New DMS Guild title for sale

[Shining Wrath]

Linkish object (http://www.dmsguild.com/product/173279/Feats-for-the-Physically-Fit)

Feats to help out the people whose prime ability is SDCn rather than IWCh.

[JNAProductions]

Is this WotC official? Or homebrew?

[MaxWilson]

Is this WotC official? Or homebrew?

DMs' Guild is all homebrew stuff.

[JNAProductions]

On the one hand, $.50. On the other hand, it's literally homebrew.

Yeah, I don't think I'll be buying that.

[MaxWilson]

I actually feel like most (good) feats are primarily helpful to those who invest in SDC. Off the top of my head: Sharpshooter, Mounted Combatant, Great Weapon Master, Skulker, Mobile, Mage Slayer, Polearm Master, Shield Master, Heavy Armor Master, Defensive Duelist.

Anyway, good luck to whoever wrote that. I'm not interested in it myself, but I hope you find success with like-minded souls. Don't forget to post an announcement on Enworld (http://www.enworld.org/forum/newthread.php?do=newthread&f=10).

[MrStabby]

I just don't get why people would pay for homebrew.

Aside from the questionable judgement in doubtless personal preferences of anyone who does homebrew, they cannot tailor it to the table and house-rules you use. Nor can they specifically get the feel that a player may want. If you are going to risk questionable homebrew I imagine almost every table would be better off doing it themselves.

Failing that go to the homebrew forum - there is a lot of stuff there. Some of it is even usable. Some of the usable stuff is even imaginative and might add something to games.

[JNAProductions]

I just don't get why people would pay for homebrew.

Aside from the questionable judgement in doubtless personal preferences of anyone who does homebrew, they cannot tailor it to the table and house-rules you use. Nor can they specifically get the feel that a player may want. If you are going to risk questionable homebrew I imagine almost every table would be better off doing it themselves.

Failing that go to the homebrew forum - there is a lot of stuff there. Some of it is even usable. Some of the usable stuff is even imaginative and might add something to games.

Just look at most stuff by DracoKnight-it's well presented, balanced, and fun.

[DracoKnight]

Just look at most stuff by DracoKnight-it's well presented, balanced, and fun.

*blushing* Well, thank you JNA. I have a great community that helps me balance it :smallbiggrin:
After that, making it look pretty isn't difficult :smallsmile:

[MaxWilson]

Just look at most stuff by DracoKnight-it's well presented, balanced, and fun.

Exactly this. You're not buying a set of feats; you're buying the judgment of an author you look. This is exactly why some people like to buy "official WotC D&D products". It's not that WotC stuff is any qualitatively different than homebrew--after all they simply bought the rights to D&D from TSR, they're not the original authors--but those who have purchased 5E already have already self-selected as a group of people who likes this particular set of authors' take on D&D.

DMs' Guild homebrew is exactly the same way, which is why certain writers still prefer to release on RPGNow instead of DMs' Guild: because DMs' Guild tends to obscure the identity of the author and makes it hard for him to connect with his fans in an ongoing way.

[Sception]

Why pay for homebrew? As an incentive to new creators. These are people building skills as rules writers and storytellers, people who might one day be looking to apply to positions at publishers like Wizards or White Wolf or Fantasy Flight. Nobody's going to make enough money to live on releasing stuff for the GMs guild, but the sales or download numbers on those things add weight to portfolios.

It's not so much about 'paying for homebrew' as it is about giving a substantive endorsement to ideas you like, Letting game companies, and Wizards in particular, know the kind of content you want to see in the future and the kinds of content creators you want to see producing it.

Additionally, while the core books for 5e are pretty great, there's a lot of unexplored terrain in terms of possible conceptual and mechanical space that Wizards, with their anemic release schedule and skeletal development crew, just does not seem interested in filling on their own. Why not look to third party material for ideas?

[JoeJ]

I just don't get why people would pay for homebrew.

The only difference between homebrew and 3PP is the business model of the creator(s). Whether or not it's worth paying for depends on: 1) Is it something that would be interesting or useful to you? and 2) Is it well done? The answers to these questions have absolutely nothing to do with whether or not the source is a "business" for legal and/or tax purposes.

[Shining Wrath]

Is this WotC official? Or homebrew?

