Character Advancement: Your character gains a level upon completing an adventure. In hardcover adventure sessions, your DM will tell you when you’ve gained a level. Otherwise if, after four hours of play (or eight hours at tiers 2 – 4) in a hardcover adventure, your DM doesn’t tell you that you’ve gained a level, you gain a level. If you’d like to continue playing at your current level, you can decline to gain a level, although it has an impact on other rewards that you receive.
Magic Items: In order to maintain portability in this shared-world campaign, whenever the group you’re playing with finds a magic item, your character can keep it if you wish, though the number of magic items your character can own at a given time is determined by their tier (common, consumable, and story items don’t count against this limit). Instead of gaining a new item, your character can instead replace an item in their possession with a new one—useful in getting rid of obsolete items or those that have been destroyed or have no magic remaining.
Monetary Rewards: Your Dungeon Master awards your character gold during play. In order to maintain character equality in this shared-world campaign, the maximum amount of gold your character can earn is based on how many hours they’ve played in their current tier.
Renown Item: Seasoned characters gain a +1 weapon, +1 shield, +1 rod of the pact keeper, or a +1 wand of the war mage tied to their background (a Folk Hero might get an old +1 greatsword that belonged to a retired adventurer, a Sage may find a +1 wand of the war mage hidden in a library, etc.). Your character’s Magic Item Limit applies to this item, and the item can’t be sold or traded.
Faction Item: Seasoned faction members gain a magical ring bearing their faction’s insignia. Your character’s Magic Item Limit applies to this item and it can’t be sold or traded. The item gained is determined by their faction but is lost if you leave the faction.
Seasonal Incentives: Characters made specifically to start Season 9 gain access to the following character creation options: Lingering Legacy of Evil, Plane-Touched Wings, and Inherited Malevolence.
Versions 9.0 of the AL Players Guide and AL Dungeon Masters Guide will be available at these links until they go live on the DMs Guild as part of the AL Players Pack.
It’s important to note that Seasonality, as previously discussed, is no longer part of the Season 9 ruleset. Any character of any creation date will earn magic items, gold, and story awards from all available adventures; however characters created for Season 9 will enjoy additional perks during their adventures in Avernus, as noted in the ALPG, under Seasonal Incentives.
We’ll be releasing further information on how to prepare previously-created characters for compliance with the new Magic Item limit, as well as how to convert DM Rewards from ACP and TCP. Watch this space!
Season 9 Conversion Guidelines
For Players
Advancement Checkpoints.
All advancement checkpoints are removed and you gain a level. As per Season 9 ALPG, this level can be declined.
Treasure Checkpoints.
All treasure checkpoints are removed.
Magic Items.
As a general rule, your character keeps what they already possess, but are subject to the Magic Item Limit provided in the Season 9 ALPG. Characters above or below their Magic Item Limit use the following guidance:
If your character possesses more permanent magic items than their Magic Item Limit allows, select which item(s) the character retains (to a maximum of your Magic Item Limit). All other items are held in reserve and one additional magic item can be reclaimed from this list once the character’s Magic Item Limit increases to accommodate it or by using the normal rules for replacing items at the end of a session. Any permanent magic items still unclaimed after this additional item has been claimed are permanently removed.
If your character possess fewer magic items than their Magic Item Limit allows, choose a number of permanent magic items from those that the character unlocked by adventuring (items unlocked by the evergreen or seasonal unlock lists, or other means aren’t available for this purpose) that would bring them up to their Magic Item Limit.
Legendary Items
Legendary items are removed from characters below tier 4, but held in reserve. These reserved items can be reclaimed once the character reaches tier 4.
Magic Items with Persistent Effects
Magic items that grant persistent effects (tomes of understanding, manual of golems, etc.) count against the character’s Magic Item Limit. These items can be removed, but in so doing, the character loses all of the item’s persistent effects. Further guidance regarding removing these items will be provided in the ALFAQ.
For DMs
Advancement Checkpoints
Advancement checkpoints are removed and you earn one DM Reward for every eight advancement checkpoints (rounded down) you had earned. These DM Rewards can be exchanged for advancement and other rewards for your characters. Rewards earned from CCC adventures can only be exchanged for advancement; the Season 9 DM Rewards document will provide further guidance.
Treasure Checkpoints
All treasure checkpoints are removed.
Magic Items
Magic items unlocked through DM Quests can be given to your characters as you choose. Permanent magic items given in this way still count towards that character’s Magic Item Limit.
