MNblockhead
A Title Much Cooler Than Anything on the Old Site
Participated in my first AL events this past weekend. Actually, I did one AL game last year, but I didn't know it was an AL game, didn't know what AL was, and when given a DCI number and log sheet, I recycled them along with my character sheet. So, it doesn't count.
This year, I participated in an AL epic at Con of the North. I downloaded and read the AL rules and created a 1st-level character.
The next day I played another AL adventure with my son.
I also participated in Fai Chen.
My first question is that the AL events at the Con ignored tickets and took people first-come-first-serve. It this normal for AL events at conventions? Should I ignore pre-registration for AL events?
The actual AL schedule did not match the printed schedule in the Con book and on the tickets. The games were four hours, not the advertised 6 hours, and the start times were different. There was no signage or other notices explaining this, yet many of the players seemed to know this. Is there a message board or e-mail announcement list for AL events that would have explained this? My guess is the the people who were not confused were just players that showed up for the 8am event and were still hanging around for the latter events. It probably was just folks who only showed up for the afternoon events that were confused because they walked in on games in progress and were told to come back in two hours.
What is up with magic items and Fai Chens? If you lose our magic-item card, do you lose your magic item, or just your ability to trade it?
So in my first game I got an adamantine chain shirt. The next day, there was a Fai Chen event. I traded the adamantine chain shirt for a +1 war hammer. I think the whole registered magic item and Fai Chen event is a fun extra dimension to the AL experience, but I'm not sure how strict the rules are about this. Are DMs given strict limits on magic items and does every magic item in AL need to be registered? Is there some database at WoTC that knows every magic items ever handed out in AL?
I know AL has seasonal story lines. I cannot commit to a regular AL campaign, so I only go at conventions. Will my player "expire" or become so outdated that I won't be able to play him in a year?
Are AL sessions campaign focused, or are there one offs? The convention games are nice once offs. Probably part of larger stories, but they seem well-designed to jump in and play. But from what I see online, the AL events at local stores are built around the most recently-release adventure path (currently Storm King's Thunder). That's kept me away from trying to attend AL events at local game stores.
The other thing that has kept me from AL events is the lack of signup. Seems like it can be difficult to find a game with open spots, especially if you are not a regular. In my area, only the AL at Level Up Games has a meetup where you sign up for spots. Never been to Level Up Games, but just knowning that I can communicate with the organizer and sign up for a spot mean it will probably be the one I go to, despite other game stores being closer.
How complete is the WoTC Store Event locator? I don't see Level Up games listed, although it seems to have two or three AL events per week based on its active Meetup Page. Where else should I look for AL games?
I was surpised to learn that folks run AL as their personal, at-home campaigns. How does this work? Do you just register as a DM? For those that do this, how much paperwork is there? I'm thinking of running occasional games for a group a kids and their parents. Basically, a "bring your kid to D&D" event. AL provides a fun structure for something like this. I'm reading over the material. I understand the logging etc, but it seems that very little gets logged online, or am I missing something?
This year, I participated in an AL epic at Con of the North. I downloaded and read the AL rules and created a 1st-level character.
The next day I played another AL adventure with my son.
I also participated in Fai Chen.
My first question is that the AL events at the Con ignored tickets and took people first-come-first-serve. It this normal for AL events at conventions? Should I ignore pre-registration for AL events?
The actual AL schedule did not match the printed schedule in the Con book and on the tickets. The games were four hours, not the advertised 6 hours, and the start times were different. There was no signage or other notices explaining this, yet many of the players seemed to know this. Is there a message board or e-mail announcement list for AL events that would have explained this? My guess is the the people who were not confused were just players that showed up for the 8am event and were still hanging around for the latter events. It probably was just folks who only showed up for the afternoon events that were confused because they walked in on games in progress and were told to come back in two hours.
What is up with magic items and Fai Chens? If you lose our magic-item card, do you lose your magic item, or just your ability to trade it?
So in my first game I got an adamantine chain shirt. The next day, there was a Fai Chen event. I traded the adamantine chain shirt for a +1 war hammer. I think the whole registered magic item and Fai Chen event is a fun extra dimension to the AL experience, but I'm not sure how strict the rules are about this. Are DMs given strict limits on magic items and does every magic item in AL need to be registered? Is there some database at WoTC that knows every magic items ever handed out in AL?
I know AL has seasonal story lines. I cannot commit to a regular AL campaign, so I only go at conventions. Will my player "expire" or become so outdated that I won't be able to play him in a year?
Are AL sessions campaign focused, or are there one offs? The convention games are nice once offs. Probably part of larger stories, but they seem well-designed to jump in and play. But from what I see online, the AL events at local stores are built around the most recently-release adventure path (currently Storm King's Thunder). That's kept me away from trying to attend AL events at local game stores.
The other thing that has kept me from AL events is the lack of signup. Seems like it can be difficult to find a game with open spots, especially if you are not a regular. In my area, only the AL at Level Up Games has a meetup where you sign up for spots. Never been to Level Up Games, but just knowning that I can communicate with the organizer and sign up for a spot mean it will probably be the one I go to, despite other game stores being closer.
How complete is the WoTC Store Event locator? I don't see Level Up games listed, although it seems to have two or three AL events per week based on its active Meetup Page. Where else should I look for AL games?
I was surpised to learn that folks run AL as their personal, at-home campaigns. How does this work? Do you just register as a DM? For those that do this, how much paperwork is there? I'm thinking of running occasional games for a group a kids and their parents. Basically, a "bring your kid to D&D" event. AL provides a fun structure for something like this. I'm reading over the material. I understand the logging etc, but it seems that very little gets logged online, or am I missing something?
