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

[warfteiner]

Wow, folks, there's some cool discourse going on here. As one of the DDAO designers it's great to see so many enthusiastic people in and around this program - players, curious persons, all that jazz.

To be honest, this is a program that we've had our eye on for awhile as a way to promote public play. The AO modules can be run anywhere, so long as the author/designer is the one running them. In my own case, I've already run in:

• Michigan (home, retail, convention)
• Illinois (home)
• California (convention)
• Massachusetts (convention)

I'll be visiting 1d4Con in the near future to run this, and I - along with Matt Warwick, the Michigan senior LC - have arranged a challenge for the stores in my area that once they succeed (because I'm an optimistic fella) I will travel to the local stores and run my AO for their DMs and players. It's a range of about 70 miles, and it actually covers a pretty large number of locations.

Those that have played my adventure... thank you! Please continue to discuss events and ramifications, but do your best to remain as spoiler-free as you can. I'm really digging the stories that are being exchanged both here and across Facebook!

In regards to the future of the program... we have some pretty sweet plans. The lack of female participants in this program isn't a selective element or any other prohibitive measure; rather, this program was initially opened up to the admins and the Wizards of the Coast employees on the D&D team, and there just aren't many women in that pool. Among them, Claire's is the adventure that I am *really* looking forward to because I've played previous adventures of hers and they're always a good time. She's been crazy busy, though, and has not yet developed her own spin on this project. Also, we are just about ready to start talking about phase 2 of these crazy shenanigans which I believe many people will enjoy - though we're NOT talking about putting this stuff on dmsguild.com quite yet. Not that we'll never post the adventures there, but the program is too young for us to have any sort of critical conversation or exploration along those lines.

Now, getting an admin to your convention. This has been a sore point for some players and organizers, but please allow me to say this once and very clearly:

email us.
ask us your questions.
talk to us about your events.​

Sometimes we travel to other events around the country due to work or personal reasons. Heck, when I travel for work I try to get into local game stores just to see what they're like and I may not be opposed to running a quick game! There have been a number of folks here in the US that have simply marked this program off as "not available to me" and never bothered to ask; chief among these was a small event close to my home that has wanted to raise their AL/D&D exposure, told their players that they "couldn't get any D&D games at all"... and were quite taken aback when I spoke to them after their event ended that the adventures were free and that I live close enough to run the AO for them (to be fair, this was in December and we hadn't really revealed much about the AO system). They didn't ask, so they didn't know, and they missed a chance to get awesome people - ie: moar players! - at their event. Heck, if I had known about the event prior to it being run and concluded I would've told them early-on, but alas there are a TON of gaming options in the midwest. Outside the US it becomes trickier, and we appreciate that, but there are only so many of us and there are so many events globally.

If you're considering running an event, please please please get talkative about it. Ask an admin if they're interested. Dig around for airfare rates so that you can have an estimate for your budget. I know that at least one show even created a GoFundMe for this purpose, as the show couldn't afford it outright but the players felt it was important for them to have access to these resources.

And lastly... there's one option that, when used, will signal the end of the running of DDAO-01: Window to the Past. When that happens, I'll move to a new adventure that may incorporate the end of 01, or may be someplace else entirely... but I promise that it will hinge upon observed events in the Adventurers League campaign world that the players had a significant hand in.

It's your world, folks; we're just playing in it!

 

[skerritthegreen]

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.

At Conflagration (albeit I was going anyway), there is no extra cost for my DDAO. That said a few players suggested there should have been as it would have been a great charity event like the Charity mods of old LC days. I think at future cons that I run, we might do a slightly increased cost for DDAO mods with excess proceeds going to whatever charity the con is supporting that time around. (My local cons often have a charity)

 

[skerritthegreen]

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.

If i recall, one of the Canadian RCs is heading down under and bring Fai Chen with him. While DDAOs are in beta for this season, we will likely open it to RCs at some point. You'd have your RC plus one if this was happening next season!

 

[kalani]

Tim Mottishaw (Canada West RC) is currently down in Brisbane and is going stir crazy at the lack of games lol.

Tim will be bringing Season 4 content with him to GX Australia on the 27th of February and I suspect that will include Fai Chen's as well. Hit him up at canadawestern@dndadventurersleague.org if you want him to come to an event while he is down-under. I am sure he will make every effort to accomodate you guys.

While he is out of the region, I am acting in his stead as the West Canada RC overseeing the day-to-day running of the region. Tim still remains an RC though (meaning that for the next six months there are two RCs for West Canada), and as such can bring Fai Chens with him to any event he participates in.

 

[Eltab]

So, doing the math, I just don't see how we can do it for less than $40-$45 a head. ... (the fabulous piles of filthy lucre, wild parties, and generous stock options.)

Maybe you could make a video of the Lucky 1% playing the module during the beginning of your Convention, and during the weekend let everybody who is on the waiting list watch the video (as a Consolation Prize) in a separate room. A week later you could post the video on the you-have-to-pay part of a convention sponsor's website.

Eventually the pay-per-view fees could be applied to upcoming tickets for a noticeable discount. I hope.

 

[warfteiner]

Oddly enough, "pay per view D&D" isn't so alien a concept now -- just look at the meteoric rise of Twitch and eSports!

I have to say, though, that I wouldn't want my AO game to be broadcast. The way it's structured, it needs to be experienced first-hand or the impact is lost I'm afraid. Maybe when I do a second one.....

 

[Scorpienne]

Maybe you could make a video of the Lucky 1% playing the module during the beginning of your Convention

Hah! While it's good D&D and probably something that would do well in podcast-land or on Twitch, I'd be robbing people of the chance to play them entirely blind (hence the reasons my "spoilers" in the first post aren't very spoilery).

 

[Tyranthraxus]

Thanks Kalani. I have been speaking to Tim on the Facebooks. He was having issues getting in contact with Tony our LC in NSW re Eyecon where the Epic is gonna be run. Apparently they are all hooked up now.

Sadly being in Perth, I have to keep my trips east few and far between. Air travel in Aus is hideously expensive (not to mention GX is like 3-4 days away). Hopefully Tim is a great addition to Eyecon.

EDIT: Im also in a job where staff have been cut back to what is needed to make the workplace function. Taking a few days off for a con at most times is tricky.

You know Australia and know just how spread out we are. I know there is AL happening somewhere in Brisbane but I couldnt tell you where or even who is running it !

 

[kalani]

Yep, I know Australia all too well (having spent all my formative years as a native cockroach living in QLD); My mum is a Silverfish, my dad and I both cockroaches, and my siblings are all cane toads..... For those who have no idea what I am talking about, I am referring to the slang terms we give people from each State in Oz (Silverfish = Victorians; Cockroaches = New South Walesmen; and Cane Toads are Queenslanders)

 

[Steve_MND]

Yep, I know Australia all too well (having spent all my formative years as a native cockroach living in QLD); My mum is a Silverfish, my dad and I both cockroaches, and my siblings are all cane toads..... For those who have no idea what I am talking about, I am referring to the slang terms we give people from each State in Oz (Silverfish = Victorians; Cockroaches = New South Walesmen; and Cane Toads are Queenslanders)

Silverfish? Cockroaches? Eeeeesh, you guys even have disturbing local pet names for each other; when you Australians embrace the whole 'we live in a continent-country filled with weird creatures,' shtick, you don't do it in half-measures, i'll give you that.