Some locations—the wizard’s tower, the sunken temple, or the haunted house—have a well-trod presence in stories and adventures. In this series, we’ll explore the potential of these archetypal wizard’s tower, playing with or defying tropes, and presenting rules and ideas to bring them to life.
This time, we’re zooming in on some specific rooms in our archetypal wizard tower: laboratories and libraries. These spaces are fundamental. Nearly every wizard’s abode has one, if not both. Here, they unearth secrets, watch experiments go awry, and hoard their knowledge.
And yet… how often do these iconic spaces boil down to:
“You find xxx gp worth of alchemy equipment and some potions.”
“Okay, you think you found a spellbook . . . do you open it?”
If it’s hard to even imagine a wizard’s laboratory that isn’t some absent-minded alchemist’s rummage sale, or a library that isn’t either perilous book piles or else ripped from Beauty and the Beast . . . then read on!
Catch up on all the You Find Yourself In… articles!
Wizard at Work
Here’s the thing: Whoever the master of the tower is, odds are good that most of the magic-making stuff is happening in the workshop, whether that’s something like a laboratory, more like a library, or both.
“Laboratory” conjures up imagery of a kinesthetic kind of wizard making tangible stuff: potion-makers, wand-builders, and the occasional abomination against gods and nature.
“Library” is more associated with the spell researcher, lore keeper, glyphs-and-wards type who deal in the esoteric.
The difference is largely semantic, but regardless of what you call it: These are the places where the (ahem) magic happens!
Labs and Libraries: Magical Details Table
Now how do we make these archetypal rooms cool and different?
We’ll break down some quick, evocative room-building into four parts: description, goodies, hazards, and benefits.
Description is what it sounds like: some quirky, vivid flavor text hinting at the wizard’s personality. Goodies are treasure apart from spellbooks and potions; these are items that can serve story and spark curiosity. Hazards are the pitfalls of meandering through a wizard’s workshop without permission. Benefits are mechanical quirks of a particular space that give an idea what it’s used for and can encourage creative PC play and exploration.
You can use the table here in two ways:
- Grab ’n’ Go: Each row is at least somewhat linked thematically, allowing the whole thing to be lifted as-is.
- Randomized Brainstorming: Roll a d8 for each column and put the different parts together to see what you get. Odds are they won’t seem to have much to do with each other, but using disparate elements as inspiration allows for unexpected connections. Maybe there’s a reason the lab with the really lethal poisons also has an aggressive broom! Maybe the lab requires over-the-top cleanliness lest it grow too toxic even for the master…
Labs and Libraries
| d8 | Description | Goodies | Hazards | Benefits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The walls are covered with fungal growth and glowing mushrooms, casting an eerie green light. | A green-tinged tome bound in hydra skin, detailing rare formulae for alchemical explosives and remedies. | The floorboards have begun rotting and risk giving way, leading to a fall into a pit below. | Any numeric damage or duration values of an alchemical concoction crafted here is boosted 50%. |
| 2 | Bookshelves lined with pristine tomes in exacting order, each hovering just a little off the shelf. | A softly glowing large pouch with feathers from celestial beings, each feather granting a single use of a minor healing spell. | A territorial animated broom that is hostile to trespassers who don’t take off their shoes. | Creatures magically summoned in this room are affected as planar binding, but for a duration of only 1 hour. |
| 3 | The air is thick with radiating heat and the scent of sulfur from a line of bubbling concoctions in several heavy cauldrons. | A strange crystal vial labeled Tears of a Banshee. A creature imbibing it emits a terrible scream the next time they speak, afflicting the closest hearing creature with power word: kill. | The volatile chemicals here combined with the oppressive atmosphere require periodic CON saves to avoid poisoning. | Poisons crafted in this room are especially lethal, imposing disadvantage on saves to resist them. |
| 4 | A giant astrolabe dominates the ceiling, clicking and rotating its gears and wheels. | A set of enchanted quills that write or draw by themselves with the skill of an expert cartographer. | An arrangement of mirrors reflects only a dark sky and stars, causing viewers to become hypnotized for hours at a time, unsure how much time passed. | The first divination school spell cast in this room each day doesn’t expend a spell slot. |
| 5 | Desks and tables are cluttered with scrolls and half-finished projects. | A set of enchanted candles that, when lit, suppress all sound within a 20-foot radius until they burn down after 4 hours. | Neglected magical tomes crawl around on tattered pages, snapping at anything that comes close with sharp teeth. | Concentration spells may be maintained up to 50% longer if cast and maintained in this room. |
| 6 | This entire room is carved with glowing runes on every available surface, bathing the area in pulsating, dim lighting. | A small, ornate key which, when used on an existing door, opens a portal to a hidden library in a pocket dimension. | Forbidden books and objects are interwoven with arcane symbols and runes to slowly drive the reader mad. | Language-dependent spells are cast here as though two caster levels higher. |
| 7 | Taxidermied magical beasts line every wall, frozen in menacing poses. | Various charms made from horn, bone, and fangs which, when destroyed, transform the wielder into the related animal for 1 hour. | Thick magical residue in this room is warped and conflicts with itself, causing random effects after lingering more than 10 minutes. | Items crafted in this room using materials from magical beasts have twice their normal hit points and impose disadvantage on checks to damage them. |
| 8 | An obsidian floor seems to absorb light in this room. A row of shelves has jars of body parts and preserved, still-moving bits of undead creatures. | A cracked gem that was once the phylactery of a long-forgotten lich, granting an Arcane or Wyrd spellcaster the ability to recall a spent necromancy school spell once a day. | An ominous vat filled with necrotic sludge animates into wraiths when approached. | Spells and rituals to create or summon Undead creatures create an additional creature of the same type. |
Everyone agrees, the Monster Vault is top notch!
Gnome Stew says: “. . .a solid, useful monster book, and this time, one that can be used to swap out your 5e SRD monsters that need an upgrade.”
The Gaming Gang says: “. . .the Monster Vault is the sort of RPG product I’ve learned to expect from Kobold Press. The hardcover possesses a high production quality (especially the artwork) and is filled with unique takes on classic fantasy monsters.”
COMING NEXT WEEK! Look for Monster Vault 2 on Kickstarter!
CLICK HERE to sign up to get notified on launch!
Read more at this site