How many of you have your own Homebrew game system?

[HellHound]

I've written four systems over the years.

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The first was a joke (on purpose) - it had 40 stats, 200 subsidiary/combination stats and 100 tertiary stats, 500 character classes and so on. We wrote it in High School.

It was silly.

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I had a full house system for a D&D style game that was more D&D than not-D&D... But switched to an "Attack" roll that was against a "Defence" difficulty (ie: BAB vs AC) much like d20, and had a few more stats than D&D and so on... but I guess it really was still D&D at heart.

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The third was a 'generic' modern RPG, it stunk.

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The last was JUST before the release of d20. It was a revision of the CyberPunk style of game where the stats are less important than the skill levels (something that bothered me about Interlock), used percentiles for stats & skills and added a whole bunch of "ability trees" (like the talent trees in modern, but more like disciplines in Vampire) that you could buy up levels in. It was pretty darn sweet and went by the name of NEW TRIBES. We ran three palytest games of it, and then dropped it when we started playing d20.

The game material for NEW TRIBES is about to begin being published, however. We've stripped the arcane system of New Tribes out of the material and have begun re-building using the d20 modern rules set. Expect the first New Tribes PDF to be out soon-ish.

 

[Psimancer]

I was just wondering how many ENworlder's have designed their own game, more or less, from the ground up. Or maybe it started as some house rules for one system and has grown and changed so much as to be unrecognizable to that system.

Yep…sure have…

Why did you design new rules?

Initially, it was supposed to be a fix for problems we saw in other systems, specifically GURPS. It was never actually meant to fix AD&D, which we thought at the time was a lost cause (we still played it mind you…). When d20 came along, it was sooo much better that a lot of it was incorporated into the system.

In essence, we wanted classless, level-less, realistic and playable (a big ask)…

It started using 3d6, then 2d10, but for simplicity I have just gone with the d20… The longer I write it, the more d20 it becomes … but it will never have levels or classes…

How long did it take?

I’ve been working on it, on and off, for about 10 years. Every time I come up with a new rule we try to play test it to see if it works, but we have never played ‘the system’ exclusively, just as mods to GURPS or d20…

Did you ever want to publish it?

Never… a lot of the rules are ‘borrowed’ from other systems… a lot aren’t. We want what works more than anything else… if d20 does something perfectly, snag… GURPS, snag… I’ve been role-playing for over 20 years and I’ve played a lot of systems, so the system is a filtered hybrid of everything that I have ever played all tied together with my own rules…

Did you every actually run the System?

Not yet… but I’m getting REAL close to a proper play test… I have just ironed out the bugs with the injury system. It is totally unique… it will allow a D&D type of combat with multiple non-fatal wounds, but at the same time does not preclude the one-shot kill… I’m dying (no pun intended) to see how it plays…

If you don't play it anymore why not?

n/a

Was it specific to a Campaign world/genre/book series etc...?

No, it’s a generic system… but it tries to emulate a lower, more literary, level of magic/psi/supernatural (but is very easy to up the power level)… I’m also really happy with the automatic weapons fire rules; they are lethal (but not ridiculously so) and playable… so it should do black ops/post modern/sci-fi well… heres hoping…

What's your Favorite Color....?

Black, of course…

Later

…later…



.

 

[A'koss]

Originally posted by Shallown:
I was just wondering how many ENworlder's have designed thier own game, more or less, from the ground up.

Well, let's see...

I've probably had about 4 systems that could be considered so complete a departure from the core system, they were essentially new games. That includes our current lower magic rules which are still rooted in the d20 system, but effectively revised beyond recognition.

Why did you design new rules?

Why does anyone? Usually it begins with just trying to improve an existing system and somewhere along the way it takes on a life of it's own...

How long did it take?

I think the quickest was around 8 months, the longest being closer to 2 years.

Did you ever want to publish it?

I was... very tempted at one point. In my line of work I have access to all kinds of resources (not to mention my own skills) that most self-publishers would be green with envy of. But when you take a close look at the realities of RPG market... I'm content with keeping our game in-house.