It's homebrew, it's $0.50, and it might be worth that much :smallsmile:

[MrStabby]

Exactly this. You're not buying a set of feats; you're buying the judgment of an author you look. This is exactly why some people like to buy "official WotC D&D products". It's not that WotC stuff is any qualitatively different than homebrew--after all they simply bought the rights to D&D from TSR, they're not the original authors--but those who have purchased 5E already have already self-selected as a group of people who likes this particular set of authors' take on D&D.


I agree with this,in a way. My problem is that no one really knows anyone producing this stuff. The authors are not like a big company that has a lot to lose by publishing crap. On the other hand if I buy something to use then waste 10 hours of my time trying to make it work it is a pretty big cost for me.

I agree your buying their judgement, but when you see the content you still have to decide if it is appropriate for you and your table. It never excuses you from using your own judgement. If you have to exercise your judgement anyway, judging each aspect of someone else's homebrew why not just use that same judgement to make something perfect for the players concerned and for your campaign setting?

As to providing an incentive to new creators - just look at the homebrew section on this forum. It is not empty. Creators do not need encouragement. Even if they did, why would I go with someone who is not from a company with the resources for product testing and quality control over a company that does? QC is not enough to give certainty to a good product, not does a lack of it mean someone cant produce something good but it does affect the likelihood of getting crap.

My issue isn't the cost, my issue is the time it takes out of limited gaming time to evaluate and test and to be sure that the author has been as careful and creative as you would wish them to be.

[Sception]

It's not about incentive, it's about endorsement. Substantive endorsement that those creators can put on a resume and point to when applying for first time positions at major publishers. The difference between "hire me, I wrote all this campaign stuff for my buddies that you'll have to spend hours of your own time reading to try to judge for yourself whether its any good," and "hire me, I wrote all this campaign stuff that X hundred people have already paid actual money to download, even if it was just 50 cents a pop, so that you already know I can produce content that gamers will find interesting without having to waste time or bank on guesswork."

If I were a producer of home brew content for its own sake, I wouldn't care about this. But if I were someone who entertained notions of making a career out of writing rpg content, or someone interested in promoting young talent within the industry, I would be very excited.

[gameogre]

Official or third party, who cares? As long as it's good I will use it.

Some of the most unbalanced crap I have ever seen has been from a official game company(Synthesist Summoner anyone?). it just doesn't matter.

I'll buy anyone's stuff if it's worthwhile. The Trick is getting me to buy it before I know if it's worthwhile or not.

[Sitri]

I see some stuff on the site that says "Pay what you want." Can this be 0 and then go back and tip if you like it? If so, I think I might make an account.

EDIT Answer is Yes

[JNAProductions]

Official or third party, who cares? As long as it's good I will use it.

Some of the most unbalanced crap I have ever seen has been from a official game company(Synthesist Summoner anyone?). it just doesn't matter.

I'll buy anyone's stuff if it's worthwhile. The Trick is getting me to buy it before I know if it's worthwhile or not.

Agreed. I have very limited funds-why should I spend it on this?

[Mr.Moron]

I just don't get why people would pay for homebrew.

Aside from the questionable judgement in doubtless personal preferences of anyone who does homebrew, they cannot tailor it to the table and house-rules you use. Nor can they specifically get the feel that a player may want. If you are going to risk questionable homebrew I imagine almost every table would be better off doing it themselves.

Failing that go to the homebrew forum - there is a lot of stuff there. Some of it is even usable. Some of the usable stuff is even imaginative and might add something to games.

I just don't get why people would pay for WotC material.

Aside from the questionable judgement and doubtless personal preferences of anyone who writes RPGs for a living, they cannot tailor it to the table and house rules you have. Nor can they specifically ge the feel that a player may want. if you're going to risk questionable commercial products I imagine almost every table would be better off doing it themselves.

Failing that go check out some free RPGs and D&D clones. There is a lot of stuff out there. Some of it even usable. Some of the usable stuff is even imaginative and might add something to games.

[pwykersotz]

I just don't get why people would pay for WotC material.

Aside from the questionable judgement and doubtless personal preferences of anyone who writes RPGs for a living, they cannot tailor it to the table and house rules you have. Nor can they specifically ge the feel that a player may want. if you're going to risk questionable commercial products I imagine almost every table would be better off doing it themselves.

