So how often do you Homebrew?

[Eldagusto]

How frequent is your homebrew to non-homebrew ratio's when you do RPG games? I find myself always messing with things every time I do a game, doing alternate settings, or changing Metaplot and history often heavily ect. My games change things a lot from the corebooks often. This is more encouraged in say Chronicles of Darkness, and even Exalted, but Classic World of Darkness tries to push it into alternate settings if you change things. Ethen Skemp one of the major Whitewolf developers said he pretty much always hacked apart games when he plays them too.

It looks like Dungeons and Dragons seems to heavily push towards homebrewing settings but a lot of people seem steady with a uniformed crunch.

Thoughts?

 

[JamesDixon]

The option for me isn't listed. I'm a person that will create a new setting from scratch and spend years perfecting it. Everything has to logically fit.

 

[Blaza]

I don't think I've ever ran an official setting. I always make new worlds for each new campaign I run. Nothing super in depth but things such as a world map, countries/governments and how they interact, and small descriptors. Ex; Examplia. Rome-esq. At war with OtherCountrium because fuck those guys.

As for rules I tend to make house rules after deliberation with my players or because I saw something cool that I liked from another system, blog, etc. I recently implemented a version of Delta's Stone System into my game because I noticed we had started hand waving encumberance again. I also made a sheet called Anything But Attacking of things my martial players could do except for attack because they felt like they could only attack since their character sheets didn't say otherwise. This is due to a switch to a homebrewed Basic Fantasy RPG from Pathfinder but this isn't the OSR thread.

 

[Rilmani404]

I’ve been a player more often than a DM. Only one group played on the Sword Coast (Forgotten Realms) and the town we used as a base was original. I don’t think we encountered any named characters from Forgotten Realms, though I bet someone was on the horizon.

All of my other (D&D and others) campaigns have been original stuff, including this Pokémon game that just started up (same world as games/anime, new region).

I don't think I've ever ran an official setting. I always make new worlds for each new campaign I run. Nothing super in depth but things such as a world map, countries/governments and how they interact, and small descriptors. Ex; Examplia. Rome-esq. At war with OtherCountrium because fuck those guys.

As for rules I tend to make house rules after deliberation with my players or because I saw something cool that I liked from another system, blog, etc. I recently implemented a version of Delta's Stone System into my game because I noticed we had started hand waving encumberance again. I also made a sheet called Anything But Attacking of things my martial players could do except for attack because they felt like they could only attack since their character sheets didn't say otherwise. This is due to a switch to a homebrewed Basic Fantasy RPG from Pathfinder but this isn't the OSR thread.

If you ever try 5e DnD I have links to several martial-class-focused homebrew books, let me know. Options for all characters, not just subclasses. I’d obviously recommend mixing and matching from them feather than trying to include everything.


As for homebrewing mechanics, these days I write up and modify mechanics all the time, but I haven’t implemented them. If my friends actually liked one-shots I’d be able to try some of the weirder or less-balanced ones, but for now I’ll keep working on them and reading homebrew stuff on other websites.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

very rarely do I ever buy coffee, I usually only brew it myself

 

[Blaza]

If you ever try 5e DnD I have links to several martial-class-focused homebrew books, let me know. Options for all characters, not just subclasses. I’d obviously recommend mixing and matching from them feather than trying to include everything.

I probably won't ever be running 5e (don't want to give WOTC my money) but I would be interested in those homebrew books. Even if I can't take them wholesell I'm sure they'll be great for ideas that I can convert over.

 

[Rilmani404]

I probably won't ever be running 5e (don't want to give WOTC my money) but I would be interested in those homebrew books. Even if I can't take them wholesell I'm sure they'll be great for ideas that I can convert over.

Most of these you can find on the Unearthed Arcana subreddit (along with links to their discords).
1) Tome of Variance. Fleshes out defenses with an Armor Die mechanic, which you could expend for an AC boost, a bit of damage, or a small boost to an attack's accuracy. Some terrific feats that allow one to use hit dice to push themselves when the situation is dire. It also has a few variants for the Sorcerer class.
2) Revised Martial Equipment: The Weapons and Armors of War. This one's intricacies make my head spin a bit. It really does help one feel like a weaponmaster though. It includes some weird options too like a gnomish disc launcher. I'm sure some folks appreciate the armor section too.
3) Grit & Glory. Wounds, injuries, slow healing, and a nice assortment of unique attack options (Charging, strangling, etc.) which ought to be in 5e. It also fixes advantage/disadvantage. Warning that the tables referenced are at the back of this book, with different tables depending on the damage source. I know plenty of folks groan about referencing tables but I still recommend the attack options (which are written with Superiority Dice in mind).
4) Book of Powers and Deities. Uses the Renown or Piety stat (not quite an ability score), depending on which entity you're connected with.

Finally I like the Mighty Deed ability of this subclass (Oath of Heroism) which was neutered with its official release, but is written as it should be in this link. A great step in the right direction for anyone that wants a 4e Warlord in 5e.

 

[udm]

I take an existing generic setting and then hack the shit out of it, if only because most premade settings are damn poorly written. I do refer to the official material every now and then though.

 

[Berengar]

%50 homebrew and %50 me changing the hell out of old modules and adapting them as i see fit. so all the time i guess lol

 

[Galdred]

I ran a few homebrew games, but I have such a tendency to make things complex that my players got scared of playing another:
One game I made combined standard RPG system (ala CODA, with wargame rules for mass battles, and Birthright rules for demesne management), but it ended up being way too complex. I also ran a 40K Chaos campaign using a set of rules that had a lot of dice to throw because that's the way Warhammer should be played. I also cobbled X-WING and Imperial Assault together to run a game where players would fight both in space and on the ground.
But I usually don't homebrew the setting (I did it a little for my Birthright campaign).