Tom Vasel:  Get your homeade expansion out of my house!

I like expansions as much as the next person, if not more.  When I hear that one of my favorite games is coming out with a new expansion, I’m usually quite giddy with excitement.  I like playing Carcassonne with all the expansions, Duel of Ages with everything added in, and Heroscape with as many figures as I can fit on the table.

Sure, sometimes it’s nice to play just the basic game without the expansion, such as Settlers of Catan, but in other cases, the expansion makes the game so much better that I’ll never play without it (Mississippi Queen). 

At the same time, I’m usually violently opposed to most house rules, fixes, or homemade variants.  Do you have a character of your own to use in Return of the Heroes?  Not in my game.  You may have alternate rules for El Grande, but what’s wrong with the ones we already have?  Sometimes I even realize that these house rules, homemade expansions, and additions are actually quite good, yet in my mind – an expansion isn’t “approvedâ€? until its official.

I can’t explain it – perhaps it’s just a stumbling block of mine, but I will always have a nagging feeling that the new additions aren’t playtested enough, or that they are overpowered, etc.  Yes, I know that official expansions can do the same thing, but they have a truer ring to them, and I am much more willing to except them.  So when I’m playing Twilight Imperium III, and someone wants to play a custom alien race, I’m afraid that it will disturb the structural integrity of the game.

Later, if Fantasy Flight comes out with that exact same race in their expansion, I’m willing to allow it in the game.  This reeks of the highest hypocrisy, and I can’t explain it.  Part of it is the simple fact that homemade expansions usually have an aura of “cheapnessâ€? about them, and never look quite as good as the actual game components (with rare exceptions).  The other part is the “balanceâ€? issue I mentioned earlier.  Between these two factors, I have made peace with my attitude.

But then I was on eBay, looking for the newest Heroscape expansions.  I found tons of custom figures that look really good, and seem to be well-balanced.  I find myself wanting these figures, but I’m still not sure it’s worth it!

This tends to apply more to games which expandability comes more naturally, such as collectible card games, games with a roleplaying element, or games with special powers (like Cosmic Encounter).  For each of these type of games, there is usually a website or an online group that does nothing but discuss the game, talking about different rules and add-ons.

What about you?  Do you like homemade additions to games?  Do you print off extra cards and abilities that people create on the ‘net, and add them to your games?  Do you play by alternate rules?  Or, like me, do you shy from this, and insist on playing the game “as writtenâ€??

But in the long run it doesn’t matter – as long as we’re playing games!

Tom Vasel
“Real men play board games�
www.tomvasel.com

© 2006 Tom Vasel

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Playing with teens, most homemade “expansions” or rules additions can be quite amusing as they love to make everything entirely overpowered.  (I sat in on our school’s role playing club for a day to show a little solidarity and they were all playing with level 23 characters.) So Tom, do you play with official expansion rules even if you don’t have the expansion?  (ie. take any rules modifications into account when an expansion comes, even if you don’t play with the expansion?) I’m thinking of the Farmer scoring in Carcassonne, the minor changes in the Doom expansion, etc… I, too, don’t trust homebrew “expansions”, but that is mainly as I am well aware they usually aren’t well playtested.  I’d be willing to play with homebrew rules if I trusted the source of the rules.  (I don’t usually play any particular game often enough for that to occur.) Posted by Matt J. Carlson on Aug 21, 2006 at 05:57 AM | #

Be careful… many of those HeroScape figures are excellent quality, well-balanced… and it’s a slippery slope once you start buying them! (Not that I’m speaking from experience or anything.) Cheers, Erik http://boardgames.about.com/ Posted by Erik Arneson on Aug 21, 2006 at 06:09 AM | #

Time for me to push a few of Tom’s “hot” buttons: Tom writes:  “So when I’m playing Twilight Imperium III, and someone wants to play a custom alien race, I’m afraid that it will disturb the structural integrity of the game.” My reply:  TI3 has structural integrity?  You gotta be kidding! Tom writes:  “Duel of Ages with everything added in ...” My reply:  This would likely be a traumatic nightmare for me! Heh, heh ... just had to rib you a bit there, Tom. Seriously, though, I tend to avoid expansions unless there is an overwhelming consensus that it vastly improves the game.  There are numerous reasons I tend to avoid expansions: 1) More often than not, I enjoy the basic game more than the expansions. 2) The vast majority of the time, whenever I play a game, there are some folks new to the game involved.  As a result, I want to stick with the base game so they won’t be overwhelmed. 3) I’ve found that expansions tend to add length to a game, which is usually not a good thing. 4) I don’t want to get sucked into in the expansion black hole, both for financial and shelf space reasons. 5) I don’t like the debate of “which rules / expansion will we play with” that often ensues. Posted by Greg Schloesser on Aug 21, 2006 at 02:30 PM | #

Are we talking expansions or variants?  Either way, it best to exercise caution, especially with expansions.  That’s adding on to gameplay and the matrix of potential balance problems definitely increases. However, a properly conceived variant can definitely enhance play. Posted by Ryan Bretsch on Aug 21, 2006 at 05:52 PM | #

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