Failing that go check out some free RPGs and D&D clones. There is a lot of stuff out there. Some of it even usable. Some of the usable stuff is even imaginative and might add something to games.

https://i.imgur.com/himZD0Mh.jpg

[MrStabby]

It's not about incentive, it's about endorsement. Substantive endorsement that those creators can put on a resume and point to when applying for first time positions at major publishers. The difference between "hire me, I wrote all this campaign stuff for my buddies that you'll have to spend hours of your own time reading to try to judge for yourself whether its any good," and "hire me, I wrote all this campaign stuff that X hundred people have already paid actual money to download, even if it was just 50 cents a pop, so that you already know I can produce content that gamers will find interesting without having to waste time or bank on guesswork."

If I were a producer of home brew content for its own sake, I wouldn't care about this. But if I were someone who entertained notions of making a career out of writing rpg content, or someone interested in promoting young talent within the industry, I would be very excited.

Getting someone to buy something you have made is probably not much of an endorsement. Getting someone to buy something a second time is.

Well there are some exceptions, it is an endorsement of a person's ability to write a description of their product (whether accurate or not) I suppose.

Now I don't recruit people who have portfolios of work so I can't say how it works in those industries but we can spend an hour interviewing a candidate, put them through several hours of aptitude tests, invite them back for second or even third interviews. Between all this we compare notes, match with job descriptions, discuss attitudes and specific answers to questions and so on. For jobs where you actually need the right person spending several hours looking at their product is actually pretty easy.

I don't want to be too down on what you say though, if someone wants to work for a commercial enterprise then actually producing something that people want to buy is pretty important.

[DracoKnight]

Getting someone to buy something you have made is probably not much of an endorsement. Getting someone to buy something a second time is.

Well there are some exceptions, it is an endorsement of a person's ability to write a description of their product (whether accurate or not) I suppose.

Now I don't recruit people who have portfolios of work so I can't say how it works in those industries but we can spend an hour interviewing a candidate, put them through several hours of aptitude tests, invite them back for second or even third interviews. Between all this we compare notes, match with job descriptions, discuss attitudes and specific answers to questions and so on. For jobs where you actually need the right person spending several hours looking at their product is actually pretty easy.

I don't want to be too down on what you say though, if someone wants to work for a commercial enterprise then actually producing something that people want to buy is pretty important.

I work closely with people in the gaming industry, and I myself am trying to break out into film. Portfolios can make or break you. The people I know who are in gaming, are practically drooling over the DMs Guild. They realize its flaws for D&D as a whole, but for them it's a marvelous opportunity that they don't want to pass up.

In the entertainment industry - regardless of which media you pursue - your portfolio is who you are professionally.

[MrStabby]

I work closely with people in the gaming industry, and I myself am trying to break out into film. Portfolios can make or break you. The people I know who are in gaming, are practically drooling over the DMs Guild. They realize its flaws for D&D as a whole, but for them it's a marvelous opportunity that they don't want to pass up.

In the entertainment industry - regardless of which media you pursue - your portfolio is who you are professionally.

Fair enough. I can see why you would try and sell your work, I still don't get why anyone would buy it rather than homebrewing their own.

[JoeJ]

Fair enough. I can see why you would try and sell your work, I still don't get why anyone would buy it rather than homebrewing their own.

The same reason anybody buys anything rather than making it themselves. Don't you ever buy any games, adventures, supplements, cardboard figures, maps, or other gaming products?

[CantigThimble]

Fair enough. I can see why you would try and sell your work, I still don't get why anyone would buy it rather than homebrewing their own.

Not enough time, not enough creativity, not very good at balance, DM doesn't want the conflict of interest from players designing their own classes, ect.

I wouldn't pay for the homebrew of random people but if I had other works of theirs that I had really liked or lots of informative reviews I'd consider it more seriously.

I think if you really want to do well on DM's guild the best plan would probably be to release a decent amount of good quality content free or pay what you want and then start putting actual pricetags on stuff once people have a reason to want your stuff.

[DracoKnight]

Fair enough. I can see why you would try and sell your work, I still don't get why anyone would buy it rather than homebrewing their own.

And that's a totally valid viewpoint. It's for that reason that I feel there's no reason for me to sell mine. All of my PDFs are here on the forum, and people can download them for free. If they can do that, why would they pay on the DMs guild? Now, I might put them up there someday - but I am far more likely to put up adventures, or campaigns; since these are stories, I could put them into my portfolio (my specific talent is screenwriting).

