Check out the Season 4 Sneak Previews!

[ArlenFrostlockes]

Coredump - Yes - I agree that it can go amazingly well - I have already posted in another thread about how we plan to tackle this season. launch product going into the book on wed nights, AL adventures purchased as a group on Saturday afternoons. two separate characters for each day. I just do not know what to do should a new player(s) show up in April on saturday. we either have to turn them away, which IMHO is not an option, or we start from the beginning thus effectively throwing away two months of a 6 month campaign season, or we just not play the 4th season stuff.

 

[Coredump]

I don't see the difference from any other season..... If you are playing tier 1, you give them a pregen and play.
If you are playing tier 2, they can't play in either case.

 

[ArlenFrostlockes]

we have a policy in place - we will never turn away anyone who wants to play - someone shows up and we are in T-2, we will roll new characters in order to include the new player - just good ambassadorship - I cannot imagine any scenario where an AL DM or table would turn away a new player just because the table is at t-2 unless it is at a con. All of us started playing because a table and DM made room for us to play. Is not gaining new players a good thing? Turning someone away does not make sense as that person will probably never show up again and probably not have pleasant things to say about us.

That being said, I can see at least half the players we have being frustrated that we would have to start at the beginning to include a new player. Anyhow - we will see how this will play out soon enough.

 

[Coredump]

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That being said, I can see at least half the players we have being frustrated that we would have to start at the beginning to include a new player. Anyhow - we will see how this will play out soon enough.

Well.... thats kind of my point. You would almost always have to replay a mod if a new person shows up. You are doing the same thing anyway. It doesn't matter if the 'old mod' is 2-8 or 4-3.

You make it sound like you only have one table.... if that is the case, and you guys are playing T2, and a new person shows up, you have to replay an old tier 1, and if they come back the next week, you have to replay another Tier 1, etc etc until they finally don't show up, or get to level 5.

It is the same situation now. If they show up, you need to replay an older mod, if they keep showing up, you have to keep replaying older mods. I'm not sure I see the problem.

Now, if you are really concerned about a second PC getting 'locked' in Ravenloft.... play different Tier 1 mods, until he gets enough XP to play tier 2, then you can go back to your previous PCs.

 

[kalani]

What Coredump said......

I get the impression that you are under the understanding that players must play the newest content each season? If this is true, it is an incorrect assumption. Each season, the new players guide introduces the current rules for AL, as well as the new story origin. If any rules change between seasons, those rules must be followed.

For example: In season 1 characters were allowed to choose maximum gold for their class with which to purchase equipment. This option was revoked in season 2 and all new characters must now use starting gear from class and background - this includes new Tyranny of Dragons characters. Only those characters which were created in season 1 (not just with a ToD story origin) could purchase starting gear using max gold.

Any character, from any story origin, can play any adventure, at any time. All adventures released since the start of season 1 are still playable at any time. If/When a season's adventures are retired the admins will give plenty of warning that this will occur (most likely a full season's warning) - but at this junction, all adventures and all story origins are legal.

You can play any of the following adventures each season:

• Hardcovers: LMoP, HotDQ, RoT, PotA, OotA - and Curse of Strahd (upon release)
• DDAL Adventures: DDEX 1-1 to DDEX 3-13. You can also play DDEX 3-14 to 3-16, and DDAL 4-1 to 4-14 upon release.
• DDAL Epics: DDEP1 to DDEP4 (convention exclusives)
• DDAO (Author Only): DDAO1 to DDAO6? These mods are debuting at Winter Fantasy as we speak, but are restricted-play events.
• DDAL Launch Events: Death House will be the first such event.

Retired: DDEN1 - Hoard of the Dragon Queen, DDEN2 - Princes of the Apocalypse, DDEN3 - Out of the Abyss.
You can still play these adventures by purchasing the hardcovers, but it is no longer legal to play the pdf encounters version of these adventures.

 

[ArlenFrostlockes]

Kalani, we will see how this plays out next month. I am sure there are still things being worked out before the launch so I will wait and see.

 

[skerritthegreen]

I do not think some folks here are taking into account that whats happening this season is a complete change to how we have done things in the past. encounters/expeditions are rebranded, Monetization of AL adventures, and what appears to be a restricted campaign season that goes away from the plug and play we utilize to introduce new players. please take that into account before you reply.

As we have said in the past, "Nothing is locked in stone and we DO plan to change things up every season or two."

 

[Eltab]

Despite the inevitable accusations of "meta-gaming", the Admins SHOULD put out word which module(s) have a / the Ravenloft Exit in them. So we know which modules to pre-schedule to properly finish the Season. Within the module, explain to the DM where to find the Exit, and how to properly signpost it.
Some groups will want to completely play out the adventure first, some groups will want to make a bee-line to the Exit; surely an adventure's flowchart can accommodate both.

As noted above, an 'off-camera escape hatch' which takes like 500 GP and/or 60 Downtime days would be a reasonable Plan B.

 

[RCanine]

As noted above, an 'off-camera escape hatch' which takes like 500 GP and/or 60 Downtime days would be a reasonable Plan B.

Agree, although it really needs to be 0 gp / 10 days max to be worth having; otherwise characters will still end up stuck. Either play nice and make it easy, or play hardball and don't have it at all, but a milquetoast middleground is not worth having, IMO.

 

[CapnZapp]

Agree, although it really needs to be 0 gp / 10 days max to be worth having; otherwise characters will still end up stuck. Either play nice and make it easy, or play hardball and don't have it at all, but a milquetoast middleground is not worth having, IMO.

I believe the intent is to reward the character that escapes in game.

If that reward is a mere 0 GP and 10 downtime days, then such an escape would hardly be worth pursuing. Presumably you need to make sacrifices (in turning away game content in order to prioritize your escape), and you can't expect players to make those hard choices to save a mere 0 GP and 10 downtime days.

Besides, if it is that easy to escape, why have the prison at all?

No, since the intention for the season is to make you feel captured in a domain of dread, I believe such a low escape fee is unlikely.

Your other option is equally unreasonable. Not offering an escape at all is clearly not on the table.