How To: Adventurer's League?

[The Shadowdove]

Hey forum-lurkers,

My fiance and I are interested in going to an event and trying out the adventure league play. Our current table is a comfortable situation and suits our casual, drama free tendencies.

This works well for us because normally many of the 20 something's who play these games are normally high maintenance compared to our small group of friends. However, we have entertained the thought of seeing how AL is in practice. Unfortunately we don't know much about it.

We have read the PDFs and each made a character within the rules after obtaining a DCI number.

We have a general understanding of how wizards wants it to be.

How is it in practice?

What kind of adventures do people run?

How do you find groups to play with? Local game stores, I imagine. How do you join their existing games?

How does the faction system work? It seem like it only exists to bring players together; which isn't a bad thing at all.

Does the random nature of these groups tend to lead to positive gameplay?

How does it actually play out, bringing an existing character to different tables with different levels of characters?

Do you need to do anything aside from have a character and DCI to play? Do we need to contact anyone or join any sort of special groups/pay any fees in relation to memberships and such?

Any other advice you'd be willing to share.


Thank you in advance! We really want to give this a shot sometime. Our regular groups are fun, but this seems like an opportunity to meet people and see how other people play the game.

-Dove

[coredump]

Hey Dove,

AL will depend a lot on the store you go to. Like anything else, different stores will have different approaches, different attitudes, different age levels, etc.

I suggest:

Use the Wizards site Store Locator to find the stores in your area that host D&D.
Please be careful, the store locator will give you all the Magic stores and D&D stores..... so make sure they have D&D.
I would call them to verify the days and times, and maybe ask if they will have Tier 1 on the day you want to go.
The guy on the phone may not know...dont' sweat it. Just go and find out.
Unless the first store is awesome, I would check out all of the stores in the area, one may suit you more than another.

The only requirement is an AL legal level 1 PC, and bring a log sheet to fill out.

Beware, some "AL Stores" are not really playing AL. If they are off by a little, you may be okay, but if they are off by a lot.... then you need to decide if you want to play non-AL there, or look for a store that is actually playing AL.


Most of your questions lead to "It depends"..... each store will be different. Heck, it may even depend on which players at that store you play with. Check them out and see which ones you like.


edit: AL games come in two basic forms:
DDAL adventures: these are adventures designed to be played in 2 or 4 hour sessions. These are the most common and make it easy to drop in, move table, swap players and DMs, etc. These require all PCs to be the same tier. (For you tier 1 is lvls 1-4)
Hardcover: It is also legal to play the adventure books, (Curse of Strahd, Storm Kings Thunder, etc), these *tend* to keep the same DM and same players and a continual story. These don't technically have any tier limitations, but it would be no fun to be level 1 and everyone else level 8.

[Motorskills]

Highly recommend you check out the AL PLayers' Facebook page, lots of excellent advice there, plus the actual organizers (Admins) who certainly can help you.

I've had mostly bad experiences dropping in on store-run games, so I would suggest avoiding that, unless you can find somewhere that will cater specifically for your needs.

Conventions will be an excellent option as well, "Tier 1" modules work for starting characters (through Level 4), and are essentially stand-alone.

[erok0809]

The store I go to tends to run the published modules, as opposed to individual adventures. We start it when the new season starts, and then generally just play the same campaign with the same DM until the next season begins, only switching up DMs when the usual person can't make it that week. I met my whole current 5e gaming group there, and made tons of friends, so I'd definitely recommend it in general. I guess your individual experience might depend on your gaming store and the group of people that attend it though.

[Madbox]

AL is all over the place in quality. Some stores, such as the one in my area, are great. There are quality DMs, and play is good. Other than a few of the AL restrictions chafing a bit (looking at you, magic item distribution), I have been happy playing AL.

Then you go to other stores, and they have been overrun with crappy players and/or DMs, and everything is horrible.

I would recommend going in and checking out the local store beforehand, preferably when it's busy. Even if the people there are just playing Magic, watch for any jerks and see how people react to them. If they are tolerated or encouraged, leave immediately. The big issue with AL is that since anyone can play, the problematic people can show up uninvited. This means that if the locals don't work to keep out the people who show up in horror story threads, they will take over.

