DMing in Adventurer's League?

[HonorBoundSamurai632]

My buddy has just opened a comic book store here in town. They are now listed on the WoTC site as an official distributor. I stopped in tonight at his shop and we were like 2 little girls at a boyband concert talking about Curse of Strahd. He asked me that once they get Adventurer's League going, if I'd be interested in DM'ing at one of the tables. My question to all of you is, have any of you done that? What was it like? Are there tons of restrictions that I need to know? I have the 3rd edition Greyhawk Folio, Greyhawk Campaign book, and The Fright at Tristor, living campaign books and I see some of the restrictions that they listed in those books ..... are they like that for this edition? I haven't answered him yet because I was hoping to get one of his tables so that I could run something more ...... me. My idea was to begin with the Starter Set adventure, (which should take them to 4th-5h level,) then move onto Curse of Strahd and once they return to The Realms (hopefully the adventure starts in the Realms,) move into the Tyranny of Dragons storyline (maybe Out of the Abyss.) Adventurer's League wouldn't allow that would they? (not a big fan of The Realms, but hey ..... that's all that is available ..... until Barovia!)

 

[darjr]

I really am gung ho about the Adventurers League but there is nothing wrong with just running your own game at the store. Just make sure any players know before hand.

That being said AL does have restrictions on what folks can play and some on what the DM can do and hand out. I think it's worth the portability of characters however. A friend of mine has a character that I see at my table from time to time and to know that his character can and has been at other tables with other GM's without a hitch is pretty cool.

Check out the http://dndadventurersleague.org/ for more details. It's late and I just finished a fantastic game for some folks I haven't had a chance to run for in a while. It was pretty awesome seeing some of their characters hit my table again.

 

[GX.Sigma]

My question to all of you is, have any of you done that? What was it like?

I tried it once (back when it was D&D Encounters), and it wasn't a great experience. Mostly because not all the people who showed up were fun to game with, unfortunately.

Are there tons of restrictions that I need to know?

Here's the official guide: http://media.wizards.com/2015/downloads/dnd/ALPGv3.pdf Doesn't seem too bad.

My idea was to begin with the Starter Set adventure, (which should take them to 4th-5h level,) then move onto Curse of Strahd and once they return to The Realms (hopefully the adventure starts in the Realms,) move into the Tyranny of Dragons storyline (maybe Out of the Abyss.) Adventurer's League wouldn't allow that would they?

I think you could do that in Adventurers League. All of WotC's adventures are AL-legal, and I don't think it matters what order you play them in.

Don't take my word for it, though. I summon @Alphastream!!!

 

[ClockworkNinja]

I DM encounters at my FLGS myself. As with any D&D game, the experience can vary wildly depending on who is playing. At my table, I almost never saw the same player two weeks in a row, which made it hard to maintain any sort of ongoing campaign storyline, as well as to set up fights for PCs of wildly different levels.

Curse of Strahd seems to be promising to adapt to this with a more episodic format, so it may be a moot point by the time you sign up and sit down. There is usually significant leeway for you to do your own thing, but I recommend focusing on objectives and stories that can be resolved within a single session.

 

[jonathonhawke]

I believe that some of the WOTC adventures have different character creation rules for AL. I'm sure that the ones for Tyranny of Dragons are good for all the others, though.

 

[ccs]

You can do better by just running your own game on one of the tables.

 

[KahlessNestor]

There is an official Adventure League forum here on ENWorld where several admins and coordinators would be happy to answer questions. The gist of it is in the Player's Guide that has been linked, however.

I don't usually find it too restricting. It's like volunteering for community service, allowing people who might not have a group, or steady, reliable time to play, an opportunity to do so, and I think that's a good thing.

You can play any or all of the published adventures (though each starts over at level 1), or run the shorter AL modules from the DMGuild.