IS Gary Gygax's World Builder Hardcover any good?
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Col_Pladoh
Gary Gygax
Nail said:
I believe there are three stalwarts who have vowed to do reviews of the book, so hang in there. The best review is to pick one up and page through it, of course, but I know that's not always possible or practical.
Cheers,
Gary
Gez
First Post
Although a frenchie, I prefer to keep my d20 collection exclusively in English. D&D, with its emphasis on rules and its component approach, is the only RPG for which I do that. Other non-French games I own, like the White Wolf ones, I don't mind mixing languages. Mainly because most of the game is fluff, background, and setting description, whereas D&D is about rules, rules, rules and rules, and YOU THE DM provide the real background.
It's a pain to figure out, with a mixed library, what a feat or spell name refers to cross-language. Especially given the main translator for the French version of D&D is a bit... shall we say... fantasist (souplesse du serpent for mobility, for example !).
However, these world builder books are all about background. Description. That's why I would probably be interested were they available in French (and translated by someone serious). Thing like that...
If I were rich, I would get it in English too. And probably in German as well. It's enlightening. I especially like to see the patterns, the exchanges of words... Who knows that "flirt" comes from the French "fleurette" (little flower, because "conter fleurette" (speaking about flowers) was an expression for "trying to seduce") ?
It's a pain to figure out, with a mixed library, what a feat or spell name refers to cross-language. Especially given the main translator for the French version of D&D is a bit... shall we say... fantasist (souplesse du serpent for mobility, for example !).
However, these world builder books are all about background. Description. That's why I would probably be interested were they available in French (and translated by someone serious). Thing like that...
... in particular, are a pet interest of mine. I just love etymology and words. People would be wiser, I think, if they know more vocabulary, and knew the history and personality of the words they use. First, they'll be less vulgar, and more importantly, language is what structure thought. Etymology give insights in philosophy and psychology. Oh, I'm ranting again, don't pay attention.
If I were rich, I would get it in English too. And probably in German as well. It's enlightening. I especially like to see the patterns, the exchanges of words... Who knows that "flirt" comes from the French "fleurette" (little flower, because "conter fleurette" (speaking about flowers) was an expression for "trying to seduce") ?
jgbrowning
Hero
Gez said:
Damn! They need to wack that translator with a halibut. "Serpent Soup" in place of mobility? What was he thinking?
joe b.
Col_Pladoh
Gary Gygax
Heh....
I suspect th "souplesse: might mean suppleness, so the "suppleness of a serpent" for "mobility." Of course I am just shooting from the hio
Cheers,
Gary
I suspect th "souplesse: might mean suppleness, so the "suppleness of a serpent" for "mobility." Of course I am just shooting from the hio
Cheers,
Gary
jgbrowning
Hero
Col_Pladoh said:Heh....
I suspect th "souplesse: might mean suppleness, so the "suppleness of a serpent" for "mobility." Of course I am just shooting from the hio
Cheers,
Gary
aha! Another hair-brained idea!
He's french. Everyone knows french is primarly restricted to speaking about food or love. I was generous in my "soup" interpretation because i didn't want to go anywhere near the love version of "serpent".... joe b.
One of the big things to remember about this series is that even though you could presumably do the research yourself to create all the lists and suchlike, the amount of time and research actually needed becomes quite significant vs. the time required to use the book.
I'm still debating whether it is worth my limited money to procure these books instead of something else, but the idea behind them is good.
Cheers!
I'm still debating whether it is worth my limited money to procure these books instead of something else, but the idea behind them is good.
Cheers!
EarthsShadow
First Post
a review
I don't know if I should put this in its own thread or this one, but since this one is on the topic and both the author and the publisher are looking in on this topic, I shall place this here. Plus, this is the first time I have ever attempted something like this (a review for a book) so if I make any major mistakes then please let me know.
I purchased the book at my local store a week ago, practically digested the book for a week, and so here it goes.
The book is a hardcover book and has a page count of 176 pages long, not counting the 6 blank pages at the front and the 2 in the back, which brings the total page count up to 184. Why the blank pages I don't know. The chapters are labelled books and at the back there are 8 small appendices.
