Archives in RPGs: The Archivist's Key

As an avid player of D&D as well as a working archivist, I do find it fascinating how the table top role playing game (TTRPG) community of players and creators imagines my profession or anything associated with it. Every once and a while you get an Archivist subclass or an equivalent thereof, but most archives-related TTRPG content comes from homebrewed classes, items, spells, etc. In case you didn't know, to homebrew something in a TTRPG game means to create something for the game that either isn't part of the official campaign materials or to alter already existing materials to better suit the story being told and/or the players at the table. Not all homebrews are created equal, but please homebrew responsibly.

That being said, it shouldn't surprise you, dear reader, to know that there are people who purposefully design and sell homebrew materials for use in your home games! One of those people is the Griffon's Saddlebag where items are created everyday complete with art, mechanics, and flavor text. And one such wondrous, and very rare, item is the Archivist's Key.

Archivist's Key by Griffon's Saddlebag

First of all, I love the art for all of Griffon's Saddlebag's items. Sometimes I just go scrolling through their tumblr to look at the gorgeous and well thought out designs while also plotting how to convince my home game GM to allow me to use what I find.

Second, the design of the key is simple, but still invokes feelings of secrecy and knowledge. Silver and gold plating? Classic, no notes. The shaft of the key looks like columns one might find at an institution of higher learning with the center segment featuring curlicues that almost look like question marks. The bow of the key brings to mind one of those dilating doors from science fiction that mimics the iris of an eye. Eye's are usually associated with knowledge and information, so I don't think I'm too off base to say that's the point of the design. The bordering sun rays could also be associated with inspiration or discovery. The key bit in the shape of a door makes more sense when you read the item's text.

So, let's do that!

The mechanics/flavor text reads:

This magical key is one of several made by a secret order of historians and archivists. While holding the key, you can use an action to twist the key, as if you were unlocking a door. When you do, a magical, spectral door slowly appears in front of you over the course of 1 minute, duplicating the effect of the "magnificent mansion" spell with the following change. The dwelling always includes a large library that magically includes copies of books, scrolls, maps, and more. The library does not count toward the total amount of space created by the spell. Its contents are strangely organized and seemingly change each time the key is used. A creature can visit the library and attempt to uncover a piece of knowledge, such as ancient poetry, the history of a forgotten kingdom, or the family lineage of a tyrannical king. The GM determines the checks and DCs needed to locate a given piece of information. For example, a book of foreign nursery rhymes may be easy to find, but a copy of necromantic research documents would be extremely difficult, if not impossible.

When the spell ends, the key can’t be used this way again for 24 hours.

To summarize: this key opens a door to a modified mansion that includes a specialized, but not always available, research room.

Okay, right off the bat we have archives and library being used as synonymous terms, which has never been true and will never be true so long as I am living and breathing in this world. If I die and that changes, don't tell me because I'll be dead and will not care. Actually, no, I'd probably care enough to come back and haunt something out of spite.

The majority of the text describes how the key modifies the Magnificent Mansion spell as well as the limitations imposed on the player where the effectiveness of their search for information is concerned. Hopefully, you have a good relationship with your GM because research within TTRPGs is rough. You make one bad investigation check and apparently you can never find anything of use ever again.

I think the name also implies something the item doesn't deliver on in the form of an actual archivist. If the key was crafted by a "secret order of historians and archivists," then why doesn't this mod come with an archivist as a built-in function? Despite what those articles about "discovering" materials in the archives would have you believe, the truth is that archivists and information management professionals are essential to those searches. So, if you're making a key that alters the mansion floor plan to include a big room of information, why aren't you also providing someone to assist in the search since the text states that the holdings within the library can change between uses? Even if your initial search returns few results, the archival assistant could be compiling items for you within the 24 hour downtime based on your previous search parameters.

That doesn't mean you can't further homebrew the homebrew item once you intend to utilize it in your game. It may sound like I'm being nitpicky, and maybe I am, but I'm basing all questions and analyses on the description provided. Anything I've said above could absolutely be applied to the item, so go nuts with it if you decide to use it in your game. Just don't tell me if you put the archives in the mansion's basement. I don't think my heart could handle it.