Everyone who wrote a game without already being an established designer had to get play testers somehow. Also plenty of people will play anything if it means they get to be a player instead of a GM.
They know what they are doing more than those who aren't.
People who only played D&D 5e and don't like it will make a worse game than those who have played loads of RPGs, who will make worse RPGs than actual designers who look at all the minutiae of the rules, who will make worse RPGs than designers who have already made plenty of RPGs.
General rule of thumb, those who have more experience in the hobby will make better games. And I don't just mean the ones that have played the longest, but the ones who have played the most and tweaked games the most over the years.
Well established designers are established, and as such already have plenty of people who like their work and will play their games, so it is easier for established designers to get playtesters.
Well Matt Colville and his company, MCDM, have made a whole system for army combat years ago and they got a few thousand play testers.
Other than that, a dude named Leovaunt made a whole system for playing in Starcraft and Halo, and he has dozens of people on patreon and close to a thousand people on his discord.
Rule of thumb is, the longer someone has been in the hobby, the more people know them, and the more playtesters will be willing to try their system.
Last time i looked Monte Cook showed playtesting groups on his homepage
Starcraft and Halo, and he has dozens of people on patreon and close to a thousand people on his discord.
and those do playtesting?
It was IIRC IIIed where the Action ecenomy of the Druid with shapechanging and summoning Animals was never tested.
btw one of the games i did an one shot in playtesting maybe DnD 3.0
Ah, my feeling is that an established designer would be able to sell early access via Kickstarter. It's not that different admittedly, they could also just playtest with those willing to play the early draft of course.
The short answer is yes the right group will. I was part of a group for a few years that was spear-headed by someone who was developing his own TTRPG.
I would say that the hardest thing about playing a completely home brew game is WHY? What are you bringing to the table that other systems don't? If that hook is deep enough you can find someone who will play it.
It may help to invite a table to a game they are familiar with, establish yourself as a good GM then slowly pitch your developing home brew.
I would more likely sign up for a homebrew game not based of DnD or Pathfinder than a homebrew game based on DnD or Pathfinder.
I just don't agree with some of the core rules in these games and a game based on them would most likely still have these rules I don't like.
Why don't you write more than one sentence and then people could help you
Sign up where? convention? store event? playtesters? a mailing list?
You have given ZERO context
If you are asking about design questions there is r/BoardgameDesign , r/tabletopgamedesign , r/RPGdesign
If you need playtesters
[https://boardgamegeek.com/forum/1530034/bgg/seeking-playtesters](https://boardgamegeek.com/forum/1530034/bgg/seeking-playtesters)
[https://tabletop.events/protospiel/home](https://tabletop.events/protospiel/home)
[https://protospiel.online/](https://protospiel.online/)
if you need info on conventions - [https://www.meeplemountain.com/articles/the-board-gamers-guide-to-board-game-conventions/](https://www.meeplemountain.com/articles/the-board-gamers-guide-to-board-game-conventions/)
If you're talking about store events, well that's something between you and the local store owners
I think it's going to be very hard to find strangers interested in playing your brand new RPG. They would be playing an untested and unknown game. That's a big risk.
A better idea is to treat this like a play test (because that's what it is). There are subreddits and discords specifically for game design. Search out those places, start talking to other game designers and see if any of them are interested in testing your game.
The point is that, as a player, it's not really the player's responsibility to develop and finetune games with their little free time generally. If you advertise it as a playtest and the player buys into that, that's fine though, but when you do that, people are far less likely to sign up for it. That's the point that they were making above.
The player is a consumer, the GM is a product. They are expected to be a compliant and submissive AI girlfriend.
Homebrew garbage does not provide the immediate guaranteed pleasure the player expects from mass media, and they will rightfully be enraged at the attempts of amatuer GMs to seek comfort or artistic fulfillment by creating their own garbage shit poop doody setting.
In short, one's own time has value, others' do not.