One other thing to watch for during the recon mission is unattended children. I worked part-time at a game store a while back, and you would be surprised how many parents think of your FLGS as free babysitting. Children raised by such bad parents are almost always poorly behaved, and will cause problems.

If you see either of the above, try a different store.

[EternalPrime]

Different gaming communities in different cities will vary wildly, but my personal experiences in San Antonio have been very positive. There are multiple gaming stores which host episodic drop-in drop-out games every Saturday as well as newbie-friendly campaign play on weeknights (usually Wednesdays). In addition to a city-wide Adventurers League Facebook page, each local store has a gamers page where existing groups can advertise new games or open seats for new players. Most of the store owners are very pro-active and hands-on about finding seats for new players, and two stores still make use of a volunteer "coordinator" to help players find groups. This community has expanded beyond AL and also caters to X-Wing, FFG's Star Wars, Shadowrun, and Swords & Wizardry which are currently popular in SA.

As suggested by others, use Wizards.com's store finder and try a Facebook search of stores or gaming communities in your area. Most will post online schedules of games and events open to new players. Consider making a trip just to drop in and see how things operate. Don't be afraid to ask a few questions.

[Deleted]

I've found that a lot of AL is mostly a way for groups to find new players and bring them into their own games and then give out AL experience in case the players want to play in another AL game.

I've been to a few AL locations and they have yet to play AL XD

So make sure to find out if they are actually playing AL or not... Can make your experience a looot different depending on how things are really going down.

[rooneg]

I've experienced AL both in stores and at conventions, and I've enjoyed both, but you need to manage your expectations a bit.

In stores things can run the spectrum, from "there's a consistent group of people, including a regular DM, and they show up every Wednesday and play some more of the current hardcover adventure" to "there are a bunch of tables, with a varying cast of players and DMs, so each week you'll be playing with completely different people". If you're ok with playing with different people each week then awesome, but be aware that it does sort of remove some of the continuity of your game, and especially in sandboxy adventures it's a little weird.

In conventions, you're mostly talking about playing the short 2/4/8 hour long AL adventures that are currently published via DM's Guild. By its very nature you're talking about random people at your table, which can be awesome (I've met a bunch of really cool people this way) or not (wow, that one guy was a total jerk! maybe next time we let the basilisk eat him). DMs will also run the spectrum, both in quality (from "wow that was awesome, they made it really come alive" to "did they even read the adventure first?") and in style ("we spent the whole time role playing the details of the bard running a variety show to entertain some mercenaries" to "we killed a lot of stuff, did i mention the killing?"). On average I'm pleased with both the players and the DMs, but you should expect the occasional WTF experience.

Conventions also tend to pull in more of the power gamer types. The people who have cherry picked adventures to play so they can get the "right" magic items and who obsess over the build for their super awesome character. Heck, I lean this way myself, so who am I to complain, but sometimes people take it a bit far. This can be particularly jarring when you have some people at the table who have low powered PCs and some who are Superman. The DM can adjust things, but it's an art not a science.

All in all, AL is often a different experience than a regular weekly home game of D&D. For me, it's what I'm looking for because I don't have the schedule flexibility to do the weekly game thing. I like that I have my various characters that I can see grow over time and when I get to a con I can pull some of them out and have fun with them. There's certainly a bit less continuity and little ongoing character storyline, but heck, I get to roll some dice and kill some monsters.

As far as "how do we do it", the main thing to do is read this season's player's guide so you know what the rules are. The short version is limit yourself to the PHB plus one other source (i.e. Volo's Guide, Sword Coast Adventurers Guide, Elemental Evil Player's Companion), don't use any races that can fly at level 1, and actually keep log sheets that track the adventures you did and the rewards you earned at them. If you're making a good faith effort to do all that you're in good shape.

[BW022]

The Shadowdove,


How is it in practice?
It's D&D. Fairly standard, sometimes pretty generic, but you get to meet new people. I've often heard Adventurer's League referred to as a "gateway drug". Many people use it as a way to meet new people, form new friendships, etc. Lots of people form their own home groups out of those they meet as such games.


