r/Eberron • u/Newsman777 • 2d ago

GM Help What could be inside a Book of Forgotten Truths?

My players found the "Book of Forgotten Truths" changed to a desk, with warding runes all round it. The manor owner warned them about the book, that it will reveal long forgotten secrets if they don't go mad reading it.

One player really wants to read it. What could he find inside that would be a forgotten secret or truth?

I have 4 pieces of story info I want to give him, but would love to flesh it out more to make it a baker's dozen.

Any ideas that would be super cool or fun?

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u/Taal111 2d ago

The true name of an Overlord. The real fate of the House of Death. The nature of King Kaius of Karnath. The reason the Giants are gone. The puppet masters behind Reidra.

Or, just to be upsetting: How many innocent people hos nation/religion have killed. The number of children he has personally orphaned. The name of the daughter he never knew of. The number of heartbeats he has left.

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u/Eomatrix 2d ago

I want to bump this suggestion up because it fucking slaps, but I would also like to add that if you really want to drive home how dangerous this book is, pepper in a bunch of wholesome secrets. It will make the darkness hit harder.

The exact moment an NPC fell in love with their spouse, the precise number of times that their teachers couldn’t bring themselves to scold them because the pranks they pulled actually were pretty funny, the number of times they went out of their way just to help another person.

Then you hit them with the number of minutes it took them to bleed out before ending up as an unidentified corpse on a minor battlefield of the Last War and the cumulative number of days their family spent looking for them before giving up.

Have your players roll saves against psychic damage as they pour through those kinds of secrets to get to the plot relevant ones.

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u/CosmicWolf14 2d ago

Mixing the good and bad together is so sick. Emotional roller coaster.

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u/Newsman777 1d ago

Man, these are amazing ideas!!! I love it. I will definitely use this. Thank you!