To begin with, my character is the only one who seems to be able to survive. All the other players are on there 3rd, 4th or 5th even 8th character. My character has survived the campaign since day 1... One night when I could not attend and was in no way present. The DM says that he rolled on a random table and a vampire that was hunting us from our past. Attacked the group, killed everyone. And" kidnaped" my body....my character... He then said, Your character is not dead.... You just cannot play him in my campaign any more. When I started he said that it was an Adventurers League game. It was my under standing that the DM could not effect my character in anyway if I was not present to deal with it. SO, Now I have a character that I loved to play. Worked hard to keep alive. But now am unable to play in an adventure that I was close to completing. Is it me? Or is that twisting the rules to make life easier on himself? At the cost of my character? I thought, if I was not there to run my character...it was in effect...not there...Am I wrong? if so please inform me why?
I am not an AL expert by any stretch of imagination, but that right there sounds to me like a book case of dickmove™
I would believe that when someone cannot attend an AL game, the "cardboard coutout" option would be applied, unless it was decided between the player and the DM that the DM would use the character. In any case the use of the absent player's character should be restricted only to combat situation, and in no way influence the story beyond that...
Again, though, I am not an expert of AL play. I tried briefly looking for guidelines on this in the available official resources, but couldn't find a specific section or mention.
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Born in Italy, moved a bunch, living in Spain, my heart always belonged to Roleplaying Games
I'm incensed just hearing about this. My opinion is: character not dead, DM sucks. If you weren't there, your character wasn't there and the DM has no power. Nobody is allowed to play your character in AL except you. It seems from your post that you are playing through a hard cover adventure. AL requires a bit of extra suspension of disbelief in extended campaigns when regular players are absent.
From a practical standpoint, you will likely not be able to play that character at that table again. It's hard to use the AL rules as a weapon to get what you want. Especially when you are dealing with what appears to be an unreasonable DM. It's worth a try, but I don't think it will get you anywhere.
I see that you have two options. Start a new character or find a new table. I wouldn't want to play with this DM, but making a new character is an option. I think the better option might be to leave. If you've been keeping your logsheets in order, there's no reason why you can't take that character to a different AL table.
I'll look around for more specific rules from WoTC to help you confront your DM, if that's what you want to do.
No. It's not so much I want to confront Anyone. Just wondered if I was misinterpreting AL rules as I read them and as they were explained to me at the begining.... I can get this from any DM. Just did not expect from a supposed AL DM. Already made another character. I just dont appreciate that my character gets the axe because it's easier to manage the game.... . And when I come back from missing a game the next week being informed of all this and everyone is playing lvl 1's because they all died again.. I think I'll just gather all my character information before it's deleted and try to find a game for my character that it can play in. Really turned off by AL over all of this though. I was informed of all of these rules that I had to follow. No problem. They were in place to protect everyone. I was told..... Never read anywhere that a player can be written out of the game and be unplayable when they were not present...as you said..."If I'm not present...my character is not present....there for untouchable" .. .and I think you just confirmed my other..suspicions. Thanks for the input.
You should already have all of your information recorded on your logsheet. If you don't have a logsheet, then you aren't playing AL. If You do have the logsheet, you can take your AL legal character to a different AL game. Of course that doesn't solve the problem of trying to complete the adventure, but neither does starting again at level 1. If you're playing at a store or something, you might be able to talk to the event organizer to resolve the problem. They generally have the final say on matters like this.
I don't think you should blame AL for this DM that isn't following the rules. Here are a couple of choice quotes from the DDAL - FAQ v7.1:
"Players may only play one, Adventurers League legal character at a time and they may only play their own characters. DMs can’t play a character." emphasis mine.
"As a D&D Adventurers League Dungeon Master, you are empowered to adjudicate the rules as presented by the official materials (PHB, DMG, MM, etc.). Run the game according to those rules, but you are the final arbiter of any ambiguities that might arise in doing so. Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only. House rules, that is to say rules that you create that aren’t in the official materials such as critical fails, new races, new classes, etc., aren’t permitted for use in play; the Adventurers League uses the rules as presented in the PHB." emphasis mine.
