Create your own

Part of homebrewing a campaign is customizability! If my players want to be able to do a certain thing, I can create a feat, item, talent, background, or even race that will enable them to do so (within reason of course). The hardest part is balance, I don’t want it to over power the rest of the group. So, I start with the end and work backwards.

The first thing I ask the player who wants it is: Why? Sometimes a player is really just looking for something flashy. A new look, an acrobatic attack, or an ability that would come out of their backstory…these are all good reasons to homebrew. In one campaign, a player wanted his character to be born of a union between a mermaid and a human, and was looking for something to show this heritage.

Okay, sounds cool, so the next thing I asked was: What? This is when we spitball ideas until something makes sense. We thought about aspects of the merfolk that we could bring in such as swimming speeds, fins, water breathing, skin coloration, etc. We finally landed on being able to hold his breath for longer and making it easier to swim. He wanted the water to be comfortable for his character, but the land would be his home.

Great! Now I ask: How? Here is where the balance needs to be taken into consideration. For this specific example, I wasn’t too worried about this. We decided that his character could hold his breath for twice the time a normal human could, and added a swim speed equal to his walking speed. Other times I’ve done this, I really had to think long and hard. I did not want to make something too powerful (dealing enough damage to one shot my monsters), nor add so much extra resources that would allow the character to take on a lot of major enemies without consequence.

After getting some ideas, I start looking for something that is similar that might already exist. If I find one that works, I may just give it to the character (not make them find it or buy it). However, this is not always the case, sometimes I just cannot find anything that is close enough. Such was the case of the spell transference feat I created.

Some have told me this feat is too powerful, but I disagree. I had created a scenario where some spell casters were being held ransom by a warrior tribe. Within the tribe were shamans who would shield the encampment if an enemy came too close. A problem arose when giants were attacking the camp, they needed more shields for camp. I decided that the shamans were going to be able to transfer the concentration of the spell to another spell caster, nearly doubling the size of the area if they passed the spell to the captives.

I realized quickly that this could be misused (making it the powerful feat that some have claimed it to be). All I had to do was add in some restrictions. First, it had to be transferred to another spell caster, who had to succeed on a check to take it over. Second, the one that it was transferred to had to maintain the concentration on that spell to keep it effective (meaning they would not be able to cast a concentration spell themselves). And third, it could only be used once each day.

Keeping in mind what a homebrewed creation can do at its maximum, you can write the mechanics and description to fill in the loop holes and give it some restriction. Too much restriction, it will make the creation nearly useless. Not enough restriction will make the creation control the situation (instead of the GM). You just have to find the happy median that will make your player happy while still maintaining control of the game.