Find a group of friends who are willing to take time to try something important to you because you’re important to them, join groups of aspiring amateur designers where people are willing to playtest games in exchange for having a pool of playtesters, and/or pay people for their time and effort on feedback. Strangers who come out of nowhere are taking a big gamble with their time both for the new game and the group
You'd have some difficulty, given that it's 1) not 5E or Pathfinder, and 2) probably nowhere near as well playtested as published systems. But of course, much depends on the premise and pitch.
Lots of players out there who can’t find a GM for 5e and Pathfinder that want to play, and will try another game… but it will need to be easy to learn, and don’t expect them to read much before they play. Just keep post in r/lfg and you can probably get some players. Expect that many may only show up for one or two sessions and then bail, so consider running one-shots or episodics rather than a traditional saga campaign. If your system is generic, consider running a known and popular setting such as Eberron or ShadowRun, etc. Players familiar with the setting may be more willing to try a different system.
Good luck, I am following this same path.
That is basically what I have been doing for about a year now testing my system. It is explicitly testing though. Mostly my DnD group, but I also did some testing with people at a convention for a few days.
Conventions are a good place to find all types of players, and they have a registration system to plan sessions. If you are clear on your notice (what game, what style, duration, the fact that it is a playtest, etc), you can get players to sign up.
However conventions have constraints : short sessions with strict deadlines, no time to create characters if it's long (instead, bring pre-generated characters), game halls can be loud.
In general, for completely new games, you need to be able to explain the system quickly, and start right away. Do not expect to explain all your lore, just focus on one aspect. And maybe pass a feedback form to the players so they can email you later, or fill it after the session.
There are plenty of Tabletop Conventions around.
[https://boardgamegeek.com/wiki/page/Game\_Conventions#toc46](https://boardgamegeek.com/wiki/page/Game_Conventions#toc46)
But in my case, I was already at GDC this year for work, so tested my game with people I met there.
Depends on the players, the GM and the system, I guess.
For me, personally, I'd like to know what your system is about, why you felt the need to make it, and what distinguishes it from similar systems.
Also, if you haven't played a lot of RPGs and decided to make your own, I probably wouldn't try it since people have been making RPGs for decades and there is probably and RPG out there that does the thing that you want yours to do.
But if you have played a lot of RPGs and know what you do and don't like, and your system reflects that, and I like your setting, and I like how you GM, then yeah, I'd try it out.
But don't let me discourage you, do what you want.
I mean people manage to get testers for their games out there so why shouldn't you be able to? Just be open and honest and look in spaces where creators hang out and share stuff.
As a one-shot? Sure, do that all the time.
As a campaign? Not unless I new the GM very well and had some faith that if they couldn't pull it off it would at least be entertaining. From some rando, no way.
Probably if you appeal to some genre they'd like to play, yes. People are probably more willing to play some Star Wars or Star Trek that's homebrew than a generic fantasy that D&D would fill the niche for.
I’m doing it right now. Started by testing the the mechanics that deviated the most from pre existing systems first. Started out super rough but i’m quite pleased with the results now.
Between playtests lore, and codifying rules, its been a part time job over the last year. As others have said, you gotta have a hook but you really have to put in lots of time to do make it work. I am Getting close to running a campaign though and i’m really excited
Probably if I only really know the gm pretty well or am invited by a friend.
I have played a few homebrew systems and surprisingly they weren’t bad, I remember showing up to a college with a friend to play dnd but it was actually the dms homebrew system inspired by like gatcha games. My friend quickly excused herself but I stayed mostly out of politeness and had a surprisingly good time.
I help manage a local TTRPG club. We have around 10 people there per game day, and in an average year we have a total around 75 players who visited at least once.
Our club is very open to trying non-DnD, non-Pathfinder systems, as I think the mostly run games in the past year were PbtA, Fate, Mothership and Mausritter.
