Learn about D&D organized play options

Warunsun said:

It was nice to hear about upcoming events at GenCon but I would also like to hear about Origins. For years D&D had a huge presence at the Origins Game Fair. Is there anything planned for this year?

Thanks.

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Pure conjecture and I don't attend Origins, but in past years Origins has had low numbers on the RPG side. Because of that, it has received the least attention from several RPG companies, including Wizards. PAX, on the other hand, is becoming a reliable source of thousands of new and casual gamers who are showing up expressly to try out D&D. This year is especially difficult for Origins, because it takes place right before the new launch... so I suspect the show may be like last year and have a single classic adventure redone for Next. Or, a replay of a previous Next experience. But, I suspect that once a new organized play campaign gets rolling then it would make a lot of sense to revitalize Origins. Again, this is all pure conjecture.

Deleting, as my old post seems to have now posted.

Alphastream said:

Pure conjecture and I don't attend Origins, but in past years Origins has had low numbers on the RPG side. Because of that, it has received the least attention from several RPG companies, including Wizards. PAX, on the other hand, is becoming a reliable source of thousands of new and casual gamers who are showing up expressly to try out D&D. This year is especially difficult for Origins, because it takes place right before the new launch... so I suspect the show may be like last year and have a single classic adventure redone for Next. Or, a replay of a previous Next experience. But, I suspect that once a new organized play campaign gets rolling then it would make a lot of sense to revitalize Origins. Again, this is all pure conjecture.

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From experience I can tell you that on some years Dungeons & Dragons tournaments were actually better represented at the Origins Game Fair than the same year's GenCon. This wasn't always true but it did happen and has happened more than once. So I am unsure of these "low numbers". It is true that role-playing segment is smaller at both Origins and GenCon than the trading card folks or the miniatures groups. But if you advertise organized D&D tournaments it has been my experience that the players will show up. Your correct that fifth edition release timing is pretty bad for Origins this year but it doesn't mean they shouldn't engage the role-playing audience there.

There is a fine tradition of tournament adventures at Origins, for sure. Several classic adventures (such as Barrier Peaks) began as an Origin tournament adventure. But, I'm not sure WotC appreciates that or sees that as a reason to have a strong presence (currently) at Gen Con. (This is, again, just my speculation. For all I know, they could have great plans for Origins 2015.)

It has been interesting to see that over the past few years the "classic" event has made a comeback, while the tournament competition has declined. It has barely run at Gen Con the past few years, and I'm not sure many people even know that it has run, or how close it has come to not running. Ironically, the Wizards site itself recently highlighted how the forward to the Slave Lords series bemoaned the near loss of the tournament adventure:


If I had to guess, I suspect the Battle Interactive is replacing the tournament in WotC's eye as a way to create an exciting event. Vault of the Dracolich and Assault on Candlekeep have been well received and WotC's goal and design appeal to new, casual, and experienced players. The events are exciting, but not punishing.

I personally hope we continue to see competitive events, and especially the kind that can create new classics. I would have loved last year's Origins event to have been "Barrier Peaks: The Lost Levels" instead of just converting the original, and to have the final work published in some form (even just DDI). I endlessly dream of being asked to write the 'lost levels' for one of the tombs in the Desert of Desolation series! I think such events could be fun for new players while still remaining competitive. I agree with what Zeb Cook wrote back then: The loss of the tournament is a negative for D&D. It can and should be a showcase event.

I'll step off the soapbox I strapped to my high horse...

Worth sharing: In another thread, Merric gave a great overview of the available D&D Next adventures. (Other adventures have been offered for Next but are not easily available).

The excellent site Dungeon's Master covers the contents of the Dead in Thay season of Encounters. The kit includes one of the coolest Tomb of Horrors type dungeon maps we have seen!

If you liked Vault of the Dracolich, you will likely enjoy Dead in Thay. One of the key authors of that adventure, the amazing Scott Fitzgerald Gray, was the primary author for Dead in Thay. Scott is an amazing talent and it is super cool to see him take a new angle on the interactive concepts found in Vault (themselves a take on the concepts pioneered by the authors of living campaign battle interactives). No doubt he also brings some of the experience from working on the 4E versions of Tomb of Horrors!

The adventure will be available April 29th on DnDClassics. The launch weekend in May 10-11. I can't wait!

Updated the main post for the Dead in Thay season, which starts this weekend with the Launch Event.

Wizards of the Coast has announced a new organized program, called D&D Adventurers League! The WotC article shares details on the program.

I'm particularly pleased with how the program will operate as a cohesive whole, tying together Encounters as a store program with Expeditions: a new convention and store program supporting higher level play. Conventions will at times have an Epic event, which is a special adventure kicking off a season. The adventures running at Gen Con are now confirmed as the kickoff of the organized play program, and Corruption in Kryptgarden will be the first Epic! PCs made for Gen Con will be valid organized play PCs. Rewards will include certificates, reminiscent of Living Greyhawk and Living City campaigns.

More information will be coming soon!

There is also an interview with WotC's Liz Schuh on the marketing site ICv2.

I would have loved to have had this information prior to GenCon registration going live. I'm not sure how much it would have affected me; but had I known, I might have registered for more Next events.

I actually dislike-- at a glance-- the tying together of Encounters and the rest of the "Living" campaign. I felt like I could participate very solidly in LFR by attending cons and travelling to game days. I worry that my participation in this new campaign will be hamstrung by not being able to get out of work and drive (who knows how far) to a game store every Wednesday for Encounters. I hope more information is forthcoming that will make me feel better.

exile said:

I actually dislike-- at a glance-- the tying together of Encounters and the rest of the "Living" campaign. I felt like I could participate very solidly in LFR by attending cons and travelling to game days. I worry that my participation in this new campaign will be hamstrung by not being able to get out of work and drive (who knows how far) to a game store every Wednesday for Encounters. I hope more information is forthcoming that will make me feel better.

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I can understand that. I feel that way with video games, where more content makes me want to spend more time than I have.

But, think of it this way. You can choose whether to add the Encounters content. You could also play it at home. Those are just options. You don't have to take them. What it does do is help our hobby (and WotC, of course). A player can jump into Encounters and end up wanting to do more, becoming a more dedicated player. Before there was very little to encourage an Encounters player to also play LFR. Not only where there very few on-ramps to even tell an Encounters player that LFR existed, but there was usually no benefit.