Recordkeeping preserves knowledge, compensating for human forgetfulness. Better ways of maintaining records make keeping track of events and relationships easier. This facilitates the division of labor, which in turn lets human societies grow more complex and accumulate specialized lore – notably technological know-how. Technological knowledge was itself recorded in such forms as Egyptian medical guides and Greek treatises on artillery. Prices of records – be they pictures, maps, or written documents – vary a great deal. See GURPS Low-Tech Companion 1 for suggestions.
Pictures go back to prehistory; Paleolithic cave paintings are regarded as art treasures today. The ability to draw or paint an image of a person, animal, or object, given suitable pigments, is TL0. The skill involved is Artist (Drawing, Illumination, or Painting).
In the Renaissance (TL4), a more sophisticated technique entered general use (though some Greek painters anticipated it at TL2): perspective. This projects space onto a flat surface to achieve a more convincing illusion – for example, the sides of a road coming together at the horizon. Renaissance painters delighted in tricks of perspective, such as Mantegna’s Dead Christ (1466), with its feet toward the viewer.
People began drawing – or building – maps at TL0. These emphasized directions and the paths joining different places. Land-area measurement at TL1, enabled by tools such as the surveyor’s cross (p. 43), led to the practice of drawing maps to scale.
All flat maps of the Earth are inaccurate, because there’s no way to project a sphere onto a plane without distortion. The best maps are globes. Globes entered use at TL2, after Greek geometer Eratosthenes realized that solar rays at different latitudes struck the ground at different angles because the Earth’s surface is curved. The first globe was made by Crates of Mallus around 150 B.C.; the oldest surviving one is part of a statue, the Farnese Atlas, sculpted in 140 A.D. Muslim scholars began making globes in the ninth century. Europeans resumed the practice (appropriately!) in 1492; globes became widespread at TL4.
The mathematics of map projections was developed in the ancient world by Marinos of Tyre, and popularized by Claudius Ptolemaeus. Systematic study of map projections took off at TL4. The best-known approach, the Mercator projection, was first used in 1569. See Navigation (p. 52) for more on maps. With the development of printing at TL4, the publication of atlases made maps widely available.
Writing was invented at TL1, in the cities of the ancient Near East, China, and Mesoamerica. Only the Peruvians attained urbanization without written records (they relied on knotted cords, called quipu, as memory aids). Written records can be kept using a variety of media.
Practically any solid material can have writing impressed on it. Leather, wood, ivory, and stone can be cut into letters; early Chinese writing survives on carved bones and pieces of tortoise shell. With metals, it’s more efficient to prepare a mold and pour in molten metal.
Stonecutting (TL1) is the most common way of recording text, because stone lasts longer than organic materials while being easier to work with than metal. Inscriptions take a long time and are limited to short texts; each line of text is a day’s work.
Small pieces of carved stone can be used to press a design into clay or molten wax to seal a document, or as a signature.
Cylinder Seal (TL1). Invented in ancient Sumer, cylinder seals were rolled over moist clay – and later, wax – to leave the impression of a short inscription, often a signature. Typical cylinder seals are carved from semiprecious stones. $20, neg.
Signet Ring (TL2). Performs the same function as a cylinder seal, but the image is carved into the flat face of the stone of a ring. The wearer makes a fist and presses the ring into the wax that seals a letter. $30, neg.
Soft solid media are erasable and reusable by smoothing their surfaces out. They’re often used to take notes and prepare drafts, which can be corrected before being transferred to permanent media. Writing is done using a stylus.
Clay Tablet (TL1). The oldest writing medium, developed in ancient Mesopotamia around 3200 B.C. Clay tablets have limited reuses, because they dry and harden when exposed to air. Size varies, but a typical tablet is 12” high, 6” wide, and 1” thick; holds 100 words; and weighs 5 lbs. The tablet itself normally costs nothing.
Stylus (TL1). A rigid tool – usually reed or wood – used to make impressions in a soft surface. One end is sharp for writing; the other is blunt for rubbing out mistakes. $3, neg. A metal stylus (TL2) can be used as an improvised dagger (see Improvised Weapons, LT p. 63): $6, neg.
Wax Tablet (TL2). This was the standard medium for Roman clerical workers. A very shallow box holds a layer of wax, which can be written on with a stylus. Two or more tablets can be linked together by hinges. Small tablet (5”x6”) that holds about 60 words: $7, 0.2 lb. Large tablet (8”x12”) that holds about 200 words: $20, 0.5 lb. Wealthy people use tablets backed with ivory instead of wood: +4 CF.
