So, I am going to become a RPGA DM

[smilinggm]

Other comments and thoughts:

NO HOUSE RULES!!! use only the SRD and campaing approved rules. Stick to the RAW!!!

Each RPGA Campaign has its own set of rules. These rules detail character generation, item creation, banned/restricted spells and Items also other issues that have come up in the campaign. Usually very basic stuff. But usually nothing that changes the RAW.

I do admit that LG is a huge campaing, but I am not going to make the assumption that you are planning on playing LG. Might I Humbly Reccomend Living Arcanis! (See my sig above for more info)

So to the OP what campaing do you plan to start?

 

[Reynard]

I am kind of trying tofigure out what I want to pitch. it seems that the game club has one of each of the Xendrik Expeditions campaigns going, so I want to do something different. As I undersand it, Dungeon magazine adventures also count as RPGA adventures. Can I run the new Adventure Path as an RPGA campaign then? If not, what seems to be the 'best' campaign that attracts the most players and promises the most fun.

ALSO: I know that i am going to want to write scenarios at some point after getting established and comfotable with the process of RPGA DMing. How does this proces work, exactly? Can you run these yourself? Do they have to be in a specific campaign, or can they be general?

One last question for now: So, you get points for running games. What do those do for you? Do you have to have a certain number of points to run certain adventures? Is it just for bragging rights, or does it have a tangible efect?

Thanks a lot for the answers so far, everyone.

 

[D'karr]

I am kind of trying tofigure out what I want to pitch. it seems that the game club has one of each of the Xendrik Expeditions campaigns going, so I want to do something different. As I undersand it, Dungeon magazine adventures also count as RPGA adventures. Can I run the new Adventure Path as an RPGA campaign then? If not, what seems to be the 'best' campaign that attracts the most players and promises the most fun.

Yes, you can run the Dungeon adventures as part of an RPGA event. Keep in mind that they are usually much longer than a regular RPGA adventure, which is designed to be played in 4.5 hours. The RPGA is currently working on adapting RED HAND of DOOM for use as an RPGA adventure for the Living Greyhawk campaign. They have already adapted Fane of the Drow, also for Living Greyhawk

ALSO: I know that i am going to want to write scenarios at some point after getting established and comfotable with the process of RPGA DMing. How does this proces work, exactly? Can you run these yourself? Do they have to be in a specific campaign, or can they be general?

Yes, you can write your own scenarios. You can run a home game and report it as an RPGA event or you can submit your scenario to your Local Triad for inclusion as part of the Living Greyhawk campaign. You can also write your own scenario for the Mark of Heroes and Xendrik Expeditions campaigns, in that case they are known as DM's Mark adventures.

One last question for now: So, you get points for running games. What do those do for you? Do you have to have a certain number of points to run certain adventures? Is it just for bragging rights, or does it have a tangible efect?

If you have registered in the RPGA website to receive D&D Reward points you will receive point for playing or DMing. The only way to accumulate these points is to have the events properly reported to the RPGA. Your points accumulate throughout the year and you will receive certain "bennies" for participating in the RPGA. You will receive a hard plastic ID card after 20 points. You will receive Eberron Campaign cards that can be used in the Eberron campaigns and after approval some of them are available for use in LG. You will also receive alternate D&D miniatures with alternate paint schemes. The amount of stuff you receive is related to how many points you have accumulated.

Thanks a lot for the answers so far, everyone.

You're welcome. Hope that clarifies a little better.

 

[smilinggm]

I am kind of trying tofigure out what I want to pitch. it seems that the game club has one of each of the Xendrik Expeditions campaigns going, so I want to do something different. As I undersand it, Dungeon magazine adventures also count as RPGA adventures. Can I run the new Adventure Path as an RPGA campaign then? If not, what seems to be the 'best' campaign that attracts the most players and promises the most fun.

Yes you can run Certain Dungeon Magazine Adventures: in the front of the Mag you will find a BOX with RPGA codes for each mod in the mod in the mag. YOu have to log on to your account at RPGA and schedule your game day. Just remember you only have a short window to play the mods in Dungeon for RPGA poings.

ALSO: I know that i am going to want to write scenarios at some point after getting established and comfotable with the process of RPGA DMing. How does this proces work, exactly? Can you run these yourself? Do they have to be in a specific campaign, or can they be general?

If you are running for Xendrik Expeditions you can write a mod using RPGA guidelines a DM's Mark adventure. Also the Ebberron Mark of Heroes campaing also has a DM's Mark option. Basically the RPGA gives you guidelines and you write the mod, and you report it for points.

One last question for now: So, you get points for running games. What do those do for you? Do you have to have a certain number of points to run certain adventures? Is it just for bragging rights, or does it have a tangible efect?

Points if you get enough of them over time (a 3 to 6 month time) you can get physicaly rewards. Usually a mini or 2. Player Reward Cards (cards that give inplay bonus in certain RPGA events) and recently spell templates on mylar.

 

[Glyfair]

Yes you can run Certain Dungeon Magazine Adventures: in the front of the Mag you will find a BOX with RPGA codes for each mod in the mod in the mag. YOu have to log on to your account at RPGA and schedule your game day. Just remember you only have a short window to play the mods in Dungeon for RPGA poings.

Also note that the RPGA is horrible about updating their database. At least 3 times this year they failed to update their database so you can run the Dungeon adventures, leaving gaps where there were no legal Dungeon adventures you could run.

