Hey everyone, I am thinking of playing in a nearby Adventurers League. I have been a DM for my own home game for nearly a year now but have never actually played due to circumstance. Thought I might make this general discussion thread for any tips for first-timers. How were anyone else's experiences? Let's discuss.
Basically, have a level one character built that uses content from the PHB+1 other splat book, some dice, and a willingness to have fun.
The AL experience is pretty easy to get into, assuming your local area has tables to play at. It comes with the usual challenges of playing what are essentially slightly railroaded one-shot adventures with random strangers.
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"The mongoose blew out its candle and was asleep in bed before the room went dark." —Llanowar fable
Like you (OP), I’ve DMed more than played, and still figuring out my play style. Played 3 AL games in the last year, 2 with the same DM at our FLGS. The biggest challenge, I’ve found, is simply not knowing the other players. Had fun at the tables, good people, but when you don’t know each other, it’s harder to riff off the others. Maybe I like a bit more RP than I thought. As @metamongoose said, they are railroaded, it that partly depends on the DM. Going forward, I’d like to try some different DMs, as well, so I can get broader experience for when I get back into DMing.
Yes, due to my situation most of what I have played is AL. Don’t have a time block I can dedicate to a campaign. But I have found it always leaves me wishing for more opportunities to role play and explore. Due to its nature, that can’t be really played up.
The story modules make for very bite-size sessions, and advancement is predictable and regular. Which I really do like. I don’t really mind being railroaded, but it does further degrade role play. “I’m not sure what the DM is leading us toward. I’ll sit here in silence so I don’t try to send us somewhere the session isn’t made to go. He’ll have the NPC make a suggestion for our next step.” And they usually have to.
DMs always make a big difference. But with these, it’s more about whether or not they know the story material well than whether they can narrate a fun story and ask for appropriate skill checks.
tl;dr: I score the average AL experience 7/10, losing a point each for RP, freedom to explore outside the narrative, and the heavy regulation (bordering on confiscation) of treasure and magic items.
The AL table I run at my LGS runs the main adventure book for the season for more dedicated players while we have two other tables that run the one-shots for walk-ins and more casual players. It's a pretty good system that serves our store well.
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"The mongoose blew out its candle and was asleep in bed before the room went dark." —Llanowar fable
Thank you all for your insight! We ended up playing Waterdeep Dragon Heist. I had a good experience but I agree with many of your comments. Figuring out my play style as a PC was new. I am not even very attached to my character, but that could be a DM to PC issue. It took a while before I think we all became comfortable with each other but once we did we were able to goof around and enjoy RP. I do miss the atmosphere of a home game... a lot. With no music and other tables, I found it hard to immerse myself in the story. There was only one other table, but I found it hard to not get distracted. More tables and I can see it getting more difficult. I understand there are a lot of variables to this and am not opposed to playing again but I don't think I will be rushing back.
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Hey everyone, I am thinking of playing in a nearby Adventurers League. I have been a DM for my own home game for nearly a year now but have never actually played due to circumstance. Thought I might make this general discussion thread for any tips for first-timers. How were anyone else's experiences? Let's discuss.
Basically, have a level one character built that uses content from the PHB+1 other splat book, some dice, and a willingness to have fun.
The AL experience is pretty easy to get into, assuming your local area has tables to play at. It comes with the usual challenges of playing what are essentially slightly railroaded one-shot adventures with random strangers.
Like you (OP), I’ve DMed more than played, and still figuring out my play style. Played 3 AL games in the last year, 2 with the same DM at our FLGS. The biggest challenge, I’ve found, is simply not knowing the other players. Had fun at the tables, good people, but when you don’t know each other, it’s harder to riff off the others. Maybe I like a bit more RP than I thought. As @metamongoose said, they are railroaded, it that partly depends on the DM. Going forward, I’d like to try some different DMs, as well, so I can get broader experience for when I get back into DMing.
Yes, due to my situation most of what I have played is AL. Don’t have a time block I can dedicate to a campaign. But I have found it always leaves me wishing for more opportunities to role play and explore. Due to its nature, that can’t be really played up.
The story modules make for very bite-size sessions, and advancement is predictable and regular. Which I really do like. I don’t really mind being railroaded, but it does further degrade role play. “I’m not sure what the DM is leading us toward. I’ll sit here in silence so I don’t try to send us somewhere the session isn’t made to go. He’ll have the NPC make a suggestion for our next step.” And they usually have to.
DMs always make a big difference. But with these, it’s more about whether or not they know the story material well than whether they can narrate a fun story and ask for appropriate skill checks.
tl;dr: I score the average AL experience 7/10, losing a point each for RP, freedom to explore outside the narrative, and the heavy regulation (bordering on confiscation) of treasure and magic items.
The AL table I run at my LGS runs the main adventure book for the season for more dedicated players while we have two other tables that run the one-shots for walk-ins and more casual players. It's a pretty good system that serves our store well.
Thank you all for your insight! We ended up playing Waterdeep Dragon Heist. I had a good experience but I agree with many of your comments. Figuring out my play style as a PC was new. I am not even very attached to my character, but that could be a DM to PC issue. It took a while before I think we all became comfortable with each other but once we did we were able to goof around and enjoy RP. I do miss the atmosphere of a home game... a lot. With no music and other tables, I found it hard to immerse myself in the story. There was only one other table, but I found it hard to not get distracted. More tables and I can see it getting more difficult. I understand there are a lot of variables to this and am not opposed to playing again but I don't think I will be rushing back.