Flat media are written on not by cutting into their surfaces, but by applying pigment to them. Normally this is ink, applied with a brush or a pen.
Barkcloth (TL0). Mostly used for clothing, but can be drawn upon. Gives -2 (quality) to legibility. One pound costs $8 and is 25 letter-sized sheets.
Leather (TL1). Leather can be dyed, painted, drawn on, or written on, but it isn’t ideal for writing; -2 (quality) to legibility. One pound costs $8 and is 25 sheets.
Papyrus (TL1). A standard medium in ancient Egypt. Sheets can be glued together to form a long strip usable in a scroll. Normally, only one side is written on. Papyrus survives nearly indefinitely in desert climates, but breaks down after a century in moister areas. One pound costs $12 and is 50 sheets.
Potsherds (TL1). The ancient Egyptians first used broken pieces of pottery for note-taking and school exercises; the Athenians later used them as ballots. Potsherds are free anywhere pottery is used. A potsherd big enough for 100 words weighs 0.75 lb.
Leaves, Stems, and Bark (TL2). Many plant materials were used as media without being processed into paper; e.g., palm leaves in India, bamboo strips in China (typically 9”¥1/2”), and birch-bark strips for Buddhist texts in India. These are free in the regions where they’re used; roll vs. Naturalist, Professional Skill (Scribe), or Survival to locate a supply. Bamboo strips bound together into “pages” are about 1/8” thick, and $0.25, 0.1 lb. per page.
Parchment and Vellum (TL2). Parchment and vellum are animal skins treated to produce superior writing materials. Writing on vellum gives +1 (quality) to legibility. One pound of parchment costs $12 and is 20 sheets; one pound of vellum costs $60 and is 50 sheets.
Paper (TL3). Invented in China by the first century B.C., paper spread worldwide as a medium for writing and later for printing, reaching the Near East by 800 A.D. and Europe over the next few centuries. At TL4, the Chinese developed a less-expensive paper based on bamboo, which helped make books cheaper in China than in Europe. One pound costs $6 and is 100 sheets. Halve cost for inexpensive paper at TL4.
Parchment and vellum (above) are expensive; discarding a botched copying job leaves the scribe out a lot of money. Scribes developed methods of recycling used parchment. A parchment sheet that has been erased and reused is called a palimpsest. Hasty cleaning costs 20% of the original price, and produces poor-quality writing material (-2 to legibility). Thorough cleaning costs 50% of the new price, and produces fair-quality writing material (-1 to legibility).
Brush (TL1). A stick with animal-hair bristles tied to it. $2, neg.
Ink (TL1). This water-based solution contains a pigment (e.g., soot) and a binder to keep it from settling out (e.g., gum arabic or lacquer). Western inks are stored in liquid form; a pint is $2.50, 1 lb. Asian inks are produced in sticks, used with an ink stone and water; enough for a pint of ink is $2.50, 1 oz. These prices purchase black or brown ink. Other earth tones or red: +1 CF. Rarer colors, such as violet: +4 CF.
Ink Stone (TL1). A shallow stone dish for use with ink sticks. The scribe pours a bit of water into the dish and grinds an ink stick into it until it reaches the desired darkness. $20, 2 lbs.
Pen (TL1). This is a tube with a slit and small hollow near the tip to hold ink. At TL1, pens are typically reeds; metal pens appear at TL2, and quills at TL3. Reed or cheap quill pen that will last for 20 pages: $0.25, neg. High-quality quill pen that can be resharpened every 20 pages up to 100 pages: $0.75, neg. Metal pen that won’t wear out: $4, neg.
Pumice (TL1). Lightweight volcanic stone used as an eraser. $3, 0.5 lb.
Stylus (TL2). A metal stylus (see Soft Solid Media, p. 46) can be used to trace faint lines on flat media. Lead, copper, silver (+4 CF), and gold (+99 CF) are all used. Silver is preferred, because its lines can’t be rubbed off. Works best with paper treated with clay or organic primers.
Pencil (TL4). The discovery of a large graphite deposit in Borrowdale, England in 1564 led to the use of graphite sticks for writing. The manufacture of wooden pencils began in Nuremburg, Germany in 1662. A dozen pencils: $4, 0.25 lb.