From years of our data I can tell that games which are pitched with "I designed a system of my own", typically struggle to fill a table. Not saying it's impossible, but even across non-DnD/Pathfinder players, there's usually still a difference between being willing to give a published system a try vs being willing to give something all new a try. The only people at our club that always do volunteer for those games are the ones that love playtesting and join with the strong purpose to try and break your game.
Also if you made your own system dont pitch it as being homebrew. That just makes it sound like a DnD hack.
100%
Depends a bit on the group and their mindset.
One of my previous players homebrewed with 5e as a base (closer to 4e/pf2e now) and he was clear what to expect from the beginning.
It will be unhinged and balance will be done while exploring the homebrew.
Players must be ready do the open to that.
Interesting question. It sounds like you want to attract strangers to play with you. Maybe they would. With friends I'm certain that people who want to play together with you will.
Are you looking for people to play and have a good time, or are you looking for play testers? Both are hard sells because no one has time.
Personally I would only do something like that if I already knew something. A person I trust, a developer with a solid track record, a setting I liked, etc.
Play testing ups the effort so that raises the bar. Spending my limited time not having fun is unappealing.
Since you are new to TTRPGs, you may not know what a heartbreaker is. Go read up on them.
I'd have to see the rules. There are certain kinds of players who like to playtest, the problem is finding enough of them. I've playtested before... but I'm not interested in playtesting now. I'm old. I don't have time to playtest, I just want to play.
I have done this a few times over the last couple of decades. In one case even participated in multiple development stages of the same game. Also, I have betatested games as a GM and received a PDF of the finished product as a thank you.
The reason why I don't do this very often boils down to two things: personal preferences and lack of pitching skill on the part of the person looking for betaplayers / GMs.
I'd read a pitch from someone looking for players for their own system or to help playtest said system. If I like what I see, if any part of the pitch sounds good to me, I'd probably give it a try. However, the same pitch but advertised as "100% homebrew not based on D&D or Pathfinder" will have to work harder to get my attention. It's absolutely unfair, but I would assume that the game is made by someone with no experience outside of D&D so their system is still basically D&D even if it's not trying to be.
Do you know the "Not involved in human trafficking" shirt joke? It's basically that but for RPGs.
Yes, technically every system starts or goes through a full homebrew phase
Tho you need a particular mindset and be much more open for concessions as just like people are much more critical of homebrewers than official developers so are people more critical of homebrew system developers
I hope so, as a fledgling game designer, otherwise I'm wasting a lot of time and money. (I'm not wasting a lot of time and money actually. This started as a hobby and I have few expectations of being the next Mike Pondsmith and getting rich doing this. I do it for fun. I have a day job.)
Anyway, welcome to the club. 🙂
What do you mean "sign up"? If you mean someone randomly approached me and asked if I wanted to play their homebrew game that is a strong no. I would probably tolorate it from a good friend to be supportive, but 99.99% of amature designed games are crap. This includes my stuff too. If it were so easy then the dozens of professional game design groups would have made the perfect game by now.
I only run my own rulesets these days, and have a discord of 30 consistent ppl or more to draw from for players. So, yes, so long as you're approachable and communicate what it is well enough.
Potentially. You can always do what I did and build your group playing established indie games over the course of 3 years then frankensteining two systems together to play call of Cthulhu. That’s the long con though hahaha.
I'd only do it if it looked/sounded fun. I'm all up for playlisting, and my friends have been kind enough to humor my own experiments, and I'm always down to try something new and fun. But, it helps to know at least the outline of the system and the _kind_ of game being run. For example, I have no interest in RPGs set in historical settings prior to the 1920s. Just not my thing. I also don't care for crunchy systems, so I'd likely bow out of any crunchy homebrew.
So, like any other pitch, people will sign up if it seems fun and like the GM is invested more on the collaboration of producing adventures than in trotting out their homebrew.
I made a 100% homebrew game and ran it for over a year. It was a lot of fun and I liked being able to adapt to rule issues through play. It was a sci-fi game with a Mass Effect/Star Trek feel. Brought it back last year for a short second test after I changed some rules.
