Have You played In An Official D&D Adventurer's League Event?

Never have. The WotC locator tool is useless - it shows over a dozen stores in my area that participate in Adventurer's League, but most of them actually don't. When I call to check, half of them haven't heard of it before, and the other half said they used to, but stopped a year ago or more. There is one store in the next town over that has an active running game, but it's a 45 minute drive away, and happens right in the middle of my workday. My normal gaming group once tried to run a home AL game, but we found the restrictions too restricting for no benefit.

 

[rooneg]

Most of the D&D I play these days is AL. It lets me maintain some ongoing characters that level up over time, but doesn't require me to make it to a regular game, which doesn't fit with my schedule. That means I can drop in to an occasional Wednesday night game or Saturday Game Day sort of thing, if I happen to be free. Honestly though, most of what I end up playing is at 3 or 4 regional cons I make it to every year. There's a great crowd of people who show up for that sort of thing in the New England area, and that alone is reason enough to show up and play.

Over the past few years I've progressed from just playing to also DMing. At this point I end up going about 50/50 player vs DM when I'm at a con, everything from 1 hour intro games to epics. I also occasionally DM online, which has its pluses and its minuses.

 

[DMAesh]

I have run the only AL event here once a month for the past 5 or 6 months. Not having much of a community here on my island makes it difficult. I would love to play, but the one time that I tried going for one in Oregon ended up being for tier 2 when I only had a level 1 character so I got turned away.

 

[rooneg]

And now that I've gone back and read the thread...

Yeah, there are definitely some issues you can run into in organized play. There's the 12 year old kid who is being a 12 year old kid. There's "that guy" who doesn't actually know how his character's abilities work. There's the group of hyper-optimizer types with a stack of magic items who truck around to every con within driving distance to get awesome stuff for their characters. There's the DM who isn't close to prepared.

But all things considered, the positives outweigh the negatives for me. I get to actually play D&D. I get to have a few characters that I watch grow over time. I get to DM without having to write adventures myself. I don't have to feel like I need to be able to commit to a weekly event that'll run for months in order to occasionally sit down and have a good time. And on top of that, there are a lot of great people, both players and DMs, who are involved in AL. I've had plenty of fun on both sides of the table and I'm psyched that I actually have the free time to play next Wednesday!

 

[airwalkrr]

I organize D&D AL for my FLGS, and I also manage D&D AL events at GaMExpo every year in San Antonio. I believe AL is what you make of it. It feels like it is the most flexible organized play system ever laid out if you are a DM and it strikes an excellent balance for players with its Core +1 splatbook rule. I've DM'd and played in many games since its inception from home games with close family and friends to convention extravaganzas and Epics. There is really a lot to offer for everyone in a variety of settings. If you bristle at the very idea of structure, then you probably wouldn't like AL, but then again, I can't imagine you'd like such a carefully codified game like D&D 5e if that was you. I often recommend people new to D&D try out AL first then get into a homebrew game if they want more freedom. But for me it has simply been a fantastic way to meet new people, make friends and enjoy some great company.

 

[Mageman]

I have run the only AL event here once a month for the past 5 or 6 months. Not having much of a community here on my island makes it difficult. I would love to play, but the one time that I tried going for one in Oregon ended up being for tier 2 when I only had a level 1 character so I got turned away.

Check this out then.

https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?33615-Introductions-and-Season-5-Announcements


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[DMAesh]

Check this out then.

https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?33615-Introductions-and-Season-5-Announcements


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Thanks, Mageman! I have been having a heck of a time on Fantasy Grounds. When I checked it looked dead. Haven't been on FG since Pathfinder Society 3 or 4 years ago.

 

[Mageman]

Thanks, Mageman! I have been having a heck of a time on Fantasy Grounds. When I checked it looked dead. Haven't been on FG since Pathfinder Society 3 or 4 years ago.

There is tons of games. Be sure to check out the mini online convention in January FGdaze

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[DMAesh]

Thanks!

 

[Philth]

I play 3 days of AL sessions a week. I absolutely love the system where I can sit down with a random table with a level appropriate character and have a blast. I got started at this past years GenCon after a 30 year break. It blew my mind how streamlined and easy they made the game. It's next to impossible to have a bunch of friends consistently meet when you're older and have "lives" to deal with, so being able to pop in and out at will is a god send.

I truly mean it. AL is amazing, and I absolutely love everything about it.

I've played at two Cons this year, I'll be at GaryCon, GenCon, Dave's Con of the Vale, and GameholeCon again in 2017 to specifically play AL sessions.

I love it I love it I love it I love it I love it I love it I love it.

Edit: I should mention two of my sessions are a consistent group of folks at the local game store. Each consist of working through different books or seasons with a few other people dropping in and out sessions, while the third session is the current SKT modules where it's usually semi-random local folks. Two of those sessions are in-person while a third is using Roll20 and soon to be Fantasy Grounds thanks to the Steam holiday sale that just started.

 

[Mageman]

https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?97-FGDaze




Some of the games for the convention. Most conventions are free to play so all you need is the demo to play. Check out some cool one shots. I have found long term games with some of the people I met at the conventions.

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