Did you every actually run the System?

Of course... but people's tastes change and so do the rules.

Was it specific to a Campaign world/genre/book series etc...?

Most of the variant systems we created were at least 25% tailored to support the campaign setting itself and a specific style of play. The majority of the changes were usually done to address some shortcoming in the game (as we saw it) or just to try a different spin on things.

What's your Favorite Color....?

Ooog... a tough one. Hmmm... a deep, glacial, ice blue or an iron grey.

Cheers!

A'koss.

 

[Jamdin]

Why did you design new rules? I was tired of buying different game systems with endless supplement (this was during the height of AD&D).

How long did it take? A few years

Did you ever want to publish it? Yes, but I never did. I did type the rules up in a booklet and made several photocopies for my friend.

Did you ever actually run the System? Yes

If you don't play it anymore why not? Since all my friends moved away, they lost interest and so did I.

Was it specific to a Campaign world/genre/book series etc...? The system was generic with three base worlds (fantasy, modern and science fiction).

What's your Favorite Color....? Purple

 

[Sado]

Why did you design new rules?
Not so much rules, as a setting that interested me, although I did want to rework the magic system so it wasn't as complex.

How long did it take?
My homebrews are works in progress, constantly being updated.

Did you ever want to publish it?
Sure, if I could ever be satisfied with it and someone else would pay for it.

Did you every actually run the System?
No, because I don't DM

If you don't play it anymore why not?
Never played it, it was mostly just for personal enjoyment. What gamer hasn't taken a crack at their own setting, right?

Was it specific to a Campaign world/genre/book series etc...?
I have two homebrews that I actually got serious about. One was based on a Civ2 scenario I designed and was pretty much standard fantasy a la FR. The other was based on an old Choose Your Own Adventure book in which Venus had been terraformed. It had (relatively) small oceans at the poles (where the ice caps had melted, although I don't think Venus actually has ice caps...hmm), jungles and rain forests in the middle latitudes, and a band of unbearable wasteland around the equator. Mars actually would have fit the bill better than Venus, but I didn't write the book...

What's your Favorite Color....?
Damn, someone already did the Monty Python joke.

 

[RPG_Tweaker]

It all began with AD&D in the early 80s. It started off really light... just a tweak here and there. I think my first official rule change was no experience for treasure. After that it was all down hill.

I believe my name says it all...

My most recent, and I think most promising, is a kind of rules-blend of Talislanta 4E and D&D 3E, with a strong style flavoring of Warhammer.

Why did you design new rules? To run a traditional fantasy campaign with all the accompanying archetypes, but without classes/levels.

How long did it take? About a month to date (~75% complete).

Did you ever want to publish it? I would like to, but I fear it might be a bit too derivative of its inspirations.

Did you every actually run the System? Not yet.

 

[dren]

Why did you design new rules? Yes, lots of them.

How long did it take? Umm, 10 + years, and still adjusting.

Did you ever want to publish it? Yes. Gave that up a while ago...it will never happen.

Did you every actually run the System? Yes.

If you don't play it anymore why not? No, I still play it three times a month in our current gaming group.

Was it specific to a Campaign world/genre/book series etc...? No, a mesh of differing ideas from many differing movies and books.

What's your Favorite Color....? Purple, why do you ask?

 

[CombatWombat51]

Why did you design new rules?

To better represent what my players and I saw as a realistic campaign while giving more options to create fun and viable characters.

How long did it take?

It's always a work in progress, but I'd say the majority of the work was done in a year, not counting about a year break for the miliary.

Did you ever want to publish it?

I wouldn't try to.

Did you every actually run the System?

Oh yes

If you don't play it anymore why not?

The times I don't use are for new players in a new campaign. It's easier to just point them at the PHB and use the RAW.

Was it specific to a Campaign world/genre/book series etc...?

Just specific to my imagination.

What's your Favorite Color....?

Green.