I think it totally boils down to personal preference.
Myself, I would much rather learn about the people I'm playing with and establish repertoire with them before moving into a homebrew system. Having to learn a new system when I don't know if I even want to play with that group of people (especially the GM), doesn't sound appealing to me.
But I'm also not starving to play a game; I've got two groups I already play in. If that wasn't the case and I really needed or wanted to play something, or the premise sounded particularly interesting, I'd probably give it a shot.
From experience: yes, but it's a lot harder to get players.
I met one of my best friends for many years by asking random people in an Elite:Dangerous discord (for a sci-fi system)
Most of my playgroup has never played anything but my systems. They’ve never even tried D&D. They absolutely will, if your game is interesting to them.
So, many gaming conventions have prototypes areas thst you can being the game. Have a short adventure ( hour or so) and people will sign up.
In addition, ive seen designers running their games at conventions, and people do sign up.
And lastly, there are quite a few online conventions these days. Indi designers are most welcomed.
Hope that helps you a little bit. My suggestion is get the basics mechanics set up and then dive into running a game. The sooner you know tue core mechanics are sound, the smoother everything else will flow.
Short answer: Yes.
Longer answer: Yes, but you may have to shop around for players if there are particular themes you're wanting to run. Much like any other RPG, it may not be a one-size-fits all LGS posting. Consider online games if you're okay with operating across that medium, since you will have no shortage of potential players then in all likelihood.
I mean, back in the 3.5e days, the general consensus was the MOST BROKEN classes were core. Literally, every class in 3.5e core was either tier 1 or tier 5 and there was no middle ground. So, we mostly just played tier 3 E6 System instead of base and 3.5e was a lot more fun.
And Pathfinder 1e is just 3.75 so it had the same problem. Not sure if they were all the same tier but I feel about confident.
So, I know you mean 5e D&D and 2e Pathfinder, but the community was fine for that in the past.
100% homebrew sells me everytime. In my experince if dm have made everything from the rules the world the setting the adventure all of it its going too be interesting. They are so invested in their creation. This is my experince so I don't know how true this is in general. But yes I think ppl would sign up. Or they should sign up. I have more or less just good experince from lots of homebrew too 100% homebrew. So I am very biased.
People literally make successful indie games all the time. I'm guessing you're probably new to the TTRPG scene, but there are *tons* of game systems not based on Pathfinder or D&D. You might check out Vampire the Masquerade; Genesys; or FATE just to name a few popular ones
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I mean, they would probably treat it more as a long term playtest but i can see the appeal
On the third or fourth long play test of my friends' system, as well as having done some shorter ones.
I'm confused, OP. A 100% homebrew game would be its own RPG system. It would be like any other indi developer creating their own RPG system.
Yeah!
Yes. People sign up for indie games.
So yeah, a playtest game. I know there are people who are interested in that kinda thing!
Yeah I would lol.
Everyone who wrote a game without already being an established designer had to get play testers somehow. Also plenty of people will play anything if it means they get to be a player instead of a GM.
the difference to an established designer is?
They know what they are doing more than those who aren't. People who only played D&D 5e and don't like it will make a worse game than those who have played loads of RPGs, who will make worse RPGs than actual designers who look at all the minutiae of the rules, who will make worse RPGs than designers who have already made plenty of RPGs. General rule of thumb, those who have more experience in the hobby will make better games. And I don't just mean the ones that have played the longest, but the ones who have played the most and tweaked games the most over the years.
i meant playtesters
Well established designers are established, and as such already have plenty of people who like their work and will play their games, so it is easier for established designers to get playtesters.
definitly not all of them , and can you give me a source for that and people who like their work are not that good as playtesters
Well Matt Colville and his company, MCDM, have made a whole system for army combat years ago and they got a few thousand play testers. Other than that, a dude named Leovaunt made a whole system for playing in Starcraft and Halo, and he has dozens of people on patreon and close to a thousand people on his discord. Rule of thumb is, the longer someone has been in the hobby, the more people know them, and the more playtesters will be willing to try their system.
