[SPOILERS] Some thoughts on the Author Only mods from Winter Fantasy

[kalani]

It has been said that these mods will likely to be released to the public eventually (in perhaps 2-3 years time/when the author is willing to release them); however they are intended to be convention and game-day incentives to bring out the authors as special guests.

 

[NeverLucky]

I played Mearls's AO (which didn't have a name) at WF and it was an amazing experience, but I doubt it would work if ran by anyone else. At the time, the adventure was written only insofar as he had listed some areas and factions that can be involved. He improvised a lot of the adventure and chose to involve different factions each time he ran it, which drastically changed the experience. If that adventure were ever published, it would have to be actually written first, and I have a feeling other AOs would take a similarly high amount of work to make publishable. When DMs write for themselves, they can take a lot of shortcuts that don't work when someone else is reading it.

 

[skerritthegreen]

(sadly, no ladies writing AOs yet)

I have a character that is now professional colleagues with an awakened butterfly who is going to be taking bard levels if Madame Flutterbee can avoid being hugged to death by the creepiest little girl ever known.

Two quick notes:

1) There are some ladies that current qualify, but sadly they didn't have time to put something out just yet. It was a matter of who volunteered rather than any selection process. I suspect when some of the ladies have more free time, they will add DDAO stories to the ranks.

2) The Admins agree on Madame Flutterbee.... and you will see more of her in the future. Including a chance to have her hang out with some characters.

 

[skerritthegreen]

I played Mearls's AO (which didn't have a name) at WF and it was an amazing experience, but I doubt it would work if ran by anyone else. At the time, the adventure was written only insofar as he had listed some areas and factions that can be involved. He improvised a lot of the adventure and chose to involve different factions each time he ran it, which drastically changed the experience. If that adventure were ever published, it would have to be actually written first, and I have a feeling other AOs would take a similarly high amount of work to make publishable. When DMs write for themselves, they can take a lot of shortcuts that don't work when someone else is reading it.

This is part of why they are not generally available. My adventure for example is a two page outline, about 10 pages of stat blocks, a prop, a handout, and two maps from an out of print product. If it does get released, I'd have to fully it write it, which means I need time to do that, and since I'm not being paid, it probably goes up on DMsGuild with no one (not stores or cons) getting free copies of it. In the end, I still likely loose money on it.

 

[Rils]

I'll admit one of my hesitations when I saw this idea what that it introduces fun stuff to the Realms that those of us not able to attend cons will miss out on. For example, I'm a long time Realms-lore fan and participant over at Candlekeep. Seeing stuff like "Reintroducing Halruaa to 5e" is exactly the sort of thing Realms fans would LOOOVE to hear about, but since there's no apparent FRCG on the horizon, walling those stories behind a con badge admittedly kind of stinks.

It's encouraging to hear that people are enjoying the modules, hopefully that means good things! When can the rest of us at least get some word about the stories and lore that they are adding back into the game, and which is sorely lacking from a non-AL perspective?

 

[Scorpienne]

1) There are some ladies that current qualify, but sadly they didn't have time to put something out just yet. It was a matter of who volunteered rather than any selection process. I suspect when some of the ladies have more free time, they will add DDAO stories to the ranks.

2) The Admins agree on Madame Flutterbee.... and you will see more of her in the future. Including a chance to have her hang out with some characters.

Oh yeah, hence the "yet". When Madame Claire has time to write a mod, it'll be a doozie. This is KNOWN, Khaleesi. I'm glad to hear that Flutterbee is going to be doing well. Best. Awaken. Ever.

Wow! That's only $5 less that four days of gaming at our west-coast megacon. I heard you guys did things differently on the east coast, but that on top of an an entry fee is a bit of sticker shock. But given that only 1% of players could actually fit at those tables, I guess pricing for the 1% is ok.

Oh, to be fair, the last shindig we ran was $25 all weekend. https://warhorn.net/events/secret-mission-con And $25-$45 for the entire convention is by far the norm. Heck, even DragonCon is $60 for a badge and $3 for each game. $45 a slot is going to blow peoples *minds*.

But if you want admins, you gotta pay for plane tickets. Lord knows none of them are so independently wealthy that they can pay for all the plane trips. And it's not like anyone writes/administrates D&D for the fabulous piles of filthy lucre, wild parties, or generous stock options! So, doing the math, I just don't see how we can do it for less than $40-$45 a head. The sticker shock in our own community for $180 for four slots is going to be *intense* which is why I gotta have all the math on hand so they can see where that money is going. (And no one yells at me and Ben and accuses us of running conventions just because of the fabulous piles of filthy lucre, wild parties, and generous stock options. We actually operate at a loss. Not a huge loss, but a loss.)

p

 

[Tyranthraxus]

Yeah I personally would never pay 45 dollars for a slot. I love my hobby, but there is a financial point which I would stop at.

But Im all for the opportunity for people who have the cash and are willing to pay for it. Good on them!

 

[rooneg]

Yeah I personally would never pay 45 dollars for a slot. I love my hobby, but there is a financial point which I would stop at.

But Im all for the opportunity for people who have the cash and are willing to pay for it. Good on them!

There's no reason it necessarily needs to be pay to play for these. They make a great incentive for people to DM tables, for example, or as prizes for some contest. Or you can just let people sign up for them like any other event. And inviting an admin doesn't just get you this, it also gets you someone who can run Fai Chen's, which can be a draw. Not saying that there isn't a cost, clearly there is, but at TotalCon (totally not a huge event, clearly run on a tight budget, etc) there was no extra cost for Alan's game. You just had to sign up, with the date/time for the signups being well advertised ahead of time. Bringing a single admin to your con isn't free, but it's not some insurmountable expense either.

 

[Tyranthraxus]

There's no reason it necessarily needs to be pay to play for these. They make a great incentive for people to DM tables, for example, or as prizes for some contest. Or you can just let people sign up for them like any other event. And inviting an admin doesn't just get you this, it also gets you someone who can run Fai Chen's, which can be a draw. Not saying that there isn't a cost, clearly there is, but at TotalCon (totally not a huge event, clearly run on a tight budget, etc) there was no extra cost for Alan's game. You just had to sign up, with the date/time for the signups being well advertised ahead of time. Bringing a single admin to your con isn't free, but it's not some insurmountable expense either.

I'd have to disagree with your last point. I cant think of any RPG Convention at the moment running AL which could pay to bring an Admin over to its location in Australia to run one of these games. I know player numbers are a lot more healthy over East (and esp in Melbourne) but I think even those would struggle to afford to bring an Admin over. Still its a nice debate to have that its a possibility somewhere down the road, but honestly? I dont see it happening in the lifetime of AL.

It would be interesting to see lets say on February 24th of 2017, if there has been an Admin in attendance at any International (for this purposes Im lumping Canada in with the USA) AL convention to that date.

 

[rooneg]

I'd have to disagree with your last point. I cant think of any RPG Convention at the moment running AL which could pay to bring an Admin over to its location in Australia to run one of these games. I know player numbers are a lot more healthy over East (and esp in Melbourne) but I think even those would struggle to afford to bring an Admin over. Still its a nice debate to have that its a possibility somewhere down the road, but honestly? I dont see it happening in the lifetime of AL.

It would be interesting to see lets say on February 24th of 2017, if there has been an Admin in attendance at any International (for this purposes Im lumping Canada in with the USA) AL convention to that date.

That's certainly fair. Outside of North America things get harder.