RPGA tips?

[kerbarian]

A friend of mine is going to be judging a bunch of D&D minis stuff at DDXP 2010, and he convinced me to come along. I've played lots of D&D, but never at a convention before. I figured I'd create a new LFR character and try it out.

I'm curious how it works, logistically. Everyone registered for an event shows up, and then we somehow get divided up into tables of five? How are the groups usually formed? What happens when the number of players isn't a multiple of five? Are there often issues with party composition (e.g. no leader)?

Is there anything else I should be aware of, aside from the RPGA and LFR rules?

 

[Nebten]

The tables are between 4 and 6 people and games are set up by level. The group are typically either formed before hand or mustered together at the time of the event. If its a muster, pretty much you call out what kind of PC you have and they try to form a group with everybody else. As for party composisiton, it depends on who's there. You may not get an optium set up (ie 2 strikers, leader, defender, control, etc) but that is most of the fun, trying to use what you got.

As for anything else, just make sure you make your character before hand using the RPGA Guidelines and get your RPGA card before your first game or as the coordinator for one. Otherwise, have fun!

 

[Mithreinmaethor]

What Nebten said. One thing to remember is your character/characters have to start at 1st level

 

[Mirtek]

What Nebten said. One thing to remember is your character/characters have to start at 1st level

That and checking the LFR CCG to see which options are allowed in LFR and which aren't.

 

[kerbarian]

That and checking the LFR CCG to see which options are allowed in LFR and which aren't.

The LFR rules are actually more liberal than most of the games I've played in (specifically, allowing Dragon content), so it will be fun to try some of that stuff out.

I'm thinking I'll try a wizard with spells from Dragons 374 & 381, though I'm a little worried that in a pool of people trying to put together viable parties, controller might not be a high-demand role. I'd also love to try a hybrid artificer/swordmage, which would be good at covering all the bases, but sadly the artificer doesn't have hybrid rules yet.

 

[Mirtek]

I'd also love to try a hybrid artificer/swordmage, which would be good at covering all the bases, but sadly the artificer doesn't have hybrid rules yet.

Actually the hybrid rules are not yet LFR-legal, however they will become so on January 19th, when the final PHB3 version will be released as debut content

 

[kerbarian]

Actually the hybrid rules are not yet LFR-legal, however they will become so on January 19th, when the final PHB3 version will be released as debut content

Really? I thought Dragon content (including playtest classes) was legal "Upon release of compiled issue". There's even text in there about how if you're using a playtest class, it may change when the final version is published.

 

[chitzk0i]

Actually the hybrid rules are not yet LFR-legal, however they will become so on January 19th, when the final PHB3 version will be released as debut content

May become legal. The LFR campaign managers may decide that hybrids aren't suited for LFR. It would be the first non-setting-specific rules system that they've rejected, but it could happen.

Really? I thought Dragon content (including playtest classes) was legal "Upon release of compiled issue". There's even text in there about how if you're using a playtest class, it may change when the final version is published.

Yes, but the hybrid rules were not included in the compiled issue. Since it wasn't actually compiled, it's not LFR legal. It's a weird, rules-lawyer-y way of doing it, but that's the way it is.

 

[ffanxii4ever]

Yes, but the hybrid rules were not included in the compiled issue. Since it wasn't actually compiled, it's not LFR legal. It's a weird, rules-lawyer-y way of doing it, but that's the way it is.

If by compiled issue you mean the pdf released at the end of the month, um, yeah it was released in a compiled issue. However the line within the article that says "Hybrid characters are not allowed in RPGA sanctioned events at this time." kinda lets you know that Hybrid characters aren't in the RPGA yet

 

[Mirtek]

Really? I thought Dragon content (including playtest classes) was legal "Upon release of compiled issue". There's even text in there about how if you're using a playtest class, it may change when the final version is published.

The hybrid article was an exception. It's noted in the text of the two playtest articles. However this will change later this month when the final rules will appear in Dragon as debut content.

May become legal. The LFR campaign managers may decide that hybrids aren't suited for LFR. It would be the first non-setting-specific rules system that they've rejected, but it could happen.

Given the current state of the RPGA/LFR I don't actually believe that they still have this power. It seems more as if WotC marketing department is simply telling them "we release it, LFR has to use it".

Whether or not that's the case, the campaign managers have already stated that the hybrid rules will become legal on January 19th in a post on the RPGA board.

Yes, but the hybrid rules were not included in the compiled issue. Since it wasn't actually compiled, it's not LFR legal. It's a weird, rules-lawyer-y way of doing it, but that's the way it is.

Actually the hybrid rules were included in the compiled issue. However the article specifically noted that they still won't be allowed in LFR.

However the thing with stuff not appearing in the compiled issue is also important, because this was the case with some other Dragon content (e.g. MP2 playtest and the first appearance of the Wilden were in individual Dragon articles that were not compiled into the month's end issue). So don't only rely on the CB giving Dragon XX as the source, also check the compiled issue if it's truly included there.