Temples & Triforces | Seven species and four archetype options inspired by the Legend of Zelda, and on shared creative space

After months of work and at least one all-nighter, I bring to you Temples & Triforces! This is definitely one of my proudest homebrew creations yet. Here is what you need to get started with a Dungeons & Dragons campaign set in the world of The Legend of Zelda. With seven species and four archetype options (and two spells, in the context of one of the archetypes), this is the largest homebrew project I've ever shared to this blog (though not in fact the largest project I've ever created; but that's for another day).

First, I want to talk about what's in Temples & Triforces. Then I'll point out what isn't. Finally, I'll reflect on the idea of shared creative space in Fifth Edition homebrew.

The seven homebrew species included are Gerudo, Gorons, Humans, Hylians, Kokiri, Rito, and Zoras. Yes, I made new Humans even though those already exist in base Fifth Edition. One reason is that I wanted Hyrule's Humans to feel in line with my design choices for all of the other species. A second reason is that to be honest, I sometimes feel like Humans got shafted in Fifth Edition! +1 to all ability scores is hardly exciting, if you ask me. You might also ask why I have Humans to begin with, instead of just Hylians. The reason is that Twlight Princess was the first Zelda game I played, and I became incredibly fond of Ordona Province and the other Humans in the game. I had to represent their unique place in Hyrule somehow.

One thing I do different from base Fifth Edition is that I don't connect ability score increases to specific species. Instead, players can choose two of their ability scores to boost, no matter what species they play as. Since ability score increases are part of the base game's species' delicate balance, decoupling the Increase from a species is no simple feat. But because the species in Temples & Triforces stand on their own only in comparison with each other, I was able to presume that new ability score increase concept in the design from the beginning, which made it possible.

The four homebrew archetype options are the boar and cucco totem options for the Path of the Totem Warrior, the College of Wind, and the Oath of the Hero. I've shared the Oath of the Hero before on this blog, but the other options are new to the blog.

The boar and cucco totem options were actually the first Legend of Zelda homebrew I created and formatted. They're also the reason I say "archetype options" instead of "archetypes," since it's important to remember that the boar and cucco totems aren't themselves subclasses, but rather part of a grab bag of totem options. These were fun to make, and I think they add some interesting mechanics to the Totem Warrior.

The College of Wind is, of course, based on The Wind Waker. I never actually played The Wind Waker. Instead, I experienced it through playthroughs and art. But it was my first window into The Legend of Zelda, and Toon Link remains my favorite Link. He's got so much spunk and personality! It's nice to include a full caster subclass in Temples & Triforces; it gives the whole thing some balance, as now there's all three of martial, half-caster, and full caster homebrew.

Next, what isn't in Temples & Triforces? What would you want but not have from this? Probably most significantly, the compendium does not offer monsters. Can it really be Hyrule without Moblins, ReDeads, and Octoroks? Unfortunately, large scale monster homebrew is not my forte. To rectify this, I suggest reflavoring standard monsters or looking to other homebrewers. I am far from the first homebrewer to take on The Legend of Zelda in Fifth Edition!

This segues nicely to the final point of discussion: shared creative space. As I just mentioned, other homebrewers have made Zelda-themed content. So, why am I jumping in when there's already mulitple similar compendiums, some with even more species? I've seen this brought up in other contexts, too. Sometimes a person decides not to create, say, a wind-themed paladin because they see that someone else has already done it. What does this attitude mean for homebrew, and is it the right one to have?

As with many things, I think ultimately it's your call. To be transparent, I do it, too. For example, in my efforts to convert "A Plethora of Paladins" to Fifth Edition, I considered additional alignments like Lawful Evil. But I was already aware of Walrock Homebrew's Oath of the Hellsworn, a paladin obligated to contractual service for a devil. That seemed to fit Lawful Evil perfectly, so I decided not to make an illrigger. Sometimes, you might not feel like making something if an example of it is already out there and you like it.

But, does that always need to be the case? Temples & Triforces is an example where I did the opposite: plenty of solid material existed, but I really wanted to make my own. I had my own ideas and vision, and I wanted to go through the challenge and fun of putting it all together. I arguably didn't need to, but I wanted to.

Here is where sharing creative space comes in: with homebrew, I think we as homebrewers sometimes think it's tempting to see it as a zero sum game. We think our ideas are "stolen" when we see someone else tackle a concept, and we worry about our ideas not being different enough to be valuable. But do we have to view things this way?

Creativity is not a finite resource. Just because one person explores an idea doesn't mean it's exhausted and can never be touched again. Imagine if once Dungeons & Dragons hit the scene, no one else approached the idea of fantasy tabletop roleplaying games! It would be the hobby's loss to not have systems like Dungeon World, GURPS Fantasy, and Harnworld. Similarly, just because there's one psion doesn't mean there can't be another, and just because there's one Hylian doesn't mean we can't benefit from more.

Of course, it's easy for me to be saying this. I'm the newcomer to the Zelda homebrew scene, so I sure hope I have place here, haha!

A final caveat: covering the same ideas is fine, but stealing mechanics and text and such is less appropriate. Let's try to ask for permission and give attribution where appropriate. Great minds often think alike, and drawing inspiration is one thing. Rewriting, repackaging, and rereleasing content is quite another. It's never happened to me, but I have seen it, and I think we can be better than that. We walk a fine line, of course, piggybacking off of the intellectual property of larger franchises, but we always at least attribute. It's about the courtesy of it.

Anyhow, that's enough from me. Now quite reading my rambling and go be an awesome Goron wizard or Kokiri warlock or Human paladin!

Official art for The Wind Waker