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.

 

[darjr]

I don't have a problem with the cost if it's just me running a game a week. But I've got cons upcoming. It's not a ton of money I'd have to cough up but it isn't trivial either and I wasn't planning on it. As it is I'll be paying for things like printing and room and board and not to mention helping other DMs and running many hours of games. Now I have to find the money to buy the very mods I've volunteered to run, that others have volunteered to run on my behalf?

 

[kalani]

As Greg mentioned in the other thread/upthread (not sure which) - the AMA tomorrow will help address the issue of cons and store organizers (among other things).

 

[Coreyartus]

Thing I'm wondering - as someone who runs. Why would I run an adventurer's league adventure as opposed to my own? Before, it was free content. Now, I'd have to either pay or make something up to run in store. I'd just make something up to avoid paying. New players barely have a concept of AL and don't actually need to using it to enjoy D&D and become a member of the community, right? Am I missing something?

Playing in Organized Play renders lots of intangible benefits that you get by participating.

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.

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. Others may decide to offer up the space and let the players pay for things themselves--which is still more than dropping it altogether and no more than a lot of wargaming contexts require.

In short, there is an ineffable quality to the play experience that hearkens to the feeling one gets when seeing a show with friends among others, or watching a movie in 3-D instead of a TV. At the same time, this situation allows players to indulge in their own homes with intimate circles of friends and still have the option of experiencing gaming with their PCs in very different contexts with different people.

I personally think this is a good decision.

 

[bjmorga]

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.

 

[kalani]

The ones in the hardcovers are giant mega-adventures set on the sword coast. The bundle adventures are short episodic adventures set in the Moonsea region and were formerly part of the Expeditions program (now defunct). Each bundle/season covers the events of what happens in a single city during the season.

Season 1: The cult of the Dragon attacks the Swordcoast in hoard of the dragon queen/rise of tiamat and the city of Phlan in the Tyranny of dragons bundle.
Season 2: The elemental cults attack the swordcoast in princes of the apocalypse, and the areas in and around Mulmaster in Elemental Evil
Season 3 (current season): Demons assault the Underdark along the Swordcoast in Out of the AByss, while the events on the Moonsea center on the city of Hillsfar, its surrounding regions, and the Underdark cities below (esp. Szith Morcane and Myraemidra sp.).

 

[MerricB]

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'm in the process of writing reviews of each of the AL adventures. You'll find them on my blog. They vary in quality - like most adventures - but overall they've been very rewarding.

Cheers!

 

[TrippyHippy]

Good news - although I'm part of Adventurer's League, so I have them all anyway. What we really want is a commitment to release all the core rules, indeed all 5E books on pdf or ebook.

 

[Eltab]

A slightly different perspective:

Have you ever really 'gotten into' a miniatures wargame and discovered that your enthusiasm was limited by the thickness of your wallet?

Think of 'buying an AL module' like 'buying a minifig / squad'.

 

[Queer Venger]

Great news!! Im super happy to hear that everyone can be part of AL. Wizards keeps delivering on awesomeness.

 

[Coredump]

A slightly different perspective:

Have you ever really 'gotten into' a miniatures wargame and discovered that your enthusiasm was limited by the thickness of your wallet?

Think of 'buying an AL module' like 'buying a minifig / squad'.

There is just no comparison. Even with only a single table with 6 players, you are talking about $1 a *month* to get access to every mod. At that rate it would take a few years to equal one box of mini's.