I'm an AL organizer and people often approach me because they want to play, but they have never heard of AL and don't know what the rules are. I have plenty of copies of the AL Player's Guide on hand, but I find that a lot of people have a hard time reading it.
My basic pitch is that it is like pickup DnD where anyone can drop in with a character and any gold or magic items can be kept for the next adventure. I tell them to just bring a level 1 character to our next tier 1 game. The only restrictions are that they have to use standard array or point buy and use standard equipment, but they can use any race or class from the books listed in the AL Forgotten Realms Player's Guide (since we only run FR games). Then I depend on the DM and other players at that table to explain logsheets and limits on the number of magic items you can bring.
I wish there was an up to date video or easier to read player's guide to explain what this all is to someone who has never heard of AL before. It doesn't help that WotC is terrible about updating their website. How do you explain it to prospective players?
The following books can be used to create your pc. Players Handbook, Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons, Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse, Spelljammer Adventurers in Space, Sword Coast Adventure’s Guide, Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, The Wild Beyond Witchlight, Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, Elemental Evil Player’s Companion, Locathah from Locathah Rising, and other selected adventures. Dragonlance, Eberron, and Ravenloft have additional rules.
Do an online search use DM’s Guild or D&D Adventurers League for more information.
Players can be of any age but a DM may set some limits. Play nice with each other and watch your language is the general rule. A DM can refuse any player for any reason.
PCS usually start at first level. You can choose a pre-generated character or build your own using the array 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8 for stats. Or use the 27-point buy on page 13 of PHB. You never roll for stats. Hit points use max at first level and the average per the class afterwards. Talk with your DM about starting a fifth level PC.
NO evil PCs. Ask your DM about safety tools.
Tiers are the power level of adventure. Tier 1 levels 1-4, Tier 2 5-10, Tier 3 11-16, Tier 4 17-20.
Magic Item count is unlimited by you can only bring to adventure a few. This varies by Tier. Tier 1-1. Tier 2-3. Tier 3-6. Tier 4-10. Consumable items are limited to Tier 1 -5, Tier 2 & 3 – 10, Tier 4 – 15. Common magic item limit is 5 for all tiers.
Treasure cash is divided equally between players. Looted Equipment is decided on a whim.
Inspiration is rewarded by the DM. Gives advantage on attack, saving, or ability roll. Must call it before you roll.
Advantage/Disadvantage. Roll 2d20 take best/worst of rolls. Will cancel each other out.
If a PC is dead, diseased or cursed this condition goes away at end of adventure.
Magic item free at 5th level.. +1 Weapon, +1 shield, +1 rod of pack keeper, +1 wand of war mage, +1 all-purpose tool, +1 amulet of the devout, +1 arcane grimoire, +1 bloodwell vial, +1 dragonhide belt, +1 moon sickle, +1 rhythm-makers drum, Bag of Holding. Choose one.
D&D Beyond has the Basic Rules and the Lost Mine of Phandelver for free. Check phone apps.
I usually describe AL as a shared campaign. AL is run using the same rules everywhere. You can take an AL character and play it in an AL game of the appropriate tier anywhere. The characters are portable and the adventures usually fit into 4 hours unless a hardcover published adventure is being run over multiple sessions. AL is a version of D&D which can be fit into the schedules of folks with busy lives and other commitments.
Typically, places that run AL will have a sign up sheet, but if you can't make it, you can drop out and someone else can take the seat. There is no requirement for the same players to be available every week. Sign up, show up, play. As long as enough players are available (typically a minimum of 3 but sometimes 2), the game will be run for whoever is there.
It is flexible, easy, lightweight and usually fun.
The downside is that the player writes their own story for their character based on the adventures they run. There could be other players with their characters that tend to play at the same times as you or you could end up playing with a completely different set of players every week. Unless you are playing a published hardcover adventure, the modules have only minimal connections to each other, though there are a few mini-arcs in some seasons. Even then, there is no requirement to have played any of the previous adventures in any given arc.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
I'm an AL organizer and people often approach me because they want to play, but they have never heard of AL and don't know what the rules are. I have plenty of copies of the AL Player's Guide on hand, but I find that a lot of people have a hard time reading it.
