Adventurers League Adventures Now Available To All

More details:

http://dndadventurersleague.org/changes-to-the-dd-adventurers-league/


Today, Wizards of the Coast announced some changes to the D&D Adventurers League program. You can read the entire announcement on the Wizards website.

Here's a summary of the changes as well as some additional information about some of the repercussions.

• Starting with season 4 all D&D Adventurers League adventures will be distributed for purchase through the DMs Guild website and will be available to everyone to play in the official D&D Adventurers League campaign.
• The hosting of the D&D Adventurers League modules on this website will end with the end of the Rage of Demons campaign.
• Not all content on the DMsGuild is D&D Adventurers League legal, legal content will have the D&D Adventurers League logo on it.
• The admins are working on if and how player content would be D&D Adventurers League legal.
• Conventions that are awarded Premier Adventures will be given complimentary copies of the adventure they're premiering as well as the usual convention support package.
• The terms Expeditions and Encounter are being retired.
• The Epics are still convention specials and will NOT be available on the DMsGuild.
• Any organizer (including for stores and convention) can download a D&D Adventurers League Organizer kit, which will include character sheets, player's guides, as well as custom campaign information, for free.
• We are working on having magic item certs still be limited to in-store and convention play. More on that, as it develops.
• New D&D Adventurers League designers will likely be asked to design for the League based on adventure's they've posted to the DMsGuild.
• All future D&D Adventurers League adventure designers will be paid exclusively through the sales of their adventures on the DMsGuild site with no cap for those payments.
• Fai Chen's Fantastical Faire will still be offered to conventions and game-days that invite an admin or RC.

 

[Gnarl45]

What's the quality of the adventure league adventures? Are they beautiful illustrated adventures like the printed books?

 

[darjr]

No, they are not.
Check dragon+ for two examples.

 

[Ricochet]

No illustrations save for a few crude maps here and there. They are of pretty good quality most of them. I've only played the first season so can't comment on the others, but my favorites in the first lot af 1-3 Shadows over the Moonsea and 1-8 Tales Trees Tell. Both have a nice, eerie vibe to them.

 

[Mithreinmaethor]

What's the quality of the adventure league adventures? Are they beautiful illustrated adventures like the printed books?

No they are not beautifully illustrated, they are very utilitarian. But I prefer the format that is used to lay them out compared to the books.

 

[Pauper]

What's the quality of the adventure league adventures? Are they beautiful illustrated adventures like the printed books?

For $3? Seriously?

--
Pauper

 

[Gnarl45]

For $3? Seriously?

Why not?

It would have been nice . Considering the previews are print-friendly pages, I wasn't expecting them to be illustrated though.

 

[Benji]

For $3? Seriously?

--
Pauper

If you buy every one though, it's likely to be similar in cost to the same as an adventure path (once you add it all up). Which is nice and glossy.

1) Oftentimes it is a player's bridge to a larger community, where they can make contact and interact with a larger pool of players that they may potentially decide to play with on their own.

2) Playing in a common space with other people can provide an underlying thrill of community. That is why many people go to conventions. Playing with other geeks is different than playing with your bros at home.

3) Playing in a designated space in-store provides a sense much like seeing a sporting event in person rather than seeing a game on television. Yes, there are pros and cons, but, TV didn't kill spectator sports and being able to play at home probably won't squelch the experience of playing with other groups around you in a store or a convention.

4) The unique and fundamental trait of any Organized Play campaign is being able to play with others beyond one's home campaign experience in a mutually common experience. A decision like this actually bolsters what makes Organized Play distinct from home play by saying, "Yes, indeed you can play this stuff all on your own. But we're going to keep going on the party boat over here so join us whenever you want. You can even work on your boarding pass with your friends at home. Party on, dude!."

5) I'd venture to guess that those who are willing to pay to play are going to potentially elevate the quality of the gaming experience. Ticket pricing has the same psychological effect--the cheaper the ticket the lower one's expectations.

I get this, I've run RPGs in a shop environment for 5 years or more. But I can get by running something I have made/paid for years ago.

6) There will be game stores that cover the cost of the gaming experience because they want people to come play in their stores--which keeps growing the community. There will be other game stores that feel they need to cover the costs of the experience and charge for playing because simple butts in seats may not be enough return on investment and turn away players who won't pony up--which deepens community commitment. There will also be extreme stores that may simply drop AL altogether for things that are more lucrative--which means they're making more money and grows the gaming community as a whole.

I don't get what your saying here it seems to be 'Whatever happens, even if people quit D&D, that's a good thing' you discounted 'They stop running Al, people go home and play instead' as an option. Not saying it's likely, but it is an possiblity.

I personally think this is a good decision.

I don't necessarily disagree with you. I'm just not sure I'd pay for that quality of adventures.

Yes, but as "D&D Encounters" and "D&D Expeditions" are no longer active names for events, any events in the system created with those names are/will be 'cancelled' (i.e. removed from the website/event reporter) and store organisers will be able to create the generic "D&D" event if they want to - and, once it's been announced/released, create the new launch weekend event.

I imagine that Wizards will still release an adventure with season 4 - something themed. Maybe two sets of adventures - on as PDF's and one as a hardback. But the old terms mean nothing. While the Events might be cancelled, I'd think they'd release a product. Otherwise it's just them going. 'We're gonna concentrate on THIS theme this season' while everyone else keeps playing the adventures they were already playing.

I guess, [MENTION=6793743]Benji[/MENTION], it's just a case of whether a couple of bucks is worth saving you the effort. Why would you buy any adventure ever? Why would you buy a novel rather than write your own?

Just an effort-reward equation. It's different for everyone. You buy it if you think it's worth it, but it's OK if you don't.

Good point Morrus. But as I mentioned above. Buying the whole of what would have been a whole run of 'expeditions' compared to the quality of what would have been 'encounters' I know which I'd choose to spend money on. I suppose from wizard's point of view I'm still buying/running, so they've kind of 'outwitted' me there. .

Just want to clarify before these posts get taken the wrong way. I like the idea of the DMG. I will be using content - maybe even writing content. But I'm just confused about the collected pricing of the 'Expeditions' adventures.

 

[tila]

This is terrible for freelancers looking to make a living working with Wizards. Jester and I have been talking about it on Twitter. He ran some numbers and, assuming a rate of $0.10/word for a 12,000 word adventure like Occupation of Szith Morcane, you'd have to sell 600 copies at $4.00 a pop to make your rate.


The Adventurer's League is planning on using these at conventions and game stores still, right? Those sales aren't going to the authors. If we're getting 24 AL adventures on DMGuild each year, I don't see these authors making much at all off this deal.

As the author of Szith Morcane...I wouldn't have to sell anywhere near that amount to get what I got. And with Season 3 adventures it is on TOP of what we already got paid. So bonus for us!

And the sales at conventions...will definitely go to the authors!

 

[tila]

So... I have a couple of practical question. How are these adventures different from those presented in the books? Are they any fun?

I'm not terribly familiar with Adventurer's League, but the adventure bundles seem reasonably priced.

I hear that DDEX3-3 is REALLY good. Lots of fun!

 

[kalani]

My favorite mod so far is 3-13 Writhing in the Dark which will soon go live.