DM Rewards
DM Quests rewards that unlocked character options (such as Oathbreaker) can be used as normal
Answers to frequently asked questions
General:
The rules are effective on the 17th. The 16th was a typo. Link
Then make your new character with the same name. There's no rule that says you can't have multiple characters with the same name. Link
Conversion:
Existing characters keep the gold they have. Future earnings are gained using the Season 9 rules. Link
Useful ways to spend treasure checkpoints before they're removed include spell scrolls for spells with costly components, gold, potions, or other consumables.
You can take the free level up even if your character doesn't has 4/8 ACP to the next level. Link
If you are under your magic item limit, only items subject to the limit can be taken up to the difference. This excludes common magic items. LinkLink
During conversion, you can discard items to swap for your unlocks. Link
Advancement:
You can gain a maximum of one level per session, regardless of the length of the session. Link (ALDMG page 4)
If a module is split over multiple sessions, a level can be taken only at the conclusion of the adventure. Link
Level 20 characters still "gain levels" and everything that comes along with that (downtime), but they don't advance. LinkLink
If a module runs longer than the expected run time, it can be an opportunity to acquire more gold (up to the level cap). Link
Characters will still be able to afford spell components. Link
Spellbooks are not ignored. (The reference from S8 ALDMG was missing in the S9 doc) Link
Level 20 characters still "gain levels" and everything that comes along with that (gold cap resets), but they don't advance. LinkLink
Magic Items:
There are no plans to change the magic item limits. LinkLink2
Season 9 adventure modules may contain an additional lower-rarity item. Link
Tomes and Manuals will still count against your magic item limit when used, however there will be guidance for getting rid of them in the official FAQ coming soon. LinkLink2
If an item conveys a persistent benefit, it continues to count towards your Magic Item Limit. If you remove the remove the item, you remove the benefit. More info to come in the FAQ. Link
The Magic Item Limit only counts magic items. Things like boons, blessings, and story awards that are not magic items are excluded and stack with the limit. LinkLink
Magic Item "Count" is an obsolete term. Items that previously didn't count against your MIC will count against your Magic Item "Limit". Link
If you become cursed by a cursed item and do not remove it by the end of the session you are forced to take that item. And it does count against your limit. So if you are at your limit, then you will have to get rid of another item. Link
Renown:
You start Tier 2 with a +1 item, not Tier 1. Where it says "Seasoned characters gain a +1 weapon, +1 shield, +1 rod of the pact keeper, or a +1 wand of the war mage tied to their background", it is referring to the name of the Tier 2 renown rank. (ALPG page 5)
Characters only gain the renown benefit of their tier. They cannot choose a lower one. Link
Factions:
Joining a faction still requires the Safe Haven background feature.
You can join any faction, including the original five and other factions in the Forgotten Realms such as the Red Wizards and the Force Grey. Link
Characters who join an alternative faction can still get the faction item available to all factions... a Ring of ProtectionLink
If you forgo the item upon reaching Tier 2, you can take it at a later date. Link
Season 9 Incentives:
Making an Aasimar character for season 9 does not count against your PHB+1 choice. Link
Replacing the Infernal Legacy feature of the PHB Tiefling or the SCAG Feral Tiefling for the Winged Variant feature does not count against your PHB+1 choice. However, choosing Feral Tiefling still makes SCAG your +1 choice. MToF Tieflings do not have the Infernal Legacy trait and therefore do not qualify for this feature.
Inherited Malevolence is only for characters who are not Aasimar or Tiefling who are not using the Winged variant feature. Link
Campaign Adventures are modules that start with DDAL, DDEX, DDAO, DDIA, etc. Link
Per the DM Rewards doc, only DM Rewards earned for running Avernus Rising (FR, DDAL09), adventures, Descent Into Avernus (FR, DDHC09), and Oracle of War (Eberron) adventures can be spent on campaign rewards (Option 3). Link
I read it over ... it will be interesting to see how it works out but it raises some questions.
1) Legendary items aren't usable until tier 4 characters (which makes sense to me) ... however what about all the tier 3 characters with Legendary items due to the idiotic Season 8 evergreen list? These characters have bought and paid for these items under previous season rules and it would seem unfair to strip them of their use (though it would help game balance in tier 3 :) ).
2) How many magic items a character can possess at each tier will become a crucial and probably contentious item of discussion. There are lots of magic items. Some attunement and some not. Some of greater or lesser utility. In addition, are these magic items actually equipped to the character or the entire inventory of available magic items?
3) If everyone at a table can get a copy of a magic item after playing a module then many items will become much more common. What happens to trading?
