File this under "neat if we can do it", there are of course many other things which are a higher priority. I thought would be neat.
The purpose of the House of Knowledge is to stockpile information and save it from the apocalypse. No one in the House of Knowledge buys books. What about a system similar to the forge at the workmill where you can turn in books, earning points points which you can spend on a store similar to the workmill or the refinery. Rewards would be scholastically focused, things like lore buff items, scholar clothes, lore potions and archaeological and medical themed equipment. The highest tier rewards would be include things like a private meeting with the Head Librarian, Director Gladmore(patron of the arts) or hiring a team of research assistants where a number of scholars in the House of Knowledge set to work finding one particular obscure bit of lore you want, presumably a plot hook or the like or assistance to find some lost Magical Macguffin, as well as a Mantle.
Objects you could turn in would be books, mundane and magical as well as scrolls.
If this is implemented, something parallel could appear at the Cathedral of the Ascension.
Great idea, totally support this
Yes please. I've taken to just trashing the more common books and playing them off as "donating them" to the HoK and such. It would be cool to even get favor points, even if there is no favor store for a while.
EFU:Mistlocke allowed turning in tomes and scrolls to the horde of Slithushulax as a sort of favour system near the climax/end of the Transcendent Conclave. It did work back then and very much suited the plot of the faction/NPC but I think there needs to be some other considerations for implementation in the present setting and proposed faction/s or whether it would even contribute something compelling or worthwhile to the gameplay experience.
One of the main issue that comes to my mind is the source of books/lore. Obviously any tome that can be bought from the House of Knowledge should not grant favour if turned in. A direct conversion of gold to favour points contributes nothing of value. So where then are these tomes sourced from? Precious few are acquired by ordinary exploration, and when they are, they are better shared with other characters as roleplay props than be turned in to a static drop off point.
Lore/knowledge acquisition in the game has always been an intrinsic reward - the discovery and uncovering of knowledge and secrets is the reward in and of itself, a bit like the open ended joys of exploring the far reaches and hidden areas of the setting. I think an implementation like this would dilute and distract from that, even though it does at first sound nifty thematically.
The idea of a conflict between the House of Knowledge and the Cathedral of Ascension/New Beacon Library is something that may make it contribute something more. But the value of these tomes and lore for roleplay again clashes with such an implementation. Besides tomes like the Animations of Po, but even they have value for greater plots.
Perhaps we might brainstorm some ideas to counteract the aforementioned issue?
- Marking certain tomes that can be turned in whereas others with roleplay-worth cannot could be an idea. Even that only lessens how much such a system would dilute the intrinsic and roleplay value of lore/knowledge. [Edit:It also lets people meta-game valuable lore from not. Not positive.]
- Restrict turn-ins to otherwise useless tomes? But to have useless tomes adds to the confusion of what scraps and parchments are of value or not. Who is to say the maddened ramblings that are encountered are not portents of some great conspiracy taking place in the setting?
Continue the brainstorm, folks. I will need to think deeper on this before I can add further suggestions.