Egyptian Scribe’s Palette (TL1). Ancient Egyptian scribes carried a case with two depressions for different inks (usually black and red) and a compartment for several pens. While writing, the scribe slung the cord over his shoulder, resting the ink compartments on his chest. $9, 1.5 lbs.
Medieval Scribal Kit (TL3). Medieval and Renaissance European scribes used tools to keep their writing aligned. A typical kit included a ruler, a square, and adjustable calipers. $24, 3 lbs.
Writing Box (TL4). Early scribes wrote on their laps, but during the Middle Ages, special furniture was designed for writing, and by the Renaissance it became portable. The writing box provides a sloping surface on which to write and drawers on the sides to hold paper, ink, and writing tools, but closes up into a small rectangular case. $50, 2 lbs.
Advances in writing include not only new media, but also innovative ways of organizing a document and novel tools for locating and searching it.
From the beginning of writing at TL1 until the emergence of hypertext at TL8, three main document formats have been used:
Tablet (TL1). The oldest form of document, dating to the early Bronze Age: a flat piece of material – such as clay – with characters marked on it or cut into it (see Soft Solid Media, p. 46). Each page is separate. Tablets are mostly used for administrative records, where one tablet suffices to hold all the information on a particular case. Royal scribes may build up archives containing a king’s letters to and from other rulers, chronicles of his reign and conquests, or even literary works such as the story of Gilgamesh (recorded around 1200 B.C.). Such documents may extend over several tablets that must be kept together.
Scroll (late TL1/TL2). A piece of flexible material – a foot wide or less, but many feet long – attached to two cylinders and rolled up on them. Typical materials are papyrus and parchment. The reader picks up the scroll with all the material wrapped around one cylinder, pulls the cylinders apart to expose the start of the text, and rolls it onto the other cylinder as he reads. A typical scroll is 12” wide and 200” long, and has room for about 5,000 words (about as long as a book chapter).
Codex (late TL2/TL3). Developed in the Roman Empire, the codex has been the standard form of book ever since. It consists of a stack of rectangular sheets of paper or a similar material, fastened together along one edge, inside a thick, usually rigid protective cover. This format can hold the equivalent of dozens of scrolls.
Even within a single book, it can be tricky to locate a specific piece of information – that’s why GURPS supplements have indexes! In an archive, finding the book with the right piece of information can be even more challenging. Searching written material generally requires a success roll.
Modifiers to all rolls to search written material: -6 for Broken written comprehension of the language of the material, or -2 for Accented; +3 if Single-Minded (p. B85), except when reading just a single tablet, page, or loose file; modifiers for Time Spent (p. B346), if taking more or less than the listed base time – but with Speed-Reading (p. B222), your base time is the standard base time divided by 1 + (skill/10).
substitute an Administration roll for an administrative document, but at -2 if it isn’t a type with which you’re familiar. Base time is a minute for a tablet or standard form; an hour for a scroll, book chapter, or long article; or a day for a codex.
can substitute Administration in an administrative archive, but at -2 for unfamiliarity if you don’t use that specific kind of archive regularly. This assumes an archive with a catalog; roll at -5 for an organized archive without a catalog, or at -10 for a pile of random documents. Base time averages 4 hours. Actually reading the document takes negligible time, and neither requires a success roll nor modifies the archival search roll.
For documents that aren’t specially prepared to aid searches, all rolls are made at -5 (quality), in addition to any applicable modifiers above. Scribes have invented numerous “devices” to assist searches and reduce or eliminate this penalty:
Colophon (TL1). A short line in the upper margin of a tablet or a page, identifying its contents. This may be a short title, the first words of the text, the name of a person it refers to, or an identifying number. Colophons on tablets or loose pages give -2 (quality) when searching an archive for the right document. Colophons on bound pages in a codex give -2 (quality) when searching for a specific topic.
Catalog (TL2). A list of books or other documents in an archive, in the form of either a codex or loose records. At TL2- 4, catalogs aren’t standardized; a new archive’s catalog gives -2 for unfamiliarity. With a familiar catalog, the roll is unmodified.
Line Numbers (TL2). A number in the margin of a scroll, a page in a codex, or a loose page such as a legal document. Not useful in searching for a topic, but can be used to find the same topic again. Roll vs. IQ to remember the line number; if you wrote it down, or someone gives it to you, success is automatic.
