Gary Gygax's World Builder

I was just browsing through the World Builder book and I had to wonder, has the information in that book actually been of any use in your adventurer.

To those who haven't read it or who haven't read it for a while this is a few (of the strangest) examples.

The Mineral hardness of Gems on the Moh scale.

How much water different water springs produce, from a "steady drip" to a "Fountainhead"

Magical Folklore of Herbs (which herbs are used for healing, prophecy etc etc

Flowers (Name, bloom season, Flower Colour, Height/Spread, Soil Type and what Type they are)

How many inches of rain are in a heavy shower

Etc etc.

Now, I admit that I liked the part about magical folklore, but the mineral hardness of gems? When would that come in handy? "Can my sapphire knife cut through this ruby glass?"?

And while some DM's might appreciate the detail, how often would you have players that would notice the details? What do these details contribute?

So I guess the general question is "what is the point behind these kind of books?"

Like many other books of it's kind, it's an idea mine, and not much more. Lots of stuff in the book *is* useful, or could be, but quite often most of those useful areas have been covered elsewhere, and often better.
Mostly I use it for bouts of random inspiration.

It just depends. I often have had players with strong science backgrounds. So they think of things like cutting glass with a gem stone. Most know it can be done with a diamond. But can it be done with a Saphire? A Ruby? A Topaz? A piece of Quartz?

Some people know that a half an inch of rain in an hour is not heavy rain fall. I don't know about others, but when I say something about which I can be factual/educational, I like to be accurate, and I think Gary felt much the same way.

Like I don't need the herb section, I already own books that tell me the same info. However it is nice to have in one book. Plus its nice to know it is factual. Which gives a bit of confidence to the DM when you make such decisions to use such info.

If your players are a bunch of people who don't know or think about such things it will likely never come up. If it does, you have good answers.

It is one of those books that you don't need, but they can enhance a game if you know how to use it. I like the book but eventually did get rid of it because I didn't want to spend the time using the book. If you like the extra little details this thing can add to your game though it is great.

I think it's likely the case that the book was a "memory dump" by Gygax of all the knowledge he's accumulated over the years. If there was enough to make a table, it went into the book.

I highly doubt he sat down and decided to come up with the mineral hardness thingy just for the book. He probably had that filed away for years.

Ogrork the Mighty said:

I think it's likely the case that the book was a "memory dump" by Gygax of all the knowledge he's accumulated over the years. If there was enough to make a table, it went into the book.

I highly doubt he sat down and decided to come up with the mineral hardness thingy just for the book. He probably had that filed away for years.

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No, all that info is in other books. The Hardness Scale is in any decent book about minerals/Geology, the herbs are talked about in many "History of Herbs/plants" type of book, the rain issue is in any decent resource about rain fall, the different types of springs are also in other books.

Its more like a compilation of resources Gary has used over the years for his world building into one handy book. So its a compilation of his knowledge in that respect.

Treebore said:

Its more like a compilation of resources Gary has used over the years for his world building into one handy book. So its a compilation of his knowledge in that respect.

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Yeah, that's pretty much what I said.