life & style // no. 11

¢ The end of video rental services?

Have an idea for a story?
Mlifeandstyle@theotherpress.ca

e Desk exercises to keep you active

e A conversation about Dia de Los
Muertos

.and more

 

DINGUSES AND DRAGONS:
: THE GREAT CAMPAIGN DEBATE

» Should you purchase a premade campaign or ‘homebrew’ your own?

Jacey Gibb
Distribution Manager

 

Welcome to Dinguses and Dragons, a
weekly column aiming at demystifying
and introducing the game of D&D to
new and potential players

Fe the moment you step up

to the proverbial plate and tell
yourself, “I want to try Dungeon
Mastering (DMing),” you'll be faced
with one important question: should
you purchase a premade campaign
or “homebrew”—AKA come up with
your own?

In D&D a campaign refers to a
series of sessions, usually sharing the
same characters, setting, or overarching
plot. D&D campaigns can be as short
(anything longer than one session,
which is referred to as a “one shot”) or as
long as you want (the London Free Press
ran an article in 2019 about a campaign
that has lasted 38 years). | like to think

of campaigns as a season of a television
show, where some of the characters

or themes may return next season/
campaign, but the story shifts. Defining
your game with a specific timeline

also helps keep the narrative concise,
whereas open-ended campaigns might
drag on.

One of the biggest factors for
deciding between a premade and a
homebrew campaign is how much spare
time you have. Homebrewing your
campaign and starting from scratch can
be a huge commitment, and the work
truly never feels complete. (Speaking
from a DM who often scrambles
together details mere minutes before a
session begins.) There’s no golden ratio
of how much time and prep work goes
into a single session; I’ve heard one hour
of prep leads to one hour of gameplay,
which sounds reasonable to me. The
party might also completely sidestep
or ignore what you've prepared, so that
ratio is never consistent.

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Icewind Dale: Rime of the
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When you're homebrewing, every
single aspect comes from you. What are
the villains’ motives and plans? Where
will the combats take place? What are
the nearby cities or locations the party
can visit? If this blank slate sounds
exciting, you might want to dive right
into your homebrew campaign; if it’s
nerve-wracking just reading about it,
then you should definitely start with a
premade campaign.

“But Jacey, where do I purchase
a premade D&D campaign?” Literally
anywhere on the internet. Give Google
the ol’ tap-tap and you'll have a bounty
on your hands within seconds. The
great thing about 2020 is almost anyone
can write their campaign and make
it available online. DnD Beyond isa
great starting point, but I also suggest
researching the campaigns before
purchasing them to make sure they’re
a good fit for your group. (For example,
some campaigns are geared towards
newer players at lower levels, whereas

Divine Contention

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some campaigns are for advanced,
higher-level players.)

Now, let’s talk about the
Benjamins. There are plenty of free
premade campaigns available online,
and some of them are even decent, but
keep in mind that you get what you pay
for though, so there will probably be
less juicy content. Fortunately, most
premade campaigns only cost between
$5 and $20, which split between your
group should be inconsequential.
(Another good point: never ever assume
that the cost is yours alone; share that
burden among your friend group and
have them e-transfer you. Some people
even argue that the DM shouldn't have
to pay for things, since they’re already
putting in countless hours behind
the scenes, but we'll save that for
another column.) On the other hand,
homebrewing your own campaign won't
cost you anything except your sweet,
sweet free time and energy.

And while purchasing a premade
adventure seems like
ashortcut, it doesn’t
completely exempt
the DM from doing
more work. In fact,
once a DM gets their
hands ona premade
campaign, they'll have
to read through it and
familiarize themselves
enough to know the
story enough that they
don't have to constantly
look things up in the
middle of a game.
Homebrew campaigns
don't have lore to follow
aside from the one you
pick for it.

The short answer
here is no campaign is
better than the other.
There are times in your
DMing career where
a premade campaign
just fits your schedule/
life better, and there
are times where you'll
want to flex those
creative muscles and
homebrew your own.
The important thing is
you have fun and kill
your friends’ characters
the appropriate amount.
Happy DMing!

Photo by Michelle Lim