Homebrewers, where do you borrow from?

[Nifft]

I like to think that my stuff comes completely from my orifice... er, mind. Yeah, that's the ticket.

The bases of my homebrew are:
- What would a world with Standard D&D Power Level look like culturally?
- How can I reduce the number of humanoid races to reasonable levels while preserving the diversity that Standard D&D gives?
- What would a world look like if it were ruled by Demons for 1,000 years, then were free for 1,000 years?

I have few sources that match up. One great source of inspiration is "The Incomplete Nifft" by Micheal Shea. It's also where I got my handle.

-- N

 

[BSF]

I borrow from anywhere that strikes me as a cool idea. I'm not sure I borrow from any one source more than any other.

 

[the Jester]

I'd say I borrow more from the World of Greyhawk than any other option on the list, mostly cuz I have big classic GH dungeons in my campaign (the Temple of Elemental Evil, the Tomb of Horrors, etc.)

 

[Aust Diamondew]

I draw most of my stuff from history, tolkein, other fantasy books and sometimes non fantasy books. I borrowed a couple things from Rokugan (a PRC that perfectly fit what I needed) and from forgotten realms (one of my players wanted a couple spells from it so after careful consideration I let him take them). And once I used a monster from the Scarred Lands. Oh and I stole some of the Gods from the PHB which I believe come from Greyhawk.

Thats pretty much it. I don't like drawing from a specific setting because then I don't know everything about it. Making my own I can BS anything I want to about it on the fly and have more control over my universe.

 

[Mystery Man]

Forgive the sentence ending in a preposition...

I don't think so.

 

[barsoomcore]

I don't think so.

What's that all about?

 

[Mystery Man]

What's that all about?

Long day. Sillyness.

 

[maddman75]

I don't take anything from published worlds, but instead take things from novels, movies, history, philosophy, even video games, file off the serial numbers, and call them my own. Here's some examples.

- Orcs. The black orcs are from Tolkien, the green from Warcraft.
- Elves. The elven society is modeled after Plato's Republic.
- One nation is a feudal society ruled by knights and lords, constantly squabbling, settling their differences at tournament. Created it right after I'd read Song of Ice and Fire and watched A Knight's Tale.
- Another is a copy of Rome, with an immortal half-dragon emperor.
- The dwarves are pretty standard dwarves, taken from tolkien.
- My halflings are definately hobbits, representing the rural 'everyman' from Tolkien.

The only creations from whole cloth I can think of are my gnomes, which after having their kingdom destroyed found a niche as diplomats and traders, and a city which maintains its independance through the oversight of an ancient silver dragon.

 

[MarauderX]

I missed the 'Tolkien middle earth' option, so I went with Greyhawk as I blend the two, plus aspects of Warcraft, Dragonlance and some others of my own creation. It's not too confusing as I try to pluck out the bad and insert the good. Black Isle/Drizzt D'urden has me about sick of FR, so none of it has been introduced.

 

[A'koss]

Well my current homebrew has a foundation in Norse mythology (though twisted into the nearly unrecognizable pretzel that is my setting...), a dash of monsters derived from prehistoric mammals, a little Cthulhu/Far Realm for seasoning, a cup of Rune (the video game), a tablespoon from each of the Monster Manuals, a just a truckload of my own architecture-junkie ideas, cultures and trademark convulted plotlines.

Cheers!