The DMs guild is a great opportunity for those who are trying to get noticed by WotC. Other than that, there's no great advantage that it has over GITP, since over at the DMs Guild, you don't have a community providing you instant feedback as to the balance.

[MaxWilson]

Why pay for homebrew? As an incentive to new creators. These are people building skills as rules writers and storytellers, people who might one day be looking to apply to positions at publishers like Wizards or White Wolf or Fantasy Flight. Nobody's going to make enough money to live on releasing stuff for the GMs guild, but the sales or download numbers on those things add weight to portfolios.

It's not so much about 'paying for homebrew' as it is about giving a substantive endorsement to ideas you like, Letting game companies, and Wizards in particular, know the kind of content you want to see in the future and the kinds of content creators you want to see producing it.

This is why preview snippets are so important--so you can see whether you actually LIKE the rules you're about to purchase. Otherwise it's like asking someone to vote for something before letting them examine what they're voting for.


My issue isn't the cost, my issue is the time it takes out of limited gaming time to evaluate and test and to be sure that the author has been as careful and creative as you would wish them to be.

Yes, me too. So far the only 3PP products I've bought have been from Necromancer Games (Book of Lost Spells, Fifth Edition Foes, Quests of Doom) and two of those are just importing + adapting spells and monsters to 5E that were originally published in other editions. All three of those books are excellent, and my players really love the Book of Lost Spells in particular, but my appetite for consuming random homebrew content is quite limited. As you say, MrStabby, it's a time constraint. Plus, splatbook proliferation is not something that I am eager to see.

Of all the possible types of homebrew that I can imagine on DMs' Guild, PHB additions (classes/feats) are the ones I'm least likely to outsource to unknown people on the Internet. I've bought adventures and I would buy monsters (if I trusted the creator). But it's going to be a long time before my table has exhausted the thousands of permutations available already in the PHB.


I just don't get why people would pay for WotC material.

Aside from the questionable judgement and doubtless personal preferences of anyone who writes RPGs for a living, they cannot tailor it to the table and house rules you have. Nor can they specifically ge the feel that a player may want. if you're going to risk questionable commercial products I imagine almost every table would be better off doing it themselves.

Failing that go check out some free RPGs and D&D clones. There is a lot of stuff out there. Some of it even usable. Some of the usable stuff is even imaginative and might add something to games.

Maybe you think you're joking here by comparing WotC to homebrew, but you're not. This is exactly why many people that I've played with skipped 3rd and 4th edition. The only reason we play 5E is because WotC actually made a design decision to make something more compatible with the AD&D/old school feel, and we happen to like the product that was produced. Couldn't care less about the "WotC" label on the product.

E.g. Disney can acquire the rights to Star Wars, but that doesn't make their fan fiction the same as a real Star Wars movie.

[Finieous]

There's a difference between official D&D, 3PP and amateur homebrew, and I'd rather people didn't keep trying so hard to draw equivalencies between them. Of course, there isn't any necessary difference: If you've invested in extensive playtesting, professional writing, content editing, copy editing, proofreading and illustration/cartography, you're a "publisher" and I'll consider paying professional prices for your work. That doesn't mean it won't still suck and I won't ever regret my purchase, but if you bring a professional product to market you can charge the going rate for it. On the other hand, if you won't invest in your own work, I'm certainly not going to.

It would be awesome if the DM's Guide (Edit: Guild...damn, I'm never going to get that) becomes a place where you can buy professional products, and where hobbyists can share their amateur efforts with the community free of charge. There would still be good and bad examples of both, of course, but that's fine. But I not only don't know why anyone would pay for hobbyist homebrew -- I don't know why anyone would charge for it. Free is good.

[MrStabby]

The same reason anybody buys anything rather than making it themselves. Don't you ever buy any games, adventures, supplements, cardboard figures, maps, or other gaming products?

So I do buy other gaming products. Not adventures, as I actually get pleasure from doing those myself, but others.

The difference is that the other products are actually more time consuming (and uninteresting) to produce relative to using someone else's. I can look at a map in a few seconds, see its is the scale, detail and size I want and decide to use it.

Unknown homebrew requires the same attention to detail to check if it is appropriate as it does to create. Vetting your creator's work to make sure it is as appropriate as the homebrew you would make yourself is as time consuming as just homebrewing, but without the benefits.