artifact Requirements: Novice, Occult d8+, Survival d8+, Wisdom d8+
This ancient tome is a powerful focus for primal and celestial magic. It holds 30 Power Points and recharges 10 PP per 24 hours spent in a natural, non-urban environment. The wielder can use the powers below by spending the listed PP.
Powers:
- Healing Harvest: Costs 5 PP. As an action, the wielder casts Healing on all allies within a Large Blast Template (centered on the wielder).
- Nature’s Bounty: Costs 4 PP. As an action, the wielder casts Burst, using a Large Blast Template. The trapping is a violent vortex of shadowy roots and celestial fire.
- Revelation: Costs 5 PP. The wielder casts Divination.
- Eclipse Veil: Costs 3+ PP. The wielder casts Invisibility. This can only be activated at night or during an eclipse. It can affect up to 5 targets (1 PP per additional target beyond the first).
Passive Abilities:
- Vigilant Insight: The wielder has the Danger Sense Edge and cannot be Surprised.
- Verdant Knowledge: The wielder gains a +2 bonus to all Survival rolls for foraging and all Occult rolls related to nature or the stars.
Shadowrun (6th Edition)
Almanac of the Verdant Eclipse (Power Foci)
This appears to be an ancient, leather-bound book, impossibly preserved. The cover has a bizarre wooden, leaf-shaped inlay, and the front page is a single, glowing Ofuda. It’s a powerful and deeply heretical Foci, blending traditions (Daoist, Shinto, Hermetic) that have no business being in the same object.
Rating: 6 Availability: 22F (Cannot be purchased; must be found or stolen) Cost: Priceless (Est. Black Market Value: 4,000,000 ¥) Essence Cost: 0 (but see below) Game Mechanics:
- Binding: This Foci can only be bound by a character with at least one magical skill (Sorcery, Conjuring, or Enchanting) and the Survival skill at rank 4 or higher. Binding it costs 12 Karma.
- Passive (Vigilant Insight): The wielder cannot be surprised (as per the Danger Sense adept power).
- Passive (Verdant Aura): The wielder gains a +2 dice pool bonus to all Survival tests for foraging and all Navigation tests.
- Active (Revelation): (Complex Action) Once per run, the wielder may consult the tome to perform a Divination. This functions as an Assensing test (using Magic + Intuition) with a +4 dice pool bonus, targeting a person, place, or future event. The GM provides a truthful, but cryptic, answer based on the net hits.
- Active (Healing Harvest): (Complex Action) Once per run, the wielder can channel the tome’s life magic. All allies within (Magic x 10) meters heal 4 boxes of Stun damage. This action generates significant astral attention.
- Curse (Unfathomable Power): This item wasn’t meant for a mortal (or metahuman) mind. Every time the wielder rolls a Critical Glitch on a Magic-linked test, they must immediately resist 6P Physical damage (half resisted) as their brain tries to comprehend the book’s cosmic geometry.
Starfinder
Tome of the Star-Seed Level: 15 Price: 125,000 credits Slot: held in 2 hands; Bulk: 1 Category: Hybrid
Description: This thick, black-leather tome has a strange, wooden amulet set into its cover. Its pages seem to absorb light, and the first page, an inscribed paper talisman, glows with a soft, steady light. It is a fusion of primal magic, psionic focus, and forbidden cosmic knowledge.
Game Mechanics:
- You must be holding the tome in two hands to use its active properties.
- Passive (Verdant Mind): You gain a +4 insight bonus to Perception (to avoid surprise) and Survival checks.
- Passive (Prognostication): You instinctively know the exact timing of all local solar and lunar eclipses.
- Active (1/day): As a Standard action, you can use Healing Harvest. This functions as mystic cure (as a 4th-level spell), affecting all allies within 30 feet.
- Active (3/day): As a Standard action, you can use Nature’s Bounty. This functions as caustic conversion, but deals half acid and half cold damage in a 20-ft.-radius burst within 100 feet (Reflex DC 21 for half).
- Active (1/day): As a 10-minute ritual, you can use Revelation. This functions as divination.
- Active (1/day, Conditional): If you are in dim light or darkness, you can use Eclipse Veil (as a Standard action) to cast greater invisibility on yourself.
Traveller (Mongoose 2e)
The Zharan Almanac (Ancient Artifact) TL: 16 (Pre-Collapse) Cost: Cr 15,000,000 (Artifact) Mass: 2 kg Game Mechanics: This device is a one-of-a-kind, two-handed artifact. It appears to be a “book,” but its pages are advanced, self-illuminating display screens, and the “amulet” on the cover is a biometric lock.
- Passive (Vigilant Insight): The Almanac contains an advanced predictive combat VI. The user cannot be surprised by ambushes and gains DM+1 on all Initiative checks.
- Passive (Verdant Knowledge): The Almanac is an unparalleled repository of xenobotanical and agricultural data. It grants DM+3 on all Survival (foraging) and Animals (handling) checks.
- Passive (Celestial Attunement): The device functions as an advanced Navigation (astrogation) and sensor package, granting DM+2 to all astrogation checks.
- Active (Revelation): Once per session, the user can spend 10 minutes accessing the device’s predictive modeling AI. The user may ask the Referee one question about a future course of action, which the Referee must answer with a simple, truthful, and often cryptic one-to-four-word answer (e.g., “High casualties,” “Financial ruin,” “Unexpected ally”).
- Active (Harvest): (Significant Action) Once per day, the user can activate the Almanac’s bio-harmonic field. This functions as an advanced Medic kit, allowing the user to make a Medic check (DM+2) that affects all allies within 10 meters simultaneously, stabilizing them and restoring 1d6 lost END.
- Active (Bounty): (Significant Action) Once per day, the user can overload the Almanac’s power core, releasing a “shadow-pulse.” All targets (friend or foe) in a 20m radius must make a Steward 8+ check or be stunned for 1d3 rounds.
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (4th Edition)
The Almanac of Morrslieb and Manaan Encumbrance: 100 Availability: Unique Cost: Priceless (and heretical) Description: A massive, dark tome that feels unnervingly cold, as if it absorbs both light and heat. It is bound in what looks like black leather, with silver markings that recall constellations. A strange, leaf-shaped wooden talisman is set into the cover, and the inside page is a glowing, complex sigil. The book is a terrible paradox—a fusion of the Lore of Life (Ghyran), the Lore of Heavens (Azyr), and the Lore of Shadow (Ulgu).
Game Mechanics:
- A character must be literate, have the Channeling (Ghyran or Azyr) skill, and be holding the book in two hands to use its active abilities.
- Passive (Vigilant Insight): The wielder gains the Sixth Sense Talent.
- Passive (Celestial Attunement): The wielder instinctively knows the exact position of both moons, even when indoors or underground.
- Active (Healing Harvest): Once per day, as an action, the wielder may make a Challenging (+0) Channeling (Ghyran) Test. If successful, all allies within 10 yards (including the caster) heal Willpower Bonus + SL Wounds. If this roll results in a Minor Miscast, the caster also heals all enemies in the area.
- Active (Revelation): Once per day, the wielder may spend 10 minutes in contemplation to gain a “Revelation.” Ask the GM one question. The GM gives a short, cryptic answer. The wielder must then make a Difficult (–10) Cool Test or gain 1 Corruption point from the sheer, unfiltered truth.
- Curse of the Eclipse: This book’s knowledge of the heavens is tainted by its knowledge of shadow. Any time the wielder rolls a Fumble (a roll of 96-00) on a Channeling or Magic Test while holding this book, they must roll on the Minor Miscast table, even if they are not a wizard. If they are a wizard, they must roll on the Major Miscast table instead.
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