Hard telling not knowing. Given that WotC isn't calling the new edition an new edition and saying everything is backwards compatible, I'm inclined to think it's business as usual until you hear otherwise.
agree with guesses are just guesses....and hopefully they don't follow their track record where they clearly state you can only use the most recently published set of character creation options (for things like races)...which just goes directly against the whole 'backward compatible' idea...imo.
i wouldn't be surprised if they scrap it all together. It's certainly not comparable to what it was.
i wouldn't be surprised if they scrap it all together. It's certainly not comparable to what it was.
It is indeed a shadow of its former self. Once upon a time I'd argue that AL's a great way for FLGSs and conventions to introduce D&D to beginners. Nowadays it's "cool" enough to not need any introduction, and with WotC focusing on online play and digital purchases they've tossed AL and FLGS support by the wayside. It's sad to see.
I wouldn't say they have tossed AL and FLGS support by the wayside. Organized play is still a huge part of the game. They just out-sourced the administration of much of it during the pandemic. D&D Virtual Play Weekends are still huge. And if an FLGS wants to get DDAL going, all they need to do is reach out. The problem is, the FLGS' are not reaching out. I know of 4 in my extended metro area that are running DDAL every weekend, but they can't be bothered to contact the Wizard's Play Network to get their store on the site. The one I support directly has a Discord for their shop and that is the only place they promote ANYTHING. So it is no surprise their shop is quite empty most days. It is a chicken-or-egg thing. Stores don't reach out and promote, so the company doesn't see demand. But the lack of demand makes the stores not want to waste resources promoting things that seem unpopular.
Between the lackluster additions to the game (Fizban’s treasury of dragons didn’t even give us an ancient dragon warlock or a half dragon race)
the bastion system forcing character ideas and restricting flavor (only clerics and Druids are allowed to be religious, not anyone else)
and cleric and sorcerer subclasses being moved to level 3 and ruining those classes’ flavor and making tier 1 AL even more miserable
and backgrounds going away, meaning RAW my noble character can’t have retainers/butlers with them and RAW my character can’t get guaranteed help at their god’s temples, and RAW I can no longer have items like prayer wheels or scrolls of pedigree or feywild trinkets
it may be best to just scrap and abandon AL, and just let people play D&D normally
a lot of game stores are scrapping AL or not adopting it in favor of just letting people run normal D&D games, or the stores act like a westmarch where they have their own rules
and the best part about not playing AL is you can ignore the stupid changes coming with 1D&D/2024 rules, and also homebrew meaning you can have things like half dragons, or psions, that wotc should have added as official options already
How will 5.5 impact AL? Will i still be able to play my 5th edition characters? Will I be forced to change them to conform to the new rule mechanics?
Hard telling not knowing. Given that WotC isn't calling the new edition an new edition and saying everything is backwards compatible, I'm inclined to think it's business as usual until you hear otherwise.
agree with guesses are just guesses....and hopefully they don't follow their track record where they clearly state you can only use the most recently published set of character creation options (for things like races)...which just goes directly against the whole 'backward compatible' idea...imo.
i wouldn't be surprised if they scrap it all together. It's certainly not comparable to what it was.
Guide to the Five Factions (PWYW)
A rather comprehensive list of free WotC D&D resources
Deck of Decks
It is indeed a shadow of its former self. Once upon a time I'd argue that AL's a great way for FLGSs and conventions to introduce D&D to beginners. Nowadays it's "cool" enough to not need any introduction, and with WotC focusing on online play and digital purchases they've tossed AL and FLGS support by the wayside. It's sad to see.
I wouldn't say they have tossed AL and FLGS support by the wayside. Organized play is still a huge part of the game. They just out-sourced the administration of much of it during the pandemic. D&D Virtual Play Weekends are still huge. And if an FLGS wants to get DDAL going, all they need to do is reach out.
The problem is, the FLGS' are not reaching out. I know of 4 in my extended metro area that are running DDAL every weekend, but they can't be bothered to contact the Wizard's Play Network to get their store on the site. The one I support directly has a Discord for their shop and that is the only place they promote ANYTHING. So it is no surprise their shop is quite empty most days.
It is a chicken-or-egg thing. Stores don't reach out and promote, so the company doesn't see demand. But the lack of demand makes the stores not want to waste resources promoting things that seem unpopular.
There are tons of AL games at three different hobby stores in my area as well as online.
Between the lackluster additions to the game (Fizban’s treasury of dragons didn’t even give us an ancient dragon warlock or a half dragon race)
the bastion system forcing character ideas and restricting flavor (only clerics and Druids are allowed to be religious, not anyone else)
and cleric and sorcerer subclasses being moved to level 3 and ruining those classes’ flavor and making tier 1 AL even more miserable
and backgrounds going away, meaning RAW my noble character can’t have retainers/butlers with them and RAW my character can’t get guaranteed help at their god’s temples, and RAW I can no longer have items like prayer wheels or scrolls of pedigree or feywild trinkets
it may be best to just scrap and abandon AL, and just let people play D&D normally
a lot of game stores are scrapping AL or not adopting it in favor of just letting people run normal D&D games, or the stores act like a westmarch where they have their own rules
and the best part about not playing AL is you can ignore the stupid changes coming with 1D&D/2024 rules, and also homebrew meaning you can have things like half dragons, or psions, that wotc should have added as official options already