Question for Players: Commercial or Homebrew?

[noffham]

I have to admit I am like Al Mahdi, I take a published setting and then use what I like and throw out what I don't, and throw in things I do like. Its a large part of why I love modules so much. They can fill in a lot of locations I don't like with adventure sites I do like. Then I home brew things that the setting or modules can't give me.

So then you do run in a home brew setting?

Once you change things to your taste you're not running the "published setting" anymore, it's now your version of the setting. I suspect that most, if not all, of the "I hate homebrews" crowd are actually doing that.

Frankly, I think it's the DM and not so much the setting that causes most of the issues discussed in this thread. Good DMs make good games,
poor DMs make Synnibars.

 

[Dedekind]

I liked the publish settings, as it lets us game more often. Since time is the biggest constraint for my group, the more pre-fab stuff, the more we play.

 

[Greg K]

It really depends on the setting, its elements and what it is has to offer. A homebrew can be as interesting and as good as a published setting if the DM has put enough forethought into it while a published setting may or may not interest me.

Hell, even different editions of the same published setting may or may not interest me.

For instance, I like Darksun (pre-Pentad despite enjoying the novels), Al Quadim, Ravenloft: Realms of Terror, The Known World via the Gazateers, and 1e Forgotten Realms with the little module like supplements, and Ed Greenwood's early articles. However, at the same time, I strongly dislike the 3e version of Darksun that apppeared in both Dragon and Dungeon and some of the 3e changes to the Forgotten Realms. The 4e Realms changes are even worse to me than the 3e changes to Dark Sun.

Another factor to enjoying a published setting is the players. If they are stuck on canon of the novels, then again I would not want to play in the setting.

 

[Greg K]

poor DMs make Synnibars.

Yes. And, bad designers give us the 3e version of Darksun that appeared in Dragon and Dungeon magazines. They also give us the Time of Troubles and, for 4e, the latest version of the Realms.

 

[Hjorimir]

I prefer a home-brew all the way. I have found that home-brewed settings really bring out the best in my DMs. The creation process forces one to consider a lot of thing to create that oh so special verisimilitude. That, in turn, helps the DM become far more familiar with the setting than he or she would otherwise. Furthermore, it has been my experience that the PCs take on a bigger importance in a home-brewed setting, which is someting I just adore.

I'm running Áereth from Goodman Games for my inaugural 4e game. In the mean time, I'm creating a home-brew for my second pass; I really want to get the swing of the system and how it plays, so playing in a prefab lets me focus more easily on that.

I doubt I will exclude any of the core player options, but it isn't out of the question either. I often think that some of the best things that have defined loved campaigns that I've played in before has been what the DM barred as much as what the DM added.

One of my friends ran a game where you race choices were: Elf, Half-Elf, Human, Halfling, Dwarf, and Orc (not Half-Orc, but Orc). It was a great campaign, even if there were no gnomes allowed. I've run many campaigns where the only race allowed were humans and my players had a wonderful, memorable time.

Limiting yourself to only running games that are "as per core" is no more worse than limiting a player's choices. Each tasty dish, properly prepared, requires certain ingrediants...no less...and no more and the DM's the one cookin'.

 

[Hussar]

So then you do run in a home brew setting?

Once you change things to your taste you're not running the "published setting" anymore, it's now your version of the setting. I suspect that most, if not all, of the "I hate homebrews" crowd are actually doing that.

Frankly, I think it's the DM and not so much the setting that causes most of the issues discussed in this thread. Good DMs make good games,
poor DMs make Synnibars.

That's a very broad definition of homebrew that I don't think most people would support. If, the second I make any changes to a published setting, I'm homebrewing, then there isn't a DM out there that isn't homebrewing.

Heck, if I use a generic module in a published setting, by this definition, I'm homebrewing.

I don't think I agree to that. Homebrewing generally means starting from scratch and making your own setting that is distinctly yours and no one else's. While my Scarred Lands and someone else's Scarred Lands might vary in details, I don't think either of us are actually homebrewing.

 

[Gizmoduck5000]

So Greyhawk and the Forgotten Realms are masturbatory exercises in PC railroading?

Check.

Greyhawk and Forgotten Realms are no longer under the direct control of their creators (Gygax and Greenwood) They have been released for public consumption and thus belong to the gaming community on a philosophical level.

The difference between a homebrewed setting and an established campaign setting is that a homebrewed gameworld reflects the personal tastes of the DM who created it, being channeled directly to the players at his/her table. A commercial campaign setting is neutral to the individual tastes of players and DM's alike, because the clay has already been set by the hand of the author, who is now detached. Therefore, all parties involved know what they are getting into beforehand.

 

[Gizmoduck5000]

And what if, as a DM, you hate—or at least are totally clueless about how to use—every published setting you have ever come across and all the ones other people have made as well?

Essentially: when does the DM get to have fun?

If you, as a DM, hate every single established campaign setting that D&D has to offer, then I would say it's time to give Shadowrun, Cyberpunk or maybe even V:tM a shot.

 

[Gizmoduck5000]

So, my question to Gizmoduck5000 is how exactly is that a masturbatory exercise in DM railroading? The setting arose organically as part of the campaign, and it was brought back twice by popular demand.

Maybe in your case it was more of a circle jerk.

 

[Hussar]

Gizmo - I'm not a mod, but, a friendly word - you're looking for a whack with the mod bat bud.

Homebrewing doesn't directly lead to railroading. I think it's more just a case of coincidental problems. Bad DM's often don't know they are bad. They think they are great DM's and their ideas are magical gifts lovingly bestowed upon their lowly players. This tends to run alongside the idea that the bad DM is such a great DM that he knows infinitely better what makes a good game than those mindless jerks at *insert game company here*.

I certainly don't think there's a causitive relation here.