What kind of adventures do people run?
WotC has a number of published adventures. It is generally up to the organizer, store, or individual DM which game they are running.


How do you find groups to play with? Local game stores, I imagine. How do you join their existing games?
There are lots of places. Local game stores, Facebook groups, conventions, private groups, web-sites, Warhorn (https://warhorn.net/games), local gaming clubs, highschool/college/university groups, etc. Most games are set for four hour sessions, so they aren't typically starting a new game each time you play. That said, there are some games which will run multiple sessions -- usually at conventions or home games.


How does the faction system work? It seem like it only exists to bring players together; which isn't a bad thing at all.
Players may (optionally) join a faction. Sometimes, depending on the adventure, your character will have a special mission to do something for your faction. Sometimes during an adventure, you may meet someone from your faction or have to use your faction contacts to get help.


Does the random nature of these groups tend to lead to positive gameplay?
It can be good or bad. However, in most cases, players are good. This said, if it is a public game day you could have children, a fair spread of character levels, new players, etc.


How does it actually play out, bringing an existing character to different tables with different levels of characters?
You bring a 1st-level character to start. Modules are designed in tiers (1st-4th, 5th-10th, 11th-15th, etc.) Most gaming stores, clubs, conventions, etc. will advertise (or you contact them) which module(s) are running. A larger store might have multiple tables running. You track XP normally.


Do you need to do anything aside from have a character and DCI to play? Do we need to contact anyone or join any sort of special groups/pay any fees in relation to memberships and such?
Paper, pens, dice, a DCI number, character, and typically a PHB. I would also recommend a Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide as it has the map, setting book, and some specific rules on the setting and campaign.

Some clubs might have membership fees or some groups might charge -- typically to cover room rental fees or help DMs cover the costs for purchasing the adventurers. However, most of the time it is free. Bringing snacks is often good.

[agnos]

I'm going to give an alternative. Go to a convention and play AL. There are a bunch in the Atlanta area; if you like it, you can get the skinny on where people play and connect with them that way. Generally, I've found AL to be played a decent amount in home games (not to be confused with home campaigns) where people who have gotten to know and trust each other get together semi-regularly. So using local cons as a networking tool might get you in the door; in the least it'll give you the best places to look without spending hours of stakeout time.

Lots of areas use Facebook and/or google plus to coordinate, so try googling D&D, Dungeons and dragons, adventurers league, AL, DDAL, Facebook, and your city in various mixtures to find said groups and ask there.

[rooneg]

I'm going to give an alternative. Go to a convention and play AL. There are a bunch in the Atlanta area; if you like it, you can get the skinny on where people play and connect with them that way. Generally, I've found AL to be played a decent amount in home games (not to be confused with home campaigns) where people who have gotten to know and trust each other get together semi-regularly. So using local cons as a networking tool might get you in the door; in the least it'll give you the best places to look without spending hours of stakeout time.

Lots of areas use Facebook and/or google plus to coordinate, so try googling D&D, Dungeons and dragons, adventurers league, AL, DDAL, Facebook, and your city in various mixtures to find said groups and ask there.

This is a great suggestion. At least in my area (New England) there is a crowd that shows up to all the local cons and they would definitely be able to point you to the best local places for non-convention AL games. Just talk to whoever is coordinating the AL games for the con.

[The Shadowdove]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Seems like my local shops haven't really put much effort into AL up until now.

I may actually end up trying to run some of the low level adventurers to see if anyone is interested.

I know there are tons of people who have and still do play around here.

Any advice on getting started?

Also, do you need a DCI# for each character?

[rooneg]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Seems like my local shops haven't really put much effort into AL up until now.

I may actually end up trying to run some of the low level adventurers to see if anyone is interested.

I know there are tons of people who have and still do play around here.

Any advice on getting started?

Also, do you need a DCI# for each character?

DCI numbers are per-player.

