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Who Makes WotC's Adventures?
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<blockquote data-quote="Pauper" data-source="post: 7676602" data-attributes="member: 17607"><p>But they could be optimized, so to speak, for Organized Play without</p><p>harming their ability to be useful to folks buying them for home campaigns.</p><p></p><p>Example: Princes of the Apocalypse introduced wingwear, a cool-seeming magical</p><p>item powered by elemental forces. But the item is recharged by being exposed to</p><p>elemental energy in an elemental node, and the purpose of the campaign is to</p><p>destroy the elemental nodes. Because there was no way for players to recharge the</p><p>wingwear within the context of Adventurer's League, the items caused plenty of</p><p>controversy as 'trap items', as possessing a permanent magic item might, in some</p><p>situations, make your character ineligible to take a new magic item found in an</p><p>adventure. A simple sidebar discussing ways that wingwear could be recharged</p><p>without the use of an elemental node (by expending spell slots, for instance), or</p><p>a clarification that wingwear wasn't meant to be a permanent magic item (which</p><p>ended up waiting for the Season 3 update of the Player's Guide) would have</p><p>resolved the problem for Organized Play without hurting, and by arguably even helping,</p><p>the use of the adventure for home games.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>They are free in the sense that, once you're affiliated with a store and get the</p><p>site password, you can download and run the adventures in that store, or online by</p><p>affliiating with the Online Region. Technically you're not allowed to run Expeditions</p><p>adventures as pure 'home game' adventures, as that violates the license by which</p><p>you get access to the adventures, so in that sense, they're not 'free to use'.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I guess I don't really see how clarifying rules with an existing campaign in mind</p><p>would actually hurt the adventure's playability in a home campaign -- the home game</p><p>DM would simply have to decide whether to use the AL-targeted material or not, just</p><p>as she currently decides whether to place the events in locations in the Forgotten</p><p>Realms as written, or in some other campaign world of her own choosing.</p><p></p><p>The benefit would be a much better Organized Play experience, which WotC is</p><p>explicitly using to try to bring new players into the hobby, and from which they</p><p>get extra sales of their hardcover books. In that sense, supporting OP with the</p><p>hardcover adventures is a no-brainer, since not only are new players likely to be</p><p>exposed to the adventures in the context of an OP campaign, but they'll find the OP</p><p>experience to be familiar and helpful in learning the game, rather than jarring</p><p>because the home game experience is so radically different from what they</p><p>played at that convention or in the free-play area of that game store they visited.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Most OP games run at a game store or with the affiliation of a game store, and thus do</p><p>tend to feature a group of regulars who play together repeatedly -- that's pretty much</p><p>the definition of a 'campaign', along with the overarching plot that connects the</p><p>individual adventures together within a storyline season. It's not strictly an 'adventure</p><p>path' that takes you from level 1 to 20 in the Paizo sense, but if you're playing a hardback</p><p>adventure from Encounters and beyond, it's not really that much different than playing</p><p>in someone's living room with a big group, some of whom show up more often than not,</p><p>and others who sometimes invite friends or dates to play along.</p><p></p><p>Conventions are a different animal, I'll grant, but OP organizing at conventions is</p><p>starting to gear more toward convention-special events and big multi-table adventures;</p><p>Adventurers League at GenCon, for instance, is going to have both the Season 2 and</p><p>the Season 3 Epic module run there, though there will still be a number of 'normal'</p><p>Expeditions modules available as well. And part of the benefit of Organized Play is that</p><p>you can continue to play the same set of adventures, and even the same storyline,</p><p>even if you're not playing with your regular group or DM. That's part of what makes it</p><p>an effective marketing tool. Interestingly, OP doesn't run Encounters or other hardcover</p><p>adventures at conventions, as if admitting that the hardcover adventures, though legal</p><p>for Organized Play, aren't currently the best way to attract players to the game when</p><p>you only have limited time to convince them to play.</p><p></p><p>--</p><p>Pauper</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Pauper, post: 7676602, member: 17607"] But they could be optimized, so to speak, for Organized Play without harming their ability to be useful to folks buying them for home campaigns. Example: Princes of the Apocalypse introduced wingwear, a cool-seeming magical item powered by elemental forces. But the item is recharged by being exposed to elemental energy in an elemental node, and the purpose of the campaign is to destroy the elemental nodes. Because there was no way for players to recharge the wingwear within the context of Adventurer's League, the items caused plenty of controversy as 'trap items', as possessing a permanent magic item might, in some situations, make your character ineligible to take a new magic item found in an adventure. A simple sidebar discussing ways that wingwear could be recharged without the use of an elemental node (by expending spell slots, for instance), or a clarification that wingwear wasn't meant to be a permanent magic item (which ended up waiting for the Season 3 update of the Player's Guide) would have resolved the problem for Organized Play without hurting, and by arguably even helping, the use of the adventure for home games. They are free in the sense that, once you're affiliated with a store and get the site password, you can download and run the adventures in that store, or online by affliiating with the Online Region. Technically you're not allowed to run Expeditions adventures as pure 'home game' adventures, as that violates the license by which you get access to the adventures, so in that sense, they're not 'free to use'. I guess I don't really see how clarifying rules with an existing campaign in mind would actually hurt the adventure's playability in a home campaign -- the home game DM would simply have to decide whether to use the AL-targeted material or not, just as she currently decides whether to place the events in locations in the Forgotten Realms as written, or in some other campaign world of her own choosing. The benefit would be a much better Organized Play experience, which WotC is explicitly using to try to bring new players into the hobby, and from which they get extra sales of their hardcover books. In that sense, supporting OP with the hardcover adventures is a no-brainer, since not only are new players likely to be exposed to the adventures in the context of an OP campaign, but they'll find the OP experience to be familiar and helpful in learning the game, rather than jarring because the home game experience is so radically different from what they played at that convention or in the free-play area of that game store they visited. Most OP games run at a game store or with the affiliation of a game store, and thus do tend to feature a group of regulars who play together repeatedly -- that's pretty much the definition of a 'campaign', along with the overarching plot that connects the individual adventures together within a storyline season. It's not strictly an 'adventure path' that takes you from level 1 to 20 in the Paizo sense, but if you're playing a hardback adventure from Encounters and beyond, it's not really that much different than playing in someone's living room with a big group, some of whom show up more often than not, and others who sometimes invite friends or dates to play along. Conventions are a different animal, I'll grant, but OP organizing at conventions is starting to gear more toward convention-special events and big multi-table adventures; Adventurers League at GenCon, for instance, is going to have both the Season 2 and the Season 3 Epic module run there, though there will still be a number of 'normal' Expeditions modules available as well. And part of the benefit of Organized Play is that you can continue to play the same set of adventures, and even the same storyline, even if you're not playing with your regular group or DM. That's part of what makes it an effective marketing tool. Interestingly, OP doesn't run Encounters or other hardcover adventures at conventions, as if admitting that the hardcover adventures, though legal for Organized Play, aren't currently the best way to attract players to the game when you only have limited time to convince them to play. -- Pauper [/QUOTE]
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