Question for the day: To homebrew, or not to homebrew? Do you homebrew or use homebrewed races/species, subclasses, or even classes in your games and why?
Only thing I really homebrew is weapons/gifts.
For races and class, D&D already offers enough for me. The games I DM for, in all of them more than 50% are brand new to D&D.
When I first my games - it's a shared world (so what one group does can impact another) - so when I first started, the only races, classes and spells were what was in PHB even though I had the other stuff.
I made it basically a quest to unlock the magic in the world (it'd been contained into a sphere by a mad - as in crazy - ancient elf). And I placed said orb, far away from where players would be starting, so I knew they'd be doing a lot of things (and in general getting a feel for the game). When the game was about three years in, one group finally got to where the sphere was - did all the side quests I lined up (special hammer to shatter it and such) - and shattered it.
At that point, all the spells I had on D&D Beyond were officially available - and anyone could keep the same class - but they could then change the "path" (college, etc) that they took in that class and pick one of the "unlocked" ones explained as the magic from the sphere filling their minds with knowledge.
So everyone got to keep the same characters, same class, just got new spells then and new paths to take within that class.
Wow, that's a lot of rambling to explain I homebrew a ton of weapons, armor, gifts, specific to my world.
I also homebrew monsters. Quite a few of those.
That is a really cool way to approach it
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Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Question for the day: To homebrew, or not to homebrew? Do you homebrew or use homebrewed races/species, subclasses, or even classes in your games and why?
I'm not sure if this even counts as homebrew, but we do tweak some rules. for instance, on crits we rule that the extra die you would normally roll is auto-maxed. It just makes critical hits seems substantial and dangerous across the board. There are a few other little rules tweaks we use, some from OneDnD, some from other sources.
In terms of homebrew of interest, I would love to try out the Barbarian subclass that's going on in Critical Role Season 3. Looks like a lot of fun.
Question for the day: To homebrew, or not to homebrew? Do you homebrew or use homebrewed races/species, subclasses, or even classes in your games and why?
I homebrew tons of monsters all the time and love to use them as a DM. I have created a few races, but honestly, there are so many that I would rather someone play a reflavored species than make up a whole new race for them. I have never used or made a homebrew subclass or class. I tried once and it didn't turn out really great, but I stopped half way through so it didn't get a lot of work. I would like to try to create a homebrew subclass sometime, but as a player, there are so many subclasses already and I have so many character ideas that I am content using the official ones because I will never get to use all the ideas I have right now.
Related to today's question, what's the coolest homebrew class/subclass you've seen recently?
One of my players designed a rather fun Witch subclass for Wizard built around cursing folks rather than combat. Essentially the class could work at a much further range if you prepared to cast in advance - collecting bits of hair from a target, hiding curse bags on their person, etc. - but took significant penalties to casting spells in combat itself. Seemed like it would be fun, though the person who was going to DM the campaign for that subclass decided they did not really feel like DMing after all.
Question for the day: To homebrew, or not to homebrew? Do you homebrew or use homebrewed races/species, subclasses, or even classes in your games and why?
I haven't actually had my players ask to use much homebrew content. That being said, I would probably let them use third-party works for their character as long as the content wasn't too powerful.
What do you always make sure to have on hand for a game of D&D, outside of essentials like character sheets or dice? Any special props or tokens, good luck charms? Or conversely, what do you do your best to make sure never shows its face at your table when it's time to play. Digital-only folks too - what do you keep with you, and what do you make sure to banish before playtime?
Something caffeinated to drink and something to snack on. Everything else is essential.
Favorite PC from earlier post - Elf. F8/MU10/Th12 - longest lived character I ever had.
Favorite NPC - an outspoken weapon. "What do you mean you missed?! Swing harder! Come on you can do itttt!!!"
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"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
I LOVE homebrew! (Sposta knows this, lol) My first campaign, I homebrewed a subclass for one of my players, and I'm currently in the process of doing the same for my current game. I also have looooaaaads of documents laying around in varying states of completion.
