d20 Literary Passage Prompts

Sometimes, a PC will find a library, or some other store of lore, and will want to peruse it. In the past I've determined that they might find a scroll on some topic and provide them with some general information, allowing them to ask more in-depth questions as pertains to that domain of study. I'm not totally satisfied with that procedure. It feels too much like what the player might do in absence of a library. It's not unreasonable for them to say at any time "What does my character know about their religion?" Sure, having a book might theoretically give more information, but it's my inclination to be generous with that kind of information anyway, and unless I already prepared some historical revelation, I'm unlikely to introduce one there.

So, here's a slightly different approach. When a PC peruses a historical book, or an account of some distant land, or something else that might have a notable passage, you can ask them to roll a d20, then consult this table as a prompt. The outcome might come up later, might inspire them to seek it out, or it might not. Therefore, you only really need to improvise something that is passingly interesting. If a PC starts thumbing through a shelf of books and they roll a "1", even on my worst day I can mention how there's a passage describing the blade Darktaker, which steals the heat from its victims and leaves them a crunchy, icy corpse. Maybe they'll say "cool" and put the book back, and maybe they'll ask me a question that leads me to prep a short adventure location elsewhere on the map.

It would be neat, if a PC takes a book to study more fully, to roll 1d4+1 passages and string them together as a more full narrative.

d20 Literary Passages

1. Cool sword, its deeds, and/or its wielder
2. Horrible, visually-striking monsters
3. Act of hubris against the gods
4. Dark lord, put down desperately, remains in some vestige waiting to return
5. Horrific donjon where they did something horrible to the innocent
6. Description of a chosen one, and the chaos they will bring
7. Incredible mount
8. Wonders of an ancient wizard, now ruined(?) and unclaimed(?)
9. Truly transformative act of love
10. Reign of unbearably pointless cruelty
11. Betrayal and unbecoming end of a great personage
12. Alternate account of important religious event, with a surprising cameo
13. Legend of how a great treasure was hidden
14. Rare plant and its remarkable uses
15. Order of strange martial artists, magicians, or experts
16. Uncommonly humble person defeats cruel authorities through uncommon decency
17. Ancient demigod or long-dead race, and their deeds
18. Strange, perhaps entirely fictitious, customs of a distant land
19. Massive battle, with great deeds recorded and seemingly impossible numbers
20. Something to remind us that everyone is human— description of the writer's cat, complaining about a hangnail, etc.

Trying out the "full narrative approach", I rolled a 2+1, meaning there are three other passages I can add to the book which describes Darktaker. Rolling three times, I got an 11, a 19, and a 20. Going out of order, I might say that the book describes a military campaign that partially intersects with the setting of the game, where the wielder Sir Brian came to prominence in a battle where he slew 300 trolls personally, and captured 20 fortresses, and was 12 feet tall himself. Later, he was betrayed by his second at his own wedding, a man who coveted his military rank and struck in pure envy. After the assassination, his second threw Darktaker into a pond which froze and slid away as an iceberg. At the end of the book, the scribe complains that her hand is sore from all that writing. Seems like it would be a fun way to add a little color to me.