DM can't play your character and this "table" he rolled on sounds like a house rule.
Yep, this is definitely not AL legal. Only YOU can play your character, and nothing short of a Story Reward, leveling out of the HC, or a specific consequence (ie gaining a story related artifact that forces you to retire that character immediately) will prevent a character playing in a campaign.
It is not AL legal for the DM to play your character. However, it is AL legal for a DM to refuse to seat you. This is particularly justifiable if the party is recreating level 1s and you are significantly higher level.
Your DM may not have presented this in a clean way, but he is asking you to change what you are doing for the sake of table balance. This is not a bad thing.
Yep, this is definitely not AL legal. Only YOU can play your character, and nothing short of a Story Reward, leveling out of the HC, or a specific consequence (ie gaining a story related artifact that forces you to retire that character immediately) will prevent a character playing in a campaign.
I actually discovered in finding those quotes yesterday that you don't necessarily level out of a HC. I didn't know this before.
Hardcover Adventures
These adventures typically use the following ranges and can be played by characters of a higher level, provided they are within the adventure’s level range when they begin playing the adventure. A character is only “playing” one hardcover adventure at a time. For example, a character playing CoS that jumps into an SKT game, and levels outside of CoS’s level range can’t play CoS anymore. This rule only applies to DDHC adventures.
It is not AL legal for the DM to play your character. However, it is AL legal for a DM to refuse to seat you. This is particularly justifiable if the party is recreating level 1s and you are significantly higher level.
Your DM may not have presented this in a clean way, but he is asking you to change what you are doing for the sake of table balance. This is not a bad thing.
"Asking" and "forcing" are two separate concepts, and based on the info we have, I'd categorize what this DM did as forcing.
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Born in Italy, moved a bunch, living in Spain, my heart always belonged to Roleplaying Games
I appreciate everyones input and views here. I just wanted to know if "my" view point on the situation was consistent with the written and or "unwritten" rules of AL fairness in general. ...To other AL players and to their DM's. And, I'm certain I have my answer. And, I thank you all for that. I could go on and on about this situation.... But, it solves nothing... Nothing to be done about it. ...Is what it is... It may be a blessing in disguise that perhaps I should find a less suicidal group that my character and myself are challenged by...without having to resort to...whatever this was..thank you all for taking the time to respond.
Hello! I'm sorry to hear about your DM being unfair. I wanted to let you know they are in the wrong and you were in the right. Just out of curiosity what race and class was your character?
It is not AL legal for the DM to play your character. However, it is AL legal for a DM to refuse to seat you. This is particularly justifiable if the party is recreating level 1s and you are significantly higher level.
Your DM may not have presented this in a clean way, but he is asking you to change what you are doing for the sake of table balance. This is not a bad thing.
"Asking" and "forcing" are two separate concepts, and based on the info we have, I'd categorize what this DM did as forcing.
And by attempting to play a character that is not well scaled with the rest of an APL 1 party, the player is "forcing" the DM to rescale encounters. He may not have been prepared to do that, and prioritized several just-wiped players over one with a higher level.
To repeat, it is AL legal for a DM to refuse to seat a player. That is neither a confrontational nor a controversial statement.
An AL player should be prepared to play the tables being run. If that means setting aside a character temporary, you should be prepared to do that. At tier one, just google the pre-gens and play one of those for a session, then respec. It is not hard.
Sounds like the DM is aiming to kill players to prove something. Also sounds like a total dickmove. TLDR if you weren't there your character cannot be murdered in your absence.
It is not AL legal for the DM to play your character. However, it is AL legal for a DM to refuse to seat you. This is particularly justifiable if the party is recreating level 1s and you are significantly higher level.
Your DM may not have presented this in a clean way, but he is asking you to change what you are doing for the sake of table balance. This is not a bad thing.
