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<blockquote data-quote="epithet" data-source="post: 6931470" data-attributes="member: 6796566">Thanks for making me feel like an old man.I can't imagine a D&amp;D group that was unwilling to consider homebrewed rules, or a DM who wouldn't even consider indulging a player who wanted to use a 3rd party class or spell. I doubt there are many DMs who would refuse to build a custom npc or monster, or to use one from an &quot;unofficial&quot; source, including posts from random people on the web. Any responsible, capable DM will look at any content and evaluate it for the campaign and the party, making changes where appropriate. The published rules are just a starting point, the framework upon which your game is built, and not a shell within which your campaign is forced to fit.I can see the value in agreeing to stick to the basic rules and a module as written for a new group, or for an established group trying out a new game system. Beyond that, if you don't take ownership of the game and make it your own, you're doing it wrong. I know that sounds pompous in the extreme, but I honestly believe it. Sure, you can have a fun time playing the game without deviating from the published rules, using only the published adventures and even the published pre-gen characters. That's a pale shadow of the thrill you can get from the collaborative creation of a &quot;homebrewed&quot; game.There is risk involved, to be sure. There's no &quot;play-testing&quot; and there's no one else to blame. Some of what you create will, inevitably, suck. That's ok, in fact some of the worst homebrew content winds up inspiring some of the best stuff later on. The important thing is to own it, to collaborate, to indulge your creativity and let your friends indulge theirs, too.When a player says &quot;I want to play a halfling barbarian,&quot; the correct answer is never &quot;I don't think that's optimal, it won't be balanced with the other characters.&quot; As long as your campaign has halflings and barbarians, the correct answer is &quot;We can totally make that work.&quot;</blockquote>

[QUOTE="epithet, post: 6931470, member: 6796566"] Thanks for making me feel like an old man. I can't imagine a D&D group that was unwilling to consider homebrewed rules, or a DM who wouldn't even consider indulging a player who wanted to use a 3rd party class or spell. I doubt there are many DMs who would refuse to build a custom npc or monster, or to use one from an "unofficial" source, including posts from random people on the web. Any responsible, capable DM will look at any content and evaluate it for the campaign and the party, making changes where appropriate. The published rules are just a starting point, the framework upon which your game is built, and not a shell within which your campaign is forced to fit. I can see the value in agreeing to stick to the basic rules and a module as written for a new group, or for an established group trying out a new game system. Beyond that, if you don't take ownership of the game and make it your own, you're doing it wrong. I know that sounds pompous in the extreme, but I honestly believe it. Sure, you can have a fun time playing the game without deviating from the published rules, using only the published adventures and even the published pre-gen characters. That's a pale shadow of the thrill you can get from the collaborative creation of a "homebrewed" game. There is risk involved, to be sure. There's no "play-testing" and there's no one else to blame. Some of what you create will, inevitably, suck. That's ok, in fact some of the worst homebrew content winds up inspiring some of the best stuff later on. The important thing is to own it, to collaborate, to indulge your creativity and let your friends indulge theirs, too. When a player says "I want to play a halfling barbarian," the correct answer is never "I don't think that's optimal, it won't be balanced with the other characters." As long as your campaign has halflings and barbarians, the correct answer is "We can totally make that work." [/QUOTE]

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