Why do a homebrew?

[BSF]

Well, I prefer a homebrew because it doesn't carry the same baggage that a packaged setting does. I ran a game in FR once. (a long time ago - 15 years or so.) The problem was that I didn't know the game world as well as some of the players.

Of course, I could just tell them to accept the things that I changed, but that really wouldn't have been fair. Since they all knew I was running the game in FR, they made certain assumptions about the game that I didn't know existed. I would later learn about these assumptions and things would get a little rough.

There were also things I didn't like about FR. When it got to the point where I was looking for so many changes that it wouldn't really be FR, I decided I should create my own world.

New gods means my players don't make assumptions about what the followers of a certain god are like. They will ask me what their characters would know.

New races means I can shed the stereotypical elf/dwarf animosity.

This "uniqueness" of my game means that my players and I communicate more. They discover new aspects of the game world all the time and they seem to like it. Heh, I just IM'd one of my players as a sanity check.

bardstephenfox: Quick question back: Did it bug you that I use my own gods and shed some of the core races in the last campaign?
One of my players: heck no...it made it more interesting...im still trying to figure out how it all works and thats part of why its so cool.

So, I would say my players are interested and do care.

That being said, there is nothing intrinsically wrong with a packaged campaign setting. When the DM and the players all know the setting reasonably well, and like everything that is inherent in that system, you can use all those assumptions to mutual advantage. In my case, I want to tell some stories that work better with my own world.

 

[Kultar]

Heh, I just IM'd one of my players as a sanity check.

bardstephenfox: Quick question back: Did it bug you that I use my own gods and shed some of the core races in the last campaign?
One of my players: heck no...it made it more interesting...im still trying to figure out how it all works and thats part of why its so cool.
QUOTE]

I am the player that he IM'd. The way that the game is run is a wonderful mix so that the campaign feels as though it is its own unique world. There is no comparing it to past or present cultures. There is no saying that things MUST be this way or that. If we can explain in through our characters standpoint, it makes sense, and fits into the grand scheme of things then it is usually allowed. There are some characters in the party currently who acknowledge that the gods exist yet do not "believe" in a specific god enough to worship them. Even in the last campaign in which the gods took a rather active part in the world and the party met several of them my character did not worship any of them. Yet it is because of this intricate and unique way that the gods worked that my character looked into how the gods interacted with the "prime material plane". Such wonderful campaigns and years of great gaming expierence are all from the time to allow us, the players, to interact and, to some extent, help build the world. If you wish to be from a Japanease style culture but from the far north then you have to build that culture and integrate it some how into the world that is already built. For all of this complexity in the planning states the world felt as though it was a part of all of us. A living entity if you will. The actions that we took had a marked effect on the world that we saw, and even some that we didnt get to see. Yet the entire time we felt as though we were part of something greater, something worth fighting for, something worth trying to be a part of. It is these reasons that homebrew games are so much better than stock games. They have a sense of something bigger and greater. The premade ones are good for inclusion into a world but they lack so much in the way of depth that the players tend to, in my expierence, feel as though it is just a paper game. When they have a direct link to the world that is when it becomes a creation of theirs and they have an interest in the way that it turns out. I know for me this next campaign is going to be fun because I helped to shape the world as it is now and I want to explore and see what my old character did to help.

 

[Nightfall]

I think one of the best reasons to do a home brew, use Book of the Righteous, Unholy Warrior's Handbook and probably one of the race books from GR along with Freeport and Bluffside. That way it all fits.

 

[Eosin the Red]

I think one of the best reasons to do a home brew, use Book of the Righteous, Unholy Warrior's Handbook and probably one of the race books from GR along with Freeport and Bluffside. That way it all fits.

I have also found room for the Witch's Handbook and have high hopes for the new Nobles Handbook by Green Ronin. Green Ronin cosmology is just so freekin cool.

 

[Nightfall]

Yeah well don't forget the best of the lot. Book of Fiends baby! I'm so stoked to see Legions, Armies and now HORDES of Gehenna! All Fiends, all the time.

 

[BSF]

Heh - I use The Shaman's Handbook, Beyond Monks and Swashbuckling Adventures. To name a few of the books that players have built a character from in my current campaign. Last Campaign, I used the secret College of Necromancy. (And when Kultar's character found a tome that allowed his character to become a Necromancer ...) I integrate a lot of different things into my homebrew.

And while I am posting, I really dig that one of my players is that excited about playing in a game I run. Thanks Kultar!

 

[Nightfall]

Nice to hear BSF.

I will say I have Secret College...but I thought it was one of the few weak books GR did. The necromancer core class was too much and the same for the spells, plus the Death Knight core class. But there were some redeeming features like the new servants/constructs and undead. I really felt Mongoose did a great job with Necromancy: Paths of the Dead. That coupled with Hollowfaust I felt brought 3e necromancy to another place and spirit.

I am however looking forward to other 2004 releases from GR to use later on. The Tiefling/Aassimar book has some potential, especially coupled with WotC's Planar Guidebook.

 

[BSF]

I wanted to try the Necromancer class out to see how it played. It is interesting in that it has that "quick path to power" hook. Ultimately, I am not sure it will find it's way into the current campaign. I wasn't too pleased with Mongoose's efforts either though. I haven't looked at Hollowfaust.

Back on topic though - It wouldn't be completely necessary to have a homebrew campaign to use elements of 3rd party books. But, you are then adding features that the packaged setting's designers didn't consider. You add enough of those and it changes things to where you have a serious hybrid campaign and you put a lot of work into juggling the baggage. At that point, you are a step away with creating a homebrew setting to fit in the elements you like.

 

[Telperion]

I have a simple formula for this "how to make spells feel different" (it's take from RoleMaster).
It goes like this:
Divine spells are very visible, but not that noisy. Unless we are talking about direct attack spells like Flame Strike, but there really aren't that many of those. The obvious reason is this: if you are asking power from your god, then that god is not going to feel very worshipped, if you just squeal a bit after you have received his blessing. So, in that spirit just about every divine spell does a fairly big declaration of "this comes from [insert deity's name]".

Arcane spells: While they might not be so obvious they tend to generate a whole lot of noise. Of course there are exceptions, but for the most part your spells are going to be doing some loud bangs, explosions, energy discharges and the like. For the most part I simply have one sort of "feel" for every school of magic. It's not that hard, and it keeps the players on their toes, when they suddenly hear that bone-snapping-grinding-eerie sound of a necromancy spell discharging.

Psionics: not a lot of this in the Scarred Lands, but they are even cooler for that simple fact. When you manifest one of these all sorts of minor, freaky, weird stuff happens. Its not as loud or as visible as arcane or divine, but the absolutely alien feel to it is very distinctive.
Did you hear that bell chime? Hey, why is Henry covered in goo? What is going on arou...*garbled sounds*...*followed by screams*

Just my personal take on the subject. DM-discretion is always allowed.

 

[Nightfall]

Plus the other bonus is there is a LOT of material out there for people that want to create their own worlds using books we have just mentioned.

BSF,

Yeah well my gripe was that it undercut wizards that were necromantic specialists as well as clerics that could turn undead. (Even now in 3.5 it's still true.) What I liked about Mongoose was you didn't need a core or prestige class to get necromantic abilities. Just use a lot of feats. Won't say much about Hollowfaust since I'm an SL junkie and it's apart of the campaign (Though it's a good city to use outside the Scarred Lands as well.)