Table of Contents (TL2). A list of the main sections into which a long document is divided, placed at the beginning. It usually has line or page numbers. A reader can identify the right section and search only that section, saving time. Any table of contents in a scroll, or a table of contents without page numbers (below) in a codex, gives -2 (quality) to the search roll; a table of contents with page numbers gives an unmodified roll. At TL4, a book may have an analytical table of contents, with a detailed description of what’s in each chapter; this gives +1 (quality) to searches for information in the document.
Page Numbers (late TL2/TL3). A number in a standard place on the pages of a codex. This gives the same benefits as line numbers for locating a previously found topic, but for codices rather than scrolls. Page numbers make a table of contents more useful and make an index (below) possible.
Index (TL3). Usually placed at the back of a codex, an index is a detailed list of topics discussed, with page numbers. Benefits are similar to those from a table of contents, but even greater: the researcher need only search 2d pages in the book. An index allows unmodified rolls to search a book; an exceptionally well-prepared index in an expensive scholarly book gives +1 (quality) to the roll, cumulative with the benefit of an analytical table of contents, if any.
At TL3, the Chinese developed block printing, in which a page of writing was carved into a block of wood. The oldest surviving printed book is a Tibetan sutra dated to 868 A.D. Europeans began using block printing around 1400.
A Chinese inventor, Bi Sheng, developed movable type – made from carved wood – in 1051. This didn’t enter widespread use until the 1400s, and coexisted with block printing long after. In Europe, movable type was invented independently, probably by Johannes Gutenberg in 1450, and became the standard printing method, although woodblocks remained in use for material such as drawings, maps, and playing cards (see Games and Toys, LT p. 40).
Printing Blocks (TL3). A printing block is a sheet of wood, or occasionally another material, carved into the design of a printed page. The printer rubs ink onto the design’s raised parts with a brush, lays paper on top, and runs a dry brush over the back of the paper to make it pick up the ink. This method can produce 1,500 copies per day. Each block must be carved separately, typically from pear wood. Both sides may be carved – with designs for different pages – to save money. $15, 2 lbs.
Hand-Screw Press (TL4). The real strength of this early press isn’t its speed but its ruggedness – it requires nothing more than a weighty box of type, a large hand screw, and a wooden frame. A press can turn out 250 pages per hour, but only if everything is working right; the historical average was around 1,000 pages per day. With typecase box: $2,500, 1,000 lbs.
The printing press was a pivotal development of TL4. Sometime around the mid-15th century, somebody – possibly Johannes Gutenberg – developed the technique of making multiple copies using movable type. With a hand-screw press, one man could turn out 250 impressions an hour, which might be many pages of book or newspaper. That man, with less than half a ton of equipment, could transmit a point of view to thousands of people . . . if they could read. With the advent of printing, literacy went from being a luxury to a necessity. Printed works remained the standard means of information storage through TL7.
After its invention, the printing press evolved relatively little until the mid-19th century. The speed of these early presses limited the output of any one printer, encouraging diversity of production. Any city – and most towns – could support at least one printer. As literacy increased, so did the demand for newspapers and “job printing” (posters, handbills, waybills, pamphlets, flyers, etc.). One possible job for an adventurer is that of “tramp printer.” Anyone who can compose and set up type – using Professional Skill/TL (Typesetter) (IQ/A) – can find employment. It’s an excuse to travel without being branded a vagrant or a ne’er-do-well. The trade lasts well into the opening years of the 20th century.
Hand-Screw Press (TL4). The real strength of this early press isn’t its speed but its ruggedness – it requires nothing more than a weighty box of type, a large hand screw, and a wooden frame. 250 pages per hour. With typecase box: $2,500, 1,000 lbs. LC4.
Rotary Press (TL5). A rotary press’ cylinders are much faster to crank than a hand screw. 1,000 pages per hour. With typecase box: $5,000, 1,000 lbs. LC4.
Steam-Powered Rotary Press (TL5). A gargantuan rotary press that uses rolls of paper. It cuts and folds newspapers automatically. Requires a crew of 10 men, plus a steam engine (p. 14) for external power. 12,000 pages per hour. $15,000, 10 tons, external power. LC4.
Offset Printing Press (TL6). A large, electrically powered press. 5,000 pages per hour. $30,000, 1 ton, external power. LC4.
Offset Printing Press (TL8). A high-tech printing press capable of producing full-color, photo-quality output on glossy paper. 10,000 pages per hour. $30,000, 800 lbs., external power. LC4.
