MNblockhead
A Title Much Cooler Than Anything on the Old Site
Over the past five years, I've had the opportunity to play in Adventurer's League games at two FLGS and twice at a local convention. I've also played Pathfinder and Starfinder Society games at the local convention.
Overall, I've been very lucky with the DMs and the players. My issues are more with how organized play is organized.
With AL, I don't play enough to get to high-tier play. I'll never be able to play at high tier because there are no high-tier games that allow pregens. I know some people just cheat on their tracking sheets, but I have no interest in doing all that work to fake a character's experience. I really miss the old days of RPGA one-shots with pregens that could be set for any level.
I've heard that with PFS/SFS you can play with pregens at higher tiers, but I don't have enough experience with the society's rules to know exactly how that works. But I'm going to look into it more. Maybe for SFS. I'm not really in investing into another generic medieval fantasy rule set.
I find that Organized Play just doesn't mesh well with Conventions. The organized-play groups tend to take over a large room and just run things according to their own organization and table numbers and even times get moved around. I no longer play AL at conventions. I did try PFS and SFS this year and found that they were better organized, but I was still confused about the need to check in with the host at one of the doors to the big room and ended up at the wrong table because the table number on the ticket doesn't match how they actually organized the tables. Better signage would be a simply way to make the experience more welcoming to players who are new to the organization. But this is a small complaint. I enjoyed the DM and fellow players of both my Pathfinder 2.0 playtest and my Starfinder game and they started and ended on time. Which was a revelation given my AL experiences at the same Convention.
It seems the most AL play is for long-term campaigns. It is not always possible to find one shots being run.
My best experiences with AL are their EPICS. Especially when they are organized independently at a FLGS rather than a Convention. The most recent EPIC I played was a fund raiser at local gaming store and it was some of the most fun I've had playing D&D ever. It was also well organized with their own online signup system and well marked tables. The DMs and organizers did an amazing job and I enjoyed all my fellow players. I will go to every future event like this that they organize (as long as its independent and not at a Convention). My ONLY complaint is that I will only ever be able to play in the first tier.
Because I see a need, I'm thinking of running my own one shots. I would organize via meet up and have some geared for new players and some for only experienced players. Basically, I'm thinking 6-hour adventures for four players. It would be RAW PHB and DMG and would NOT use organized play rules. Players would have to select from a pregen.
I played a Dungeon Crawl Classics game at a recent convention that was run like this and it was such a breath of fresh air. It was so fun. I really wish there were more opportunities like this for 5e. I have enjoyed some amazing one-shot games in many other systems. I always hit the meetup.com groups when I travel and have some downtime, which has introduced me to some pretty obscure systems. But I find it difficult to find non-AL one shots for 5e. It is a shame. I think many 5e players who only have access to public play are missing out of an entirely different play experience for 5e.
I'm not saying that AL is a bad experience. If you can play regularly and find a good group, it can be a lot of fun. But for more casual and intermittent players, I don't think it provides the best experience.
Overall, I've been very lucky with the DMs and the players. My issues are more with how organized play is organized.
With AL, I don't play enough to get to high-tier play. I'll never be able to play at high tier because there are no high-tier games that allow pregens. I know some people just cheat on their tracking sheets, but I have no interest in doing all that work to fake a character's experience. I really miss the old days of RPGA one-shots with pregens that could be set for any level.
I've heard that with PFS/SFS you can play with pregens at higher tiers, but I don't have enough experience with the society's rules to know exactly how that works. But I'm going to look into it more. Maybe for SFS. I'm not really in investing into another generic medieval fantasy rule set.
I find that Organized Play just doesn't mesh well with Conventions. The organized-play groups tend to take over a large room and just run things according to their own organization and table numbers and even times get moved around. I no longer play AL at conventions. I did try PFS and SFS this year and found that they were better organized, but I was still confused about the need to check in with the host at one of the doors to the big room and ended up at the wrong table because the table number on the ticket doesn't match how they actually organized the tables. Better signage would be a simply way to make the experience more welcoming to players who are new to the organization. But this is a small complaint. I enjoyed the DM and fellow players of both my Pathfinder 2.0 playtest and my Starfinder game and they started and ended on time. Which was a revelation given my AL experiences at the same Convention.
It seems the most AL play is for long-term campaigns. It is not always possible to find one shots being run.
My best experiences with AL are their EPICS. Especially when they are organized independently at a FLGS rather than a Convention. The most recent EPIC I played was a fund raiser at local gaming store and it was some of the most fun I've had playing D&D ever. It was also well organized with their own online signup system and well marked tables. The DMs and organizers did an amazing job and I enjoyed all my fellow players. I will go to every future event like this that they organize (as long as its independent and not at a Convention). My ONLY complaint is that I will only ever be able to play in the first tier.
Because I see a need, I'm thinking of running my own one shots. I would organize via meet up and have some geared for new players and some for only experienced players. Basically, I'm thinking 6-hour adventures for four players. It would be RAW PHB and DMG and would NOT use organized play rules. Players would have to select from a pregen.
I played a Dungeon Crawl Classics game at a recent convention that was run like this and it was such a breath of fresh air. It was so fun. I really wish there were more opportunities like this for 5e. I have enjoyed some amazing one-shot games in many other systems. I always hit the meetup.com groups when I travel and have some downtime, which has introduced me to some pretty obscure systems. But I find it difficult to find non-AL one shots for 5e. It is a shame. I think many 5e players who only have access to public play are missing out of an entirely different play experience for 5e.
I'm not saying that AL is a bad experience. If you can play regularly and find a good group, it can be a lot of fun. But for more casual and intermittent players, I don't think it provides the best experience.
