Whatcha Got Cookin’? – 3WDs Top 9 Tips To Homebrewing Magic and Magical Items From Pop Culture In Your D&D Campaign

3 Wise DMs

Homebrewing has been part of the game since its inception. Hell, the game itself is a homebrew of wargames! We’ve discussed homebrewing in previous episodes and articles, but a listener asks the question about how to homebrew magic items and monsters from well-known pop culture sources (like Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere Universe.)

In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave discuss their top nine tips to pulling in objects and ideas from existing beloved pop culture properties and making them have the same level of gravitas as the book, series, or movie that they come from.

1:00 A Rock and Roll DM Tour Story.

2:05 A listener question about homebrewing monsters and items from The Cosmere by Brandon Sanderson from longtime listener Dr. DM, Jason.

4:30 Tip #1: Scaling homebrew to the tier that your campaign is in, for leveling systems like 5e.

5:30 Tip #2: Kitbashing from existing items, spells, monsters, etc. (like a Balor that turns into a demonic Bob Ross…)

8:10 Tip #3: Ask yourself 2 questions. 1) What is the world you’re pulling from? and, 2) How does the object, magic, or idea work in that world?

9:45 Tip #4: Benchmarking the magic, items, spells, etc. to what your players have and what the enemies have access to.

12:45 Our experience with this when we crafted He-Man’s Sword of Power for our Curse of Strahd campaign. Click here for the stats on DM Dave’s unique weapon for Strahd, Lament, the Impaler.

16:35 Tip #5: You can have it… you just can’t have it now.

21:45 Tip #6: Powerful objects don’t exist in a vacuum. The wars fought over Shardblades and the Spice Melange.

24:40 A tangent into how DM Tony’s famous barbarian, Hawk Morgan, has become “The Most Powerful Man in the Universe.”

26:20 Tip #7: Take into account how the object affects the campaign world (i.e. the Sun Sword in Barovia).

28:05 An example of Tip #5… the quest that needed to happen to craft Takal Aestar, the “Dragon’s Union” (our Sword of Power.)

30:50 Tip #8: Scaling up existing magic items and having them grow with the character (DM Chris’ Sun Sword/Holy Avenger, Drakmar Venges, the “Dragon’s Vengeance.”)

36:45 DM Dave’s Unique Paladin Longsword, Morthwyl O Duw.

40:00 Tip #9: Give powerful items and weapons some history, legends, and gravitas.

41:10 Final Thoughts