Book one is called 'Stock-In Trade' and begins with the topic of Armor. First it gives short definitions for various types of armor along with a picture of each, which helps those who like to visualize what armor looks like. Beyond regular armor, however, there is also a section on pieces of armor and the compositions of normal armor, so now if I want to go into detail I can say that the arrow got deflected off your Brassart (its plate armor for the arm on plate armor) instead of just saying Plate Armor. I thought this was interesting. Then it provides helmets in a seperate category, and then tables with stats for the more unusual armor and shields, and stats for using helmets alone (I am assuming if people were to want to use a called shot system or something, or if a person directly wants to target a person's head, this provides a way of defense for the head area). Then it goes into weapons and shows a picture of each weapon. Again, this is really good for those who like to visualize what weapon is being described. After the descriptions, it provides game statistics for most of them, and there is one page devoted for Legendary Adventure also (for those who are just d20 fans this page can be ignored). There is a brief description of various kinds of measurements, random generators for what can be found in containers, list of real world types of moneys, a list of what can be found in a typical bazaar, and then a list with definitions of clothing (I really liked this because now I know what a Frock is) and the clothes are seperate into outer garments, undergarments, and ecclesiastical. There is also a description of medicines, musical instruments, and horse related equipment, followed by a straight list of various tools that can be found in the world, then a list of what kinds of beverages and foods that are typical in taverns. That's not all because it also provides a brief description of various transportation devices and the tonnage each type can carry, but there are no game stats for any of them. Except for the armor and weapons, there are no real game statistics for anything above, and having a cost for the clothes and medicines would have been nice, but that's no real big deal.
Book Two is titled 'geographics' and deals with weather and terrain of the world. It talks about what kind of different weather phenomena look like and why, visibility limits for bad weather effects, terrain descriptions (like Arroyo: a deep, dry gully produced by flash-flooding streams, often in arid or semiarid environments). That is one example of many different terrains described. There is even a chart on how many acres of land will produce enough food for different kinds of sheep. Nice details on some of this. It then goes into different kinds of rocks, how they are formed, and then different types of stone. With this is a hardness scale that shows how hard certain substances are. Then there is some information for birth stones as it related to our zodiac and months. After that is a section on how metal, stones and gems can be used for spell effects or general magical effects in a fantasy game. These are described in general terms so a person can do what they want with them. Then there is a list of various Flora, which are just presented as a list (with no definitions, and definitions of these would have been really helpful), Herbs (with brief definitions, and also general usage if they were to be used in any magical way), and a long list of different flowers (also very nice to have). It goes into Fauna after that, listing different categories of animals and then specifics within the categories (no game statistics for them, no need for stats with these as they can be taken from the Monster Manual).
Book Three is titled 'Dwellings' and is about the buildings people live in. It first goes into materials and metals, and brief descriptions of each. For the fantastical metals (Adamantite, Mithril, etc) there are brief d20 stats for hardness and hit points and also magical bonuses if a magic item is created out of these metals. Then wood is detailed, followed by a list of various constructions (doors, door additions, roof types, fence types, wall types, window types, etc); anything that adds little details to buildings. Very nice stuff here. There is even a list of weights for many of these. There there is a random trap generator next, which confused me as to why this is here, and the generator only provides enough description to give a very, very general type of trap (in other words, no game stats provides and if this is used, you have to provide your own stats). I figure look over the list, take the ideas you like, and go with them. Then there is a list for cost of construction and how much people get paid per month. After that, there are brief descriptions of specific buildings, from igloo's to bungalow's to wickiup's (most of these I had no clue even had names for, so this was a really nice for somebody like me). The buildings then go into details based on occupations, religious theme, government and military themed buildings, followed by rooms and appurtenant structures. To go along with these are a long list of room furnishings (this list has no descriptions, however). There the topic changes to the Populace and what kind of governments there are, and goes into roles of society (these are basically labels and terms used to define what a person does or is).
After book three are the appendices, labelled A through H. Appendices A-C are random generators for determining armor, weapons, generic spell types (this one confuses me but it could be adapted with the trap generator found earlier in the book if a person wants to make a magical trap), room decorations, humanoid physical traits (this goes into great detail on every aspect of a person, in too many ways to list here), and structures. Appendix D is about colors and different shades of colors, E is about light radius's from flame sources, F is about unusual archaic names for various things, G is a long list of Gemstones by color and composition and hardness factors, and H is a list of Crimes and brief definitions of crimes.
All in all, the book is very helpful in providing details. That is what the book is about. It does it job quite nicely, and in the last week I have gone to it about ten times in coming up with the little details to help flesh out my campaign.
I do have a few gripes about it though, but they are small in comparison. At the beginning of the book there are six blank white pages. Why? No need for them, wasted space that could be used for other things. Also, cost per page is a little high, the book costing $29.95 for 176 pages and its all black and white, except for the cover. There are a few lists I wish did have details along with them. And the traps section could have also been used as another appendix, instead of being right in the middle of the book.
It's not the perfect book, and for anybody that already knows a lot about details and/or has a set of encyclopedia's sitting on their shelves then this book is probably useless, but those like me that can come up with the generic stuff, but needs help with the little details, this book is just right for you.