[EDIT: The first sentence of this post refers to a post that has since been deleted] As a side note, am I the only one who feels like a certain user - who just made a totally on-topic post - could possibly be a ChatBot?
Anyways, the coolest pieces of homebrew that I've been seeing lately pretty much all come from the Competition of the Finest Brews.
As a side note, am I the only one who feels like a certain user - who just made a totally on-topic post - could possibly be a ChatBot?
Anyways, the coolest pieces of homebrew that I've been seeing lately pretty much all come from the Competition of the Finest Brews.
You are not. Context independent responses have been a recurring motif -- though it could be a form of malicious humor given some I have seen.
Anyway, I made it a rule to only respond to posts from this year after reading so damned many of them (and silly me, I got active in the midst of an explosion I only barely cared about) but I did break it and I absolutely agree that some of the most incredible 'brews I have seen are found in that thread.
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Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities .-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-. An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more. Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
As a side note, am I the only one who feels like a certain user - who just made a totally on-topic post - could possibly be a ChatBot?
I guess it's possible. They've been posting some pretty generic responses. Though most of their posts are relevent to their respective threads so idk ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
As a side note, am I the only one who feels like a certain user - who just made a totally on-topic post - could possibly be a ChatBot?
Anyways, the coolest pieces of homebrew that I've been seeing lately pretty much all come from the Competition of the Finest Brews.
Wow that's rude.
Just because somebody doesn't post large text blocks like SirTawmis or AEDorsay or The_Summoning_Dark doesn't mean they aren't a real person. Maybe they think it's like looking up any recipe for anything. They don't give a rats patootie about your long summer nights and how your kids love it and you have friends that insisted on knowing to make XX brownies. They just want the recipe.To them answering the question is key especially if they have limited screen time.
Regarding homebrew, I do a bit - mostly items, spells, and monsters (feel free to look up my things). My games don't usually have feats (I believe they are a crutch and rule breaking). I don't want to mess around too much with classes or subclasses - the game currently has enough to satisfy most players. Of the things I create, I throw them around quite a bit in my games.
For other people's homebrew, I am very very leery. If I don't read carefully and miss a phrase or word it could lead to (not the first) heated argument. So to save time and trouble I don't allow PCs to walk into a game with other folks homebrew anything. I'll check it out and if it seems legit and not campaign breaking I might allow it.
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"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
As a side note, am I the only one who feels like a certain user - who just made a totally on-topic post - could possibly be a ChatBot?
Anyways, the coolest pieces of homebrew that I've been seeing lately pretty much all come from the Competition of the Finest Brews.
Wow that's rude.
Just because somebody doesn't post large text blocks like SirTawmis or AEDorsay or The_Summoning_Dark doesn't mean they aren't a real person. Maybe they think it's like looking up any recipe for anything. They don't give a rats patootie about your long summer nights and how your kids love it and you have friends that insisted on knowing to make XX brownies. They just want the recipe.To them answering the question is key especially if they have limited screen time.
They were talking about a post that seemed to just be a copy-and-paste of the definition of the OGL. The post has been deleted.
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Look at what you've done. You spoiled it. You have nobody to blame but yourself. Go sit and think about your actions.
Don't be mean. Rudeness is a vicious cycle, and it has to stop somewhere. Exceptions for things that are funny. Go to the current Competition of the Finest 'Brews! It's a cool place where cool people make cool things.
How I'm posting based on text formatting: Mod Hat Off - Mod Hat Also Off (I'm not a mod)
OK - to veer away from talking about chatbots or whatever and try to keep this fun and on track...
What was the coolest moment one of your characters - or, if you're a DM, one of your players - did, that's very memorable to you?
The Ranger player in my current campaign managed to crit the pirate captain of a rival ship. In rough seas. At a range of about 400 feet. It was ridiculous.
Of course, said captain lived and is now part of a very, very long list of enemies who we have made who are all at large.