4) How are unlocks handled going forward? A character unlocked all of these items in previous seasons and perhaps wanted to purchase some but had insufficient treasure points. Do they just lose out?
Anyway ... lots of questions ... insufficient answers for now. However, the quantity and scope of changes makes me wonder if these folks really know what they are doing ...
Is anyone else a little frustrated with the "milestone" change, or is it just me? Unfortunately, some of the Dungeon Masters I've played with seem not quite ready to handle this kind of say over the players' advancement. Even if they are responsible, their playstyles (and in turn advancement rates) will be wildly different. And if a time-based "expected rate" exists, why not just use that?
Is anyone else a little frustrated with the "milestone" change, or is it just me? Unfortunately, some of the Dungeon Masters I've played with seem not quite ready to handle this kind of say over the players' advancement. Even if they are responsible, their playstyles (and in turn advancement rates) will be wildly different. And if a time-based "expected rate" exists, why not just use that?
think its good for Tier 1...not so much for higher tiers, but time will tell.
Our AL DM group sort of figures that we'll just offer up a milestone at the end of every session for non-static groups, and players can choose whether or not to take it. It's easier than trying to figure out how many sessions each player has played and if they now "earn" a milestone. Basically if you weren't screwing around in the adventure, at the end of every module, milestone offer. It will be up to players themselves to determine how fast they want to advance. :)
For hardcovers and more static AL groups, that may differ!
I'm sorry if it's already been stated, but I didn't see confirmation: Is it okay to not take advancement points (or whatever we are going to call them), while still accruing treasure points?
no. you get treasure points from advancement points...you're not rewarded treasure points. treasure points will go away in season 9...they said AP would too, but now looks like they're back at the drawing board on advancement.
My preference is 1) XP (math is not hard) 2) Milestone 3) ACP
Having DM's grant a Milestone mid-adventure during a Con adventure seems adverse to keeping the game on track - you are attempting to complete a 4 hour module in 3.5-3.75 as it is.
I cannot imagine sitting at GenCon and granting a milestone (unless it was just enough to get the party a Raise Dead/Resurrection/Fireball) hold on - rethinking this whole thing through - you mean when the party is suprised and the 4th level wizard is the only party member standing, I could grant them the Milestone to push them to 5th level. Now how do i get them to be able to have had the fireball memorized - perhaps they were studying it for the past month - Going back to watch Mythica: A Search for Heroes - Practice makes perfect.......
Is that milestone thing legit? It’s a horrible idea. Why are you allowing random DMs the ability to throw out level up milestone or not? It was perfect how it was. Also there may be an incentive to just treasure hoard or something and purposefully not advance.
The opening post has been updated with the new ALPG and ALDMG information as well as answers to frequently asked questions. I will try to keep it up to date.
Guidance for converting existing characters coming soon,
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
How I'm posting based on text formatting: Mod Hat On - Mod Hat Off
This particular one caught my attention. Prepare Remove Curse boys and girls. You might need it.
If you become cursed by a cursed item and do not remove it by the end of the session you are forced to take that item. And it does count against your limit. So if you are at your limit, then you will have to get rid of another item. Link
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
How I'm posting based on text formatting: Mod Hat On - Mod Hat Off
Friendly reminder to keep discussions civil. That having been said, let's dig in.
Season 9 Documentation
Season 9 Highlights
Character Advancement: Your character gains a level upon completing an adventure. In hardcover adventure sessions, your DM will tell you when you’ve gained a level. Otherwise if, after four hours of play (or eight hours at tiers 2 – 4) in a hardcover adventure, your DM doesn’t tell you that you’ve gained a level, you gain a level. If you’d like to continue playing at your current level, you can decline to gain a level, although it has an impact on other rewards that you receive.
Magic Items: In order to maintain portability in this shared-world campaign, whenever the group you’re playing with finds a magic item, your character can keep it if you wish, though the number of magic items your character can own at a given time is determined by their tier (common, consumable, and story items don’t count against this limit). Instead of gaining a new item, your character can instead replace an item in their possession with a new one—useful in getting rid of obsolete items or those that have been destroyed or have no magic remaining.
Monetary Rewards: Your Dungeon Master awards your character gold during play. In order to maintain character equality in this shared-world campaign, the maximum amount of gold your character can earn is based on how many hours they’ve played in their current tier.
Renown Item: Seasoned characters gain a +1 weapon, +1 shield, +1 rod of the pact keeper, or a +1 wand of the war mage tied to their background (a Folk Hero might get an old +1 greatsword that belonged to a retired adventurer, a Sage may find a +1 wand of the war mage hidden in a library, etc.). Your character’s Magic Item Limit applies to this item, and the item can’t be sold or traded.