"Asking" and "forcing" are two separate concepts, and based on the info we have, I'd categorize what this DM did as forcing.
And by attempting to play a character that is not well scaled with the rest of an APL 1 party, the player is "forcing" the DM to rescale encounters. He may not have been prepared to do that, and prioritized several just-wiped players over one with a higher level.
To repeat, it is AL legal for a DM to refuse to seat a player. That is neither a confrontational nor a controversial statement.
An AL player should be prepared to play the tables being run. If that means setting aside a character temporary, you should be prepared to do that. At tier one, just google the pre-gens and play one of those for a session, then respec. It is not hard.
We most probably miss some info, but for what we have been told, the only thing happening is that the OP managed to keep alive in an ongoing AL campaign (which I gather has been done with the same people) so far, and the DM, seemingly without asking the player what his opinion was on changing to a lower level character, decided the OP's character had to get "out of the way" and the OP cannot play it anymore.
Now, as much as I understand an AL DM can refuse to have a certain character at the table, there are a thousand ways more civil and friendly to deal with this situation.
I stand by my initial opinion that this is a prime example of dickmove™
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Born in Italy, moved a bunch, living in Spain, my heart always belonged to Roleplaying Games
I'm not trying to defend this DM if he did indeed pull a dickmove, but to me it sounds like this might be a mis-communication. Here is a key quote from the OP:
And when I come back from missing a game the next week being informed of all this and everyone is playing lvl 1's because they all died again..
I think it might be possible that in the week that the OP was gone, the remaining members TPKd. If /they/ all have to start over from level 1, is it not possible that the OP's original character is too powerful for that adventure? He can't play an adventure by himself, and if there were not enough people of appropriate level, there's simply no other choice but to play level 1's with the guys who died and had to start over. Right? The OP's character is admittedly not dead. He just can't play it in a level 1 adventure...which is what is going to be run.
If that's the case, the DM did a really poor job of communicating the information, but he really has no other option, does he?
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
This is kind of a tightrope, because obviously what the DM did was shady as hell. However, I'd side with poor communication skills vs. an overt effort to murder your character. Unless, of course, he hates you for some reason.
I would say just make a new level 1 and save your other character for adventures this dude isn't DMing. Or, just don't sit at his table anymore.
I think you're 100% right in being pissed, but unless you have another group to play with, you may have to swallow the rage and just make a new level 1.
There's nothing shady about it if the party TPKd. What's the DM supposed to say when nobody else is playing that level of character?
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Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Isn't the whole point of adventure league that it's a drop in /out swtup where you can do a couple of adventures and then miss some and rejoin later to do others?
Yes, but there has to be people your level. If there's only one table running, everyone TPKs and has to start at level 1, while the OP's level 8 missed out on the death...the OP has no choice but to play a new level 1 character. There are no level 8s for him to play with that night.
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Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Yes, but there has to be people your level. If there's only one table running, everyone TPKs and has to start at level 1, while the OP's level 8 missed out on the death...the OP has no choice but to play a new level 1 character. There are no level 8s for him to play with that night.
That is all good and true, but, as far as we know, the DM did an extremely poor job in conveying the reason why it was so. This guy just showed up the week after and got told his character was no longer playable because of in-game events pertaining his character, not because the whole party TPK'd and he had to roll a new one to continue playing with them.
I might be wrong, but a better option would have been to let the player know the party TPK'd in his absence and to think of a new character, since everyone had to start back from scratch. The resultis the same, indeed, but the means and the way to get there are as important as the result, imho.