 

[Style]

I did this. A buddy of mine (Matt of the White Box) had asked me if I knew what Dungeons & Dragons was. "Yes," I replied smugly, "It's a game. Americans play it." "Ha!" he replied even more smugly. "Well that's where you're wrong - I'm not American and I play it." Bested by his superior logic I quizzed him thoroughly about the game and decided that designing a game like that sounded awfully easy. "I can do that," I thought and so I went home and did. So I was 12 - what did I know?

Why did you design new rules?
So, yeah, they weren't so much new rules as the only ones I had. D&D wasn't for sale where I was living and I figured that I could do a fine job on my own. Thus the birth of "Castle". It had two stats (count them, two!) - one for smashing things and one for being smashed - and that was it. Let's partay!

How long did it take?
About 10 minutes for the system. What's all the fuss about? The modules occupied me daily for about a year thereafter. The idea behind the game was that you were in this huge Castle (why? pffft!) and had to find the Castle Lord. There were monsters. There was treasure. There were rooms. Lots and lots and lots of rooms (some with lakes and forests and mountains in them). I drew them all out on notepad paper which I then taped together into two or three sheets of about 2'x3' each. For some odd reason, however, I thought that a "dungeon module" was the same as a single dungeon room, so I would blithely talk to Matt of the White Box about having written another six modules for my Castle game the night before and so on. He seemed most impressed, which pleased me immensely. Clearly I was doing something right. I was a gamer! Yeah, baby!

Did you ever want to publish it?
Absolutely. Until I actually saw a real RPG. World crashes down. Dreams in flames. Dice with more than six sides???? I am speechless.

Did you every actually run the System?
Loads and loved it to bits. Me and my sis and a school friend played daily for about a year (she eventually found the Castle Lord, allowing her to run games too - hey, those were the rules!) and then moved over to D&D. After seeing D&D, I went back to Castle and made classes and spells and added some more stats, but it basically remained the same game. We used to play it every now and then as a rules-lite rpg (heh, for those days when Basic D&D is just too complex) and kept this up for another two or three years after getting D&D.

If you don't play it anymore why not?
Because it's silly.

Was it specific to a Campaign world/genre/book series etc...?
Yeah, the elusive, misty realm of Style's Childhood. Great place to grow up

What's your Favorite Color....?
Black. It's the new black.

 

[Tolen Mar]

I once did. Got pretty far with it, I even have all of my notes somewhere.

It was called 'The Guardian Factor.' I wrote it about the time I was in my 'supercomputers take over the word' phase. I had watched the terminator movies, and one called 'Colossus: The Forbin Project.' So I hit the idea of a defense sattelite named Guardian that became corrupted and decided to invade earth for the sole goal of protecting the earthlings from themselves.

As I said before, I got most of the rules set up, and it was heavily inspired by DnD 2E. Most of the classes were translations of the 2E core classes.

The first set of adventures I ran in it were RIFTS games. They were set during the time when Guardian was taking over. Later I started writing up my own rules (having just realized how munchkin RIFTS was getting). Once I had most of the rules in place, I started a new campaign, this time further in the future, when the humans begin their revolt. It was a lot of fun, marines fighting robots, all the while guardian trying to get into the comupters and stop the fighting.

Our favorite bitof adventuring came when our Marine commander, in an attempt to retake a space base we lost to the machines, led an infantry charge. His men were getting mowed down by rapid fire lasers. So he picks up one of the wounded (not even dead, mind you), and charged the gun nest using the body as a shield.

After we retook the base, we had fun with a nice court-martial.

Anyway, this was right about the time that 3E came out. I was beginning to think that I couldnt do much with the plot, and I was thinking of going back to fantasy. I was going to strip out the sci-fi parts and build a new campaign. Then I read 3E. It was so similar to my rules that I just dropped them and went with the new rules instead.

All in all from RIFTS campaign to rules to dropped, about 2 years of work. Publishing never really entered my mind (at least not for that setting), though my friends enjoyed it a lot and said I should try to publish it.

Favorite color? Any dark color, burgundy red most often, though a good forest green gets me goin too.