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View Full Version : How much do you use other's Homebrews?



Prometheus
2008-02-24, 08:36 PM
I hope this is the right thread, this is kind of meta discussion.

This is a question of pure curiosity mostly. Some people homebrew for themselves, other homebrew for others, and some homebrew for the fun of it. Which do you do? Do you use any homebrews at all? and of course when do you use the homebrew's of others?

As for myself, I homebrew a lot of my own for concepts that I have for my world, mostly because there aren't any others that apply. Recently however, I've been opening up and adding homebrew monsters (because you can never have too great a variety of monsters) and homebrew character classes (because I feel like some on the boards have better expertise in that area, and have made some really interesting ones). Kudos to you the boards for your hard work and well crafted homebrews by the way.

Krimm_Blackleaf
2008-02-24, 09:04 PM
If I could use as many characters as I'd like to, I'd use other people's homebrews all the time. But as a creature of massive ego, I end up taking more interest in testing my own stuff that most of the characters I've had lately have been using my own PrC's.

Nebo_
2008-02-24, 09:07 PM
To be honest, most of what I see on these boards isn't very good, so I don't use it. There is the occasional gem that I'd like to see used in a game, but I've never actually gotten around to using any of them.

MisterSaturnine
2008-02-24, 09:10 PM
I like a lot of stuff on this board, but seeing as I've never really been able to play a game, zero. Particular favorites I'd like to try are Krimm's Eldritch Knight Redux and Kellus' Thought Artist.

MeklorIlavator
2008-02-24, 09:16 PM
I use a couple homebrewed classes from this board, mainly from Fax Celestis. I believe that the second character in my sig is based of his Hunter, and I've made several characters irl based of his Paladin redo.

Prometheus
2008-02-24, 09:19 PM
I agree there is a lot of stuff out there that isn't very good, but I think a lot of times you can know good when you see it, and obviously, more well-known artists like Vorpal Tribble and Fax Celestius are quite reliable as well. I don't restrict myself to those two though.

Deepblue706
2008-02-24, 09:24 PM
I don't use any homebrew material. I once accepted a feat a friend of mine made - it wasn't game-breaking, but it was kinda stupid.

I feel that way about a lot of homebrews, tho. So, the only homebrews I use are pretty much a few semi-unique magical items here-and-there that I think are neat, but can't exist under the current rules. For example, an intelligent Shuriken that doesn't ever break. Not-so-much homebrewing as it is "DM Magic", I suppose.

TempusCCK
2008-02-25, 12:17 AM
I've wondered this myself on quite a few occasions.

As for Homebrew stuff, I've looked through the "From the Playground" compendium, and I've seen alot of terrible stuff.

As for my own homebrew, I'm only currently in the middle of playtesting the Combat Form feats on a fighter that I'm running. I think they're going to work out extremely well, and anyone interested in a new take on a decent fighter build (that meshes well with other builds) should definately take a look.

The Ranger variants are purely theorhetical and were the product of a days worth of boredom.

The Giant Cochroach was used and well recieved in one of my early sessions many a day ago, and is probably my best, if simplest homebrew.

Draz74
2008-02-25, 02:00 AM
I don't use others' homebrew much in-play, but I may use it as inspiration to write my own homebrews.

Dhavaer
2008-02-25, 03:59 AM
I rarely even use my own homebrews.

Roderick_BR
2008-02-25, 06:17 AM
I use some. Whenever I play (rarely) and I see something here that I find good, I show it to my group and ask if they want it (I have a friend that is always willing to test new paladins homebrews), tough we usually change a few things to fit our games.

Xefas
2008-02-25, 06:35 AM
I use The Gate (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=55950) by "Kellus". In fact, there's an NPC of moderate import with levels in Gate active in my current campaign at the moment.

I also use the Sublime Marshal (http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=752414) by "Tempest Stormwind" occasionally, and am planning to use the Sublime Ranger (http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=738077) by "Radicaltaoist" in the immediate future.

There's also a LG Hellbred Crusader in the works with a fondness for the the Ninefold Damnation (http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=908437) discipline (by Eldritch_Lord).

As for homebrew I've posted on this site...it's mostly rubbish, since I made them more out of boredom than need. I do have several classes (both base and prestige) that have been playtested and used in actual play that have turned out fantastically. However, they're mildly campaign specific, so I doubt anyone wants to see them. Also...it's hella boring typing out those table codes.

Triaxx
2008-02-25, 08:58 AM
Constantly. Classes, Monsters, Spells, Items. Anything I can't conviently find from Wizards, I'll go hunting for on here.

Of course, I've also been asked if we were still playing D&D, but that's a minor question.

Jayabalard
2008-02-25, 09:30 AM
I don't see a difference between "official D&D material" and homebrew. The official books are just homebrew made by WoTC

SilverClawShift
2008-02-25, 09:45 AM
My group does use homebrew, though we're picky about quality. If I weer a DM, I would use The Vorpal Tribble's monsters I'm sure, but our DM has never had problems throwing interesting, unique, or custom encounters at us, so he rarely uses other peoples homebrew monsters.