All in all, its worth the money for my purposes and it does achieve its goal. If I had to give a rating I would give it a 4 out of 5.
-------------------------
post review comments: let me know if this review is good or not. It was my first time and I wanted to present it in a profession manor, but I don't know if I succeeded or not. Any advice from more experienced people would be greatly appreciated.
I don't know if I should put this in its own thread or this one, but since this one is on the topic and both the author and the publisher are looking in on this topic, I shall place this here. Plus, this is the first time I have ever attempted something like this (a review for a book) so if I make any major mistakes then please let me know.
I purchased the book at my local store a week ago, practically digested the book for a week, and so here it goes.
The book is a hardcover book and has a page count of 176 pages long, not counting the 6 blank pages at the front and the 2 in the back, which brings the total page count up to 184. Why the blank pages I don't know. The chapters are labelled books and at the back there are 8 small appendices.
Book one is called 'Stock-In Trade' and begins with the topic of Armor. First it gives short definitions for various types of armor along with a picture of each, which helps those who like to visualize what armor looks like. Beyond regular armor, however, there is also a section on pieces of armor and the compositions of normal armor, so now if I want to go into detail I can say that the arrow got deflected off your Brassart (its plate armor for the arm on plate armor) instead of just saying Plate Armor. I thought this was interesting. Then it provides helmets in a seperate category, and then tables with stats for the more unusual armor and shields, and stats for using helmets alone (I am assuming if people were to want to use a called shot system or something, or if a person directly wants to target a person's head, this provides a way of defense for the head area). Then it goes into weapons and shows a picture of each weapon. Again, this is really good for those who like to visualize what weapon is being described. After the descriptions, it provides game statistics for most of them, and there is one page devoted for Legendary Adventure also (for those who are just d20 fans this page can be ignored). There is a brief description of various kinds of measurements, random generators for what can be found in containers, list of real world types of moneys, a list of what can be found in a typical bazaar, and then a list with definitions of clothing (I really liked this because now I know what a Frock is) and the clothes are seperate into outer garments, undergarments, and ecclesiastical. There is also a description of medicines, musical instruments, and horse related equipment, followed by a straight list of various tools that can be found in the world, then a list of what kinds of beverages and foods that are typical in taverns. That's not all because it also provides a brief description of various transportation devices and the tonnage each type can carry, but there are no game stats for any of them. Except for the armor and weapons, there are no real game statistics for anything above, and having a cost for the clothes and medicines would have been nice, but that's no real big deal.
Book Two is titled 'geographics' and deals with weather and terrain of the world. It talks about what kind of different weather phenomena look like and why, visibility limits for bad weather effects, terrain descriptions (like Arroyo: a deep, dry gully produced by flash-flooding streams, often in arid or semiarid environments). That is one example of many different terrains described. There is even a chart on how many acres of land will produce enough food for different kinds of sheep. Nice details on some of this. It then goes into different kinds of rocks, how they are formed, and then different types of stone. With this is a hardness scale that shows how hard certain substances are. Then there is some information for birth stones as it related to our zodiac and months. After that is a section on how metal, stones and gems can be used for spell effects or general magical effects in a fantasy game. These are described in general terms so a person can do what they want with them. Then there is a list of various Flora, which are just presented as a list (with no definitions, and definitions of these would have been really helpful), Herbs (with brief definitions, and also general usage if they were to be used in any magical way), and a long list of different flowers (also very nice to have). It goes into Fauna after that, listing different categories of animals and then specifics within the categories (no game statistics for them, no need for stats with these as they can be taken from the Monster Manual).
Book Three is titled 'Dwellings' and is about the buildings people live in. It first goes into materials and metals, and brief descriptions of each. For the fantastical metals (Adamantite, Mithril, etc) there are brief d20 stats for hardness and hit points and also magical bonuses if a magic item is created out of these metals. Then wood is detailed, followed by a list of various constructions (doors, door additions, roof types, fence types, wall types, window types, etc); anything that adds little details to buildings. Very nice stuff here. There is even a list of weights for many of these. There there is a random trap generator next, which confused me as to why this is here, and the generator only provides enough description to give a very, very general type of trap (in other words, no game stats provides and if this is used, you have to provide your own stats). I figure look over the list, take the ideas you like, and go with them. Then there is a list for cost of construction and how much people get paid per month. After that, there are brief descriptions of specific buildings, from igloo's to bungalow's to wickiup's (most of these I had no clue even had names for, so this was a really nice for somebody like me). The buildings then go into details based on occupations, religious theme, government and military themed buildings, followed by rooms and appurtenant structures. To go along with these are a long list of room furnishings (this list has no descriptions, however). There the topic changes to the Populace and what kind of governments there are, and goes into roles of society (these are basically labels and terms used to define what a person does or is).