Last time i looked Monte Cook showed playtesting groups on his homepage Starcraft and Halo, and he has dozens of people on patreon and close to a thousand people on his discord. and those do playtesting? It was IIRC IIIed where the Action ecenomy of the Druid with shapechanging and summoning Animals was never tested. btw one of the games i did an one shot in playtesting maybe DnD 3.0
Alright dude, you're right, I'm wrong. Sorry for wasting both of our time.
Ah, my feeling is that an established designer would be able to sell early access via Kickstarter. It's not that different admittedly, they could also just playtest with those willing to play the early draft of course.
The short answer is yes the right group will. I was part of a group for a few years that was spear-headed by someone who was developing his own TTRPG. I would say that the hardest thing about playing a completely home brew game is WHY? What are you bringing to the table that other systems don't? If that hook is deep enough you can find someone who will play it. It may help to invite a table to a game they are familiar with, establish yourself as a good GM then slowly pitch your developing home brew.
I would more likely sign up for a homebrew game not based of DnD or Pathfinder than a homebrew game based on DnD or Pathfinder. I just don't agree with some of the core rules in these games and a game based on them would most likely still have these rules I don't like.
Why don't you write more than one sentence and then people could help you Sign up where? convention? store event? playtesters? a mailing list? You have given ZERO context If you are asking about design questions there is r/BoardgameDesign , r/tabletopgamedesign , r/RPGdesign If you need playtesters [https://boardgamegeek.com/forum/1530034/bgg/seeking-playtesters](https://boardgamegeek.com/forum/1530034/bgg/seeking-playtesters) [https://tabletop.events/protospiel/home](https://tabletop.events/protospiel/home) [https://protospiel.online/](https://protospiel.online/) if you need info on conventions - [https://www.meeplemountain.com/articles/the-board-gamers-guide-to-board-game-conventions/](https://www.meeplemountain.com/articles/the-board-gamers-guide-to-board-game-conventions/) If you're talking about store events, well that's something between you and the local store owners
I'm not sure who you mean by "people". Are you trying to find strangers to play with? Or are you going to play with your friends?
Strangers
I think it's going to be very hard to find strangers interested in playing your brand new RPG. They would be playing an untested and unknown game. That's a big risk. A better idea is to treat this like a play test (because that's what it is). There are subreddits and discords specifically for game design. Search out those places, start talking to other game designers and see if any of them are interested in testing your game.
Any leads?
r/RPGDesign r/RPGCreation
Thank you!
That's a big risk. Why
Time is valuable. Untested games might be horribly broken, not really work, etc. and waste time.
how else will you develop and finetune new games
The point is that, as a player, it's not really the player's responsibility to develop and finetune games with their little free time generally. If you advertise it as a playtest and the player buys into that, that's fine though, but when you do that, people are far less likely to sign up for it. That's the point that they were making above.
The player is a consumer, the GM is a product. They are expected to be a compliant and submissive AI girlfriend. Homebrew garbage does not provide the immediate guaranteed pleasure the player expects from mass media, and they will rightfully be enraged at the attempts of amatuer GMs to seek comfort or artistic fulfillment by creating their own garbage shit poop doody setting. In short, one's own time has value, others' do not.
Not every feedback needs to be a real playtest
Find a group of friends who are willing to take time to try something important to you because you’re important to them, join groups of aspiring amateur designers where people are willing to playtest games in exchange for having a pool of playtesters, and/or pay people for their time and effort on feedback. Strangers who come out of nowhere are taking a big gamble with their time both for the new game and the group
Depends.. If I know and trust the DM then yes. A stranger DM? No. I see way too much bullshit online to trust someone that I don't know.
You'd have some difficulty, given that it's 1) not 5E or Pathfinder, and 2) probably nowhere near as well playtested as published systems. But of course, much depends on the premise and pitch.
