I am a homebrew snob

[The Shaman]

They say that confession is good for the soul, so perhaps this will give my karma a needed tune-up.

I am The Shaman, and I am a homebrew snob.

I have no use for published adventures and I don't understand those who do. The idea of running something that some GM (or worse GMs!) is playing/has played makes me itch uncontrollably. The Adventure Path seems like the pre-published road to creative ruin.

I look at books filled with campaign modules and I can't fathom the fascination. Why on earth would I want to play someone else's idea of Earth?!? Lists of pre-gen'd NPCs (or worse, BBEGs!) are a creation of the archdevils themselves.

Hear my cry, oh you GMs! Throw off your Shackled Cities of level 1-20 adventures! Forsake a return to Temples of Elemental Evil! Homebrewers, stand up as one and show the love for a blank sheet of graph paper and a handful of colored pencils!

I am The Shaman, and I am a homebrew snob.

 

[Masquerade]

I've got your back on the homebrew front.

I've seen nothing but failure come of published adventures, and I've never had any use for campaign-specific materials. Ingenuity is a DM's best friend.

 

[John Q. Mayhem]

The only published adventure I've used is a teensy one from the WotC site

Everything else is homebrew.

 

[Darkness]

I take what I can use and discard the rest. Adventures serve me only as inspiration sources or, for certain adventures, world information.

 

[LordBOB]

i agree with you but only partially. As much as i like my home brew worlds over pre built worlds, i like to Occasionally use parts of them in my own worlds. Thats mostly b/c i have massive brain farts and it really helps when i cant get my creative juices flowing ( no jokes!)

Though over all i AGREE with using your own worlds over those that someone else thought of.
I mostly use the maps of other worlds but rename stuff and things like that

 

[EricNoah]

I would if I were any good at it. But it's a lot easier for me to take something that's "pretty close to good" and tweak it than to stare at a blank page and have nothing to work with. Please have pitty on us poor, lame DMs who have no creativity.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

I would if I were any good at it. But it's a lot easier for me to take something that's "pretty close to good" and tweak it than to stare at a blank page and have nothing to work with. Please have pitty on us poor, lame DMs who have no creativity.

Or those of us without the time to devote to it.

 

[Acquana]

I would if I were any good at it. But it's a lot easier for me to take something that's "pretty close to good" and tweak it than to stare at a blank page and have nothing to work with. Please have pitty on us poor, lame DMs who have no creativity.

Awww no! The Shaman made Eric Noah cry! Bad Shaman! Seriously, I'm a fan of homebrew myself, but I know plenty of people who use such packaged adventures to leap off from and do a fine job of it! And it may not even be sheer laziness or lack of creativity. Just ... well, DMing is really hard! I've learned it over and over. Making masses of Mutans and Masterminds characters (ooh alliteration!) takes HOURS and HOURS to do, maps can be a pain in the rear, even if they only map you're making is one for yourself to know where players are going, the frustration of having one area prepared and the PCs simply going to another where you weren't ... Pre-written adventures solve all those.

Though admittedly, I give all my love to making my own settings, adventures, NPCs, and encounters, and it's such a feeling of accomplishment. I'm something of a homebrew snob myself in that I simply can't understand doing pre-packaged adventures myself, but I know why others do it. Because DMing is hard!

So kudos to the homebrews ... and you know what? Kudos to everyone else too! *gives EricNoah a hug*

 

[Crothian]

I am not afraid of the adventure. I make it my own, and I enjoy the challenge of taking someonhe else's work and fitting it into my own game. I home brew, but I'm not concieted enough to think my ideas, and only my ideas, are the best out there. I want my home berw to be great so I do not foolishly dismiss adventures and ideas writen by creative people.

 

[Aeric]

As a GM, I prefer homebrew to published, whether setting or adventure. There's just something ultimately satisfying about knowing that everything your players experience is your creation. Running games in published settings feels like cheating, and running modules feels like you're just doing a job rather than actually creating something of your own. The process of creation is my favorite part of being a GM.

Then again, I'm a total completist, and no creation of mine is ever in-depth enough for my tastes. If I had my way, I would sit down and churn out a book like the FRCS before ever running a game. I don't trust myself to be consistent from adventure to adventure, and working without a ton of written material often feels like walking a tightrope without a net.

Which is why I don't GM very often. :\