D&D 5E Parchment vs Papyrus

Riley37

First Post
Yes, this is an unusual level of detail for a setting question.

Where in FR would papyrus paper (made from reeds) be common? (Only possible where reeds grow, or where someone imports reeds; on Earth, this was mostly the Nile Delta and areas within trade range, for a big chunk of historical time.)

Where in FR would parchment (made from animal skin, eg sheepskin, calf vellum, etc.) be more common?

Side note, if commoners carry something portable to write down notes, in a low-tech setting, they might be using a third method: scratching letters in a wax film on a wooden tablet, and then wiping the wax smooth to re-use the tablet. Affordable, and much easier than carrying around ink and pens.
 

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Well, your average commoner in the FR is a 3rd level wizard (5th in Thay or Halruua) so they just use a cantrip.
 

A common notepad before paper became cheap was a set of small slate tiles bound with a ring or leather cord. A soft stone or some form of chalk was carried to write on the tiles. Erase them by wiping with any cloth.
 

True, re portable chalkboards.

So what writing material is used for magical scrolls in Phlan? In Neverwinter? is papyrus a known thing in FR? I suppose I default to parchment, on the grounds that I'm pretty sure that there are cows, sheep or goats in those areas.
 

If you are looking for a region that would use papyrus, I would imagine the Al -Qadim setting within Toril would be a good place to start. It has broad mythical Arabian themes.
 
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I don't know FR geography. Any place similar to the Nile delta would seem likely for papyrus.

Parchment could be everywhere. Usually made with sheep skin but exotic monster skin would be prized for magical writing.
 



exotic monster skin would be prized for magical writing.

That totally makes sense. There should be some tiny advantage, to writing a scroll of Fireball on parchment made from red dragon hide. Perhaps a bonus to the stat check if a wizard tries to use the scroll before 5th level? Or maybe it's easier or faster or more reliable to create the scroll in the first place, because the material "resonates" with the spell?
 

Papyrus isn't made from reeds, but rather from a sedge. It holds up for a really long time in dry conditions and not so well in damper climates. Even so, papyrus was used in Europe as well as North Africa, though Egypt was the main supplier. On Toril, given they have a longer recorded global history, the use of papyrus in areas where it is not ideal is probably less common than it was in our own history. Parchment can also break down in damp environments, but holds up a little better than papyrus and is more readily available where papyrus sedges cannot grow or be cheaply imported. While sheepskin is traditional, other animal skins were used as well. Because there are thousands of years of generally known recorded history and mostly continuous civilization, it would stand to reason that barring a particular cultural reason, most places would have optimized their writing materials for their needs. Longevity is not necessarily always a need, though I imagine elves would prize this more than say, humans, so that they don't have to recopy the same manuscript every generation. The availability of magic and alchemical preparations will have an effect as well, but the economics of such things on a large scale will vary and are really up to the DM since none of the setting material I know of has ever dealt with it.

That said, there are far more options for writing than simply parchment or papyrus and reusable wax tablets were common for a long time amongst all classes of society on Earth. Birch bark, bamboo and cloth were all used. Keep in mind that paper was common in Asia in the ancient world and by the late middle ages had become the most commonly used writing material in Europe as well. If paper making exists on Toril it has likely had time to spread and mostly places would probably have paper mills. Paper in decent library conditions can last for upwards of five centuries, and it is cheap and can be made from the parts of useful crops that aren't otherwise utilized. Grasses, hemp and cotton fibers have all been used to make paper, so even the Egyptian flavored Mulhorand would have made the switch from papyrus for anything they didn't need to have last for millennia without recopying it. All this assumes details based on realistic advances and spread of technology is what you are after. If you are more concerned with flavor and broad strokes of culture: put papyrus in ancient world dry climate inspired places, parchment in dark ages/early middle ages inspired places and use paper for Asian flavored places and high middle ages/renaissance inspired places. Also, wax tablets and slate boards with chalk for everyone! That's my two pedantic cents at any rate.
 

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