Have you played any RPGA-sanctioned games in the past 3 months?

[Chingerspy]

I put every so often but not sure when I will play one again. I hold a DM card too but have never run an RPGA game myself.

I played Living Spycraft which was awesome and although I don't like paying to play (all LS has been played at sanctioned events - Conception & Plaistow) this was my best experience with the RPGA. I would probably pay to play Living Spycraft again sometime but would rather just play.

I also played a Living Greyhawk game at Conception 2004 in February. Worst game of D&D I've ever played and it cost me money. Hmm don't think I will be doing that again.

 

[Bagpuss]

I am surprised at the number of people who have never played in a RPGA game

I'm not, considering the majority of RPGA games are at conventions and the majority of roleplayers don't go to conventions.

 

[Bagpuss]

They alienated me when they gutted "Classic" events by removing pre-gen character personalities and interactions.

Was that an actually sort of executive RPGA decission? As I hadn't run RPGA games for the pervious 2 GenCon UKs but ran some this year.

I ran
D20 Modern - "Ghost in the Endzone" by Stan!
Characters had no backgrounds and no interelations with the rest of the party just statistics, feats, etc. Module mentioned a map but none was ever provided. If I was play testing that the first thing I would have done is give the character sheet back to the DM and tell him to finish it.

D&D Classic - "Cult of the Swamp Lord" by Sean K. Reynolds
Characters didn't even have character sheets just stat blocks that made it really hard for the players to find their information. But at least they had a Background, Appearance and Personality, and a single sentence on how they felt towards the other characters. The PCs were considerably over powered compared to the challenges they faced, all being Half-Dragons with a breath weapon.

Team Fun (D&D) - Holdling the Fort by Brian DiTullio
Easily the best senario when it came to the characters, each had a proper character sheet, plus additional sheets if they were spellcasters or had a familiar/animal companion. Then another with their character background and a several short paragraphs on their feelings each of the other characters. The adventure was a little to short however since there was virtually no combat in it to speak of we finished in 2 hours.

Team D&D Final - Shards of Eberron (Sharn) - no writer credit?
This was more a marketing tool than an adventure. First off for an convention game, you don't really want to be introducing a setting book the DM and players might well not own, let alone one that introduces all sorts of special rules, like Action Points, Dragonmarks. Then you recommend the D&D miniatures you should use for the adventure, funnily enough I didn't have the RARE Large Red Dragon from Dragoneye, but luckly one of the players had bought a GoL booster and got the Huge one. Thank god I didn't run the first round where I'ld need 3 Rare Halfling Outriders.

The adventure was made even more complex to run by setting it on a demi-plane of fire overlapping with the Prime Material plane, so all fire spells were empowered and enlarged, and characters suffered 1d8 damage every minute from the heat or if in metal armour were treated as if they were under the effects of the Heat Metal spell. So you had to keep track of this damage every round compare it with the players elemental resistance, then work out how much damage they actually took from the other fire attacks they were taking from the monsters. It was more like a maths lesson than an adventure. Still at least they did provide big full colour floor plans for the adventure.

Characters information was just a character sheet nothing more. Oh sorry it also told you which D&D miniature you should be using. But at least you didn't gain a bonus feat if you used the right miniature like they did with the sample characters for the Legend of the Green Regent adventures.

I can see why no writing credit was given, who would want to be associated with this 3 part monster of a marketing campaign.

Next year I don't intend to run any D&D adventures since they have just become a sales point and an exercise in maths.

 

[Etan Moonstar]

I have run RPGA-sanctioned games from time to time, although I haven't done so in the past three months (since I haven't gamed in the past three months--players have been too busy this quarter to commit ). While I don't often make it out to cons (too poor to afford travel/lodging), I do like the Home Game Day program, with its accompanying free adventures for download and DM rewards program.

 

[Bagpuss]

I've never seen the attraction of playing in the RPGA, even if I played a standard D&D game (which I don't). Why should someone else be judging me and my players for some measly pat on the head?

There is no judging in the RPGA anymore (except the Team event at conventions, and then its just adventure targets IE: party defeated monster XXX, to see who gets into the next round), you just play your game and earn reward points for playing.

I actually miss the feedback sheets they use to have. As a DM it was nice to see what players thought about your game. Now days all you do is fill in a sheet with each persons name and RPGA number.

