So what are the thoughts on the RPGA?

[Dannager]

I'm surprised no one's mentioned adventuring companies.

You and a few friends can band together under a common cause or banner of your choice and form an adventuring company. As long as four or more participants in any given game are from the same adventuring company, that group of players receives one bonus action point for the table that the group can decide by vote to allow any one character to use. There are also going to be adventures designed specifically for groups linked by a common adventuring company.

 

[kitsune9]

It's a little bit more open than that. My Realms in a nutshell: "Write a Forgotten Realms adventure; you can use monsters and skill challenges worth up to X experience. (Y if you're running it at high tier.) You should have so many fights and so many skill challenges. Don't rewrite existing modules."

Players get experience and gold as per usual. The magic item reward option is 1 magic item up to the level of the PC, but not above.

It is a completely awesome idea.

I agree. I think that it is a good idea, particularly if the RPGA only puts out a very limited amount of regional or core mods a year and players have played them all and still got time units to burn (if the living campaign still has that). Now they can get their DM off his butt to write some up.

 

[Anthraxus]

I played through several years of 3.x RPGA events(mostly LG), and I've had loads of good times travelling and playing at conventions. Made some friends, met some people I don't want to game with ever again, but I've had an inordinate amount of fun. I do like 4E LFR's ability to change mods if it would be more fun, and plan on running a Myrealms mod soon. I hope they won't start making mods tough, optimized only mods like some mod authors did in LG though. Even then, it wasn't that bad.

Mostly positive experiences, here.

 

[Dannager]

I agree. I think that it is a good idea, particularly if the RPGA only puts out a very limited amount of regional or core mods a year and players have played them all and still got time units to burn (if the living campaign still has that). Now they can get their DM off his butt to write some up.

No units, and given that they're offering about five new adventures per month (and often more; eight different adventures debuted this month), you'd have to play more regularly than once a week to ever run out of adventures.

You can also replay adventures you've already participated in with a different character. My Realms is a convenience thing, and another option among many, but it wasn't really necessary to fill in play gaps. The vast majority of RPGA players will never get a chance to play all the offered adventures.

 

[InVinoVeritas]

I wrote two RPGA modules for the 3.x days. I enjoyed working with them. I don't remember my time with 3.x RPGA as all that bad, but I know I stopped about halfway through as real life took over.

My adventures were much more heavy on the RP. One was straightforward, the other was more intricate. I thought they were a lot of fun. In fact, one person described one of my adventures as "not the most challenging, and it doesn't have the best treasure, but it is definitely the most fun." I was proud as peach of that assessment.

The adventures were Never Mined and The Tomb of Tloques-Popolocas, in case anyone remembers playing or running them.

 

[smerwin29]

The adventures were Never Mined and The Tomb of Tloques-Popolocas, in case anyone remembers playing or running them.

John! How are you doing? Man, it's been a dog's age since I last talked to you.

Shawn
(guy who worked with John on his adventures)

 

[Vartan]

My limited experience with RPGA during the 4E era has been very positive. I enjoy the opportunity to meet a variety of players from different gaming groups and see them in action. Forums like this one can give you a lot of insight into the way that others play the game, but there's nothing like seeing different play styles up close.

 

[InVinoVeritas]

Hey, Shawn! Great to hear from you.

Yeah, I just moved across the country, changed careers, got an MBA, then returned to NJ almost 2 years ago. (As I said, real life got in the way.)

Hope all is well. Just trying to scrounge up enough time to start playing again.

 

[grimslade]

The Tomb of TPK! I loved that mod, both playing and running it. Although, the pronunciation of many of the gods and NPCs were butchered.

And you should be horse whipped for Never Mined. Huffin Guffin's Muffins, indeed.
Keoland missed you!

The RPGA has enabled me to meet a whole bunch of good people I would never have met and rolled dice with. There are fantastic role-players in the RPGA and statistical wizards who will melt dice with their mastery of the rules. There are also the socially inept and arrogant know-it-alls, just like life. The balance of the people are good, however.
I recommend trying a couple of rounds of RPGA play at a convention to see how other RPer's play the game.

 

[mhacdebhandia]

As far as I am concerned, the RPGA may as well not exist.

I don't know what value it has to Wizards of the Coast aside from the obvious (but not obviously meaningful) concrete numbers of active D&D players they can provably claim, but since I have no interest in playing in or running "public" games, and don't see much point in reporting my "private" gaming, it's pretty irrelevant.

I would be interested to know what value the people running it believe it has beyond providing those concrete player numbers for annual reports to management.