One historical position that doesn't get enough love is the humble scribe. In the days before it became common for people to have small print studios in their houses, scribes were tasked with copying and organizing documents. It wasn't the most glamorous job in the world, but it was absolutely essential for any kind of functioning government. Indeed, the scribe was a cornerstone of civilization going all the way back to ancient Sumeria. An example of these scribes is shown in the Medieval artwork above called "The Scribe At Work" by Jean Le Tavernier.
In games, however, it is a position that is often overlooked. To be fair, scribes didn't tend to lead the most exciting lives, but a few games have allowed players to live the life of an old-fashioned pencil pusher, often taking creative liberties to make for a more engaging experience. This list will go over several such instances that allowed players to prove that the pen is mightier than the sword.
5 Final Fantasy: 4 Heroes Of Light
This hidden gem was released for the Nintendo DS in 2009. Intended as a throwback to earlier games in the series, 4 Heroes of Light made heavy use of the Job system seen in games like Final Fantasy III and V. Called crowns in this title, 4 Heroes of Light contained all the ones that you would expect such as knight, black mage, and white mage. However, there are also a number of unusual jobs such as the scribe.
Obtained by defeating the Adventurer and the Faithful Fox in the Trial Tower, scribes have access to a number of abilities and stat buffs that are tied to how much of the game is completed and overall playtime in both single and multiplayer. This means that scribes have the potential to be either the weakest or most powerful crown in the game. In fact, if you 100% complete the game this crown will max out all of your stats and cause every hit to do absurd amounts of damage, making even the toughest enemies a cakewalk.
4 Biblios
During the Middle Ages, some of the most important scribes were monks who spent their days in a monastery painstakingly copying various books and manuscripts. Often they applied elaborate calligraphy and illustrations to these works making them highly valuable and sought after.
Biblios is a board game in which players take on the role of the Abbott of one such monetary, and must compete with other Abbots to amass the greatest library of texts possible. To accomplish this players must manage and acquire workers and resources utilizing a limited pool of gold. It is also important to be on good terms with a powerful bishop.
There is also a spinoff of Biblios called Scripts & Scribes: The Dice Game, the two games play very similarly and have the same premise. The major difference between these two games is that Biblios primarily uses cards, while Scripts & Scribes primarily uses dice.
3 Guild Wars 2
When Guild Wars 2 was released back in 2012 it raised the bar for free-to-play MMOs with its gorgeous artwork and highly flexible skill system which allowed for seemingly endless customization. In 2015 the first expansion, Heart of Thorns was released, and among many other additions allowed players access to the new guild crafting discipline of the scribe.
Scribes have the ability to craft various personal and guild consumable items, as well as decorative items for the guild. To accomplish this, scribes are required to craft schematics for what they wish to create. Overall the game does a good job of representing the scribe lifestyle while also providing a fun new form of crafting.
2 World Of Warcraft
MMO's are in a unique position to be able to showcase the mundane side of living in a fantasy world. In a single-player game when you go into a store and see a set of magic scrolls for sale it is easy to think of them as having spawned from the void and not think about how someone had to actually create these items. World of Warcraft allowed players a chance to experience this with the inscription profession.
With this skill, players are able to channel magic into writing to create a variety of different items, including glyphs, Darkmoon cards, tomes, scrolls, and enchantments. A fairly fantastical take on the profession of the scribe, but one that makes sense within the world that Blizzard created.
1 Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition
Both in folklore and popular culture spell casters have often been associated with scholarship, a common image that comes to mind is that of the wizard bent over a dusty old tome furiously scribbling notes. Indeed, this idea is present in many fantasy tabletop RPGs which often place an emphasis on adding to a spell book or creating magic scrolls. However, it was the 5th edition of Dungeons & Dragons, specifically the book Tasha's Cauldron of Everything that turned it into a specific subclass.
The Order of Scribes is a group dedicated to the preservation and spread of magical knowledge. They also possess several unusual abilities, most notably being able to give life and intelligence to their spell books. Surely every bibliophile's dream come true, this grants numerous benefits for the spell caster. Players also gain access to a Wizardly quill which never needs ink and greatly reduces the time required to transcribe spells. There are a number of other abilities as well to round out the package. Overall the Order of Scribes is an excellent option for those who prefer their mages to be as nerdy as possible.