World Builder's Guidebook (Advanced Dungeons & Dragons) [Paperback]

Richard L. Baker (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: TSR Inc. (November 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786904348
• ISBN-13: 978-0786904341
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 7.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,115,833 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very useful *GUIDE* for world-building., August 23, 1999

By 

Christopher (Lilburn, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: World Builder's Guidebook (Advanced Dungeons & Dragons) (Paperback)

As a DM with 15+ years experience working on the 3rd incarnation of his world, I was unsure whether this guide book would be of any real value to me. I must now admit that I have been very pleasantly surprised.

This book, when used properly, is a SPECTACULAR aid in world design/creation. Note that I said "when used properly". This is important. Although you COULD create a completely random world, it is likely to be conflicting and disjointed if you do so. This guide works best as just that, a guide. Take a basic idea and refine it with the guidelines in this book. You WILL have to make decisions and draw upon your imagination at some point, my recommendation is to start drawing upon it immediately. Used in this fashion, the guide will help you avoid gaps and pitfalls that have befallen many first time world creators (myself included).

The best part of this book, in my opinion, were the tables and accompanying explanations. I didn't roll many random dice on them, but they gave me a number of new ideas. Ideas I had not considered before seeing them on a comprehensive list. Granted, I have done some things in my world that the book does not allow for, but that's where my ideas and originality add to the basic framework this guide presents. Customization is the secret. This guidebook, however, helps build a solid foundation.

I disagree with those experienced builders who label this book as less than useful. I think this guidebook has lots to offer to new and experienced DMs alike. Of course, if you don't want help, then you're not going to get much from the book. If you're open to new ideas, details you might not have considered before, and variations that might help stimulate your OWN imagination, then by all means give this book a look.

Use this book wisely by adding a generous dose of your own imagination and personality and you can only benefit from it.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars AD&D needs more stuff like this!, June 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: World Builder's Guidebook (Advanced Dungeons & Dragons) (Paperback)

At last, an AD&D book I can't complain about! The World Builder's Guidebook has to be one of the best DM's supplements ever written. Going far and beyond just world-building, this contains a pantheon-creation table, a list of governments to rival most dictionaries, and rules on how to create a d16! This book is a no-brainer - so many tables, tools, and neat things - in one well-proofread, affordable book - that it really is a must-have. TSR's only mistake was selling it for so little; the World Builder's Guidebook is worth far, far more...

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars More Suited to the Very Experienced DM, November 26, 2000

By 

Sam Sampier (Price, UT USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: World Builder's Guidebook (Advanced Dungeons & Dragons) (Paperback)

I have some experience in the AD&D game. I started 6 years ago, but i am not a veteran.

This book is great for building really BIG, vibrant worlds. I do not think it is suited for building a world starting from stratch. There's just too much information that would not come into play until much later.

This book has you select a core theme or "hook" (idea that makes it different from any other world) for your campaign first (a VERY good idea). The book then flips you to the revelant "starting" chapter, such as Mythology or legend. In the chapters, there is a host of revelant information. I did not like the idea of die-tables; to me it's a subsitute for imagination. But that's my opinion. I think it would have been better if Rich started out with the theme and then added on it enough to get your campaign off the ground and THEN in later chapters it addressed the details that you can add later.

All in all, it's a good book, although it tries to make a too realistic world as opposed to a fantastic one. But at the same time, saying throw the rules out the window and do your own thing. My score, good but not spectacular.