“I cannot live,” Thomas Jefferson once wrote, “without books.” He acquired many thousands of books during his lifetime, twice selling off the most extensive private library in the United States at the time. On the first occasion, he sold over 6,000 volumes to replace the 3,000 volumes of the Library of Congress burned by the British in the War of 1812. His library was broad-based, and included works in Latin, French, and Italian, on topics as diverse as history, law, and the sciences.
Adventurers who need to do research or learn a new skill will likely turn to books. For the purpose of Speed-Reading (p. B222), assume that the average person reads 250 words per minute. A letter-sized page of printed, single-spaced text contains about 500 words. Handwritten text is approximately one-quarter as dense. Books can sometimes replace expert knowledge. The GM may count reading a suitable reference work or following a repair manual’s instructions while actually performing a task as the equivalent of using a skill at default – even if the reader would normally get no default! Roll against the attribute-based default appropriate to the skill’s difficulty: attribute-4 if Easy, attribute-5 if Average, attribute-6 if Hard, or attribute-7 if Very Hard. Extra time gives the bonuses under Time Spent (p. B346), but these can at most remove the default penalty. This usually only works for IQ-based technical skills, but the GM may let suitable works – esoteric manuscripts, unspeakable tomes, magical spellbooks, etc. – enable default use of other skills. A generous GM might even apply Quick Learning Under Pressure (p. B292) afterward.
A typical book weighs 1-5 lbs. (High-Tech weighs approximately 2 lbs.), a large dictionary like Webster’s Unabridged weighs about 12 lbs., and a monstrous tome could weigh up to 25 lbs. At TL8, many “books” are computer data files; professional archivists estimate that an average book contains 10 MB of data. At any TL, prices range from free to hundreds of dollars for technical and reference texts. A scholar under attack might use a book to ward off blows. This may save the defender, but it seldom does the book any good! Treat a large book as an improvised light or small shield (DB 1). It has DR 1-4 for cover purposes, depending on thickness.
Blank Book (TL5). A journal or diary. Higher-quality versions have a nicer cover. Holdout -1. $15, 0.5 lb. LC4.
Notebook (TL6). A pocket-sized book with a few dozen pages. At TL8, higher-quality versions have waterproof paper. Holdout -1. $1, 0.1 lb. LC4.
The personal library has long been the mark of a learned man. In 1790, George Washington’s library exceeded 900 volumes – mainly on law and agriculture – and was approximately one-tenth the size of Harvard College’s.
A library can be a useful tool for adventurers. The GM may allow a suitable library to serve as the curriculum when learning or improving a skill (see Self-Teaching, p. B293). Generally, the higher the skill levels involved, the more extensive the required library. A library can also act as a reference for a skill – or for a skill specialty, if the skill allows or requires specialization (see p. B169). It permits Research rolls to look up answers to questions germane to that skill, possibly at a bonus for quality. The bonus for a high-quality library might sometimes extend to the skill itself, at the GM’s option. Read the skill’s description, in particular its specialties, to assess the breadth of a particular library; e.g., one could have a library for History (20th-Century Military) but not for History in general. If using a library for research outside its area, apply the modifiers under Geographical and Temporal Scope (p. B176) to Research rolls.
Many “libraries” are actually sizable collections on diverse topics stored in one place. Most public libraries would count as a basic library (see below) for dozens of subjects. A higher-quality library might be the sort of “special collection” found at a large university, and cover only a single, narrow field. How big is a library? Librarians measure the size of a collection by the amount of shelving it occupies, in linear feet. A 7’-long bookshelf stacked eight shelves high is 56 linear feet. Average book count is 8-12 per linear foot. The Library of Congress is reckoned to be the largest library in the world, at nearly 3 million linear feet – over 530 miles of shelving. See the Data Storage Table (p. B472) for another way to compare library and database sizes.
Below, the listed price assumes a mundane skill. Libraries for magical research, Hidden Lore, etc., may cost 100 times as much, if they’re available at all.
Small Collection. Perhaps a dozen works on a single topic. This is “improvised equipment”; if the GM allows a Research roll, it should be at -2 or worse. $350, 25 lbs. per skill.
Basic Library. A large shelf or small bookcase (approximately 10 linear feet) covering a particular field. Allows a basic Research roll on it topic. $3,500, 250 lbs. per skill.
Good Library. A couple of bookshelves (approximately 50 linear feet). Gives +1 to Research. $17,500, 1,200 lbs. per skill.
Fine Library. A dozen large bookshelves (several hundred linear feet). Gives +2 to Research. $70,000, 5,000 lbs. per skill.