Exhaustive Codices of Pliny the Elder

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus  called Pliny the Elder was a Roman author, a naturalist and natural philosopher, a naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of emperor Vespasian.

Ultimate Equipment Guide II

Author Greg Lynch, J. C. Alvarez

Publisher Mongoose Publishing

Publish date 2005

He spent most of his spare time studying, writing, and investigating natural and geographic phenomena in the field. A wise man with an insatiable thirst for knowledge, he was famed for his thoroughness, unsatisfied until he had learned truly everything that was to learn about whatever subject he had chosen to study this time. His true passion, however, lay with the history and culture of the other races with which humans shared the world, with elves, dwarves, goblins, orcs and others. Throughout his long, magically-augmented life, Pliny lived with and learned from literally dozens of races, gleaning all the knowledge he could from them about their societies, ways of life, religions and how they viewed history.

During and after each of his travels, he wrote a book, which he called a codex, faithfully transcribing all he had learned. He created a book for every race (or sub-race) he studied, thus there is a Codex of Wood Elves, a Codex of Mountain Dwarves, a Codex of goblins, a Codex of hobgoblins, and so forth. Though he long intended to create a series of codices on dragons, Pliny died before he could compile his information on the draconic races.

Anyone reading one of the Codices of Pliny the Elder will gain a superior insight into the race detailed within its pages, granting that individual a permanent, non-magical +1 circumstance bonus to all communication skill checks applied to a member of that race.

However, Pliny, learned though he was, was an exceptionally dry and boring writer. Anyone attempting to read one of the mammoth Codices, a task which takes a month, must make a Will save (DC 15), or simply give up halfway through out of utter boredom. The bonus to skill checks applies only to the specific race or sub-race detailed in the Codex. Thus, a Player Character who has read the Codex of Wood Elves will receive no bonus when speaking to a high elf.

Pliny’s son, Pliny the Younger, sought to resolve the issue of his father’s terminally dull writing by reworking the Codices. She was successful, making the various Codices a far more interesting and engaging read. However, the editing she was required to do to make this possible removed enough information to deprive the reader of the +1 bonus to communication skill checks he would receive from Pliny’s original work.

The Codices of Pliny the Elder are enormous volumes, bound with wooden covers. Most Codices available today are of later printings, done with wood-cut plates. A few of the earlier editions, written by hand, are still in circulation, but are terribly expensive (approximately five times the price of the printed editions, when they are even available). Hand-written versions and printed versions are precisely the same in terms of the communications skill bonus they provide. The prices and weights given below are for the printed versions of the codices.

Dwarven Codices

• Codex of Deep Dwarves: 900 gp; 22 lb.
• Codex of duergar: 1,100 gp; 20 lb.
• Codex of Hill Dwarves: 850 gp; 21 lb.
• Codex of Mountain Dwarves: 925 gp; 20 lb.

Elven Codices

• Codex of Aquatic Elves: 800 gp; 23 lb.
• Codex of Dark Elves: 1,300 gp; 18 lb. *
• Codex of Grey Elves: 1,000 gp; 29 lb.
• Codex of High Elves: 1,050 gp; 28 lb.
• Codex of Wild Elves: 700 gp; 17 lb.
• Codex of Wood Elves: 975 gp; 24 lb.

Giant Codices

• Codex of Cloud Giants: 800 gp; 20 lb.
• Codex of Fire Giants: 775 gp; 21 lb.
• Codex of Frost Giants: 875 gp; 22 lb.
• Codex of hill giants: 800 gp; 16 lb.
• Codex of Stone Giants: 950 gp; 23 lb.
• Codex of Storm Giants: 1,050 gp; 24 lb.

Gnomish Codices

• Codex of Deep Gnomes: 800 gp; 18 lb.
• Codex of Forest Gnomes: 600 gp; 17 lb.
• Codex of Rock Gnomes: 750 gp; 19 lb.

Halfling Codices

• Codex of Halflings: 900 gp; 19 lb.

Humanoid Race Codices

• Codex of goblins: 800 gp; 14 lb.
• Codex of hobgoblins: 925 gp; 22 lb.
• Codex of orcs: 900 gp; 20 lb.
• Codex of kobolds: 550 gp; 12 lb.
• Codex of lizardfolk: 650 gp; 14 lb.
• Codex of ogres: 1,000 gp; 16 lb.

Pliny the Elder ventured into the unknown depths of the Underground to finish his research on the dark elves and never returned. The Codex of Dark Elves is compiled from the information he left behind. Unfortunately, it is filled with mistaken conclusions and misperceptions about the drow. Anyone who studies it and attempts to apply its lessons to dealings with the dark elves will actually suffer a –1 penalty to all communication skill checks with a dark elf.