How do I DM Adventurers League?

[grobert]

I have the opportunity to run a weekly Adventurers League game at my local game store.

The thing about Adventurers League seems to be that you can't run your own plot, you have to run an Approved Adventurers League Plot (TM).

So now I need to find an Adventurers League Plot.

I was planning to get the new Eberron plot, but I've just websearched and discovered it's going to be published one per month over two years.
But I'm not running one game per month! I'm running one game per week! This won't work for me.

People who run Adventurers League games: what do you run at your table?

[EvilTwinSkippy]

Check out dmsguild.

They have tons of AL approved modules available for quick download, including some Ebberon stuff.

[HolyDraconus]

Official modules actually. Most of s6 or 5 has been cleaned up to work well, and a great, albeit tedious, module for new players is the black road series. Most new players are just there to play, so it's not difficult most of the time. The hardest part I felt when first getting started is just toning things down. Players want to play, and unlike these forums, as a DM you WILL come across a bevy of players that, while colorful, dont have very viable characters. I'm not saying play the monsters and NPCs stupid, just generally not bright. You will eventually be able to tell what groups can handle what kind of things and can better tailor the experience for them.

A big rule of thumb though is to not double tap players. If they go down ignore them until all players are down. Some little kids just cant handle their character dying, especially alone, so party wipes is generally seen from my experience as the best acceptable means of player death. Just be friendly, and I'm sure you will be fine.

[da newt]

Your store should have copies of all the content for you to use too. From the handful of modules I've seen, they are a "plan to deviate from", and include plenty of plot/narrative gaps that you can/should fill in / make it your own. All of the encounters also have room for scaling up/down, substituting in different creatures, etc.

Go into it understanding that one of your primary jobs is to train new folks how to D&D. You are as much a teacher/mentor as you are a DM.

There are also a few rules quirks that take a little getting used to.

[Tanarii]

Ask the hosting store for DDEX module access.

[sithlordnergal]

So, ask the host for some AL Adventures you can run. There are also several fun ones in DMsguild. In fact, one of my favorites to run is called A Dragon's Breath, simply because it is fun RP wise.

[GlenSmash!]

Ask the hosting store for DDEX module access.

This. Participating stores can get access to all the AL material for free.

Talk to them and look at which season of content or which hardcover you want to run.

Side note: some AL modules were released on the Dragon+ App like https://media.wizards.com/2015/downloads/DDEX31_HarriedHillsfar.pdf

[Tharkun]

I DM AL on Mondays in the Seattle area.

I normally get modules from dmsguild.com. Basically any season except 4 are good. And s4 is only an issue due to leaving Barovia. The modules are very fun, we ran them in Oct.

You can also run hardcovers and if you are set on Eberron I saw something on Facebook about some filler content method. Eberron is separate from normal AL though.

Feel free to dm me re:questions