As Editions progress, are homebrews...

[TwinBahamut]

I've only played 3E, so I can't say anything about earlier editions, but it looks like homebrewing will be just as easy in 4E as it has been in 3E. I don't see anything too problematic so far, and a lot of awkward setting constraints (like those related to wealth, magic items, character power, and especially problematic spells) might be addressed by 4E.

If nothing else, I have been getting a lot of new ideas from the flavor information they have been posted, and have been inspired to make a new homebrew just for 4E. Nothing so far invalidates anything in my older homebrew (which survived the jump from 3E to Iron heroes just fine), and if anything, it looks like the other two ideas I have been planning will be easier to implement in 4E.

I don't foresee any problems for homebrewing in 4E.

 

[Irda Ranger]

The feat does not have a prerequisite of membership in any group, so I have now idea how you could come to the conclusion that its presence forces the existence of said group.

Why is Bob a "Golden Wyvern Adept" if you're playing in slightly tweaked Dark Sun, where gold is so rare it barely exists, wyverns just don't exist, and 'Adept' refers to a specific group of casters in Nibbenay which Bob is not a member of?

Also, no panthers, so "Lightning Panther Strike" doesn't make any sense either.

And there's only one Dragon, and everyone know his name is Boris, so naming one of your maneuvers "Dragon Tail Cut" would probably make people go "Huh? What does Boris have to do with this?"

Anyone can be a "Spell Shaper"; that's descriptive. You shape spells. No one wyverns goldly.

 

[Commonblade]

Well I have only gone through a few changes, and minor ones at that. (3->3.5) But I had the players and their actions from the 3.0 game influence the world to the point that everything evolved into 3.5. As the new 3.5 group started going, ramifications from the 3.0 group continued to spill over into the world and it evolved into my homebrewed version of Eberron. Right now the plan is for the 3.5 group to influence to world to the point that 4th roles right into place. If that doesn’t work there is always "Do Over." Although, basing the Dragonborns ancient empire on the humble beginnings of my "Son's of Tiamat" Half-dragon freedom fighters might be really neat.

 

[The Little Raven]

I was just wondering... as editions progress, are you finding it more difficult to create your own settings and forge your own path, or have the new editions been making it easier to come up with your own content?

Difficult? Nah. I've got a will of my own and I exercise it, no matter what the core rules say. I'm no slave to "canon."

 

[BryonD]

3E gave me a lot more freedom to build a world that actually reflected my ideas.
It was a great leap forward over prior editions.

 

[The Little Raven]

Why is Bob a "Golden Wyvern Adept" if you're playing in slightly tweaked Dark Sun, where gold is so rare it barely exists, wyverns just don't exist, and 'Adept' refers to a specific group of casters in Nibbenay which Bob is not a member of?

According to this mind-set, you'd have to put gnomes and half-orcs into Dark Sun in 3e since the PHB has them.

Are you really that much of a slave to canon that you can't see how ridiculous this claim is?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I don't think 3E was any harder than 2E, but it seems like 4E may be harder than either of them. Either every setting has to have "Golden Wyvern Adepts" or we have to rename the feat for every setting.

Which is no harder than ripping out races or renaming spells now, which people have been doing for decades.

 

[Abstraction]

Are we claiming that up until 4E, every homebrew was forced to have Bigby in it? A feat name or spell name is just a name. How much time does it take to change Golden Wyvern Adept feat in your homebrew? About ten seconds.

 

[Commonblade]

Why is Bob a "Golden Wyvern Adept" if you're playing in slightly tweaked Dark Sun, where gold is so rare it barely exists, wyverns just don't exist, and 'Adept' refers to a specific group of casters in Nibbenay which Bob is not a member of?

Also, no panthers, so "Lightning Panther Strike" doesn't make any sense either.

And there's only one Dragon, and everyone know his name is Boris, so naming one of your maneuvers "Dragon Tail Cut" would probably make people go "Huh? What does Boris have to do with this?"

Anyone can be a "Spell Shaper"; that's descriptive. You shape spells. No one wyverns goldly.

Rarity ads to prestige?

A Golden Wyvern Adept in a place where there is little gold or wyverns are creatures of myth adds a sense of mystery to his character. I understand the disdain over the flavorful name. I just don't see a problem with it.

 

[Cam Banks]

Which is no harder than ripping out races or renaming spells now, which people have been doing for decades.

It's a degree more intrusive than spells or even races, however. This is something I think is not being fully understood; a feat that most characters should consider having (such as the spell sculpting Golden Wyvern Adept feat) shouldn't be locked into a flavor text name that has no bearing on the feat's function. Even spells with wizard names in the PHB have previously been easily adjusted by dropping the wizard's name prefix.

Cheers,
Cam