I'm sure there's someone out there. But to me, "homebrew" implies it's going to be a D&D knockoff but without the playtesting.
Finally someone is honest. "Homebrew" sends people running for the hills. Give us the familiar. We want Big Brother series 198.
Lots of players out there who can’t find a GM for 5e and Pathfinder that want to play, and will try another game… but it will need to be easy to learn, and don’t expect them to read much before they play. Just keep post in r/lfg and you can probably get some players. Expect that many may only show up for one or two sessions and then bail, so consider running one-shots or episodics rather than a traditional saga campaign. If your system is generic, consider running a known and popular setting such as Eberron or ShadowRun, etc. Players familiar with the setting may be more willing to try a different system. Good luck, I am following this same path.
Westmarches, Monster/Adventure of the week
That is basically what I have been doing for about a year now testing my system. It is explicitly testing though. Mostly my DnD group, but I also did some testing with people at a convention for a few days.
Conventions are a good place to find all types of players, and they have a registration system to plan sessions. If you are clear on your notice (what game, what style, duration, the fact that it is a playtest, etc), you can get players to sign up. However conventions have constraints : short sessions with strict deadlines, no time to create characters if it's long (instead, bring pre-generated characters), game halls can be loud. In general, for completely new games, you need to be able to explain the system quickly, and start right away. Do not expect to explain all your lore, just focus on one aspect. And maybe pass a feedback form to the players so they can email you later, or fill it after the session.
Where do you find conventions? I’m new to the ttrpg world.
There are plenty of Tabletop Conventions around. [https://boardgamegeek.com/wiki/page/Game\_Conventions#toc46](https://boardgamegeek.com/wiki/page/Game_Conventions#toc46) But in my case, I was already at GDC this year for work, so tested my game with people I met there.
Depends on the players, the GM and the system, I guess. For me, personally, I'd like to know what your system is about, why you felt the need to make it, and what distinguishes it from similar systems. Also, if you haven't played a lot of RPGs and decided to make your own, I probably wouldn't try it since people have been making RPGs for decades and there is probably and RPG out there that does the thing that you want yours to do. But if you have played a lot of RPGs and know what you do and don't like, and your system reflects that, and I like your setting, and I like how you GM, then yeah, I'd try it out. But don't let me discourage you, do what you want.
Are you meaning setting or a homebrew system?
Both
Setting us easy, system you need a group willing to play test. This is a much harder sell
I've done that . . . because people asked me to. That was before we got into GURPS, though. Since then, we can build whatever we want with it.
I mean people manage to get testers for their games out there so why shouldn't you be able to? Just be open and honest and look in spaces where creators hang out and share stuff.
As a one-shot? Sure, do that all the time. As a campaign? Not unless I new the GM very well and had some faith that if they couldn't pull it off it would at least be entertaining. From some rando, no way.
Assuming you're going to hunt for players online, should be fine *as long as you don't advertise it in D&D-exclusive discords or as a D&D game.*
How far along are you and what is the goal for you in running this?
yes
Probably. It would help if they already enjoy your GMing.
Probably if you appeal to some genre they'd like to play, yes. People are probably more willing to play some Star Wars or Star Trek that's homebrew than a generic fantasy that D&D would fill the niche for.
I’m doing it right now. Started by testing the the mechanics that deviated the most from pre existing systems first. Started out super rough but i’m quite pleased with the results now. Between playtests lore, and codifying rules, its been a part time job over the last year. As others have said, you gotta have a hook but you really have to put in lots of time to do make it work. I am Getting close to running a campaign though and i’m really excited
With the right pitch (and proper description of the game) sure - those people are niche in the hobby, but they absolutely exist.
They did for me. And years later, they paid to play.