If you want to run AL games really it's just a matter of picking up an appropriate AL legal adventure (i.e. LMoP, any hardcover from WotC, or one of the short DDAL or DDEX adventures from DM's Guild), making sure everyone has a legal character (i.e. build with the PHB + one other source at most), playing the adventure, then making sure everyone tracks their gold/xp/whatever on an AL log sheet. You don't even technically need a DCI number if you don't have one.

The details are all available in the AL Player's Guide (http://media.wizards.com/2016/dnd/downloads/AL_PH_SKT.pdf) and DM's Guide (http://media.wizards.com/2016/dnd/downloads/AL_DMG_SKT.pdf). Those documents change every season, so new ones will be available in a month or two, but I don't expect them to change terribly much.

[The Shadowdove]

Thanks.

For some reason I thought that the ddal adventures were something that your store provides for you.

I think I'd rather run a bunch of 2-3 hour low level missions than jump into one of the hardcover adventures.

Are there free adventures that are legal, in case my store doesn't have any?

[rooneg]

Thanks.

For some reason I thought that the ddal adventures were something that your store provides for you.

I think I'd rather run a bunch of 2-3 hour low level missions than jump into one of the hardcover adventures.

Are there free adventures that are legal, in case my store doesn't have any?

They used to provide adventures to stores for free, but that is no longer a thing that happens (other than launch events like A Great Upheaval or In Volo's Wake, where stores got either a slightly different version with some extra stuff or got access to it months earlier than DM's Guild did). There are a couple of free adventures floating around (A Great Upheaval is free, but it's also a kind of weird example with milestone leveling, it's not really representative of what AL is like most of the time, and there are some others but I forget the details), but you're probably better off just dropping $10 on a couple of the season five DDAL adventures on DM's Guild. They're quite good.

Actually, now that I think about it, I believe there were one or two AL adventures made available for free in Dragon+, but I'd still recommend just going out and buying DDAL05-02 The Black Road and DDAL05-03 Uninvited Guests. They're nice quick 2 hour adventures (which expand nicely to fill more time if people like role playing) and if you want to keep going the rest of season 5's tier 1 stuff is a fun little campaign.

[The Shadowdove]

Alright, thank you!

I'll definitely drop a few bucks then.

Assuming our store doesn't have any on hand, is there a process I'll need to go through in order to make sure these adventures I'll be running are recognized as legitimate for the sake of people not having problems later in regards to bringing their characters to other tables or events ?


Also, unrelated, I had a player ask me if they are required to use the pregenerated characteristics from their background. As opposed to making up their own bonds/flaws/ideals/etc, or chosing from backgrounds different than theirs.

[rooneg]

Alright, thank you!

I'll definitely drop a few bucks then.

Assuming our store doesn't have any on hand, is there a process I'll need to go through in order to make sure these adventures I'll be running are recognized as legitimate for the sake of people not having problems later in regards to bringing their characters to other tables or events ?

There is literally nothing more you need to do to make your games "official". As long as you record the sessions on your log sheets you're good to go. AL runs on the honor system, there's no centralized system for tracking what games are official and who's played what. The most that people ever do is ask to look at your log sheet to confirm that you seem to actually have played enough adventures to be the level you say you are and that the magic items you've acquired seem to be legit.


Also, unrelated, I had a player ask me if they are required to use the pregenerated characteristics from their background. As opposed to making up their own bonds/flaws/ideals/etc, or chosing from backgrounds different than theirs.

Bonds/Flaws/Ideals can be made up, the ones in the PHB are just suggestions. Also, FWIW, backgrounds are the one case that doesn't follow the "PHB+1" rule, you can take a background out of any book you want. You're also allowed to modify them (via the rules in the PHB), so if you want to swap out the skills you get with one that's totally cool.

[bokodasu]

One thing I'd add is check out online AL play. My unfriendly far-away gaming store claims to have AL, but if you ask about it they admit it's actually MtG tournaments, so I broke down and tried out some Roll20 games. And... it's been a very pleasant experience! Nice people, good DMs, no table-drama. I DM about twice as much as I play, and so far I've only had polite, respectful players who are interested in everyone having a good time together.

