D&D General Decision paralysis: how do you homebrew?
pukunui
Legend
Yes, I run games for two different groups, and I could potentially run RHoD for both of them. Yes, I could potentially do Eberron for one and homebrew for the other. That would mean twice the work, but it is something I am considering.
Re: deities - here's the work I've put into it so far: D&D 5E - Dragons as Gods (+)
The first post contains most of the religions / deities from my previous attempt at a homebrew world, with thoughts on "what if they were actually dragons" a la Fizban's. Later in the thread, I had a go at converting a few other existing pantheons (e.g. the Theros pantheon) and also attempted to come up with a new pantheon of gods based purely on the dragons detailed in Fizban's.
This is where I started to become stuck - not just on "do I want the gods to be dragons or not?" but also on things like "do I want there to be clerics and paladins or not?" I tried not having them in my previous homebrew iteration, and I thought it was fun and different, but the players didn't really engage with any of the religions. But then they tend not to engage with them that much even when there are clerics and paladins and one of them is actually playing one of those classes, so I guess religion is not something my players are particularly interested in exploring in their fantasy games (and one of them is even an army chaplain in real life!).
So it's really only important to me as the DM. And I just can't make up my mind. I can't decide what's better.
RHoD by default involves an attempt by the BBEG to summon an aspect of Tiamat, a draconic god. I was talking to a friend who suggested I shouldn't make all the other gods be dragons too because that would lessen the impact of the focus on Tiamat. I'm not sure I agree, but it got me second-guessing myself again.
This brings me back to my OP, in which I said I couldn't decide the details of my gods.
All I know for sure is that I want the "true" myth of the creation of the homebrew world to be very similar to that of Eberron's. Namely, there was a being known as Io the Concordant Dragon, the creator of everything. Io either died and split into three new beings or created three offspring. Either way, he was succeeded by the three Progenitor Dragons. One of them was evil and killed their sibling, so the third imprisoned the first in her body, creating the planet. This dragon essentially fills the role of Gaia / Mother Earth in this mythology.
That's the only bit I can decide on for sure.
delericho
Legend
Faced with something like that, what I'd recommend is writing a very brief treatment for the homebrew with some sort of answers to those questions. At this stage it doesn't actually matter too much what those answers are, they key thing is to write something on paper.
Then put it aside at least overnight, preferably for a week. (Or, even better, give it to someone you can trust for some feedback.)
When you come back to it, read it through and see how it feels. This may then go one of three ways: either you now reject it as junk and start over; or it's perfect and you can build on it; or, most likely, you like some bits and want to change others.
At this point you probably have the start of a foundation you can build on.
Baron Opal II
Hero
Well, players will become porportionally invested in what impacts their character's lives. Even so, if they are wholly disinterested in the spiritual angle, that can be a reasonable choice.
For what it's worth, of the twelve main gods of my campaign two are draconic. Nagamat is a CN dragon goddess of magic, and Bahamut is a LG god of Defenders and Sentries. However, Bahamut is usually depicted as a human in scale mail and a draconic themed helm. Gods have many faces, and can appear differently to different cultures. Decide on the details for today, in this region. The coast port, the mountain village, and the trade city may have all rather different depictions of a particular deity. Their customs are likely similar, but not necessarily the same. As an example:
So, we have Lord Brisingr - Lord of Summer, Sire of Sola, Tamer of Beasts, the Unconquered, Watcher of the Ivory Gate, the All-Wise, Patron of the Glaetyri (Elves). Part of Lord Brisingr's domain is Tamer of Beasts; he taught the mortals the secrets of domestication, namely the falcon and the horse. Dogs too, but that was more a mutual agreement. Horses are part of his symbology, and there is a myth on how He and Cousin Horse came to terms.
Lady Ishtar - Lady of Spring, Mother of Rivers, Dancer in Rainbows, Midwife of the Inundation, Shaper in Clay, Mother of Morun, Mistress of Leaves, Patron of the Adan (Humans). She also has influence of shallow seas, although those are contested with Lady Sekhalah. But, the Sea Princes of Equon revere her given they ply the waters of the Silver Way (major river), the Sweet Sea, and the Bays of the SIlver Mane. Not only does the Equon penninsula have a horse-like shape, but they also associate the froth of the waves with the manes of horses. (Similar to the Greeks) Their ship's figureheads are often equine in nature. Horses, in this part of the world, are associate with Lady Ishtar and not Lord Brisingr.
And, to be clear, no one expects this level of detail right out of the gate. This is something you discover organicially as time goes on.
For this, at least, I would suggest one of two options (or maybe 3?):
1) Have a very brief outline of your suggested/ideal Pantheon, that you don't have to flesh out at all if no one engages with religion.
2) If someone engages with religion, then collaborate with them around what their religion looks like, its practices, holy days, etc. Make that part of the world building.
