Has the RPGA failed?

[MerricB]

Incidentally, the RPGA is sponsoring a couple of "write your own adventure" ideas at present.

Mark of Heroes: DM's Mark
One of these is normally set up each month. The DM gets to write their own Eberron adventure (the PC level is determined by the ongoing campaign) and run it for their players; can be used in Conventions, Game Days, Retail Play or Home Games. The XP/Gold granted by the adventure is tracked online and is significant to the PCs in the ongoing campaign.

Worldwide D&D Day
Saturday, November 5th, 2005. Details are on the Wizards site. In addition to providing an adventure (Fane of the Drow, sounds like), DMs can run their own adventure, and players and DMs score RPGA reward points for it. This is basically a Retail Play game - the games are meant (primarily) to be run in your FLGS.

Cheers!

 

[JoeGKushner]

Maybe I don't quite "get" the RPGA, but why do they even bother doing their own adventures? All I've heard are terrible things about the ones they've got. Why don't they just make official picks of published adventures and run them into a series somehow? It would help the adventure-publishing industry and get people playing some great games.

Do you know if anyone has contacted them about something like t hat? And how would it work? I don't think that the GM pays for the adventurers, so who would wind up eating the cost of the pregenerated adventure?

 

[MerricB]

Do you know if anyone has contacted them about something like t hat? And how would it work? I don't think that the GM pays for the adventurers, so who would wind up eating the cost of the pregenerated adventure?

It's been done for d20 Modern by your friendly people at The Game Mechanics.

See here: The Bronze Head campaign. (At least, I think that's what you meant).

You have to buy the (pdf) adventures from TGM, then you can run them at RPGA sanctioned events (conventions, game days, retail and home games) until the end of 2007.

Cheers!

 

[MerricB]

Maybe I don't quite "get" the RPGA, but why do they even bother doing their own adventures? All I've heard are terrible things about the ones they've got. Why don't they just make official picks of published adventures and run them into a series somehow? It would help the adventure-publishing industry and get people playing some great games.

Well, first they have to find good published adventures that can be run in a 4-5 hour block. That's not easy.

Most of the problems that occur with RPGA adventures are due to their convention-like format. I don't know of all that many published adventures that would work well in such a manner.

Cheers!

 

[Bill Muench]

The RPGA only produces the adventures for Legacy of the Green Regent and Mark of Heroes, plus the classics. They facilitate the release of adventures by Living Campaigns.

Not entirely true. Most of the LoGR and MoH mods are written by freelancers, rather than paid RPGA staff.

 

[Belen]

My main problem with the RPGA has always been the added rules to play the game. I remember attending a RPGA mod with my wife. One of my gaming group members was huge into the RPGA and wanted us to try it. We made our character and wrote histories. The DM (our friend) ignored the history and the mod was a basic railroad full of box text. You had to finish the adventure within a 4 hour time frame or you could not get full XP for the encounter. We could do nothing outside the mod. The rest of the players did not even bother to learn our names. They refered to us by our character class.

It was disappointing and boring. We have never considered the RPGA since.

 

[Waylander the Slayer]

PirateCat, what you stated has been pretty much my impression as well of RPGA. Living campaigns are a good idea, but they do not "help" in the learning or recruiting process or add to the business model in anyway. As you stated, there is a tremendous benifit in the "one shot" ideas and i have seen the benifits of that as a DM - the comments sheet was a wonderful tool. The current model might increase the sales of certain products, but they do not attract new gamers or help improve a GM thus making the whole gaming experience better and more wothwhile.

Ultimately it is a good GM that keeps a game going, helps sell products, attract new players etc. and there is nothing out there that helps "train" one to be good at this. In many ways it is more challenging than being a director of a movie.

 

[MerricB]

My main problem with the RPGA has always been the added rules to play the game. I remember attending a RPGA mod with my wife. One of my gaming group members was huge into the RPGA and wanted us to try it. We made our character and wrote histories. The DM (our friend) ignored the history and the mod was a basic railroad full of box text. You had to finish the adventure within a 4 hour time frame or you could not get full XP for the encounter. We could do nothing outside the mod. The rest of the players did not even bother to learn our names. They refered to us by our character class.

It was disappointing and boring. We have never considered the RPGA since.

Indeed. You came up against the basic difference between a tournament adventure and a home game - oh, and you had a crappy set of players.

I've come across RPGA adventures that allow a huge amount of freedom for the players, and ones that railroad tightly. (I've seen the same traits in published adventures, actually). Being in a convention format makes things worse.

Cheers!

 

[MerricB]

Ultimately it is a good GM that keeps a game going, helps sell products, attract new players etc. and there is nothing out there that helps "train" one to be good at this. In many ways it is more challenging than being a director of a movie.

The best way to become a good DM is to have good DMs when you play, and to DM a lot yourself. Experience is the key.

The RPGA tries to help DMs be DMs, but - eventually - relies on gamers to help other gamers. It's nice to say, "the RPGA should do more", but what can they really do?

If they required training from other RPGA DMs or the like, I'd never be running RPGA games, and that'd be 10 people who wouldn't get any D&D.

Cheers!

 

[JoeGKushner]

It's been done for d20 Modern by your friendly people at The Game Mechanics.

See here: The Bronze Head campaign. (At least, I think that's what you meant).

You have to buy the (pdf) adventures from TGM, then you can run them at RPGA sanctioned events (conventions, game days, retail and home games) until the end of 2007.

Cheers!

With standard RPGA adventurers, does the GM pay for the adventure, or are they provided by the RPGA?