 

[Asmor]

Yes, you can write your own scenarios. You can run a home game and report it as an RPGA event or you can submit your scenario to your Local Triad for inclusion as part of the Living Greyhawk campaign. You can also write your own scenario for the Mark of Heroes and Xendrik Expeditions campaigns, in that case they are known as DM's Mark adventures.

Regarding this... This is something I've been thinking about since I first heard about the RPGA. How difficult is it to get set up just for running strictly home games? Do I need to jump through the same hoops as if I was going to run "public" ones? Do I need to come up with the scenarios and such ahead of time, or can I just go with my usual routine (which is, largely, winging it). Do I have to stick to the RAW, or can I use my usual house rules and such?

Basically, I'm curious about converting my regular game into an RPGA game so that me and my players can get a little free schwag.

I've never even played in an RPGA game before... Saturday, coincidentally, will be my first.

 

[Glyfair]

Regarding this... This is something I've been thinking about since I first heard about the RPGA. How difficult is it to get set up just for running strictly home games? Do I need to jump through the same hoops as if I was going to run "public" ones?

There are some limitations. Everyone must be an RPGA member. You must have a minimum of 4 players and a maximum of 6 players. You have to schedule the event a few days before hand.

Other than that, though, and there are no restrictions. Still, those restrictions seem somewhat arbitrary and annoying when you only have 3 players show up one week, or have a group of 7 players.

 

[MerricB]

Regarding this... This is something I've been thinking about since I first heard about the RPGA. How difficult is it to get set up just for running strictly home games? Do I need to jump through the same hoops as if I was going to run "public" ones? Do I need to come up with the scenarios and such ahead of time, or can I just go with my usual routine (which is, largely, winging it). Do I have to stick to the RAW, or can I use my usual house rules and such?

Doing just home games is fine. The hoops aren't quite as onerous (your players aren't likely to report you to the RPGA for doing things wrong), but if you play one of the D&D Campaigns you still need to pay attention to its rules, especially if your players want to use their characters with another DM.

As Glyfair notes, you do need your players to be members (fairly trivial, it's free and the RPGA sends out membership cards to registered DMs for their players), and the group needs to be DM plus 4-6 players.

You can also sanction your home D&D campaign, which is one of the things I do.

Cheers!

 

[Emirikol]

Regarding this... This is something I've been thinking about since I first heard about the RPGA. How difficult is it to get set up just for running strictly home games? Do I need to jump through the same hoops as if I was going to run "public" ones? Do I need to come up with the scenarios and such ahead of time, or can I just go with my usual routine (which is, largely, winging it). Do I have to stick to the RAW, or can I use my usual house rules and such?
Basically, I'm curious about converting my regular game into an RPGA game so that me and my players can get a little free schwag.
I've never even played in an RPGA game before... Saturday, coincidentally, will be my first.

It's easy to order and run a game. No matter what anybody whines or gripes or RPGA rules-lawyers about, reporting is not rocket science.

Regarding house rules, no matter what anybody whines or gripes or RPGA rules-lawyers about, running a game can be as free form as you want. The caveat is that if you plan to play in the general campaign at conventions and game days, just DON'T CHEAT. There is a lot of integrity to the Living Greyhawk campaign and other players who play it honest don't like to hear stories about DM's whipping through adventures and making it easy on their home groups "just because." If your players are going to play in the general campaign with other people, plan on getting use to running D&D.

If you have house rules, just consider how an idiot, whiner rules-lawyer RPGA moron would take it if you went to a convention and then threw down something like, "Wizards and clerics don't need to prepare spells ahead of time, critical fumbles on a 1 means you coup de grace yourself, all weapons on ly do d6 damage, and to throw a character is an intelligence check DC 10, all elves are gay, or use of non-standard races or classes." Of course, there's going to be an issue with stuff like that.

HR's that don't typically make waves (except to whiner RPGA rules-lawyers) are, "re-roll one's once on cure spells when the DM considers it a 'dire situation,' fudging dice rolls behind the screen to make the action more cinematic but not kill PC's, adding terrain to your encounters to make the action more diverse, etc."

Actually, I've found that LG gaming has really allowed me to worry less. If you kill some PC's, whoopdeedoo, yea, you're dead, so sad, too bad, better luck next time, nothing personal... The canned scenarios are easy to run and easy to embellish on. Time of prep is short and they're scheduled to run in a few hours. When you're done, you can get different players (of which, the fun part is deciding who the idiot moron at the table will be who's going to rules-argue with you over the actual height of his gnome munchkin diplomacy master).

The hardest part I've found with the LG campaign gaming is dealing with munchkin one-trick pony's. They wreck the game for everyone. "I'm first level and just did 596 points of damage to the minotaur..heh, heh." Without "Cheating," I haven't found a good way to deal with that in LG.

jh


..

 

[Reynard]

So, I sort of decided that I would start a Living Greyhawk campaign as a 'home game' to get used to the specifics of LG play before I started trying to run game days and what not. I have a few players interested and I should be able to pull at least 4 together for any given session. I live in CT, so I guess my region is Bissel, and I have downloaded various PDFs, found links, etc... for RPGA related stuff.

Now, though, I have to order an adventure. Should I do the Introductory Adventures first? Are they helpful, even though I am anexperienced GM outside of the RPGA? Should I make contact with my triad, even though I am going to start with a home game? Any special notes about doing it this way?

(NOTE: I sort of decided to run LG because I think I want to actually play one of the Eberron campaigns.)