After book three are the appendices, labelled A through H. Appendices A-C are random generators for determining armor, weapons, generic spell types (this one confuses me but it could be adapted with the trap generator found earlier in the book if a person wants to make a magical trap), room decorations, humanoid physical traits (this goes into great detail on every aspect of a person, in too many ways to list here), and structures. Appendix D is about colors and different shades of colors, E is about light radius's from flame sources, F is about unusual archaic names for various things, G is a long list of Gemstones by color and composition and hardness factors, and H is a list of Crimes and brief definitions of crimes.
All in all, the book is very helpful in providing details. That is what the book is about. It does it job quite nicely, and in the last week I have gone to it about ten times in coming up with the little details to help flesh out my campaign.
I do have a few gripes about it though, but they are small in comparison. At the beginning of the book there are six blank white pages. Why? No need for them, wasted space that could be used for other things. Also, cost per page is a little high, the book costing $29.95 for 176 pages and its all black and white, except for the cover. There are a few lists I wish did have details along with them. And the traps section could have also been used as another appendix, instead of being right in the middle of the book.
It's not the perfect book, and for anybody that already knows a lot about details and/or has a set of encyclopedia's sitting on their shelves then this book is probably useless, but those like me that can come up with the generic stuff, but needs help with the little details, this book is just right for you.
All in all, its worth the money for my purposes and it does achieve its goal. If I had to give a rating I would give it a 4 out of 5.
-------------------------
post review comments: let me know if this review is good or not. It was my first time and I wanted to present it in a profession manor, but I don't know if I succeeded or not. Any advice from more experienced people would be greatly appreciated.
Review of the Review:
In general, I think the review serves its purpose well. Most of the problems I have with it are stylistic rather than content-orientated.
I think you need to make the paragraphs shorter. Here's an example of how I would split up the Book One paragraph.
There are a few grammatical and stylistic points that you'd fix if you re-read it before posting. Yes, I have trouble re-drafting myself.
That really doesn't read well. I'd probably say "The book is best suited for people who do not already know..." or something of the sort. Or "The book is perfect for those who don't already know much about..."
The way you have it phrased makes me want to say "Of course it's not the perfect book... no book is!"
A better description of what the book is actually for is the main feature the review is lacking. It should be the first paragraph: "Gary Gygax's World Builder is intended to aid a DM in making their world seem more believable and real. It does so by..."
Re-read your review, revise it, then post it to the ENworld reviews section (accessible through the front page). It'd be much appreciated by all of us who like knowing other people's opinions before paying out our hard-earned cash for one role-playing product or another!
Cheers!
In general, I think the review serves its purpose well. Most of the problems I have with it are stylistic rather than content-orientated.
I think you need to make the paragraphs shorter.
Here's an example of how I would split up the Book One paragraph.There are a few grammatical and stylistic points that you'd fix if you re-read it before posting. Yes, I have trouble re-drafting myself.
That really doesn't read well. I'd probably say "The book is best suited for people who do not already know..." or something of the sort. Or "The book is perfect for those who don't already know much about..."
The way you have it phrased makes me want to say "Of course it's not the perfect book... no book is!"
A better description of what the book is actually for is the main feature the review is lacking. It should be the first paragraph: "Gary Gygax's World Builder is intended to aid a DM in making their world seem more believable and real. It does so by..."
Re-read your review, revise it, then post it to the ENworld reviews section (accessible through the front page). It'd be much appreciated by all of us who like knowing other people's opinions before paying out our hard-earned cash for one role-playing product or another!
Cheers!
Nathal
Explorer
Xeriar said:
As the reviews and chapter outlines have made clear the definitions do range from the mundane to obscure. But lets take this small detail (as above) of silliness as an example. When creating terrain for an encounter why not refer to a simple list of geographic features? Such things can suggest certain types of creatures, battle strategy considerations, etc. However, the section is for creating overland maps primarily and gives definitions to aid in subtle differentiations in terrain types.
Here's a trivia question, just for the heck of it: What is the difference between a glen, dale, and a dell? Off the top of your head, no reference peeking permitted.
Be exact and precise. Such minor distinctions can be interesting when drawing maps and creating towns or cities. Then again, some won't give a crap, and others have an encyclopedic mind to begin with. "Usefulness" in reference material is truly subjective with gamers. Most sections in this book considered separately contains information that can be dug up, sure, but it takes time to compile and the layout also facilitates ease of use. The word file was a HUGE print out and unwieldy in my 3-ring binder.
I'm not really trying to "convert" anyone, just pointing out these subtleties.
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