Volo's Guide AL Rules - You can play them all!

[Philth]

Perhaps they should sit down and relook at the +1 rule. AL is supposed to be streamlined, but as more material is released, it appears to becoming overly complicated than just saying "make what you want, have fun".

 

[Warmaster Horus]

Not sure how PH +1 is complicated. Those with certs are (very rare) special cases. Characters with races updated in further releases (like the Goliath) should be given clear instructions in how to proceed, with the base case being 'stay as you are'.

Would I like to play an Eladrin (VGtM) gish (PH) with access to Green Flame Blade (SWAG)? Sure. But it's not going to break my heart if I can't. There are lots of options out there and more to come. Perhaps someday there will be a 'unified character theory' that allows for across-the-board character creation. Until then just stay calm and rock on.

 

[gyor]

Perhaps they should sit down and relook at the +1 rule. AL is supposed to be streamlined, but as more material is released, it appears to becoming overly complicated than just saying "make what you want, have fun".

It also discourages future purchases. I know have my +1 Volo's Guide, what need do I have for another book that isn't the FRCG?

 

[gyor]

Interesting -- the MMII Cat Lord was referred to as a 'Lord of Balance', but I'm not sure that was ever really defined in D&D terms. The character became significant in Gygax's fiction, specifically the Gord the Rogue novels, but I wouldn't consider those canon for D&D much less the Forgotten Realms. Your mileage may vary, of course.



That seems reasonable -- in a society with a pantheon of gods, many gods are placated or at least paid lip service to even if they are not the worshipper's patron. There's no issue with making prayers to any deity, even one in your own head, in AL -- the issue is that mechanically, you've got to have a patron that's listed in a rules source, which if you choose Sune, meets that requirement.

Not entirely sure what Malcanthet's status is in 5e, Realms or otherwise -- given that she has a number of rivals to her crown, it wouldn't surprise me if she'd been overthrown during the Sundering, but I've got no data either way.



That all sounds kosher -- not sure how much of it you'll actually get to use in play, given how AL works in most places, but sounds like a fun background.

--
Pauper

As I understand it Malcanthet and her rival Succubi Queens are at war for dominance again since they stopped being devils, with Malcanthet standing for the Hells, Shami-Amourae is for the Abyss, Xinivrae is playing both sides, and I don't know what Lynkhab is doing, probably vying in her own way I guess. I learned this from Erin M. Evans, author of the Brimstone Angels Saga.

So they're basically locked into a War of Ripe Flesh II. Possibly other Powerful Succubi, Dark Gods, and other powerful Fiends vying too, maybe.

I might change the character to a Chainlock, and replace Malcanthet with prayers to Lykhab, Malcanthet looks simular to Sharess and her symbol looks simular to Sharess, but Malcanthet's cult doesn't treat men well, I think when around evil beings he'll set his prayers and curses to Lovitar and Lykhab in order to fit in, when spying on evil, pretend he has a fiend pact.

And thank you, the background solution dawned on me when I was trying to sleep one night, rescently.

 

[Anthraxus]

It also discourages future purchases. I know have my +1 Volo's Guide, what need do I have for another book that isn't the FRCG?

Different character concepts? I have 5 characters ranging from Level 3 to 8 right now: including one with Scag rules and one with EEPG rules.

 

[Pauper]

It also discourages future purchases. I know have my +1 Volo's Guide, what need do I have for another book that isn't the FRCG?

Guess it depends on your local group. Our group is going to be starting an AL home game of Storm King's Thunder soon, with the DM explicitly requesting that all characters be monstrous PCs out of Volo's Guide.

In this case, the +1 rule actually helps us, as one of the players is going to be joining a 5e campaign for the first time, thus only needs Volo's and the PH to have all the material he will ever need to develop his character.

One of the big drawbacks to a Pathfinder-style distributed mass publishing system where valuable character items are spread across multiple products is that it makes some players feel as though they need to buy all the books before they can effectively participate. (Sure, some players will share materials, but you ultimately want all the books for yourself, if only to be able to look at them during non-game time.)

--
Pauper

 

[Warmaster Horus]

Quick question - the Aasimar with limited flying capability. Do they break the ALPG character with Flight Speed restriction? Given how circumstantial their flying is, I assume the answer is no. But the question has come up.

 

[Remathilis]

Quick question - the Aasimar with limited flying capability. Do they break the ALPG character with Flight Speed restriction? Given how circumstantial their flying is, I assume the answer is no. But the question has come up.

It's a.) Limited and b.) Not at first level. It's as kosher as the fly spell.

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[darjr]

Good point on the +1 lowering the barrier to entry. Wonder if that is as planned. Especially with Volo's Guide.

 

[Acr0ssTh3P0nd]

Ooof. I'm really not liking how much some of the background are restricted. The faction stuff I'm more than okay with, and I can understand the desire to make very clear how certain monsters fit into the world, but some of the monstrous backgrounds really don't allow for anything beyond a very limited origin and outlook, especially the hobgoblin and kobold ones (which, ironically, are some of the easier monsters to justify as adventurers). I'd be fine if it was more of a "choose one of these three places to be from, and one of these three vague ideals/goals", but as it stands now, I just hope to God that this document gets some heavy revisions for Season 6.

It feels to me a bit like the Admins of AL are approaching their jobs as Admins as if they are just DMs for a really big D&D group, and that makes me feel a bit uncomfortable about the future of AL. DMing experience is necessary for the job, of course, but their job is not to be a DM, but to administrate a gaming community. The improvements over the last couple years have been great, but they've happened far too slowly, and fixed issues that largely seem to line up with the kind of thinking that a lot of DMs have about player rewards, DMing, etc. And now something like this comes out...