Quote Originally Posted by Vaynor View Post
This seems almost identical to your last thread on homebrew, and asks pretty much the same question. Was your question not suitably answered there (that is, why homebrew?)?
Um - I think you're mistaking me for someone else. I'm pretty sure I've never started a thread on homebrew in general before.


Anyway, to explore my own question of 'Why homebrew?' I would say this:

The first thing we have to establish is this - how much semi-objectively sensible point is there to homebrew? I would say that often the answer is very little. I would say that because homebrew often simply falls flat. Either few people see it, it is faulty in some way, it just isn't a cool concept etc. etc. and no-one ends up using it. A successful homebrew, I would say, is the exception rather than the rule. If you find that most of the ones you can remember were successful then that's probably because good homebrews are more likely to stick in your mind than bland, boring, worthless ones.

So why do it at all? I would say that, beyond simply enjoying the process (which is reason enough), we do it in a hope that it will become non-futile, that we will eventually be able to make something with worth. This, I would say, is not a bad goal - trying to make something that not only shows our own craftsmanship and develops our skill but also brings possibility of enjoyment for other people. True, D&D and other RPGs aren't the most important thing in the world, but I would say that a homebrewer practising his homebrew, possibly to get published in a sourcebook one day, is at least as admirable as a dedicated amateur footballer practising his sport, hopefully to play in a tournament some day.