Only the Lonely: Why We Demand Official Product

[Maxperson]

Shht, Bob will blue blot you if you bring that up. Remember he got them when he was 15 and they came off when he was 19.

So basically the amount of time it takes a PC to go from levels 1-20

 

[Maxperson]

Time is frequently the biggest obstacle for a DM. In which case, here are some tips:

A small, simple campaign world is preferable than something big, epic and sprawling.

NPCs are ignorant. If the PCs ask who the king is, the peasant hasn't the foggiest notion.

History is unreliable: true in the real world, should certainly be true in a fantasy world.

It's faster to make something up than look something up. Using a homebrew setting can actually be a timesaver.

The DM not having those details can work for some groups, but other groups are going to be unsatisfied with a bunch of clueless NPCs. Have a pre-written campaign setting which the DM knows is very helpful. The DM doesn't even have to read it all. He can read the portion where the PCs are at and read small bits of the rest as they travel.

The point is that there are different strokes for different folks, and D&D has many different folks playing it. A new Greyhawk setting would do well for a myriad of reasons, even if you wouldn't buy it because you can make stuff up.

 

[Fenris-77]

Homebrew isn't simply a matter of time, it's also a matter of cognitive load. I'm aces at improvisation, but that doesn't mean I want to have to make everything up. I like having a purchased product to use as a framework. I have a busy job and four kids, I don't have the time or the mental resources to homebrew everything.

 

[prabe]

I find homebrew to be quick at the table, and I have an advantage in that when I need to be consistent with what I've improvised in a previous session I can go back and look at my wife's copious notes. Also, I more or less can't make sense of published adventures or settings anyway--they simply do not work in my brain--so I have to write my own stuff anyway.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

The DM not having those details can work for some groups, but other groups are going to be unsatisfied with a bunch of clueless NPCs.

If you want authentic pseudo-medieval, most of NPCs should be clueless. No schools, no TV, no newspapers, last bard came through 5 years ago. They might know the ruler's name, if it hasn't changed recently, but they won't know what they look like, never mind what level ranger they are.

Have a pre-written campaign setting which the DM knows is very helpful.

And the easiest way to know the setting is to have written it yourself (it doesn't have to be big - the local peasants probably don't know what lies beyond the nearest town, so the DM doesn't need to either). Learning a new setting from a book is time consuming and hard work. Learning is from a myriad of books is nigh on impossible.

 

[Maxperson]

If you want authentic pseudo-medieval, most of NPCs should be clueless. No schools, no TV, no newspapers, last bard came through 5 years ago. They might know the ruler's name, if it hasn't changed recently, but they won't know what they look like, never mind what level ranger they are.

I you want that, sure. In my experience, most people don't want that level of realism.

And the easiest way to know the setting is to have written it yourself (it doesn't have to be big - the local peasants probably don't know what lies beyond the nearest town, so the DM doesn't need to either). Learning a new setting from a book is time consuming and hard work. Learning is from a myriad of books is nigh on impossible.

Which brings us back to the time that a great many DMs, myself included, just don't have. I created settings when I was in high school and my 20's when I had the time. I couldn't even begin to write even a small one now.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Which brings us back to the time that a great many DMs, myself included, just don't have. I created settings when I was in high school and my 20's when I had the time. I couldn't even begin to write even a small one now.

I know, a friend of mine had to give up DMing because of it. Creating a campaign setting is time consuming. But learning one from a book isn't less so.

 

[Maxperson]

I know, a friend of mine had to give up DMing because of it. Creating a campaign setting is time consuming. But learning one from a book isn't less so.

Yes it is, if you learn it in the parts the PCs are adventuring in and learn the rest slowly as they travel, or not, depending on the campaign.

It's also less time consuming to just read a 300 page campaign setting in its entirety. I can read bits here and there and be done with it in far less time than I could create a 300 page campaign setting.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Yes it is, if you learn it in the parts the PCs are adventuring in and learn the rest slowly as they travel, or not, depending on the campaign.

It's also less time consuming to just read a 300 page campaign setting in its entirety. I can read bits here and there and be done with it in far less time than I could create a 300 page campaign setting.

There is a big difference between reading something and knowing something well enough to use it in a game.

 

[oriaxx77]

The most important thing to me that official settings can give us a common world. I can go to any RPG club and all the players know the setting immediately. They know the major NPCs, movers and shakers, history, geography, cultures etc... It makes creating a new party already immersed in the world very easy.