R P G A M E R . C O M   -   E D I T O R I A L S

Homebrew

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Michael "Macstorm" Cunningham
STAFF EDITORIALIST

What RPGamer hasn't played something akin to Beyond the Beyond and thought, "I could do better?" My guess would be that a lot of gamers have done so. Most people have accepted the reality that while they think they could do better, they will most likely never get the chance to try. The game design industry is not something that the average person could just walk into and make a name for themselves. That's the reality and most gamers know and accept that, but that doesn't have to be the final word.

The homemade or "homebrew" RPG scene may just be the outlet for all of us RPGamers that wish to make our own games. The scene isn't huge, but I was shocked at how many people I talked to that had actually developed RPGs all on their own. Not that these RPGs were long, in-depth games, but the fact remained that someone had developed the game on their own. People have been fulfilling their dreams all by themselves. I never actually played one until I found that someone that I knew had developed their own "homebrew" RPG. It was titled Memoirs of a Basketweaver III and was designed with inspiration from an internet message board and the personalities found on it. The game was about four to five hours long and was quite appealing. It was developed using RPG Maker XP's map/scenario creator and battle system, so neither of those were very original, but the dialogue and story were wonderful. It was as enjoyable as a good deal of modern RPGs in terms of story, so I was impressed.

Basketweaver had increased my interest in the "homebrew" scene, so I began looking even deeper and found many games, some 40+ hours in length. All had been developed by normal RPGamers. While they lacked the full glory of major-name RPGs, seeing so many homemade RPGs was impressive nonetheless. I was just left wondering: Would there ever be a market for these titles? How many people out there were really taking the time to develop original RPGs? Many people I found had created games without the help of an RPG Maker-like program. Will this site one day be covering "homebrew" games as well as major name titles? Though it probably won't be any time soon, someday that may very well be the case. I know that seeing and playing such games inspired me to look a little closer at the prospect of developing my own RPG. Maybe it will do the same for others. This just might be the way for RPGamers to truly prove whether or not they really could make a better game than Beyond the Beyond.