And he followed that up by trying and failing three turns in a row to Errol Flynn his way from our ship to the other ship via rope after they'd rammed us. Just kept pitifully falling to the deck. LOL
Just because somebody doesn't post large text blocks like SirTawmis or AEDorsay or The_Summoning_Dark doesn't mean they aren't a real person. Maybe they think it's like looking up any recipe for anything. They don't give a rats patootie about your long summer nights and how your kids love it and you have friends that insisted on knowing to make XX brownies. They just want the recipe.To them answering the question is key especially if they have limited screen time.
I was referring to a post that has now been deleted. The post was just giving a random definition of the Open Game License in this "Anything BUT the OGL" thread, and it was made by a user who has been making some very odd posts of late.
I honestly don't know who you think I was referring to, but I'm sorry if it wasn't clear. There is obviously nothing wrong with daily questions or short posts. In fact, I really like those questions and all thoughts shared in response to them, and some of the more interesting posts on this platform have been on the short end of things.
I think we're miscommunicating, because we're talking about very different users and very different reasons for our inferences. If it helps clarify anything, I was talking about someone with less than 20 posts. Not a person who had been participating in this discussion before.
OK - to veer away from talking about chatbots or whatever and try to keep this fun and on track...
What was the coolest moment one of your characters - or, if you're a DM, one of your players - did, that's very memorable to you?
I have so many fun memories playing D&D. The link in my signature about your party's worst mistakes leads to some of them, but long story short, running around crazily in a goblin infested cave was fun, even if it was stupid. Burning down taverns is a great idea too. Letting armed and hostile orcs into a guarded city to "chat" caused a really fun series of events to happen, and playing the first adventure in Candlekeep Mysteries twice - both times with a group of crazy murderhobos - bred for some really wacky, cool, and fun scenarios.
I mean, I *do* post a lot of long blocks of text...
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Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities .-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-. An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more. Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
I mean, I *do* post a lot of long blocks of text...
Welcome to the Forum Essay Writers club lol. Jk, that's not a thing. Sorry if what I said earlier was unclear, it was addressed a now deleted comment by someone who only posted once to this thread, which they did to talk about resources for understanding the Open Game License (this thread is not supposed to be about that!).
Anyways, what was the best piece of homebrew that worked well in your guys' games?
I mean, I *do* post a lot of long blocks of text...
Welcome to the Forum Essay Writers club lol. Jk, that's not a thing. Sorry if what I said earlier was unclear, it was addressed a now deleted comment by someone who only posted once to this thread, which they did to talk about resources for understanding the Open Game License (this thread is not supposed to be about that!).
Anyways, what was the best piece of homebrew that worked well in your guys' games?
Same, I am really bad about the long blocks of text.
I once ran a Christmas "one-shot" (we haven't finished it yet) where the players had to survive the night while they were attacked by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future who had decided that the characters were so horrible they didn't deserve a second chance and should be done away with. Krampus was involved as well. All the ghosts and Krampus were homebrewed, and for the ghost of Christmas past, I set up a sort of skill test that they had to accomplish in order to defeat him. In the Christmas Carol, whenever Scrooge tried to touch the Ghost of Christmas past, the ghost was unharmed, but when he shoved the ghost's extinguisher cap on its head, the ghost vanished. So the players had to grab the ghosts extinguisher cap, shove it onto its head, and hold it down as it fought back. It took a while, but after combining all their efforts they managed to succeed and the ghost was extinguished. They all enjoyed it, and so did I so I would say it was a success.
That is a really cool way to approach it
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
I'm not sure if this even counts as homebrew, but we do tweak some rules. for instance, on crits we rule that the extra die you would normally roll is auto-maxed. It just makes critical hits seems substantial and dangerous across the board. There are a few other little rules tweaks we use, some from OneDnD, some from other sources.
In terms of homebrew of interest, I would love to try out the Barbarian subclass that's going on in Critical Role Season 3. Looks like a lot of fun.
*ahem* Anyway...
Related to today's question, what's the coolest homebrew class/subclass you've seen recently?
I homebrew tons of monsters all the time and love to use them as a DM. I have created a few races, but honestly, there are so many that I would rather someone play a reflavored species than make up a whole new race for them. I have never used or made a homebrew subclass or class. I tried once and it didn't turn out really great, but I stopped half way through so it didn't get a lot of work. I would like to try to create a homebrew subclass sometime, but as a player, there are so many subclasses already and I have so many character ideas that I am content using the official ones because I will never get to use all the ideas I have right now.