We use homebrew classes more than any other type of homebrew. Most notably, we use the Ultimate Base Classes (UBC (http://www.liquidmateria.info/wiki/index.php?title=Ultimate_Classes)) in addition to the standard base classes. We actually have a copy of The Champion (the giant's base class) in our game notes, but none of us have ever played one.

We are also likely to use our own homebrew stuff, and try to create something interesting if we're really searching for something new.

Lord Tataraus
2008-02-25, 10:14 AM
I usually homebrew a lot of my own stuff and always run homebrew worlds. I do use a few of others, but mostly just mine. I have had bad experience allowing other's homebrews so I'm hesitant, but getting better. Mostly, though I homebrew for fun. I don't get to play much, so instead I draw up various worlds and characters, homebrewing new strange races and classes when needed. My Cataclysm of Green project is basically born out of my boredom-induced "what would a world be like if..." thoughts.

Saph
2008-02-25, 10:46 AM
Very rarely.

Half the time the material I need is so specific that I'd have to go and specially ask someone to stat it up, and they probably wouldn't have played the obscure Sega Genesis RPG that I was basing it on (the game I'm DMing at the moment is based on Phantasy Star IV, which at a guess maybe 10% of this board will have played . . . and that's being generous).

The other half of the time I figure my players need a break from bizarre homebrewed creatures with horribly lethal abilities, and I just use stuff straight out of the Monster Manual.

Oddly, the material out of the Monster Manual seems to cause them more trouble.

- Saph

Matthew
2008-02-25, 11:06 AM
I have never had cause to do so. I won't say that the homebrew found on these boards (and others, such as Wizards Official Forums) is mainly terrible, but it does usually fall into the following categories for me:

1) Too specific
2) Too powerful
3) Too bizzare

If I run D20, it's usually prepublished material, so I have little call for additional DM resources and the number of options that already exist for Players is more than enough.

I am more interested in the D20 House Rules that turn up from time to time, though I would be hard pressed to recall any good ones off hand, I am sure that they have inspired some of the fixes I have implemented.

Proven_Paradox
2008-02-25, 11:09 AM
There are a few good homebrews that I use often. Of course, I think my own are good, and so I've had a few players taking my ninja re-write. I also use Fax's How-it-Should-Be Paladin, The Variants Handbook monk re-do by Lord Iames Osari, and I'm probably going to have my players convert to Bears With Lazer's fighter fix soon. Other than those and a few others, not very often.

Draz74
2008-02-25, 11:27 AM
Variants Handbook?

adanedhel9
2008-02-25, 12:44 PM
As a homebrewer myself, I don't think I've ever used someone else's homebrew wholesale. I'll borrow a concept here and there, but I usually tweak it to fit my campaign. And often times "tweaking" means "completely redoing".

Triaxx
2008-02-25, 08:54 PM
I don't see a difference between "official D&D material" and homebrew. The official books are just homebrew made by WoTC

The last time I was asked the question, was shortly after the Robot Rabbit landed on the surface of the moon.

EvilElitest
2008-02-25, 09:14 PM
I use almost all of the homebrew monsters/races/PrC/classes on this forum, and anything by Vorpal or Demented One
from
EE

EvilElitest
2008-02-25, 09:16 PM
I use almost all of the homebrew monsters/races/PrC/classes on this forum, and anything by Vorpal or Demented One
from
EE

FlyMolo
2008-02-25, 10:10 PM
Oooh, interesting question. I plan to use all kinds of homebrew off this forum. Vorpal Tribble's Cloverfield lice, ditto's Flaming Hobo, etc etc. The <whatever> souls that were on here a while back, those glassbeetles from the CoG setting. They all sound cool, therefore: bookmarked so that some time in the future, my players can fight glassbeetles. Also, magic items, the really interesting ones. But generally I only use monsters, and sometimes items.

There's a couple players in my group who are using non-standard classes. There's an Ultimate Vessel, an alternate monk from UA or OA, I forget, and I think that's it. I did end up using a side quest plot hook someone dropped on this board a little while back. It was in the "Design an airship engine: win my eternal gratitude" thread. Someone suggested sticking 6 walls of force together to make a big square balloon, then sucking all the air out of it. Weightless, bouyancy would make it rise to the top of the atmosphere if it was cut loose. So that's what my players are doing. Getting to the top of the atmosphere and getting the big Cube back down. (Sorry if it was your idea, but kudos for an engaging side quest.)

Jayngfet
2008-02-25, 10:23 PM
I make whole subspecies for myself (where I come from you get a catgirl from a werepanther elf sorcerer with 18 charisma, a few centuries with nothing else to breed with, and a large enough space to accommodate hunting), but I often ask others on the forums if they've done something similar or if some concept is a good idea. It helps if theres less homebrewed versions of something in case some guy moves to another city and takes a copy with him.

Reinboom
2008-02-25, 10:52 PM
Variants Handbook?

Follow the Victorious Press image/link in my sig.
It's a book being worked on by Victorious Press, a group started by Fax Celestis.


I use a lot of homebrew. I also heavily suggest my players test my stuff for me in my games. Lets me figure out balance more. :smallsmile: