Poll for "homebrew" DMs

[Hussar]

My prep time for my Shelzar campaign was about 1-3 hours per week. Since a lot of the grunt work had already been done for me - ie. I had the Shelzar City of Sin book in front of me - it was more about developing adventures than adding to the setting.

 

[the Jester]

I put long time- many years. I've been running this campaign world for over a dozen years, and it's connected to my prior campaign, which ran for... a couple years longer than this one, so far? Anyhow, it's collectively a good 25 years. Much of those years, I have spent many hours per week on my world, including both pure fluff (notes on the history of the world, etc) and pure crunch (new feats, new spells, etc) and everything in between.

Right now I prolly average 10 hours/week, if you include story hour updates.

 

[airwalkrr]

I voted for several options because I run different kinds of campaigns. I intermittently run a campaign to play-test d20 adventures I am writing. I put a lot of work into that, usually about a month per adventure.

However, my other campaign has been a year in the making and is just now starting out. Although it is set in the World of Greyhawk, I consider it a homebrew campaign because I have rebuilt the game mechanics and world background almost from the ground up. It has taken a longtime, but I am very excited about it.

 

[Tsillanabor]

Probably spend about 4-5 hours a week (mostly lunch hour at work) on it. Been going on about 6-8 months I think,

 

[BroccoliRage]

I worked on my setting for one year before I even play tested it, and for six months before it was ready for actual play. I wanted it perfected before it was unleashed.

Societies with tech levels from Bronze Age to Rennaissance are featured. 7 different cultures of humans. 9 unique languages. 15 page open-ended History, with some ages only being summarized. 12 hand-drawn, full color maps. Revamped Equipment lists. Stats for Da Vinci -style mechanical flyers, a fully revamped and improved martial arts system. Full calendar. List of planetary bodies seen from the surface, Zodiac system (I was bored ), Monster tables for each nation (which are defined by geographic/climatic boundaries), simple and streamlined houserules, system for using the Chaosium Sanity stat, and 20 PC factions. Arabic, Egyptian, Mongolian, Han dynasty Chinese, English, Viking, Sumerian, Classical Greek and many fantasy cultures in different regions. Yeah, I'm bragging. I put a hell of alot of work into my baby.

And I love doing it. I'm already starting on a new setting, one based purely on ancient Mediterraenean cultures called Gaia. This one will be a little easier than Ryetelth (the world I just described, and I recently learned is the name of literary setting), which was much more global in view.

There are folks who don't like Ryetelth, but I couldn't care less. I love it, damn near any type of fantasy you want can be found there. Players have more options in my game than most. It's a blast

 

[TerraDave]

It really does vary (and there is true "world" stuff, and stuff I have to do anyways as a DM even if I was using a canned setting, which can blurr together). But overall, how time do I spend on my homebrew:

TOO MUCH!​

 

[sckeener]

Actually I didn't understand the question past the 'More than 3 hours a week'. I'm not putting 'Long term - a week or so' into a week....I've got a job.

I think I get the drift though and I put in years on my HB. It is a never ending process that the players help with by having their characters change the world.

 

[GoodKingJayIII]

I haven't done anything for gaming in a while, but back when Arcana Evolved came out I took the Diamond Throne campaign setting and changed a lot of the standards in order to create a setting with a lot more antagonism and distrust. I kept a lot of themes (like the giants as stewards) and changed some others (made the verrik a race that favored tropical forest). I wrote up a 20 page historical summary pretty much for myself. I took what was already available and tried to make it my own.

 

[Lanefan]

I voted for two options, both of which are true:

The two worlds I've designed intended (and used) for play each took months of pre-planning, everything from nuts-and-bolts design (maps, pantheon, etc.) to rule changes to general philosophy. [so, a vote for "months"] But, once running, I can keep the "world design" time down to less than an hour a week - though over a 10-year game that still adds up! - because of the work done ahead of time. [so, a vote for "less than an hour a week"]

Lanefan