A different kind of collection quest.

[Elric VIII]

I am about to start a sandbox campaign and the initial story arc to introduce the players to the world will include a collection/race-the-bad-guys style quest. Now, I want to make this quest different from just some grinding and looting.


The PCs will be have to collect a set of ancient tomes of magic before a rising barbarian warlord can get his hands on them. The books are written in an archaic languange, so the PCs will not be able to immediately claim the power for themselves. Once they do decipher the texts, they will learn that the content is mostly supersticious ramblings of a madman. The twist is that the knowledge in the books is completely useless. The important part is the ink that was used; it is a mineral that focuses magic and it only has a noticable effect when a certain critical mass surrounds a caster (i.e. he possesses multiple books).


I am having a bit of trouble thinking of some ways to show the PCs that the books themselves are not important. I figure some scenario in which the PCs find a tome that is seemingly destroyed, but still has an effect on maic in the area. I just cannot think on an elegant way to achieve this. So I ask for any sugestions to feed the PCs information without simply talling them "this is how it works." I want them to feel as though they are discovering it themselves, rather than just following my rails to the inevitable conclusion.

TL;DR - How can I lead my players to a conclusion without railroading them into it?

[ZeroGear]

Simplest way? Burn the book.
F someone then casts a spell near the remains, the ashes start to glow. If anyone thinks of analyzing the ashes by using the Craft (alchemy) skill, they should discover a critical compound, then use knowledge (arcane) to figure out what the specific component does.

This method requires a few steps to figure this out, but any group usually has the proper skills if they include a spell caster. Similalry, have comprehend language spells fail while detect magic spells say there is magic in the book nonetheless, but only as a faint aura that gets stronger when multiple books are brought together.

[Elric VIII]

Similalry, have comprehend language spells fail while detect magic spells say there is magic in the book nonetheless, but only as a faint aura that gets stronger when multiple books are brought together.

I really like this. I think I'm going to include this possibility. Thank you.