It's true that AL cuts out the highs of a really great, creative table - but eliminating the headaches of terrible tables is worth it for casual play. And when my schedule is more stable, I'll have plenty of high-quality players to contact for a private game.

If you're interested, you can check out alonlinetools.net and the "Moonsea Pub" group on Facebook to find games.

Also, I didn't see anyone mention epics - they're event-only and super fun. 8-12 tables, broken into tiers, all play the same adventure at the same time - so, for example, the low-level characters can be freeing prisoners while mid-levels are thwarting the armies and the high-levels are going after the BBEG. Mostly you find them at cons, but you can also get them online or at bigger stores. Definitely recommend getting into one of those if you can.

[rooneg]

Also, I didn't see anyone mention epics - they're event-only and super fun. 8-12 tables, broken into tiers, all play the same adventure at the same time - so, for example, the low-level characters can be freeing prisoners while mid-levels are thwarting the armies and the high-levels are going after the BBEG. Mostly you find them at cons, but you can also get them online or at bigger stores. Definitely recommend getting into one of those if you can.

Epics are super fun! I'm playing in The Iron Baron and DMing Ark of the Mountains next week, sure to be the highlights of the convention for me.

[The Shadowdove]

Rock on. Thanks everyone.

Another question. I read somewhere that normally the kits that are sent to Game stores have things like cards for magic items that players record.

Do the adventures you purchase on dmsguild include these sorts of things, or are we missing out by doing something like an online format or at a coffeeshop/library instead of a comic/tabletop store?

Also, there's something called a dm quest. How do they work and are they beneficial in any way?


Thanks again,

Dove

[rooneg]

Rock on. Thanks everyone.

Another question. I read somewhere that normally the kits that are sent to Game stores have things like cards for magic items that players record.

That isn't really something that happens much anymore. For launch events stores can get stuff like this now (really it's just an adventure that's not available elsewhere yet and some certs you can print out for some special stuff you can acquire in that adventure, for example in A Great Upheaval there's a way to get a Tressym Familiar, which you can't normally get without a cert). They used to do it for the hardcover adventures and DDEX adventures, but that's no longer a thing.


Do the adventures you purchase on dmsguild include these sorts of things, or are we missing out by doing something like an online format or at a coffeeshop/library instead of a comic/tabletop store?

As of Season 5 the DM's Guild adventures come with a PDF for the certs for any permanent magic items that are obtained in the adventure.


Also, there's something called a dm quest. How do they work and are they beneficial in any way?

So, there are two types of rewards you get for DMing. One is the reward you get for running an individual adventure. For hardcovers there's a chart in the season's DM's Guide that says how much XP/Gold/Downtime you get for running a certain amount of the adventure (it goes up as the characters level up). For DDAL or DDEX adventures (the ones on DM's Guild) there's a "DM Rewards" section in the adventure that tells you what you get. Fair warning, older adventures are super stingy. New ones are better, but still the rewards are nowhere near what the players get.

To make up the difference, as you DM games you can qualify for DM Quests. There's a PDF on DM's Guild (http://www.dmsguild.com/product/191788/Storm-Kings-Thunder-DM-Quests?filters=45470_0_0_0_0_0_0_0) that lists all the quests for a season. They're things like "Run 24 hours of DDEX adventures and you get to give one of your PCs a magic item", or "Run all the Tier 1 adventures from this season and you get 2000 xp", stuff like that. In practice it helps a regular DM keep some characters at near the level of the players they DM for, and it gives you reasons to go DM at cons or online and stuff (some of the quests give you extra XP for doing that sort of thing).

[The Shadowdove]

Thanks for the detailed reply.

If you get a certificate item as a DM this season, does it carry over to future seasons?

Sounds redundant, and I'm guessing not, but it's another detail I'd rather not be wrong about.

"Oh you dungeon mastered last season? Why doesn't your dude have a wand of web?"

[The Shadowdove]

If there's a cap of 7 players, is advertising these player spaces on a group/the game store's Facebook/webpage/etc?

Or should I just show up knowing it's a possibility that they'll be more players than dms?

Since I brought this up the other day a dozen plus players have shown interest.

[rooneg]

Thanks for the detailed reply.