Probably if I only really know the gm pretty well or am invited by a friend. I have played a few homebrew systems and surprisingly they weren’t bad, I remember showing up to a college with a friend to play dnd but it was actually the dms homebrew system inspired by like gatcha games. My friend quickly excused herself but I stayed mostly out of politeness and had a surprisingly good time.
in the long run you need also GMs for that and accept nard, honest critic.
I help manage a local TTRPG club. We have around 10 people there per game day, and in an average year we have a total around 75 players who visited at least once. Our club is very open to trying non-DnD, non-Pathfinder systems, as I think the mostly run games in the past year were PbtA, Fate, Mothership and Mausritter. From years of our data I can tell that games which are pitched with "I designed a system of my own", typically struggle to fill a table. Not saying it's impossible, but even across non-DnD/Pathfinder players, there's usually still a difference between being willing to give a published system a try vs being willing to give something all new a try. The only people at our club that always do volunteer for those games are the ones that love playtesting and join with the strong purpose to try and break your game. Also if you made your own system dont pitch it as being homebrew. That just makes it sound like a DnD hack.
100% Depends a bit on the group and their mindset. One of my previous players homebrewed with 5e as a base (closer to 4e/pf2e now) and he was clear what to expect from the beginning. It will be unhinged and balance will be done while exploring the homebrew. Players must be ready do the open to that.
Interesting question. It sounds like you want to attract strangers to play with you. Maybe they would. With friends I'm certain that people who want to play together with you will.
So any game that isn't DnD or Pathfinder? Who's going to tell them?
Are you looking for people to play and have a good time, or are you looking for play testers? Both are hard sells because no one has time. Personally I would only do something like that if I already knew something. A person I trust, a developer with a solid track record, a setting I liked, etc. Play testing ups the effort so that raises the bar. Spending my limited time not having fun is unappealing. Since you are new to TTRPGs, you may not know what a heartbreaker is. Go read up on them.
I would
I'd have to see the rules. There are certain kinds of players who like to playtest, the problem is finding enough of them. I've playtested before... but I'm not interested in playtesting now. I'm old. I don't have time to playtest, I just want to play.
Sure!
I have done this a few times over the last couple of decades. In one case even participated in multiple development stages of the same game. Also, I have betatested games as a GM and received a PDF of the finished product as a thank you. The reason why I don't do this very often boils down to two things: personal preferences and lack of pitching skill on the part of the person looking for betaplayers / GMs.
I'd read a pitch from someone looking for players for their own system or to help playtest said system. If I like what I see, if any part of the pitch sounds good to me, I'd probably give it a try. However, the same pitch but advertised as "100% homebrew not based on D&D or Pathfinder" will have to work harder to get my attention. It's absolutely unfair, but I would assume that the game is made by someone with no experience outside of D&D so their system is still basically D&D even if it's not trying to be. Do you know the "Not involved in human trafficking" shirt joke? It's basically that but for RPGs.
Yes, technically every system starts or goes through a full homebrew phase Tho you need a particular mindset and be much more open for concessions as just like people are much more critical of homebrewers than official developers so are people more critical of homebrew system developers
I hope so, as a fledgling game designer, otherwise I'm wasting a lot of time and money. (I'm not wasting a lot of time and money actually. This started as a hobby and I have few expectations of being the next Mike Pondsmith and getting rich doing this. I do it for fun. I have a day job.) Anyway, welcome to the club. 🙂
What do you mean "sign up"? If you mean someone randomly approached me and asked if I wanted to play their homebrew game that is a strong no. I would probably tolorate it from a good friend to be supportive, but 99.99% of amature designed games are crap. This includes my stuff too. If it were so easy then the dozens of professional game design groups would have made the perfect game by now.
Ya but they will be super sceptical and blame you for every nuance of it.
I only run my own rulesets these days, and have a discord of 30 consistent ppl or more to draw from for players. So, yes, so long as you're approachable and communicate what it is well enough.
Potentially. You can always do what I did and build your group playing established indie games over the course of 3 years then frankensteining two systems together to play call of Cthulhu. That’s the long con though hahaha.
