How the Game Has Changed - Part 2

Customizing Your Game
Tired of the same old fantasy tropes? Looking for something fresh? Wanting a system that makes more sense? Do you have an idea that you would like to explore? If any of these questions tap into your secret desires, then customizing your game may be the solution.
any game system can be "homebrewed" by adding to, or taking away from the basic rule system, but some RPG systems are tailored for customization. Savage Worlds, GURPS, Basic Role Playing and Hero System are, to name just a few, all core rule systems that emphasize taking the provided tools and using them to build the game you would like. Other popular RPG systems readily lend themselves to customization even though they are not marketed as "generic". With enough effort, most any system can be modified, but some practically encourage it.
The world's first fantasy role-playing game, original "white box" D&D is one such system that encourages, some might say demands, customization. So much so, that the folks at TSR developed the Advanced edition in an effort to codify and standardize play, thereby limiting customization that had led to much variety in the ways that the original game was being played.
Subsequent editions of the world's most popular fantasy RPG seem to go back-and-forth with respect to customization. The second edition of the Advanced game introduced a number of options for customization through various supplements and setting materials. Options included rule systems aimed at the referee and character options aimed at players. By the end of the second edition printing era the shear number of available published optional rules tomes could become overwhelming.
Customizing the game mechanics to fit a particular setting such as Dark Sun or Dragon Lance became an official thing during the second edition era. The preference for "official" verses "homebrew" rules is perhaps a personal taste, but there have been many arguments between players and referee/GM regarding what to include or leave out of their campaign. This discussion continues to the present with the 5th edition of the world's most popular fantasy RPG which includes optional material such as feats and multi-classing in the core rules and additional tomes containing even more options. Third party publishers add to the body of potential options which can be picked from. The simple nature of the basic 5e system lends itself to modification by the creative consumer wishing to use their own ideas or borrow from other sources.
As a gamer who delights in seeing what creative rule solutions and new content other gamers can devise, I welcome customization and frequently indulge in it myself. In fact, I prefer a campaign setting that deviates from the bog standard, rules-as-written approach. Customization is personalization. To borrow an idea from Mr. Gygax's afterword to the original edition, why shouldn't we imagine the game as we would like it to be, and then make it just so?