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Born in Italy, moved a bunch, living in Spain, my heart always belonged to Roleplaying Games
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To begin with, my character is the only one who seems to be able to survive. All the other players are on there 3rd, 4th or 5th even 8th character. My character has survived the campaign since day 1... One night when I could not attend and was in no way present. The DM says that he rolled on a random table and a vampire that was hunting us from our past. Attacked the group, killed everyone. And" kidnaped" my body....my character... He then said, Your character is not dead.... You just cannot play him in my campaign any more. When I started he said that it was an Adventurers League game. It was my under standing that the DM could not effect my character in anyway if I was not present to deal with it. SO, Now I have a character that I loved to play. Worked hard to keep alive. But now am unable to play in an adventure that I was close to completing. Is it me? Or is that twisting the rules to make life easier on himself? At the cost of my character? I thought, if I was not there to run my character...it was in effect...not there...Am I wrong? if so please inform me why?
I am not an AL expert by any stretch of imagination, but that right there sounds to me like a book case of dickmove™
I would believe that when someone cannot attend an AL game, the "cardboard coutout" option would be applied, unless it was decided between the player and the DM that the DM would use the character. In any case the use of the absent player's character should be restricted only to combat situation, and in no way influence the story beyond that...
Again, though, I am not an expert of AL play. I tried briefly looking for guidelines on this in the available official resources, but couldn't find a specific section or mention.
Born in Italy, moved a bunch, living in Spain, my heart always belonged to Roleplaying Games
I'm incensed just hearing about this. My opinion is: character not dead, DM sucks. If you weren't there, your character wasn't there and the DM has no power. Nobody is allowed to play your character in AL except you. It seems from your post that you are playing through a hard cover adventure. AL requires a bit of extra suspension of disbelief in extended campaigns when regular players are absent.
From a practical standpoint, you will likely not be able to play that character at that table again. It's hard to use the AL rules as a weapon to get what you want. Especially when you are dealing with what appears to be an unreasonable DM. It's worth a try, but I don't think it will get you anywhere.
I see that you have two options. Start a new character or find a new table. I wouldn't want to play with this DM, but making a new character is an option. I think the better option might be to leave. If you've been keeping your logsheets in order, there's no reason why you can't take that character to a different AL table.
I'll look around for more specific rules from WoTC to help you confront your DM, if that's what you want to do.
No. It's not so much I want to confront Anyone. Just wondered if I was misinterpreting AL rules as I read them and as they were explained to me at the begining.... I can get this from any DM. Just did not expect from a supposed AL DM. Already made another character. I just dont appreciate that my character gets the axe because it's easier to manage the game.... . And when I come back from missing a game the next week being informed of all this and everyone is playing lvl 1's because they all died again.. I think I'll just gather all my character information before it's deleted and try to find a game for my character that it can play in. Really turned off by AL over all of this though. I was informed of all of these rules that I had to follow. No problem. They were in place to protect everyone. I was told..... Never read anywhere that a player can be written out of the game and be unplayable when they were not present...as you said..."If I'm not present...my character is not present....there for untouchable" .. .and I think you just confirmed my other..suspicions. Thanks for the input.
You should already have all of your information recorded on your logsheet. If you don't have a logsheet, then you aren't playing AL. If You do have the logsheet, you can take your AL legal character to a different AL game. Of course that doesn't solve the problem of trying to complete the adventure, but neither does starting again at level 1. If you're playing at a store or something, you might be able to talk to the event organizer to resolve the problem. They generally have the final say on matters like this.
I don't think you should blame AL for this DM that isn't following the rules. Here are a couple of choice quotes from the DDAL - FAQ v7.1:
"Players may only play one, Adventurers League legal character at a time and they may only play their own characters. DMs can’t play a character." emphasis mine.
"As a D&D Adventurers League Dungeon Master, you are empowered to adjudicate the rules as presented by the official materials (PHB, DMG, MM, etc.). Run the game according to those rules, but you are the final arbiter of any ambiguities that might arise in doing so. Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only. House rules, that is to say rules that you create that aren’t in the official materials such as critical fails, new races, new classes, etc., aren’t permitted for use in play; the Adventurers League uses the rules as presented in the PHB." emphasis mine.
DM can't play your character and this "table" he rolled on sounds like a house rule.