My basic pitch is that it is like pickup DnD where anyone can drop in with a character and any gold or magic items can be kept for the next adventure. I tell them to just bring a level 1 character to our next tier 1 game. The only restrictions are that they have to use standard array or point buy and use standard equipment, but they can use any race or class from the books listed in the AL Forgotten Realms Player's Guide (since we only run FR games). Then I depend on the DM and other players at that table to explain logsheets and limits on the number of magic items you can bring.
I wish there was an up to date video or easier to read player's guide to explain what this all is to someone who has never heard of AL before. It doesn't help that WotC is terrible about updating their website. How do you explain it to prospective players?
It is WoTC world wide homebrew which you can take your pc anywhere there is an AL table. I will add my handout to the next post.
No Gaming is Better than Bad Gaming.
The following books can be used to create your pc. Players Handbook, Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons, Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse, Spelljammer Adventurers in Space, Sword Coast Adventure’s Guide, Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, The Wild Beyond Witchlight, Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, Elemental Evil Player’s Companion, Locathah from Locathah Rising, and other selected adventures. Dragonlance, Eberron, and Ravenloft have additional rules.
Do an online search use DM’s Guild or D&D Adventurers League for more information.
https://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/systems-reference-document-srd is quick download of most of the rules you need to begin.
Players can be of any age but a DM may set some limits. Play nice with each other and watch your language is the general rule. A DM can refuse any player for any reason.
PCS usually start at first level. You can choose a pre-generated character or build your own using the array 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8 for stats. Or use the 27-point buy on page 13 of PHB. You never roll for stats. Hit points use max at first level and the average per the class afterwards. Talk with your DM about starting a fifth level PC.
NO evil PCs. Ask your DM about safety tools.
Tiers are the power level of adventure. Tier 1 levels 1-4, Tier 2 5-10, Tier 3 11-16, Tier 4 17-20.
Magic Item count is unlimited by you can only bring to adventure a few. This varies by Tier. Tier 1-1. Tier 2-3. Tier 3-6. Tier 4-10. Consumable items are limited to Tier 1 -5, Tier 2 & 3 – 10, Tier 4 – 15. Common magic item limit is 5 for all tiers.
Treasure cash is divided equally between players. Looted Equipment is decided on a whim.
Inspiration is rewarded by the DM. Gives advantage on attack, saving, or ability roll. Must call it before you roll.
Advantage/Disadvantage. Roll 2d20 take best/worst of rolls. Will cancel each other out.
If a PC is dead, diseased or cursed this condition goes away at end of adventure.
Magic item free at 5th level.. +1 Weapon, +1 shield, +1 rod of pack keeper, +1 wand of war mage, +1 all-purpose tool, +1 amulet of the devout, +1 arcane grimoire, +1 bloodwell vial, +1 dragonhide belt, +1 moon sickle, +1 rhythm-makers drum, Bag of Holding. Choose one.
D&D Beyond has the Basic Rules and the Lost Mine of Phandelver for free. Check phone apps.
No Gaming is Better than Bad Gaming.
I usually describe AL as a shared campaign. AL is run using the same rules everywhere. You can take an AL character and play it in an AL game of the appropriate tier anywhere. The characters are portable and the adventures usually fit into 4 hours unless a hardcover published adventure is being run over multiple sessions. AL is a version of D&D which can be fit into the schedules of folks with busy lives and other commitments.
Typically, places that run AL will have a sign up sheet, but if you can't make it, you can drop out and someone else can take the seat. There is no requirement for the same players to be available every week. Sign up, show up, play. As long as enough players are available (typically a minimum of 3 but sometimes 2), the game will be run for whoever is there.
It is flexible, easy, lightweight and usually fun.
The downside is that the player writes their own story for their character based on the adventures they run. There could be other players with their characters that tend to play at the same times as you or you could end up playing with a completely different set of players every week. Unless you are playing a published hardcover adventure, the modules have only minimal connections to each other, though there are a few mini-arcs in some seasons. Even then, there is no requirement to have played any of the previous adventures in any given arc.