Question about cheating

[thethain]

I am not really looking to report a dm/players. But I want to know what I am supposed to do as a player if I participate in a game that I do not feel like the rules of AL were followed. I joined a game that was supposed to be a chapter from a hardcover and it seemed like we were extremely rushed through it and basically most of the encounters were avoided.

The game was listed as a continuation, and I know DM's are given more leeway on hardcovers to adjust for the variances that may have happened in the campaign. But it felt like a loot grab.

I know there's a section in the guide for DMs to remove cheaters from their game, but is there anything officially available to just not record a game for a player if you feel like it was in violation of the rules?

At the end of the day I know its just the honor system so no one knows if I just remove it from my log, I would just like to know if that is officially an option. My view is that the game wasn't actually an AL game since it didn't follow AL guidelines, so it shouldn't be on the log.

 

[Pauper]

You've hit on a solid solution -- there's really no 'official' way to report this kind of play (which seems, from your description, to be a way around the rule that you only get rewards for playing a full chapter of a hardcover rather than individual encounters), but if you're uncomfortable getting the benefit of such play, refusing to take the benefits from the session isn't something that's considered 'illegal' by AL rules, as far as I'm aware.

You should still log the session with the specific encounters you played through, since your character wouldn't be legal to take rewards from the same encounters you played in that session at some other time. (In a hardcover adventure, it's a bit harder to enforce the 'you played this, thus can't play it again' than it is in a stand-alone AL adventure, and it's kind of defeating the spirit of what you're trying to do here if you say 'well, I didn't get rewarded for that one time I played these encounters, so it's OK if I get the rewards now'.)

Just my $0.02US, though.

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Pauper

 

[Warmaster Horus]

...to be a way around the rule that you only get rewards for playing a full chapter of a hardcover rather than individual encounters...

Where is this rule (I searched the DDALDMG, DDALPG and DDALFAQ for the word chapter)? I agree that rewards need to be earned. But some of those HC chapters are honking huge - SKT Chapter 3 comes to mind.

 

[thethain]

Where is this rule (I searched the DDALDMG, DDALPG and DDALFAQ for the word chapter)? I agree that rewards need to be earned. But some of those HC chapters are honking huge - SKT Chapter 3 comes to mind.

Read the latest faq 6.1 P14:

Can I run Single Chapters of a hard cover as a one off?
Yes. You may not, however, run individual encounters as one-off adventures. This rule is designed to facilitate play—not teh lewtz.

Basically a single chapter is the smallest you can run of a hardcover. That said, some chapters are simple impossible to run as a one off. They simply aren't designed around it. Also worth mentioning, is if a chapter is a particular area, theres nothing forcing the players to continue after they get to the part they care about.

 

[Undrhil]

In other words, if the other players were aware of the way the DM was running and they were ok with just steamrolling the encounters or skipping them, then it was a legal session. Just because you weren't happy with how it turned out, doesn't mean it wasn't legal.

What was it about the gameplay or the session that makes you think it shouldn't be considered a legal session?

 

[thethain]

In other words, if the other players were aware of the way the DM was running and they were ok with just steamrolling the encounters or skipping them, then it was a legal session. Just because you weren't happy with how it turned out, doesn't mean it wasn't legal.

What was it about the gameplay or the session that makes you think it shouldn't be considered a legal session?

Specifically, we encountered NPCs that were not in the hardcover, and every encounter beyond the boss was removed or changed to be neutral. (IE a Wizard who is written to attack intruders on sight just talks to the players, without the players even attempting to talk first)

 

[Pauper]

Where is this rule (I searched the DDALDMG, DDALPG and DDALFAQ for the word chapter)? I agree that rewards need to be earned. But some of those HC chapters are honking huge - SKT Chapter 3 comes to mind.

Thethain found the reference in the current FAQ.

Ultimately, the question is, 'can I refuse to take the rewards from a game I consider sketchy?' I see no reason that the answer can't be 'yes, as long as you log the game regardless'. Simply saying, 'I'm going to pretend I didn't play this game' opens up a number of possible abuses, IMO.

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Pauper

 

[Warmaster Horus]

Saw the reference but it doesn't compel the play of entire chapters, just prohibits cherry picking individual encounters as I read it. Definitely some shenanigans going on out there, though.

 

[thethain]

Saw the reference but it doesn't compel the play of entire chapters, just prohibits cherry picking individual encounters as I read it. Definitely some shenanigans going on out there, though.

Was a facebook post that said the smallest official unit of play was a chapter, its where the FAQ quote about lootz came from.

I do agree that things like that should be officially notated in documents, not just passing comments in fleeting message board formats.

 

[Pauper]

Saw the reference but it doesn't compel the play of entire chapters, just prohibits cherry picking individual encounters as I read it.

You might want to re-read it:

Can I Run Single Chapters of the Hardcover Adventures as One-Off Adventures?
Yes. You may not, however, run individual encounters as one-off adventures.

Since you can't run individual encounters in a chapter as a one-off adventure, regardless of how many individual encounters you consider part of your one-off, you must run the entire chapter if you want to run an encounter from that chapter. You're right that you can't 'cherry-pick' specific encounters to run, but that directly means that, if you run an encounter in a chapter, you are committed to running the entire chapter, because otherwise you are 'cherry-picking' encounters. You can do one or the other -- there's no third option here.

The rule still isn't perfect -- what's the difference between 'not running' a part of a chapter and the PCs simply not going to a particular set of encounters in a chapter? -- but it's clear the intent is not to say 'hey, let's just play the encounter in Out of the Abyss with the sunsword (so I can get it) and then leave the Underdark'. If you want to run something "for the lewts" (a direct quote from the FAQ), then you have to run the entire chapter in which the lewts appear, not just a couple of encounters. Again, spirit versus letter of the rule.

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Pauper