One of my players designed a rather fun Witch subclass for Wizard built around cursing folks rather than combat. Essentially the class could work at a much further range if you prepared to cast in advance - collecting bits of hair from a target, hiding curse bags on their person, etc. - but took significant penalties to casting spells in combat itself. Seemed like it would be fun, though the person who was going to DM the campaign for that subclass decided they did not really feel like DMing after all.
I haven't actually had my players ask to use much homebrew content. That being said, I would probably let them use third-party works for their character as long as the content wasn't too powerful.
BoringBard's long and tedious posts somehow manage to enrapture audiences. How? Because he used Charm Person, the #1 bard spell!
He/him pronouns. Call me Bard. PROUD NERD!
Ever wanted to talk about your parties' worst mistakes? Do so HERE. What's your favorite class, why? Share & explain
HERE.Something caffeinated to drink and something to snack on. Everything else is essential.
Favorite PC from earlier post - Elf. F8/MU10/Th12 - longest lived character I ever had.
Favorite NPC - an outspoken weapon. "What do you mean you missed?! Swing harder! Come on you can do itttt!!!"
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
I LOVE homebrew! (Sposta knows this, lol) My first campaign, I homebrewed a subclass for one of my players, and I'm currently in the process of doing the same for my current game. I also have looooaaaads of documents laying around in varying states of completion.
[EDIT: The first sentence of this post refers to a post that has since been deleted] As a side note, am I the only one who feels like a certain user - who just made a totally on-topic post - could possibly be a ChatBot?
Anyways, the coolest pieces of homebrew that I've been seeing lately pretty much all come from the Competition of the Finest Brews.
BoringBard's long and tedious posts somehow manage to enrapture audiences. How? Because he used Charm Person, the #1 bard spell!
He/him pronouns. Call me Bard. PROUD NERD!
Ever wanted to talk about your parties' worst mistakes? Do so HERE. What's your favorite class, why? Share & explain
HERE.You are not. Context independent responses have been a recurring motif -- though it could be a form of malicious humor given some I have seen.
Anyway, I made it a rule to only respond to posts from this year after reading so damned many of them (and silly me, I got active in the midst of an explosion I only barely cared about) but I did break it and I absolutely agree that some of the most incredible 'brews I have seen are found in that thread.
Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities
.-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-.
An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more.
Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
I guess it's possible. They've been posting some pretty generic responses. Though most of their posts are relevent to their respective threads so idk ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
[REDACTED]
OK - to veer away from talking about chatbots or whatever and try to keep this fun and on track...
What was the coolest moment one of your characters - or, if you're a DM, one of your players - did, that's very memorable to you?
Check out my publication on DMs Guild: https://www.dmsguild.com/browse.php?author=Tawmis%20Logue
Check out my comedy web series - Neverending Nights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wr4-u9-zw0&list=PLbRG7dzFI-u3EJd0usasgDrrFO3mZ1lOZ
Need a character story/background written up? I do it for free (but also take donations!) - https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?591882-Need-a-character-background-written-up
Wow that's rude.
Just because somebody doesn't post large text blocks like SirTawmis or AEDorsay or The_Summoning_Dark doesn't mean they aren't a real person. Maybe they think it's like looking up any recipe for anything. They don't give a rats patootie about your long summer nights and how your kids love it and you have friends that insisted on knowing to make XX brownies. They just want the recipe.To them answering the question is key especially if they have limited screen time.
Regarding homebrew, I do a bit - mostly items, spells, and monsters (feel free to look up my things). My games don't usually have feats (I believe they are a crutch and rule breaking). I don't want to mess around too much with classes or subclasses - the game currently has enough to satisfy most players. Of the things I create, I throw them around quite a bit in my games.