If you get a certificate item as a DM this season, does it carry over to future seasons?

Certs are good forever (unless they specifically say otherwise). The "seasons" thing is just how they release content themed along the lines of each hardcover adventure, other than that they're barely a meaningful concept. You can create a character, play in season 5, then play some adventures in season 3, then jump to season 6 when it comes out. It's totally free form.

The certs are either a nice way for people to track their magic items, or a way to get access to some ability you can't usually get (i.e. getting a tressym familiar). In almost all cases they're good forever.


Sounds redundant, and I'm guessing not, but it's another detail I'd rather not be wrong about.

"Oh you dungeon mastered last season? Why doesn't your dude have a wand of web?"

The certs are irrelevant for those sort of DM rewards. They're just for players.


If there's a cap of 7 players, is advertising these player spaces on a group/the game store's Facebook/webpage/etc?

Or should I just show up knowing it's a possibility that they'll be more players than dms?

Since I brought this up the other day a dozen plus players have shown interest.

Many people have signups ahead of time (i.e. either on a site like warhorn.net or you sign up via a google docs form or something), so you can confirm people will have space before they show up. If you think you'll have more players than can fit at a 7 player table I'd ask for advance signups.

[The Shadowdove]

The guy who owns the shop is pretty awesome.

He advertised the game I'm running tomorrow and is offering dice/books to use if we need extra.

I took the previous advice and bought The Black Road and Unwelcome Guests.

Question.

If I run the same two games next week, can a returning player use the same character?

Is there any reason to discourage replaying the same character if they are allowed to?

I may buy a new adventure for the following weekend if I cannot run some of the players through again.

If that's the case, which do you recommend?

I noticed that these two are tied Together. Is the next one like that too?

Thank you in advance,

Dove

[rooneg]

The guy who owns the shop is pretty awesome.

He advertised the game I'm running tomorrow and is offering dice/books to use if we need extra.

I took the previous advice and bought The Black Road and Unwelcome Guests.

Question.

If I run the same two games next week, can a returning player use the same character?

Is there any reason to discourage replaying the same character if they are allowed to?

I may buy a new adventure for the following weekend if I cannot run some of the players through again.

If that's the case, which do you recommend?

I noticed that these two are tied Together. Is the next one like that too?

Thank you in advance,

Dove

Each character can only play each adventure once. So if you've already played The Black Road with a particular character you can't use that character for it again. You can (and should!) use that same character for other adventures, of course.

Yes, the adventures in this season's Tier 1 play are all tied together, they all take place in Parnast and they're roughly chronological. Nothing says you have to play them in order, although it will make a lot more sense if you do so, and if you start at the beginning and play them in order by the end you'll be near the end of Tier 1 (i.e. you'll probably hit level 5 after playing DDAL05-16).

As for another adventure, I'd suggest just buying the next one in the series, DDAL05-06 Beneath the Fetid Chelimber, which is the first part of a two part adventure that finishes in DDAL05-07 Chelimber’s Descent. I'm told those are actually the weakest of this season's adventures, but I know people who have enjoyed them and there's something to be said for playing things in order. Again, you don't have to play in the first one to play the second (in general for organized play stuff like AL it's best to assume that your table won't have a super consistent set of players each week, and that's fine), but it makes more sense that way. After those two comes DDAL05-10 Giant Diplomacy and then DDAL05-12 Bad Business in Parnast. After that is DDAL05-16 Parnast Under Siege, but that won't be available on DM's Guild until March 7th.

[The Shadowdove]

We started with the black road (DDAL05-02)and will be doing uninvited guests(DDAL05-03) next Saturday.

It looks like the next two are 5th-10th level adventures(DDAL05-04/05).

They'll just hit level 3 after uninvited guests.

Should we go back and do ddal05-01?

[rooneg]

We started with the black road (DDAL05-02)and will be doing uninvited guests(DDAL05-03) next Saturday.

It looks like the next two are 5th-10th level adventures(DDAL05-04/05).

They'll just hit level 3 after uninvited guests.

Should we go back and do ddal05-01?

