I like, no..., LOVE re-skinning but i will add a caveat to that (which is actually the meat of my comment)To me that is re-skinning. You are re-skinning the fireball into a new spell, the frostball or whatever.
to me, re-skinning fireball would be something like the creation of a firewave in the dimensions of a fireball at the point of origin. Same spell, different look. Making a iceball is an alteration of mechanics, so it's basically a new spell based on fireball. Not a re-skin. My two cents.
I said the ice-ball was re-skinning a fireball into a new spell. So we agree on the new spell point. The point of re-skinning, IMO, is to make something new as quickly and efficiently as possible. Your fire wave is also an alteration of the mechanics (at least how I picture it). A fireball is a sphere, a wave would not be. If it is 100% the same mechanics, that is not re-skinning, it is just changing the name.to me, re-skinning fireball would be something like the creation of a firewave in the dimensions of a fireball at the point of origin. Same spell, different look. Making a iceball is an alteration of mechanics, so it's basically a new spell based on fireball. Not a re-skin. My two cents.
I guess a better example would be instead of fireball exploding in crimson flames, they explode into azure or inky-black flames.I said the ice-ball was re-skinning a fireball into a new spell. So we agree on the new spell point. The point of re-skinning, IMO, is to make something new as quickly and efficiently as possible. Your fire wave is also an alteration of the mechanics (at least how I picture it). A fireball is a sphere, a wave would not be. If it is 100% the same mechanics, that is not re-skinning, it is just changing the name.
That can be an issue, especially when players want to reskin things for pretty frivolous reasons. I'd be fine with something like this: all my spells have purple effects because of my drow heritage. Why not, it's cool and easy to remember. But if instead it's this: well, my magic missile is blue, but my farie fire is a kind of light green. My scorching ray is a kind of neon pink shot through with orange streamers, and my eldritch blast is a kind of chartreuse with a handful of sparkles tossed in.... I'd probably have to put my foot down.My only issue with reskinning is that I can't remember the darn re-skin for certain character's, as a DM.
Yep. The definition of reskinning that I would use is when appearance and/or flavour is changed. If mechanics are changed, I'd consider that homebrew. However I most certainly would not regard "homebrew" as being a perjorative.As mentioned upstream there are really two different definitions of reskinning in play. One is the straight refluff, like your axe to knife example above. Call that the player version, since it also includes the refluffing of classes for concept reasons. Then there's the DM version, which also may include various levels of changes to the actual rules to aid the fit of the reskin. You can call that homebrew if you want. Personally, I don't normally make that option available to players except in exceptional circumstances.
I tend to use the term 'homebrew' to refer to rules created from whole cloth to replace or add things to the game. Like when I make my own spells, or classes, or mechanics. Changing an NPC stat block you found in a module doesn't seem to be on the same scale though. Are we really saying that anything that isn't used as is from a printed source is homebrew? Because that sounds a lot like just run of the mill DMing to me. I only ask because 'homebrew' is a pejorative in some circles.