For other people's homebrew, I am very very leery. If I don't read carefully and miss a phrase or word it could lead to (not the first) heated argument. So to save time and trouble I don't allow PCs to walk into a game with other folks homebrew anything. I'll check it out and if it seems legit and not campaign breaking I might allow it.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
They were talking about a post that seemed to just be a copy-and-paste of the definition of the OGL. The post has been deleted.
Look at what you've done. You spoiled it. You have nobody to blame but yourself. Go sit and think about your actions.
Don't be mean. Rudeness is a vicious cycle, and it has to stop somewhere. Exceptions for things that are funny.
Go to the current Competition of the Finest 'Brews! It's a cool place where cool people make cool things.
How I'm posting based on text formatting: Mod Hat Off - Mod Hat Also Off (I'm not a mod)
The Ranger player in my current campaign managed to crit the pirate captain of a rival ship. In rough seas. At a range of about 400 feet. It was ridiculous.
Of course, said captain lived and is now part of a very, very long list of enemies who we have made who are all at large.
And he followed that up by trying and failing three turns in a row to Errol Flynn his way from our ship to the other ship via rope after they'd rammed us. Just kept pitifully falling to the deck. LOL
I was referring to a post that has now been deleted. The post was just giving a random definition of the Open Game License in this "Anything BUT the OGL" thread, and it was made by a user who has been making some very odd posts of late.
I honestly don't know who you think I was referring to, but I'm sorry if it wasn't clear. There is obviously nothing wrong with daily questions or short posts. In fact, I really like those questions and all thoughts shared in response to them, and some of the more interesting posts on this platform have been on the short end of things.
I think we're miscommunicating, because we're talking about very different users and very different reasons for our inferences. If it helps clarify anything, I was talking about someone with less than 20 posts. Not a person who had been participating in this discussion before.
I have so many fun memories playing D&D. The link in my signature about your party's worst mistakes leads to some of them, but long story short, running around crazily in a goblin infested cave was fun, even if it was stupid. Burning down taverns is a great idea too. Letting armed and hostile orcs into a guarded city to "chat" caused a really fun series of events to happen, and playing the first adventure in Candlekeep Mysteries twice - both times with a group of crazy murderhobos - bred for some really wacky, cool, and fun scenarios.
BoringBard's long and tedious posts somehow manage to enrapture audiences. How? Because he used Charm Person, the #1 bard spell!
He/him pronouns. Call me Bard. PROUD NERD!
Ever wanted to talk about your parties' worst mistakes? Do so HERE. What's your favorite class, why? Share & explain
HERE.I mean, I *do* post a lot of long blocks of text...
Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities
.-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-.
An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more.
Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
Welcome to the Forum Essay Writers club lol. Jk, that's not a thing. Sorry if what I said earlier was unclear, it was addressed a now deleted comment by someone who only posted once to this thread, which they did to talk about resources for understanding the Open Game License (this thread is not supposed to be about that!).
Anyways, what was the best piece of homebrew that worked well in your guys' games?
BoringBard's long and tedious posts somehow manage to enrapture audiences. How? Because he used Charm Person, the #1 bard spell!
He/him pronouns. Call me Bard. PROUD NERD!
Ever wanted to talk about your parties' worst mistakes? Do so HERE. What's your favorite class, why? Share & explain
HERE.Same, I am really bad about the long blocks of text.
I once ran a Christmas "one-shot" (we haven't finished it yet) where the players had to survive the night while they were attacked by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future who had decided that the characters were so horrible they didn't deserve a second chance and should be done away with. Krampus was involved as well. All the ghosts and Krampus were homebrewed, and for the ghost of Christmas past, I set up a sort of skill test that they had to accomplish in order to defeat him. In the Christmas Carol, whenever Scrooge tried to touch the Ghost of Christmas past, the ghost was unharmed, but when he shoved the ghost's extinguisher cap on its head, the ghost vanished. So the players had to grab the ghosts extinguisher cap, shove it onto its head, and hold it down as it fought back. It took a while, but after combining all their efforts they managed to succeed and the ghost was extinguished. They all enjoyed it, and so did I so I would say it was a success.
Me too. Usually at any rate.
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