Definition of "Homebrew"?

[Doug McCrae]

Like using the Greyhawk setting (including established maps of the wilderness, villages, ruins and cities) and Living Greyhawk Gazetteer rules but have an original plot and story as opposed to running the GDQ series.

Not a homebrew.

Mostly in my "homebrewed" campaigns I use the core D&D rules with an original area map populated with original (some), published, and public domain areas (cities and dungeons) strung together with an original overall plot(s).

Looks like you got yerself a homebrew!

 

[Turjan]

Those truly original homebrews might exist, but in my game they look more like the 'soup of the day' . Take some handy Ultima map with lots of modifications, add magic, mojh and classes from AU, plunder Jack Vance's 'Planet of Adventure' for some good effect, mix in a good pinch of FR material, steal some nice bits from the Sovereign Stone campaign, shake out Glorantha thorougly and see what falls out, rake together some other tidbits from sources I forgot, and my newest homebrew is ready to serve !

 

[weasel fierce]

I think to some extent, every campaign is a "homebrew" of some sort, as it should be.

 

[Ed Cha]

Does anyone know where the term "homebrew" originated from? By who?

 

[Desdichado]

I agree with the crowd; homebrew means, at least, that you're not using a published setting as the basis for your game.

Of course, so far this thread hasn't really touched on homebrew rules systems, but that's perhaps beyond the scope.

 

[DragonSword]

Homebrew is a setting made up by me. A campaign written by me doesn't count. Oh, and welcome to ENWorld!

 

[Mr. Lobo]

Hello all. Just wanted to say "thanks" for the responses to the thread. A lot of great reads in there clarifying the difference between setting based campaigns and something else - homebrew.

 

[Remathilis]

Does anyone know where the term "homebrew" originated from? By who?

The term is a reference to those people who brew their own beer in their house, as opposed to buying mass produced beer like Coors or Miller. The analogy is that homebrew games are small, made locally, and enjoyed by a small group of people (friends) rather than mass produced and shipped all over the country for profit and enjoyment.

How the term actually got applied to gaming is beyond me though...

 

[Committed Hero]

How the term actually got applied to gaming is beyond me though...

Like this: "mmmm....beer."

It just implies a personal touch that's not for wide use.

 

[Khorod]

I don't consider an intricate world made by an amateur and somewhat publishable to be a Homebrew. Its just a setting that wasn't published.