D&D 5E DMs: What percentage of your spells in 5E are homebrew?

[jgsugden]

What percentage of the spells that are cast in your game in the last year, either by PCs, NPCs or monsters, are homebrew spells?

To hopefully be clear, I'm talking about the number of spells cast, not the number prepared or known. So if a sorcerer knows 5 spells, and one of them is homebrew, but that is the only spell they cast, and they were the only spellcaster in your campaign, that would be 100%. On the other hand, if a wizard created hundreds of spells, but never uses any of them, they might be thought of at 0%. Of course, we're aggregating for the entire game.

 

[jgsugden]

In prior editions I used to have about 50% of my spells be homebrew spells. It made magic feel less like a menu and more mystical and creative. I noticed that this percentage dropped to about 25% in 5E. I'm wondering what percentage of spells are homebrew for other DMs.

 

[DEFCON 1]

I don't homebrew any spells. I find there are more than enough various spells for my players that I don't need to bring in any more.

The closest I get is sometimes creating new spell lists for certain classes / subclasses (like specific sorcerer origins) that will incorporate spells from any of the lists in the book. But I don't bother making new ones.

 

[iserith]

There have been no homebrew spells in any of my games in D&D 5e. I do have some gimmicky spells in one of my one-shots which is based on some funny stuff I found in a module (ray of nudity, expeditious beard lengthener, etc.), but those are on scrolls and it's a one-shot so there's no taking those into ongoing games.

 

[el-remmen]

In 3.xE we had a ton of homebrew spells (not that that meant they were all easily accessible, I also had a spell rarity system). So far in 5E the closest we had to homebrew spells is introducing spells from supplements like Xanathar's by having them be discovered in-game.

 

[ART!]

On D&D Beyond, I've added other users' homebrew spells to my stuff. Each time my group starts a new campaign I share my content, which makes those spells available to all of them, so I'm very careful that the spells aren't OP, poorly-written, etc. Recently I was running a cleric, and when he got to being able to cast 7th-9th level spells I didn't find many that my character would have much interest in, so I really scoured the homebrew cleric spells for those levels. I found some good ones and our DM approved most of them, and I have to say I was much happier. So, I'm a fan of homebrewing spells, and I feel like I might finally grok spells in 5E enough to make my own.

 

[jmartkdr2]

The closest I get to homebrew spells in most games is changing the damage type of a spell to help a character stay on-theme. I've rarely seen a need to go beyond that, although the door is always open, and I assume there are a bunch of not-useful-for-adventurer spells in the world, but we never detail them.

That and one group I'm in has the always available but never quite take Darude's irresistible sandstorm, because of course that's an option.

 

[jgsugden]

There are literally thousands of distinct spells from prior editions that have no 5E counterpart. Further, the limits of concentration in 5E beg for people to create spells that do a combination of things as buffs so that you can effectively concentrate on multiple spells at once.

5E did some things more elegantly - several spells were combined in the Bigby's hand spell. Cure Wounds can be upcast replacing the need for Cure Light/Moderate/Serious/Awfully Inconvenient Wounds from prior edition. Etc... However, there are a huge number of concepts from prior editions - including popular options like Limited Wish, etc... - that have no 5E SPELL counterpart (yes, Limited Wish is now a Genie Warlock ability - not the same).

It just strikes me as odd that we're not looking at that side of game creation as much anymore.

 

[aco175]

I have not done this in 5e. I recall 3e where I had several feat and spell books from 3pp that were allowed, but nothing in 5e other than the elemental evil supplement from Wizards and the other splat books if someone had bought them.

We are starting the new campaign and there will be a NPC cleric joining the group when needed. I'm modifying some of the spells to make it easier and more monster-like in casting to have it easier to run myself when needed. For example, sacred flame will be a to-hit roll instead of a saving throw. There will also be some changes to range and such, but this may not qualify as homebrew. I would think more of a 4e mod.

Maybe the bigger question is why more people do not homebrew? I'm note sure if the rules allow for good research rules and spell development rules. They are kind of vague like crafting rules and may be harder for some players and DMs to come up with by themselves. Although, there are enough threads here abut looking at my new spell or feat or item.

 

[the Jester]

Tons, if you include homebrewed conversions of earlier edition materials- I'd say close to 50%. If you include only strictly homebrewed creations, probably more like 10-20%.