I touched a bit on this last week with my house rules rant. But I want to carry this idea a little further. It just seems to me that there’s a kind of an anti-DIY sentiment around some corners of the Internet.

First, I want to do a little clarification. House rules are DIY but not all DIY stuff is house rules. Let talk about house rules for another second. There are those that say that if game needs house rules or operates under the good old “rulings not rules” philosophy then that game is “incomplete”. There is no way that any set of rules can take into account every wild and crazy thing players can come up with and allow GM’s to do new and interesting encounters and adventures. No don’t work.

The heart of this post is more about the non-house rule DIY things. Monsters, magic items, adventures and so on. While house rules are the seasoning, home made monsters and magic items etc. make a campaign alive and unique. It’s just as much part of the hobby as painting miniatures and rolling up characters just because.

Sure it takes time and little creativity. As many have said before, “You’re not writing a novel.” Make your DM notes how best serve you. Make those adventures and monsters thing that interesting to both you and your players. Plus it annoys the hell out that one player who memorizes the Monster Manual.

Does every monster and adventure need to be home brewed. Oh heck no. But don’t fear or hate the idea either.