Homebrew-only Campaign?

[Bozwevial]

Edit: The Homebrew Compendium, if you want to submit something or look through the archive for something to play.

What happens if you set a bunch of players down at the game table and then tell them that instead of using the published material, they're going to be using nothing but homebrew?

There are three main categories players would fall under:

1) Pure: All or almost all of your class levels are in a non-WotC class.

2) Hybrid: You have more or less an even mix of published and homebrew classes, or you're using a published class to enter a homebrew class.

3) Traditional: You're using an official WotC class, but you're using homebrew material heavily to supplement it or as selections for class features. (So a wizard who took nothing but homebrew spells, or a swordsage with homebrew disciplines.)

Obviously you'd allow published material that 1) served as a prerequisite, 2) was pretty basic (Power Attack) or integral to a given class (any homebrew class that gets published spells/feats/whatever still gets to use them), or 3) served as an alternate selection if you couldn't find anything balanced to take at that point.

Thoughts? Comments? Enough people interested to possibly turn this into a game?

[archangel.arcanis]

Where would the 60 billion fixes fall into this? How about UA variants, Tome, and Pathfinder? The other publisher's books like the Ultimate PrC Guides or Ultimate Feats?

Would you be limiting it to just classes for what has to be home brew? A lot of home brew assumes you will at least have access to what is in the SRD or a few other books.

I think it sounds pretty interesting but would require some gentleman's agreements to try and use as much home brew as possible and a clear dividing line between home and not.

[Bozwevial]

Fixes: If they're actually playable, they're certainly allowed. There's a world of difference between playing a Soulknife and playing one that's competent.

UA: These variants and other ACFs aren't homebrew.

Tome: Definitely homebrew, though this is usually the high end of balance.

Pathfinder: Eh. PF isn't *hard* to adapt to 3.5, but I don't think it'd be a great idea to run PF stuff in the same game as 3.5 homebrew.

Other publishers: Definitely shady. I suppose it could work out.

Nothing really *has* to be homebrew, but you should be trying to use as much as possible. Again, if it's important to the character, used by the homebrew class, a prerequisite, or you just don't have any other choice, it'd be fine. If you play a Fighter, though, you should be trying to take as many homebrew feats as you can without gimping yourself. Wizards should pick homebrew spells, Swordsages should pick homebrew disciplines, etcetera. (Note that if something official would make a really sweet combo, you should go for it.)

[archangel.arcanis]

I was just pointing out some inevitable questions that would occur and starting to draw lines as to what is considered home brew. I think no matter what you will end up with really different power scales for characters since most home brew hasn't been tested much if at all and the level of OP from the player.

[Bozwevial]

I was just pointing out some inevitable questions that would occur and starting to draw lines as to what is considered home brew. I think no matter what you will end up with really different power scales for characters since most home brew hasn't been tested much if at all and the level of OP from the player.

Yeah, it'd definitely take some work to pull off, but where better to try it than here? Even in a game without players who optimize much, it wouldn't take too much time to find something that interests a player and will be decently strong--and if they're all having fun, you're doing it right.

[Kajhera]

So basically a playtesting of as much homebrew as possible? This sounds fun. Certainly plenty of material to pick through.

[Amechra]

I'd play in it.

Maybe as a Xenotheurge. I've wanted to play one of those crazies since forever ago.

PbP, please.

[Bozwevial]

Everyone, feel free to post bits of homebrew you'd like to try out. (I should start a homebrew compendium.)

[Kajhera]

Perhaps something under Oslecamo's improved monster classes. These

[Bozwevial]

That link isn't working for me. Hasn't Oslecamo been cross-posting them here?

[Kajhera]

Yeah, I found the thread here. Might not have what I want to play though because the ghoul (for example) was made by someone else. I could pick one he did post, though.
Thread

[Nanshork]

I'd like to play either a blue mage or a hivemaster.

[Amechra]

Xenotheurge is here:

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=122103

Yes, its a magic system based of the Far Realms. 'tis awesome.

On a side note, why is most of the good homebrew on GitP? Am I just not looking hard enough, or is that the place for homebrew?

[Havok4]

There is some good stuff on this forum. I am particularly fond of the metroid as incarnum thread which basically gives enough rules to run a neat little D20 future game without actually having d20 future.

[PhaedrusXY]

You could easily run a Tome game with almost nothing that's not homebrew.

[archangel.arcanis]

How about the insanity that is BHU's lists of stuff. Or some of the closer to normal classes RobbyPants has worked on.

[Amechra]

Well, all I'm saying is that they actually have a Truenamer that works over there.

I haven't looked at the Metroid as Incarnum stuff. Will look at now.

[Nanshork]

How about the insanity that is BHU's lists of stuff. Or some of the closer to normal classes RobbyPants has worked on.

+1

[bkdubs123]

Hey, I have stupid amounts of homebrew here! Sure, maybe I write so many classes that only 25% of them are of any account, but I've got like 90+ homebrew feats, an alternate spellcasting system (that admittedly could be better), and a metric ton of classes. You just have to look in the House Rules forum. There's a lot of stuff in there.

I think the biggest problem is that none of the good stuff is stickied, and there's no homebrew compendium. We should get on that, really.

[Amechra]

Alright. Probably also my fault for not looking deeper.