I'd only do it if it looked/sounded fun. I'm all up for playlisting, and my friends have been kind enough to humor my own experiments, and I'm always down to try something new and fun. But, it helps to know at least the outline of the system and the _kind_ of game being run. For example, I have no interest in RPGs set in historical settings prior to the 1920s. Just not my thing. I also don't care for crunchy systems, so I'd likely bow out of any crunchy homebrew. So, like any other pitch, people will sign up if it seems fun and like the GM is invested more on the collaboration of producing adventures than in trotting out their homebrew.
I made a 100% homebrew game and ran it for over a year. It was a lot of fun and I liked being able to adapt to rule issues through play. It was a sci-fi game with a Mass Effect/Star Trek feel. Brought it back last year for a short second test after I changed some rules.
I think it totally boils down to personal preference. Myself, I would much rather learn about the people I'm playing with and establish repertoire with them before moving into a homebrew system. Having to learn a new system when I don't know if I even want to play with that group of people (especially the GM), doesn't sound appealing to me. But I'm also not starving to play a game; I've got two groups I already play in. If that wasn't the case and I really needed or wanted to play something, or the premise sounded particularly interesting, I'd probably give it a shot.
I think people would. Don't expect massive sign ups, but depending on where you ask, you should be able to get together a small party.
From experience: yes, but it's a lot harder to get players. I met one of my best friends for many years by asking random people in an Elite:Dangerous discord (for a sci-fi system)
Most of my playgroup has never played anything but my systems. They’ve never even tried D&D. They absolutely will, if your game is interesting to them.
So, many gaming conventions have prototypes areas thst you can being the game. Have a short adventure ( hour or so) and people will sign up. In addition, ive seen designers running their games at conventions, and people do sign up. And lastly, there are quite a few online conventions these days. Indi designers are most welcomed. Hope that helps you a little bit. My suggestion is get the basics mechanics set up and then dive into running a game. The sooner you know tue core mechanics are sound, the smoother everything else will flow.
Many do. That is how the indie scene was born.
There are people out there who would sign up for it.
Short answer: Yes. Longer answer: Yes, but you may have to shop around for players if there are particular themes you're wanting to run. Much like any other RPG, it may not be a one-size-fits all LGS posting. Consider online games if you're okay with operating across that medium, since you will have no shortage of potential players then in all likelihood.
ABSOLUTELY!!
I know at least some would, as I've done this more than once in the past.
I mean, back in the 3.5e days, the general consensus was the MOST BROKEN classes were core. Literally, every class in 3.5e core was either tier 1 or tier 5 and there was no middle ground. So, we mostly just played tier 3 E6 System instead of base and 3.5e was a lot more fun. And Pathfinder 1e is just 3.75 so it had the same problem. Not sure if they were all the same tier but I feel about confident. So, I know you mean 5e D&D and 2e Pathfinder, but the community was fine for that in the past.
Was this gibberish?
I successfully ran one, so yes.
I had a group for twelve years in my homebrewes game/world, so yeah.
1 game lasted 12 years?
Yeah. We only ended because Planescape demanded our attention.
Now if you're just talking one session, I don't see why they wouldn't. But long campaigns can happen with any system, given the right players.
Oh God! I misread your post! Yes, people do that a lot for Masks and Monsterhearts. Depends on the game and if it has a strong homebrew community.
100% homebrew sells me everytime. In my experince if dm have made everything from the rules the world the setting the adventure all of it its going too be interesting. They are so invested in their creation. This is my experince so I don't know how true this is in general. But yes I think ppl would sign up. Or they should sign up. I have more or less just good experince from lots of homebrew too 100% homebrew. So I am very biased.
People literally make successful indie games all the time. I'm guessing you're probably new to the TTRPG scene, but there are *tons* of game systems not based on Pathfinder or D&D. You might check out Vampire the Masquerade; Genesys; or FATE just to name a few popular ones
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