Homebrew vs. Premade Campaign Worlds

[bwgwl]

I know a lot of other people try to shoehorn campaign structure around a setting they've already developed rather than design the setting specifically to meet campaign needs.

this is an excellent point.

my last campaign world was designed "back-to-front" -- i designed the world first and then later worked on the campaign material. it ended up feeling like any old generic fantasy setting, because i hadn't put a lot of thought into themes or what specific elements i would need to run a specific campaign.

i'm hoping to fix that with the world i'm currently working on. i made sure i had a very clear idea of what i wanted in this world -- what themes, what specific elements, what types of campaigns and adventures, and ruthlessly (and somewhat regretfully) cut everything that didn't fit. the result is a much "tighter" design that doesn't feel so generic and is much better suited for the types of campaigns i like to run.

 

[Bonedagger]

Normally I use homebrew. That way it's easier to get the right flavor.

 

[Wolfspirit]

I'm doing my first attempt at making a homebrew world after playing FR for about a year. It kinda helps that I'm DMing an online game, so it'll be nice to be able to post maps and stuff without worrying that the men in black suits with guns from WOTC will be comming for me at night.

(The men from Fiery Dragon are equally scary, but I'm sure they'd have baby shields, not guns)

 

[Quickbeam]

Right now I use a home brew setting for my campaigns that's based loosely on Greyhawk. However, I'm going to starting a Kalamar campaign very soon -- Kenzer & Co. have done a tremendous job with that world!!

 

[GnomeWorks]

heh, i hear ya. about halfway through my last campaign, i decided to unilaterally increase the height of all gnomes, halflings, and goblins by 6". the PCs just woke up the next morning and those races were all taller -- and everyone remembered it always being that way...

heh.

Well, now, imagine that...

That's not exactly what I meant, however. For instance, if I find that the players have too access to too many supplies IMO, then I could conceivably remove the place where they are getting their supplies. The place could have been burned down, bought out, gone bankrupt, etc etc.

 

[Moulin Rogue]

I'm not in a game now so in my spare time I'm building a homebrew campaign world with a few published worlds dropped in.

I have Rokugan, Nyambe, and Freeport all plugged in (even though I don't have Freeport yet and Nyambe isn't going to be published for a little while) because those worlds are all close enough for what I want that I can use them without changing too much. The big fat "not-quite-so-exotic, pseudo-European continent" part I'm doing myself.

I've read only a little Ravenloft since the politics didn't really grab me, so any similarity between my homebrew's equivalent of Transylvania and that setting will be coincidence....

 

[Desdichado]

Homebrew all the way.

But not really for the reasons mentioned here on this thread. I just enjoy world-building more than almost any other aspect of DMing. Creating homebrews is great fun!

 

[Nightfall]

If I could ANY games at this point, it would be a HECK of a lot more fun than what I have presently, which is just ideas and too much freetime.

 

[JoeGKushner]

When I was younger, homebrew. My world had bits of this and that, but it was mine with goofy cities, mountains, deserts, and a whole lotta gods.

As I grow older with less time to create, I enjoy precrafted worlds more and more. Especially detailed ones like Kalamar and Scarred Lands. I've been a little disappointed in WoTC support of both Greyhawk and Forgotten Realms. On the other hand, I still enjoy settings with a minimal amount of detail, like Karathis, because than I can throw almost anything into the mix.

 

[Nightfall]

Just admit Joe, my prostylizing has finally affected your mind!
*thinks all those casting of Render Soverign Soul, are FINALLY paying off! *