Yep, this is definitely not AL legal. Only YOU can play your character, and nothing short of a Story Reward, leveling out of the HC, or a specific consequence (ie gaining a story related artifact that forces you to retire that character immediately) will prevent a character playing in a campaign.
It is not AL legal for the DM to play your character. However, it is AL legal for a DM to refuse to seat you. This is particularly justifiable if the party is recreating level 1s and you are significantly higher level.
Your DM may not have presented this in a clean way, but he is asking you to change what you are doing for the sake of table balance. This is not a bad thing.
Born in Italy, moved a bunch, living in Spain, my heart always belonged to Roleplaying Games
I appreciate everyones input and views here. I just wanted to know if "my" view point on the situation was consistent with the written and or "unwritten" rules of AL fairness in general. ...To other AL players and to their DM's. And, I'm certain I have my answer. And, I thank you all for that. I could go on and on about this situation.... But, it solves nothing... Nothing to be done about it. ...Is what it is... It may be a blessing in disguise that perhaps I should find a less suicidal group that my character and myself are challenged by...without having to resort to...whatever this was..thank you all for taking the time to respond.
Hello! I'm sorry to hear about your DM being unfair. I wanted to let you know they are in the wrong and you were in the right. Just out of curiosity what race and class was your character?
And by attempting to play a character that is not well scaled with the rest of an APL 1 party, the player is "forcing" the DM to rescale encounters. He may not have been prepared to do that, and prioritized several just-wiped players over one with a higher level.
To repeat, it is AL legal for a DM to refuse to seat a player. That is neither a confrontational nor a controversial statement.
An AL player should be prepared to play the tables being run. If that means setting aside a character temporary, you should be prepared to do that. At tier one, just google the pre-gens and play one of those for a session, then respec. It is not hard.
Sounds like the DM is aiming to kill players to prove something. Also sounds like a total dickmove. TLDR if you weren't there your character cannot be murdered in your absence.
Southampton Guild of Roleplayers
My YouTube (C&C Welcome!)
Born in Italy, moved a bunch, living in Spain, my heart always belonged to Roleplaying Games
I'm not trying to defend this DM if he did indeed pull a dickmove, but to me it sounds like this might be a mis-communication. Here is a key quote from the OP:
And when I come back from missing a game the next week being informed of all this and everyone is playing lvl 1's because they all died again..
I think it might be possible that in the week that the OP was gone, the remaining members TPKd. If /they/ all have to start over from level 1, is it not possible that the OP's original character is too powerful for that adventure? He can't play an adventure by himself, and if there were not enough people of appropriate level, there's simply no other choice but to play level 1's with the guys who died and had to start over. Right? The OP's character is admittedly not dead. He just can't play it in a level 1 adventure...which is what is going to be run.
If that's the case, the DM did a really poor job of communicating the information, but he really has no other option, does he?
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
This is kind of a tightrope, because obviously what the DM did was shady as hell. However, I'd side with poor communication skills vs. an overt effort to murder your character. Unless, of course, he hates you for some reason.
I would say just make a new level 1 and save your other character for adventures this dude isn't DMing. Or, just don't sit at his table anymore.
I think you're 100% right in being pissed, but unless you have another group to play with, you may have to swallow the rage and just make a new level 1.
*avatar by @ZomgDae on Twitter*
There's nothing shady about it if the party TPKd. What's the DM supposed to say when nobody else is playing that level of character?
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
Isn't the whole point of adventure league that it's a drop in /out swtup where you can do a couple of adventures and then miss some and rejoin later to do others?
Southampton Guild of Roleplayers
My YouTube (C&C Welcome!)
Yes, but there has to be people your level. If there's only one table running, everyone TPKs and has to start at level 1, while the OP's level 8 missed out on the death...the OP has no choice but to play a new level 1 character. There are no level 8s for him to play with that night.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
Born in Italy, moved a bunch, living in Spain, my heart always belonged to Roleplaying Games