Homebrewers: How old is your world?

[Andrew D. Gable]

Self-explanatory topic.

My homebrew world is over a decade old now. Born originally from my pre-pubescent days spent playing Final Fantasy and Dragon Warrior. Since then, the world's undergone constant revisions and retoolings. Most of the "hardcore" stuff like history/pantheon etc. was hashed out about six years ago, while in HS - by this point I had been exposed to Tolkien, but not much else in the way of fantasy.

Even now that the feel of the world has been settled upon, I still try to mix it up, with a campaign set in the past of the world (and I'm currently toying with ideas for a slightly advanced setting with firearms and the beginnings of industry).

So how old are yours?

 

[Skade]

I started Agastasi before I ever held a D&D book in my hand. I was 10 when I started writing little short stories there, so it's 17 years old. It fills to huge 3 ring binders, about 4 little binders, and quite a few files on my PC.

 

[Gez]

D&D3 was released in 1999, IIRC. So, that would make it 3-4 years old.

 

[LrdApoc]

Hmm.. Brekton (My homebrew) in one form or another has existed since 1983 so I guess my answer is a long time

Geesh 20 years.. boy I'm getting old.

 

[Mouseferatu]

Well, my current homebrew is only about three months old.

However, the world of Selion, my oldest homebrew--in which I last ran a game before I moved to Austin, about a year and a half ago--is about 18 years old, if you go back to its basic roots.

As Andrew said, some of the basics come from my early days, characters and locations that were developed when I was in 5th and 6th grade. Obviously, they've changed drastically since then, but some of the basics yet remain.

As to when I put the world into a comprehensive form--the one that, more or less, it has to this day--that was around mid-1994.

 

[Ulrick]

Domikka was created about 15 years ago, back when I was in 5th grade. (Good Lord--time flies!)

I drew a big map on posterboard. But I shelved the project for a couple years because I found out creating a homebrew was time consuming.

The project picked up pace when I was in 9th Grade. And I've been working on it on and off since then.

I've run a few adventures in it, but no campaigns. I'm going to start a short campaign it soon.

Right now I'm working on a campaign guide that features how to create characters in both D&D and MERP.

 

[Darrin Drader]

Galovinius is about 11 years old now. I had a website devoted to it for quite a while. In fact, I think there's a guy who still uses it as his world for an online game still. Anyway, I pulled the website so that I can rework it and post it again. While it suited my purposes for when I needed it, right now it seems like it should be larger and have more nations. Maybe the timeline should advance a few years before I pull it back out and use it again.

 

[Bendris Noulg]

Six going on seven years, although I'm still working on hammering d20 mechanics into it.

Almost there.

 

[Tonguez]

Technically something like 18 yrs. However that first pubescent homebrew (called Terrayne) was basically my version of Europe created using a Map of Western Australia and into which I crammed everything. - it was crap

From there I moved on to develop the 'African' continet of the World about 14 yrs ago

About 10 yrs ago the World of Terayne suffered a major cataclysm in which the original Pseudo-Europe of Terayne was completely obliterated and exists only as myth and rumours of 'Forbidden Knowledge'. The World survived and progressed a few millenia to the time of the Yuan Empire setting (Pseudo-Western Europe now occupies an Island slightly bigger than the British Isles (Cruithne) across the strait of Alba lies an Eastern Europe type setting which is part of and leads into the pseudo-Asiaitc Yuan (Mongol) Empire. South of the Yuan Empire lies the fables lands of Pagaan (India), Khitai (an Island), the Desert Lands of Al-Sh'ra and then Anziko (Africa)

Since just before 3e came out I have left the Main continent of the World and my current campaign is set in Hawaiki (the Mythic Polynesia) region of the World. So far with no direct contact with the continents

 

[Plane Sailing]

My homebrew world has been growing (or should that be accreting?) since about 1977, which would make it about 26 years old. It underwent a major change in about 1983 when partway through a geology degree I decided to remodel the map to reflect something which looked more "real". I also changed most of the societies at that point, and eliminated the Gorean feel that much of the world had up to then (OK, I was a teenager at the start, I couldn't help it!).

The world went into hibernation in the late 1980's as D&D was abandoned for RPGs we found more interesting. Dusted off for 3e, I've overlaid a couple of big story-arcs over the whole thing and it is currently alive and well - you can read about it in the storyhour and on my website, both below...

Cheers