How RPGs nearly killed my creativity (and how I got it back)

[danant]

I also grow tired of trying to know each and every d20 rule that shows in a new supplements. Each new book has too much crunch and almost no flavor text...
I also got rid of most of my d20 books. What I had left is:

1. Core Books (3.5)
2. Book of Vile Darkness
3. Book of Exalted Deeds
4. New Psionic Handbook

I've just realized that I don't need anything more...
My players also pointed that when I run "ready-to-use" setting and not my own homebrew, I get less creative. I try too much to stick to what's written in the books. I don't use my imagination but try to remember what someone has written in his CS.

When I run my homebrew and my own adventures everything go as my players want - I improvise, make quick decisions and give them fun.

That's all I need to have fun with RPG.

Regards,
d.

 

[Fenes]

I don't really use books as they come - if I dislike something I change it, simple. I usually build my own "sourcebook" of the regions my campaign in the FR plays in, and I ditched a few things of the recent history as well (Cormyr mess, f.e.), but added some al Quadim stuff, and a lot of stuff I made up, or found on the net.

 

[MonsterMash]

Personally I don't particularly love detailed settings books, things like the Judges Guild Wilderlands series back in the day were good for me: maps with geographical features and settlements, but very little detail other than name, population and resources and the DM encouraged to alter things for their own campaign. Got to admit what worrys me most about the FR is the tendency of some people to treat published material as canon, rather than a basis to work from.

I've found that getting back into RPG has stimulated my creativity with me writing homebrew adventures for 3.5 D&D and Conan RPG.

With rules I have got and am keeping lots of different sets as I find them a good source of ideas and options for me (not really D&D material per se though, I avoid splatbooks, etc )

 

[Keeper of Secrets]

I see where Hunter Simon is coming from but I take a slightly different approach. I run Mutants & Masterminds regularly and run D&D campaigns off and on (one night a week friends and I try a variety of different games for periods at a time). I find that a ide range of gaming materials on my shelf helps inspires my creativity rather than strangles it. I can look around and get ideas from GURPS, Champions, and even the mountain of books put out by WotC and their ilk.

I have lots of different D&D products but never decided to memorize all of them. I flipped through them and saw sections that interested me, merely memorizing the kinds of things in the books, knowing I could always come back and actually read it later if I needed to.

One of the approaches that I take is that this material saves me time so that I can actually be creative in other areas. I like designing my own adventures for Mutants & Masterminds as well as D&D (specifically the Iron Kingdoms setting) but spend my creativity on developing the minute details rather than a broad big picture.

 

[DragonLancer]

I'm almost in the same boat. lately I've taken to looking through my D&D collection and deciding whether I really need a given book. So far I've dropped only 3 books (Savage Species, Stronghold Builders Guidebook and Arms & Equipment), and I'm looking at dropping both BoVD and BoED.

When I dropped 2nd ed and started buying 3rd, I promised myself that I wouldn't go overboard on my purchases but that didn't last long. Time for a new, new years resolution me thinks.

As for the campaign setting, though I usuallly run Dragonlance, I am seriously tempted to work on Scarred Lands but only with the two gazeteers and Savage Lands (or whatever the last book is called), but make changes such as replacing the SL gods with the Olympic gods from Di&De to make it more in fitting with my inital reaction to the setting (that of a high greek myth influence).

 

[JoeGKushner]

I've always bought a lot of gaming material and read a lot (fiction, historical, comics, etc...). I've found that the more options I have open to me, the more I can use those options and link them to save myself time.

While having different PrCs that do similiar things is often a problem, I've run several games where the characters were either in the middile of a friendly rivalry, such as with Eldritch Knights and Spellswords, or were in the middile of a Necromancer War, using options from necromancer's Legacy, Secret College of Necromancy and the version from Diablo II.

I think too many people buy something and go, "My god, I paid money for this. Deviation is bad because it means I'm going against what's written here and I paid for it, so why should I go against it." For me, it's, "Mmnnn. this gives me an idea. Money well spent."

 

[chrisnd]

I like the approach that Hunter Simon has taken. There is no way that I could ever have a library that contains all the books published (some of which were crap anyway), and I have been alwasy very selective about what I have bought.

I have the D&D 3.0 core (I just won't respend another $60 for 3.5), and I have LGG. Those are the only books that I based an entire campaign on. Yes, Tharizdun is included, thanks to LGG, and the great ideas that came out of Return to the ToEE. I have been able to design and run an entire campaign on just those 5 books, because it is the story that counts. The guys in my group have always been either FR or Homebrew worlds, so having a campaing in Grewhawk is also an added bonus - none of my players know who Iuz, Zuggtmoy, or Tharizdun actually are, which means I can make things up if I need to.

Hunter has taken the right approach - keep in small in terms of books, and keep it big in terms of creativity. I applaud you in your effort, and which you tons of luck!

 

[Psion]

I can certainly understand where you are coming from. I think I am far less creative than I used to be. But then, I have far less time to create than I used to, so I don't exactly see it as a huge problem. Perhaps I will once my kids are all school age...

I wouldn't say less is more.

I would say (especially if you have limited time or have weaknesses in your game and setting design skills, and I think almost everyone does) is to pick your battles. Choose a particular set of resources to use that give you ideas you want to build off of, do things well that you can't or don't want to (ex: if you are not fond of making city settings, pick up a city setting supplement or two), and don't try to shoehorn stuff in that really doesn't grow with your campaign ideas.

 

[Hjorimir]

I have a ton of books, but I really just use them for feats and monsters to keep my players on their toes. I am a huge fan of homebrew games and would encourage every DM to try and put on their writer's hat.

 

[Arnwyn]

I think I am far less creative than I used to be. But then, I have far less time to create than I used to, so I don't exactly see it as a huge problem.

This gets a bit "ditto" from me. Really, my experiences run completely contrary to the original poster's. All my gaming decisions are based on my time constraints - which are rather significant.

For me, it's all about the time (or lack of it).