 

[qstor]

I play, DM, and write modules for Living Greyhawk.
kingamy
Calgary AB Canada

What mods did you write?

I play, DM and have written modules too. I wrote the Year 4 LG core "Tropical Intrigue" and two intro modules.

This type thread comes up every so often. I enjoy the standard rules for LG, I had a few bad DM's in some home campaigns that would change the rules every other week and I didnt care for that.

The group of LG players I play with are great and I enjoy playing with them. I think some of the regions are great and its fun to play in them, others like Michigan are so-so.

I play LF, Living Kalamar, Green Regent, Dragonstar and Living Spycraft too I have had good experiences with all of those. I played Spycraft at GenCon Indy 2004 and it was one of the best games I've playe. I'm a little bummed that Living Dragonstar is dying, that was always my favorite campaign. Living Kalamar isn't as popular here in Michigan as it is in some parts of the US, thats another campaign that I like. The only one that I havne't gotten into is Living Arcanis cause I don't really care for the setting that much. I really like that Kalamar setting so that's been a big plus for me. Living Death I've played once thats pretty fun but I'm not as big into it as Living Greyhawk.

My answer for the other RPGA threads has always been, try it for yourself, if you don't like it, its NOT for everyone but some like it. Maybe Living Greyhawk might NOT be your thing but Living Force or Death might.

Mike

 

[smerwin29]

When our daughter was born in 2001, we decided that we needed a hobby to help us have some time for ourselves--as my wife would be home from work and has the tendency to get a bit stir crazy. We'd played DnD for years, so with the release of 3E, we thought we would give it a try again.

Unfortunately, there weren't a lot of players in our area, and none of them were looking for new players, and none we were interested in playing with who were. I'd run dozens and dozens of home campaigns over the years, but I had no time to do all the prep work with job and family and other obligations. This was when Living Greyhawk was getting started, and there were some semi-local players holding game days and conventions, so we thought we'd give the RPGA a try.

Perhaps we were just lucky, but our first experience was wonderful. The judges were great, which made the modules fun, and while the other players were a mixed bag, we were able to meet players who shared our interest and situation, and from that we were able to put together regular game days. I did find some of the RPGA rules and regulations off-putting, and some of the module writing was weak. So I got involved. First is was just volunteering to do some work for the LG Triad for my region, and one thing led to another. Now the RPGA is contacting me to work on their Special projects, and I'm working like a fiend trying to bring quality content to several RPGA campaigns, including Living Greyhawk, Living Kingdoms of Kalamar, and Eberron: Mark of Heroes.

The RPGA certainly isn't for everyone. Would I love to be in a great home campaign, like back in the day? I sure would. Nothing is better than that kind of gaming. But the RPGA, despite all its flaws, serves a purpose. For those looking for a game, it provides several campaigns where you can usually find a public game on any given weekend. For those who just want free content, you can basically run a home campaign by just using RPGA-sponsored content, without ever having to go to a convention or gameday. I would urge everyone to give it a try, with the understanding that it might not be for you. When you go to a convention or gameday, you have little control over the quality of the judges or other players. I've seen some horrendous judges and irritating players. But I've also made some good friends. And I've seen scarier people and worse judges at home games than at RPGA events too.

The RPGA is an option that some people might find useful and fun. And if you don't, you are that much wiser for it.

Regards,

Shawn

 

[qstor]

I can see why no writing credit was given, who would want to be associated with this 3 part monster of a marketing campaign.

I believe that members of the RPG team at WOTC like James Wyatt, Andy Collins and Keith Baker wrote the adventure.

Mike

 

[shadowlight]

I just started with the RPGA, and I've got to say it's a LOT more fun than I thought it would be.

For the 50% of the people on the poll who haven't tried it, definitely give it a try. You may be pleasantly surprised!

 

[slorak]

I quite enjoy Living Greyhawk. As noted above there are good adventures and bad as well as the quality of the DM - However for the most part they are quite enjoyable. The one aspect that I like the best is that I get to create my own character and take that character and develop him the way I want to as I go through adventures.

That was definitely the 1 aspect that I didn't care much for in the older RPGA games. This Gen Con Socal I am planning on giving Legacy of the Green Regent and the new Eberron game a try.