The Lantern Hall
Painting: an ancient lexicon open on a carved lectern in a dark chapel of books, glowing runes and symbols lifting off its pages like fireflies.
TermTabletop term

Homebrew

Rules, monsters, classes, settings or adventures made by players themselves rather than bought from a publisher. Homebrew is as old as the hobby, since early D&D practically required referees to invent, and today it thrives on platforms such as D&D Beyond and in communities built around open licenses.

Rules, monsters, classes, settings or adventures made by players themselves rather than bought from a publisher. Homebrew is as old as the hobby, since early D&D practically required referees to invent, and today it thrives on platforms such as D&D Beyond and in communities built around open licenses.

Quick answers

What does "Homebrew" mean?
Rules, monsters, classes, settings or adventures made by players themselves rather than bought from a publisher. Homebrew is as old as the hobby, since early D&D practically required referees to invent, and today it thrives on platforms such as D&D Beyond and in communities built around open licenses.

Nearby in the archive

The Open Game License

Milestone2000

In 2000 Wizards of the Coast opened the rules of Dungeons & Dragons to rival publishers under a perpetual license; in January 2023 a leaked attempt to replace it provoked the largest fan revolt in the game's history.

Game Master

Tabletop term

The player who runs the game: describing the world, voicing every Non-player character, adjudicating rules and deciding what the dice mean. Different games give the role different names, such as Dungeon Master in D&D, Storyteller in Vampire: The Masquerade and Keeper in Call of Cthulhu. The role descends from the neutral umpire of refereed wargames.

Campaign setting

Tabletop term

A fictional world packaged for play, with maps, histories, gods and factions that a group can adventure in over many sessions. Published settings such as Greyhawk, the Forgotten Realms and Eberron became franchises that spawned novels and video games.

Rule zero

Tabletop term

The unwritten first rule of many roleplaying games: the Game Master has final say and may change any rule for the good of the game. It underwrites Homebrew and ends many rules arguments.

Mentioned in 7 other exhibits