A theory of sets (or why you will only really know 12-15 gaming books at a time)

[derbacher]

Well, I'll take two parts of this. I have 42 D20 books, all on the fantasy side, and all used during a session to one extant or another. Another 50 or so PDFs, of which I genuinly only use probably 15. Oh, and my band usually plays about 20 songs per set, three sets a job, for a four hour gig. I'm definitely out on the edge!

 

[Starglim]

I actively play and follow two games (Alternity and D&D 3.5). It's likely that I have a good grasp of about 12 books for each. There are dozens of others that I might refer to for specific bits of information.

This suggests, by the way, that the SRD has too many sections.

 

[the Jester]

Frankly I find this discussion very thought-provoking and I will certainly pay closer attention to how many books/session I use.

Ah, the 'books used last session' thread- I used to always post to it. Fell outta the habit. Will try to get back into it. Updating from last session now.

 

[S'mon]

When I'm GMing I have beside me the 3 core books - DMG, PHB & MM, plus the current scenario, and a folder & ring binder with campaign notes. That's about all I can keep track of.

 

[DarrenGMiller]

Insteresting theory. The Tipping Point was an excellent book. I can't wait to read his new book.

DM

 

[Joshua Randall]

Or buy lots of books anyway so you can impress the ladies.

Hmm. Which books are best for that? Do you go for size, or aethestically pleasing covers? Or do you hope to attract sophisticated ladies who will look inside the book at its contents? If so, do you want books with the best art, or the best rules?

But on a serious note (and to prevent a thread hijack), this theory of sets makes sense to me. I would argue that it's not so much books as physical objects that we mentally track, but books as collections of related rules. For example, Complete Divine is a collection of rules for divine casters... or at least it sounds like it should be, despite having some crucial non-divine content.

What becomes problematic is when I know a certain topic, but can't figure out which book it's in. If I'm looking for information about the Soul Forges of Moradin, is that in Manual of the Planes, Races of Stone, Deities & Demigods, or maybe all of the above?

I'd love to see Wizards put together a topic index for all of their published D&D material. This would be a great time-saver, and might even prompt me to buy more books!

 

[Psion]

Correct me if I'm wrong, jes, but I don't think you're saying that people can only USE 12 - 15 books. I think you're saying that most people can only manage 12 - 15 books' worth of material in their heads at any one time.

Who needs to manage in your head?

I mean I read through (for example) Eldritch Sorcery, I read a spell that I think would be cool for an NPC, I jot it down. Game time comes up, I notice the spell and look it up if I need to.

Now if I am running by the seat of my pants (which happens), I'd say that what I have on the top of my head is what gets invoked the most, and I don't tend to try to bring complex creatures or NPCs into the game that use many sources in such a situation.

 

[der_kluge]

I don't agree with this theory.

I knew a guy once (ok, at band camp) that told a story about how his school band was asked to put together an ensemble to play for (then governor) Bill Clinton at some rally in Arkansas.

After the rally, Bill Clinton came over to greet the students in the band, and for some reason with this student, the guy mentioned that his mom was in the hospital having some sort of surgery. Bill wished him the best, and they parted ways at the end of the day.

Years later, this same guy was at some other rally, and afterwards, Bill came by and asked the guy if his mother had done ok with the surgery she had had.

Needless to say, the guy was floored.

I think there are other stories out there of President Clinton's amazing memory. So, I certainly think some people are better are doing this than others.

 

[Cheiromancer]

After the rally, Bill Clinton came over to greet the students in the band, and for some reason with this student, the guy mentioned that his mom was in the hospital having some sort of surgery. Bill wished him the best, and they parted ways at the end of the day.

Years later, this same guy was at some other rally, and afterwards, Bill came by and asked the guy if his mother had done ok with the surgery she had had.

Needless to say, the guy was floored.

I think there are other stories out there of President Clinton's amazing memory. So, I certainly think some people are better are doing this than others.

Yep. That's amazing. I wonder what would that be in DnD terms. Knowledge (local) DC 25?

 

[Clueless]

The trick I suppose is how you 'divy up' your 12 things. From language studies there seems to be an hairachy of relationships between words. It's quite possible that we make 'sets' of things and nest them. So I'd be curious to find out if the book indicated how many *sets* we can track at one time? As 12 sets of 12 things can be quite a lot of things.

I'd also be curious if that explains why I have such a hard time recalling a singular minor detail (like a date on a history test) unless I associate it with a collection of larger things. If the mind has a hard time remembering very small sets as well.

Who's the author for that book?