Has the RPGA failed?

[Belen]

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!

Well, we played at someone's house. I do not go to conventions, so I have little experience with them.

 

[MerricB]

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

Well, all Living Greyhawk, Classic adventures, Legacy of the Green Regent and Mark of Heroes adventures are downloaded as PDFs from the RPGA site for free by the DM. (add to that Living Force and other campaign styles as well). I guess those are the standard adventures you play with the RPGA.

Certain adventures - published or Dungeon adventures - cost the normal amount to buy the printed material, but to run them as a sanctioned game costs nothing more.

The Bronze Head d20 Modern adventures are regular pdf commercial adventures that can also be run as RPGA games (for no extra charge than the regular cost of the adventure).

Does that answer your question, Joe?

Cheers!

 

[MerricB]

Well, we played at someone's house. I do not go to conventions, so I have little experience with them.

Don't be misled by the fact you played at home - that was a convention-style adventure. (I rarely go to conventions myself, but I've been to a couple in the dim past).

The RPGA adventures are (in general) designed to be played at conventions, but also can be ordered for home play.

Cheers!

 

[Kanegrundar]

I looked into becoming a member recently. I never even really considered joining years ago since I had a core group and I didn't go to any conventions, but when they put out that by being a member you can download any of the adventures ran I wanted in. However, I rarely have a chance to get to an RPGA event since there are only a few ran near me each month. I would have thought they would have online registration, but nope you have to get a membership form at an RPGA event. Color me unimpressed. I guess I'll do without.

Has the RPGA failed, not sure. I can't even get in the door to find out.

Kane

 

[JoeGKushner]

Well, all Living Greyhawk, Classic adventures, Legacy of the Green Regent and Mark of Heroes adventures are downloaded as PDFs from the RPGA site for free by the DM. (add to that Living Force and other campaign styles as well). I guess those are the standard adventures you play with the RPGA.

Certain adventures - published or Dungeon adventures - cost the normal amount to buy the printed material, but to run them as a sanctioned game costs nothing more.

The Bronze Head d20 Modern adventures are regular pdf commercial adventures that can also be run as RPGA games (for no extra charge than the regular cost of the adventure).

Does that answer your question, Joe?

Cheers!

Yes. It seems that the majority of the material is free to the GM. If a company were to want to be RPGA or have the RPGA associated with them, and had to do it at cost, what would the motiviation for the DM who know has to pay for it, to purchase it for the RPGA game, when they're apparently many free adventures?

 

[heirodule]

I also don't understand why the RPGA wastes time on adventures when an entire industry of professional adventures has been and will continue to be produced. People need the RPGA to find games but they don't need the RPGA to write those games for them. As we've seen on this forum, most people prefer homebrew.

I might prefer homebrew, but I also get alot of kick out of being a part of some kind of 'official' Grayhawk campaign where my actions affect the storyline and plot (in a very limited way).

I also like writing greyhawk stuff and having it be enjoyed by others who are formally involved in an official campaign.

 

[MerricB]

I looked into becoming a member recently. I never even really considered joining years ago since I had a core group and I didn't go to any conventions, but when they put out that by being a member you can download any of the adventures ran I wanted in. However, I rarely have a chance to get to an RPGA event since there are only a few ran near me each month. I would have thought they would have online registration, but nope you have to get a membership form at an RPGA event. Color me unimpressed. I guess I'll do without.

You must have missed the relevant info online (and it is there; I just checked).

What you want to do is take the online Herald DM test:
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=rpga/gmprogram/herald

That makes you a member, and eligible to set up events. (It takes a few weeks for processing after the test is passed). When you're a Herald level DM, you can then get membership cards for your players. (after setting up an event, e-mail them at rpga-sanctioning@wizards.com; it normally takes less than 2 weeks to get the cards mailed out)

I've *never* played at a convention as a RPGA member. I've only been running home games (and a couple of game days I set up myself). I joined online, and then used the cards they sent me to sign up the 20+ people I've played with around here.

Cheers!

 

[Kanegrundar]

I must have missed that. I'll give it a shot.

Thanks, Merric!

Kane

 

[MerricB]

Yes. It seems that the majority of the material is free to the GM. If a company were to want to be RPGA or have the RPGA associated with them, and had to do it at cost, what would the motiviation for the DM who know has to pay for it, to purchase it for the RPGA game, when they're apparently many free adventures?

Quality of the adventure?

I'll just remind everyone that I don't speak for the RPGA in this. However, imagine Cirrem Games (I've just made that up) wanted to make their commercial adventure "The Crypt-Maze of Karak'zhn" (I've partially made that up) a RPGA adventure you can run in tournaments and the like.

Let's assume it's a 32-page printed adventure that sells for $9.99. Someone buys it in the store, and then decides to run it in a tournament. The RPGA has decided that this is a thing they wanted to do, so it's on the database and so it is sanctioned for the tournament. (Probably giving only 1 reward point, but anyway...)

The company benefits from this because the adventure is being exposed to more players - some of which they hope will go out and buy the adventure. (I loved that one! I must have it!)

The RPGA benefits from this because it's a great adventure and keeps people interested in D&D... which is one the prime motivants behind the RPGA. (Promotion of D&D)

Why wouldn't the DM just get a regular free RPGA adventure? Well, he or she could. However, we can make the assumption that some out there would like to do this in a different way. Perhaps the Crypt-Maze is a much better adventure than that normally put out by the RPGA. Perhaps being able to see it first makes a difference. (A flaw in the tournament ordering system).

What mucks this up, of course, is that you can't assume that published adventures haven't been already read by the players, which is why they are only available for home games (for the most part).

The other problematical part is this: the RPGA needs to read the adventure to see that it is suitable for RPGA play. It's no good if the adventure makes D&D less popular due to some reason or another. (There's the somewhat laughable problem of being a bad module, but there is also the problem of inappropriate material).

Cheers!

 

[MerricB]

I must have missed that. I'll give it a shot.

Thanks, Merric!

You're very welcome!

Be advised that the wait for your membership card after the test is successfully completed *can* be annoyingly lengthy; it wasn't for me, but they've had a few very irritating delays of late.

Cheers!