Worth it? I think so.

[Arrgh! Mark!]

Well, I played my.. hmm, it would be 20th session in my homebrew world today.

It's not finished by far. The first continent isn't finished. I could do a bloody heckload more on the stuff I've already written. I've probably.. over the course of a few months.. spent 30+ hours just writing things down and thinking of things.

And I'm actually happy to be DMing again. And the campaign is probably going to last for until the members become kings and queens by their own bloodsoaked hands. (Yay!)

I don't know. Has anyone ever had my difficulty? I've bought a few campaign worlds.. but my group gets tired and bored of them quickly and easily. Four sessions of FR underdark and it's as boring and old as anything, no matter who DM's! I've read the FR book. We all have. The same with most other settings.

But I began making my own world - and I'm finally (after a year or so, apart from a rocking Godlike game) happy to be playing again - not just wasting time with friends. Anyone else experienced a renewal after putting such effort like this in? I've even begun to write about it! The only campaign world I'd like to read would be Valus.

Tell me your thoughts on pre-made campaign settings vs. home-made ones, and re-experiencing roleplaying once again!

 

[Pbartender]

I don't know. Has anyone ever had my difficulty? I've bought a few campaign worlds.. but my group gets tired and bored of them quickly and easily. Four sessions of FR underdark and it's as boring and old as anything, no matter who DM's! I've read the FR book. We all have. The same with most other settings.

But I began making my own world - and I'm finally (after a year or so, apart from a rocking Godlike game) happy to be playing again - not just wasting time with friends. Anyone else experienced a renewal after putting such effort like this in? I've even begun to write about it! The only campaign world I'd like to read would be Valus.

Tell me your thoughts on pre-made campaign settings vs. home-made ones, and re-experiencing roleplaying once again!

Yup... It seems to stem from the feeling of discovery. Published campaign settings seem to be so thoroughly documented (not only in game suppliments, but often in novel form also), that there's often little room for truly unique discoveries.

With a homebrewed world, the players (and sometimes GM too!) only know about what they've encountered. You never quite know exactly what you'll uncover next. There's always a surprise around the corner.

 

[IronWolf]

I wish I had time for a homebrew setting. As is, with a family and career my time is limited and I find myself running in published campaigns. This is a necessary trade off in my case. But I certainly remember running people through homebrew worlds of my creation in the past. They always seemed to keep the players most on edge. And as DM I found during game time they were a bit easier as I was familiar with *every* aspect of the world.

 

[Lord Judas]

Ive found for me, and most of my players, that D&D (regardless of version) has a certain degree of "you get out of it what you put into it". I built my own world whos geography is loosely based on the bay area of Washington state and had a great time decorating it. Some of my players wrote backgrounds which I grafted to the "pre existing" backgrounds in my mind, while others (the more casual players) took the pre-existing without modification. However, the player's who did write backgrounds really got my juices flowing and brought vague ideas I had to life. I guess my advice is: "dont be too ridgid with preconcieved ideas" as the interaction set the stage for a really fun campaign thats ran for a year but will be ending next week. Ive had fun in the "big chair" but my story is told and we are breaking for the holidays and someone else will get their shot.

 

[Psion]

I will gleefully pull ideas from elsewhere, but I never feel as free, familiar, or confident as I do when running my own creations.

 

[rumblehed]

good place to begin

I think the pre-made settings are optimal places for new DM's to learn the art. Takes some of the pressure off of trying to manage a large group of goobers for an entire afternoon...

 

[Orius]

I've always prefered to do homebrew myself. I guess I was influenced by my first DM, who sort of ran things on the fly and didn't use much official stuff. Anyway, I like the whole aspect of world building, which is why I stick with my own world. Plus it's cheaper than buying CSs and suppliments.