They didn't release the adventures in order, there is a tier 1 storyline and a tier 2 storyline, they released them both intermingled. Just look for the next Tier 1 adventure.

Going back to DDAL05-01 is fine, but keep in mind that you can't play it with characters who are level 3, 1 and 2 only.

[The Shadowdove]

Doh. I just looked at the ones you recommended.

So confusing that they skip like that.

Thank you again.

[rooneg]

Doh. I just looked at the ones you recommended.

So confusing that they skip like that.

Thank you again.

They do it that way because people who have characters from previous seasons will want to be able to play Tier 2 adventures, and won't want to wait until all the Tier 1 adventures come out. The only counterexample was season 4 (the ravenloft one), which was one continuous storyline from start to finish.

[The Shadowdove]

Do all seasons progress in a way that properly allows you to hit level 5 before the quests run short?

[rooneg]

Do all seasons progress in a way that properly allows you to hit level 5 before the quests run short?

I haven't looked at the XP totals for all of them, but season 4 and 5 certainly do, at least if you wait for all the tier 1 adventures to be released. Also keep in mind that you don't actually HAVE to hit level 5, if you get to level 4 and want to play Tier 2 content you can spend downtime days to catch up to level 5. So while it's certainly better to have enough adventures to make it the whole way to 5, if you get close you're still fine.

Actually, I just checked for Season 3 (Rage of Demons), and if you get min xp for all the tier 1 adventures (not counting the epic, which is no longer available anyway) you end up with 3975 xp. So it's not quite enough to make it to 5, but it's well into 4 so you could catch up if you were so inclined. Presumably if you didn't end up with min XP you'd be closer to 5 or even over the line, but I'm not going to go run the numbers on max xp ;-)

[EDL]

Do all seasons progress in a way that properly allows you to hit level 5 before the quests run short?

Yes. Each season has more then enough first tier adventures to hit level 5. The only possible way not to hit level 5 is dying in most of them.

[rooneg]

Yes. Each season has more then enough first tier adventures to hit level 5. The only possible way not to hit level 5 is dying in most of them.

Umm, Rage of Demons definitely does not, I just double checked. Here are the min/max XPs for the tier 1 adventures:

Harried in Hillsfar 375/500
Shackles of Blood 900/1200
Bane of the Tradeways 450/600
No Foolish Matter 450/600
Quelling the Horde 900/1200
Hillsfar Reclaimed 450/600
Death on the Wall 450/600

That's a minimum of 3975 xp and a maximum of 5300 xp. Neither of which hits level 5. You can still catch up to make up the xp though if you want to jump to tier 2 after playing it.

[EDL]

Umm, Rage of Demons definitely does not, I just double checked. Here are the min/max XPs for the tier 1 adventures:

Harried in Hillsfar 375/500
Shackles of Blood 900/1200
Bane of the Tradeways 450/600
No Foolish Matter 450/600
Quelling the Horde 900/1200
Hillsfar Reclaimed 450/600
Death on the Wall 450/600

That's a minimum of 3975 xp and a maximum of 5300 xp. Neither of which hits level 5. You can still catch up to make up the xp though if you want to jump to tier 2 after playing it.

Oh, you are totally right. Max xp and epic were needed in this case, it slipped my memory.

[The Shadowdove]

If there were two tables of regulars at a weekly event, players some were a bit behind the others in experience due to a missed quest or having died/etc, are there any low level unaffiliated / floater quests to run as a sort of "catch up" game night?

[rooneg]

If there were two tables of regulars at a weekly event, players some were a bit behind the others in experience due to a missed quest or having died/etc, are there any low level unaffiliated / floater quests to run as a sort of "catch up" game night?

Mostly you just grab a fun looking adventure from a previous season.

[The Shadowdove]

Mostly you just grab a fun looking adventure from a previous season.


DDAL05-01 is actually 5 different mini adventurers. I'm going to use them to catch people up. I already printed them out. They look super easy to run. 3 pages per 1 hour session.

It's for players level 1-2. They just hit 2. So getting them to three will at least make them closer to 5 when we finish all of the levels 1-4 adventurers.