I’m getting back into the game and have a regular weekly home session but considering AL too. What do you like to see in your AL DMs? What makes you come back? Is there any one great experience that stands out?
Honestly, there is no difference between an AL DM and any other DM. The only difference is the content and the AL DM sticks to the rules as written instead of ad libbing things whenever they feel like it. I've found most DMs don't make up rules as they go along so that typically isn't an issue. I have run into a rare AL DM who tried to insist on house rules they like but then they typically don't last long as an AL DM. (One DM liked to use critical hit and fail tables to make life more interesting ... it can be fun in a home game if everyone agress to it, but it isn't in AL).
Other than that, run the module in a fun and enjoyable way for the players at the table. Make it challenging but not suicidal. Read over the ALPG, ALDMG, FAQ and content catalog which are all free on DMsGuild since they include some suggestion on DMing as well as guidance for particular modules and treasure (they also cover the season 9 rules). If you like doing voices, do voices :) ... read over the module in advance so you know roughly how it should run, get an idea of what you could do if the characters decide to do something off the wall. Throw in some role playing of the NPCs. Each AL group can be a completely different mix of people, personalities and interests. Try to get a feel for whether folks want some roleplaying, combat, tactical planning, exploration or whatever and try to include a bit of each depending on the module, modified a bit to fit what the players seem to want the most.
AL modules tend to be pretty linear. On the other hand, playing a published hardcover as AL can be about as close to playing a home brew campaign as you can get in AL. If you have a bunch of regulars playing a hardcover in AL, feel free to discuss possibilities for table rules. As an example, I played Tomb of Annihilation at my local game store, it took 36 months :) playing every two weeks and it was great. However, we did agree to a table rule that traded magic items wouldn't be allowed in play. You could trade if you wanted but the players agreed not to bring those items into the game since it could affect the game significantly. In our case, the DM included some of the Chult Guild Adept modules to add some encounters and adventures in the jungles for extra treasure and a wider variety of experiences. However, agreeing to such table rules is entirely voluntary and not part of AL and we did have occasional folks drop in for a few sessions with items acquired elsewhere but that is the nature of AL characters.
Really, the only skill an AL DM needs above and beyond a homebrew game is just knowing the rewards system and character creation rules. Generally, there’s at least one player who knows all that anyway, so it’s not essential,, but it lends an aire of authority to the DM if he knows how to award gold and can answer questions about magic item limits and such.
Here's something I could suggest... pay attention to when your players are struggling to decide on what to do next, and help to guide them with simple, easy to understand instructions on where they should be going next. AL games tend to be fairly linear, since a lot of the modules are meant to be finished in just a few hours with a group of players who might not know each other particularly well. However, be careful not to railroad them by just saying, "Well, this is where you're going next, because that's what the module says".
Those are the two biggest problems I encounter when playing an AL game... either the players don't realize what they're supposed to be doing, or they latch onto an unimportant detail that doesn't lead anywhere according to the module. Or the DM doesn't really care about anything other than combat (and to be fair, there are plenty of players who are just there for combat as well), so they just rush through any of the story based stuff to get to the "good part", turning it into more of a war game where any characterization or non-combat abilities are just wasted.
I’m getting back into the game and have a regular weekly home session but considering AL too. What do you like to see in your AL DMs? What makes you come back? Is there any one great experience that stands out?
Be the great DM you know you are :)
Honestly, there is no difference between an AL DM and any other DM. The only difference is the content and the AL DM sticks to the rules as written instead of ad libbing things whenever they feel like it. I've found most DMs don't make up rules as they go along so that typically isn't an issue. I have run into a rare AL DM who tried to insist on house rules they like but then they typically don't last long as an AL DM. (One DM liked to use critical hit and fail tables to make life more interesting ... it can be fun in a home game if everyone agress to it, but it isn't in AL).
Other than that, run the module in a fun and enjoyable way for the players at the table. Make it challenging but not suicidal. Read over the ALPG, ALDMG, FAQ and content catalog which are all free on DMsGuild since they include some suggestion on DMing as well as guidance for particular modules and treasure (they also cover the season 9 rules). If you like doing voices, do voices :) ... read over the module in advance so you know roughly how it should run, get an idea of what you could do if the characters decide to do something off the wall. Throw in some role playing of the NPCs. Each AL group can be a completely different mix of people, personalities and interests. Try to get a feel for whether folks want some roleplaying, combat, tactical planning, exploration or whatever and try to include a bit of each depending on the module, modified a bit to fit what the players seem to want the most.
AL modules tend to be pretty linear. On the other hand, playing a published hardcover as AL can be about as close to playing a home brew campaign as you can get in AL. If you have a bunch of regulars playing a hardcover in AL, feel free to discuss possibilities for table rules. As an example, I played Tomb of Annihilation at my local game store, it took 36 months :) playing every two weeks and it was great. However, we did agree to a table rule that traded magic items wouldn't be allowed in play. You could trade if you wanted but the players agreed not to bring those items into the game since it could affect the game significantly. In our case, the DM included some of the Chult Guild Adept modules to add some encounters and adventures in the jungles for extra treasure and a wider variety of experiences. However, agreeing to such table rules is entirely voluntary and not part of AL and we did have occasional folks drop in for a few sessions with items acquired elsewhere but that is the nature of AL characters.
Really, the only skill an AL DM needs above and beyond a homebrew game is just knowing the rewards system and character creation rules. Generally, there’s at least one player who knows all that anyway, so it’s not essential,, but it lends an aire of authority to the DM if he knows how to award gold and can answer questions about magic item limits and such.
Here's something I could suggest... pay attention to when your players are struggling to decide on what to do next, and help to guide them with simple, easy to understand instructions on where they should be going next. AL games tend to be fairly linear, since a lot of the modules are meant to be finished in just a few hours with a group of players who might not know each other particularly well. However, be careful not to railroad them by just saying, "Well, this is where you're going next, because that's what the module says".
Those are the two biggest problems I encounter when playing an AL game... either the players don't realize what they're supposed to be doing, or they latch onto an unimportant detail that doesn't lead anywhere according to the module. Or the DM doesn't really care about anything other than combat (and to be fair, there are plenty of players who are just there for combat as well), so they just rush through any of the story based stuff to get to the "good part", turning it into more of a war game where any characterization or non-combat abilities are just wasted.
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