I want to make it very clear that I, as a Game/Dungeon Master and as a writer, am 100% in support of people creating their own worlds, spells, classes, subclasses, magic items, monsters and so on for their fantasy TableTop RolePlaying Games. Please, GM/DMs, fans, players, hear me loud and clear: IT’S totally okay to create your own content. You can completely run your game your way with your own materials.

Added bonus- If your game has an open license and you follow all the terms and conditions, YOU TOO CAN PUBLISH YOUR GAME CONTENT AND MAKE MONEY! I feel this is a big part of what GMuary is all about. Please, #ttrpgfamily, DO THE THING! And possibly get paid for it.

Disclaimer: Statements expressed in this article are strictly my opinion. If you disagree or have a different opinion, that’s okay. I’m not an expert on everything. I’m not always right. I’m just writing from my experience as I know it. Your mileage may vary.

I agree completely with Part 1. After that, we disagree on some things.

This cute little disaster came from a BlueSky thread from a Third Party game designer.

I want it made very clear that this is MY opinion and MY response. I’ve blacked her name out because I don’t want to name-and-shame so much as make a couple of points about her post. I’ve gone off on this individual before here on the site. We just don’t agree on some things.

I understand the point she’s making here. She’s claiming that “homebrew” and anything made by Third Party “Professional” Publishers are two totally different entities despite the fact that they are just on the same continuum, often very close together. I feel her statement comes off as very dismissive toward anyone who is not “in the industry” as a professional of some kind.

Long-time readers know how I feel about those perfeshional types. I think this statement is one of the most stuck-up arrogant things I’ve heard in, uh… months now? Yeesh. Unfortunately I can’t challenge the person who posted this to a steel cage match. (“Brother.” ) Needless to say my sensibilities are slightly offended.

Here’s my pet peeve.

It drives me absolutely bonkers when I see supposed industry professionals treating regular GM/DMs, indie designers, and freelance writers as if we’re peasants and they’re royalty. “A product that’s the work of a larger team, with editors and five-figure art budget and dozens of playtesters” is the exact damned reason we have homebrew, small indie publishers, and freelance writers in the TTRPG hobby. Some of us are very, very tired of certain large corporations who jam their poorly written crap down people’s throats.

If the OP had stuck with just the first statement of the three, we wouldn’t be here now with this discussion. Homebrew as defined as people taking a game in their own direction by making unique content (and possibly selling it) is truly awesome. I have one friend who makes his own settings, rules, supplements, etc. The OG GM can be found under the Post Mortem Studios banner. (I don’t get paid for saying this.)  Here’s my Affiliate Link on DriveThruRPG if you want to check it out.

I consider my friend Michael’s writing to be very much homebrew and professional (in a good way.) The man could probably teach a college course in TTRPG design if he wanted to. I don’t just say that because I like his products, either. He’s really got his finger on the pulse of the industry as a whole and knows his games. But he’s one guy with a publisher, not a massive team of overpaid clowns and hundreds of playtesters.

You don’t need a “big team” to make a great product. I can’t wait to get more of my own stuff out there just to prove it can be done. I’ll be one of hundreds if not thousands of people trying to get a break somewhere in the industry. A break which Ms. Industry Professional obviously had.

My final point about this for now.

Game Masters, Dungeon Masters, fellow TTRPG enthusiasts, family, please lend me your ears (or maybe eyes in this case.) Please make your own game content! PLEASE don’t rely on big or small publishers to do all the heavy lifting for you when it comes to campaign design or anything else. The supposed big names in the industry all had to start somewhere as was pointed out.

Please do what works best for you as a Game Master and your group. What works for me at my table may not work for yours and vice versa. The main focus is to have fun. There is no right or wrong way to roleplay.

As we often say, though, do what works best for you and your table. If prepackaged everything Rules As Written is your jam, then go for it. Don’t let me or anyone else on the Interwebs tell you otherwise.

However, please be courageous and keep creating homebrew content if that’s your thing. I have a sneaking suspicion we’re going to have a certain large corporation yelling “Homebrew is bad!” all over social media and YouTube any day now so they can drum up support for their virtual platform where creativity is going to be discouraged in favor of microtransactions. They would already prefer everything be set in one of their very messed up campaign worlds which they have not the creativity to improve.

Happy gaming, regardless. Keep dreaming. Keep creating.

Thank you for being here with me today. I appreciate you. Keep it real, but please strive for positivity, too. Please embrace the things that bring you the most joy in your life.