3) Consider dropping Paladins and Clerics, and go with Warlocks as your "cleric" class. Warlock with a draconic or extra planar patron could be more interesting to tie in with your ideas around how the world religion works, and would make it more "manageable" (i.e. individual), rather than "clerics all over the place". You could then tailor one or two patrons and outline the cleric spells that would be available. Warlock Pact of the Blade could be your "Paladin" and other Warlocks could be your clerics.
I've also played with only building the religion for my homebrews just in the area the players are. So what are those major deities, what to they look like, who and how are they worshipped. I don't worry about the whole world. If they venture out of this kingdom, then I'll worry about what other deities are out there.
MichaelSomething
Legend
Just roll a D6.
Odds = Eberron
Even = homebrew
Odds = Eberron
Even = homebrew
pukunui
Legend
I have tried this several times already. It has helped a little bit but not enough really. This project has been germinating in the back of my head for a long time, and I only recently sort of got it back out to give it another go.
Yes, warlocks and divine soul sorcerers. Moon Knight is essentially a warlock of Khonshu, the god of the moon, and the elemental cult priests in Princes of the Apocalypse are all sorcerers. Between them and druids, that should suffice for priests with magical powers.
I wish this sort of thing would work for me.
Quickleaf
Legend
Try this: Pick a specific encounter you're excited to run from Red Hand of Doom – something that doesn't have a lot of encoded setting info beyond a town name – and start converting it. See where that takes you.
Right now you're focused on the macro setting scale stuff. But that's actually only a small sliver of what an adventure is about.
Right now you're focused on the macro setting scale stuff. But that's actually only a small sliver of what an adventure is about.
pukunui
Legend
I have already converted all of the encounters from part 1 of the adventure. I got stuck when I started converting the NPCs in the towns and cities, some of whom are clerics. There are also clerics on the enemy side - the very first encounter of the adventure includes one, but at least the enemy clerics all follow Tiamat. I didn't want to include Pelor, Wee Jas, Erythnul, etc, but haven't been able to figure out who to replace them with. I also need to decide if I even want clerics or not.
I've also had the idea of replacing the goblinoids. If I place the adventure in the Eldeen Reaches of Eberron, I'd replace them with fiends and human barbarians from the Demon Wastes. If I stick with homebrew, I may make them Cult of the Dragon followers (using the stats from the Tyranny of Dragons campaign) plus draconians and abishai in place of the dragonspawn. Partly to mix things up a bit more.
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Neko Princex
Explorer
KISS = Keep it Simple, Sweetheart
Keep everything as much the same with minimal modification as possible. Even use the map as is, modifying only names of locations. Change the names of important NPCs as well as Deities. I do recommend putting your own spin on characters, places and other necessities. You might want to keep a secondary GM map to know where the the 'good stuff' is that you don't want the player's to know. As per history and locations, don't go overboard; use simple ideas and extrapolate lightly....as the players adventure and discover, makeup up new information on the fly if necessary. If you have trouble keeping notes, keep audio recordings of the sessions and keep a clock on hand in the room...you can reference the time as an audio stamp for key notes that you may not want to write down right away or because of in-depth improvisation note-taking is just impossible.
Let the players develop the area around the adventuring location as well, as they write their character history, let them come up with names of neighboring cities, countries and kingdoms. They can even develop a couple of contacts that they use on a regular basis. Also allow them to develop an adversary (say a childhood bully). Ask them to write-down as much detail as they want, as their work will minimize the amount of effort you need to put into homebrewing. You can even award XP for world development if you'd like (I've done this in my own games). As they develop the world, make sure to take what they give you and change it just enough to give the players a sense of maybe something being off or wrong, perhaps even let them believe that a contact or dear childhood friend that is helping them, could very well be giving correct information, but leaving out information that could possibly endanger them or that the contact/friend might actually be working in opposition to them.
Keep everything as much the same with minimal modification as possible. Even use the map as is, modifying only names of locations. Change the names of important NPCs as well as Deities. I do recommend putting your own spin on characters, places and other necessities. You might want to keep a secondary GM map to know where the the 'good stuff' is that you don't want the player's to know. As per history and locations, don't go overboard; use simple ideas and extrapolate lightly....as the players adventure and discover, makeup up new information on the fly if necessary. If you have trouble keeping notes, keep audio recordings of the sessions and keep a clock on hand in the room...you can reference the time as an audio stamp for key notes that you may not want to write down right away or because of in-depth improvisation note-taking is just impossible.
Let the players develop the area around the adventuring location as well, as they write their character history, let them come up with names of neighboring cities, countries and kingdoms. They can even develop a couple of contacts that they use on a regular basis. Also allow them to develop an adversary (say a childhood bully). Ask them to write-down as much detail as they want, as their work will minimize the amount of effort you need to put into homebrewing. You can even award XP for world development if you'd like (I've done this in my own games). As they develop the world, make sure to take what they give you and change it just enough to give the players a sense of maybe something being off or wrong, perhaps even let them believe that a contact or dear childhood friend that is helping them, could very well be giving correct information, but leaving out information that could possibly endanger them or that the contact/friend might actually be working in opposition to them.
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