Homebrew-friendly 5th Edition? (Request/Interest Check)

[Thistledown]

Bumping back to the first page...

[Thistledown]

Kinda disappointed with the (lack of) response for this. I've heard that 5e supposedly brought more people than ever to D&D, but even now it seems FAR easier to find willing DMs to run 3.5, who are willing to customize/allow homebrew/tweaks. Not sure why that is exactly. Tons of new players but nobody who likes to DM?

[Vladim]

In my experience, requests are often a tough sell, and very specific ones even more so. But I hope someone picks it up!

[Thistledown]

Seems like it wasn't so hard before. And I've seen others make requests and get picked up.

Upon further reflection, I think part of the reason I prefer to request games is because I rather enjoy having a lot of agency as a player in sandbox settings, and most games advertised tend to have a rather narrow focus, or the group dynamic makes it difficult to have as much agency. The latter is also why I prefer to have a group of players where we hash out our party dynamic and shared goals and interactions to set the stage at the outset, rather than a bunch of random applications where the party and its goals gets decided post hoc.

Edited September 23, 2023 by Thistledown (see edit history)

[SMARTAgentKC]

Heyo @Thistledown 

If you're still interested in finding a DM who willing to experiment with homebrew. I am willing to open a 5e game for you and anyone else who wants to experiment with homebrew materials

My only concern is that my time availability fluctuates week by week and although I will do my best to not ghost a game, I do have other responsibilities which may limit how often I post.

[Thistledown]

Hey that would be awesome! Thank you!

Likewise, I'm about anywhere from 4-6 weeks out from being a new father, and I'm a solopreneur, so I completely get the time constraints. I'd rather someone just keep in touch about what's going on than ghost. For my part if I can get in at least one or two good posts per week at this stage of life I consider it golden. I used to be able to post once or multiple times in a single day but that's just not realistic anymore.

Speaking of which I have to get to my Sunday chores right now, but I'll be back later to brainstorm more with you as I have at least 2 different types of characters I'd like to try out and one of them has a few possible variants depending on what setting and theme seems most appealing to you.

Glad I didn't give up on this thread too soon!

For anyone else who may be interested, check out Treantmonk's variants. I'm definitely going to go with some flavor of Warlock. We may also consider his Feat and spell fixes...

[SMARTAgentKC]

First off congrats on the upcoming promotion to fatherhood. I hope the mother and incoming babe are doing well and my prayers to you all for a smooth delivery and transition to a family life.

Second Post rate for me all depends on what is required for that post. For the most part I check daily but usually it’s only on my phone as I'm either at work doing graveyard shift security at a hotel. (Which may change depending on various circumstances but I'm hopeing that what I've done so far will convince the higher ups of the hotel to keep me) I try to get big Dm style game posts in at least once a week but sometimes miss due to real life not giving me any concentration time

I'll see about opening a game and posting the link here in about 12 hours max so that people can jump in when they can, I just barely got up from my sleep due to last night's work but thankfully I have my two nights off upcoming but I see my own chores lurking in the shadows ready to pan me (gets beaned by a pot) yeah yeah dinner for the mother then dishes got it

[Thistledown]

2 hours ago, SMARTAgentKC said:

First off congrats on the upcoming promotion to fatherhood. I hope the mother and incoming babe are doing well and my prayers to you all for a smooth delivery and transition to a family life.

Second Post rate for me all depends on what is required for that post. For the most part I check daily but usually it’s only on my phone as I'm either at work doing graveyard shift security at a hotel. (Which may change depending on various circumstances but I'm hopeing that what I've done so far will convince the higher ups of the hotel to keep me) I try to get big Dm style game posts in at least once a week but sometimes miss due to real life not giving me any concentration time

I'll see about opening a game and posting the link here in about 12 hours max so that people can jump in when they can, I just barely got up from my sleep due to last night's work but thankfully I have my two nights off upcoming but I see my own chores lurking in the shadows ready to pan me (gets beaned by a pot) yeah yeah dinner for the mother then dishes got it

Hey thanks!

How does starting at level 7 sound, and go from there? If we get 10 levels out of it, that gets us through level 16, before the level 9 craziness kicks in. Though if we were going to go to at least 17 there's a strong temptation to go straight genie warlock for that delicious Wish.

Any preference for setting/theme?

I have one version that is tailor made for a horror game, potentially set in Ravenloft, or the Grim Hollow setting, with a strong Lovecraftiaan influence, a la Bloodborne/eldritch horror. Tempting considering we're going into Spooky season but also that's a flash in the pan so we shouldn't count on the season to carry us for a campaign. Plasmoid Great Old One-Lock.

The I have a version more suited to an Arabian Nights/Zakharra style game, more high fantasy. Earth Genais Genie-Lock

A variation on that version using Dragonborn that could fit any high fantasy setting, or even a Spelljammer type situation. Gem Dragonborn Genie-Lock.

Probably in that order in terms of preference. Out of the 3, I'd say I have the strongest hook for the horror version, but that's definitely the kind of game where everyone needs to be into sustaining a grimdark feel. Of the two Djinn-locks...its hard to choose!



 

[SMARTAgentKC]

Unfortunately, number one is out, I do not do bloodborne or eldritch horror, best I can really do for spooky season is Disney Haunted Mansion type stuff taken for an epic save the world from an evil necromancer who wants to rule the world both in life and afterlife and the only thing that can stop him is teenagers with faith, latent ability and attitude.

The second one aka High Fantasy Arabian Nights Style, I could definitely get behind and run a game for that. I think I got a story that can be created and ran.

Starting Level at 7 is great, it gives me a great idea for an initial starting scene when it comes to the story I got.

 

 

[cailano]

I've never really gotten into 5e but I did try it and I did watch a few of the Treantmonk videos. I think he had a lot of good ideas and I don't think his alternative classes would be any more difficult to use than the standard classes.

As a GM, I find feats very annoying to keep track of, although 5e has less of them than Pathfinder, which is an improvement. I do understand the benefits of feats for character customization.

And 5e has some good mechanics such as advantage and bounded accuracy. It also has some stuff I really don't like, such as all of first and second level for all classes, since you don't really get your class till third level. That and the long-rest mechanic are just awful.

But I've been thinking about the system more lately. WotC seems to have finally done the right thing with their OGL, and they've certainly brought a lot of new blood to the hobby.

But even if I were to dip my toes back into the 5e waters, I don't think I'd be your guy for this game. I'd probably want to homebrew, but by way of removing options. I've been thinking of a human-only world where Warlocks are the only spellcasting class...

 

[SMARTAgentKC]

Interesting concept. I can imagine a world where special magic powers are granted via pacts.

Anyways Thistledown I've started up a game hub for 5e homebrew. We can start really nailing down details of the game you want and see if others want to play in it but others are welcome to join the hub and request a game sim of their own.

https://www.myth-weavers.com/index.php?/clubs/948-smartagentkcs-dd-laboratory/