Faction Item: Seasoned faction members gain a magical ring bearing their faction’s insignia. Your character’s Magic Item Limit applies to this item and it can’t be sold or traded. The item gained is determined by their faction but is lost if you leave the faction.
Seasonal Incentives: Characters made specifically to start Season 9 gain access to the following character creation options: Lingering Legacy of Evil, Plane-Touched Wings, and Inherited Malevolence.
Versions 9.0 of the AL Players Guide and AL Dungeon Masters Guide will be available at these links until they go live on the DMs Guild as part of the AL Players Pack.
AL Players Guide v9.0
AL Dungeon Masters Guide v9.0
It’s important to note that Seasonality, as previously discussed, is no longer part of the Season 9 ruleset. Any character of any creation date will earn magic items, gold, and story awards from all available adventures; however characters created for Season 9 will enjoy additional perks during their adventures in Avernus, as noted in the ALPG, under Seasonal Incentives.
We’ll be releasing further information on how to prepare previously-created characters for compliance with the new Magic Item limit, as well as how to convert DM Rewards from ACP and TCP. Watch this space!
Season 9 Conversion Guidelines
For Players
Advancement Checkpoints.
All advancement checkpoints are removed and you gain a level. As per Season 9 ALPG, this level can be declined.
Treasure Checkpoints.
All treasure checkpoints are removed.
Magic Items.
As a general rule, your character keeps what they already possess, but are subject to the Magic Item Limit provided in the Season 9 ALPG. Characters above or below their Magic Item Limit use the following guidance:
If your character possesses more permanent magic items than their Magic Item Limit allows, select which item(s) the character retains (to a maximum of your Magic Item Limit). All other items are held in reserve and one additional magic item can be reclaimed from this list once the character’s Magic Item Limit increases to accommodate it or by using the normal rules for replacing items at the end of a session. Any permanent magic items still unclaimed after this additional item has been claimed are permanently removed.
If your character possess fewer magic items than their Magic Item Limit allows, choose a number of permanent magic items from those that the character unlocked by adventuring (items unlocked by the evergreen or seasonal unlock lists, or other means aren’t available for this purpose) that would bring them up to their Magic Item Limit.
Legendary Items
Legendary items are removed from characters below tier 4, but held in reserve. These reserved items can be reclaimed once the character reaches tier 4.
Magic Items with Persistent Effects
Magic items that grant persistent effects (tomes of understanding, manual of golems, etc.) count against the character’s Magic Item Limit. These items can be removed, but in so doing, the character loses all of the item’s persistent effects. Further guidance regarding removing these items will be provided in the ALFAQ.
For DMs
Advancement Checkpoints
Advancement checkpoints are removed and you earn one DM Reward for every eight advancement checkpoints (rounded down) you had earned. These DM Rewards can be exchanged for advancement and other rewards for your characters. Rewards earned from CCC adventures can only be exchanged for advancement; the Season 9 DM Rewards document will provide further guidance.
Treasure Checkpoints
All treasure checkpoints are removed.
Magic Items
Magic items unlocked through DM Quests can be given to your characters as you choose. Permanent magic items given in this way still count towards that character’s Magic Item Limit.
DM Rewards
DM Quests rewards that unlocked character options (such as Oathbreaker) can be used as normal
Answers to frequently asked questions
General:
Conversion:
Advancement:
Treasure:
Magic Items:
Renown:
Factions:
Season 9 Incentives:
DM Rewards
Feature Requests || Homebrew FAQ || Pricing FAQ || Hardcovers FAQ || Snippet Codes || Tooltips
DDB Guides & FAQs, Class Guides, Character Builds, Game Guides, Useful Websites, and WOTC Resources
I read it over ... it will be interesting to see how it works out but it raises some questions.
1) Legendary items aren't usable until tier 4 characters (which makes sense to me) ... however what about all the tier 3 characters with Legendary items due to the idiotic Season 8 evergreen list? These characters have bought and paid for these items under previous season rules and it would seem unfair to strip them of their use (though it would help game balance in tier 3 :) ).
2) How many magic items a character can possess at each tier will become a crucial and probably contentious item of discussion. There are lots of magic items. Some attunement and some not. Some of greater or lesser utility. In addition, are these magic items actually equipped to the character or the entire inventory of available magic items?
3) If everyone at a table can get a copy of a magic item after playing a module then many items will become much more common. What happens to trading?
4) How are unlocks handled going forward? A character unlocked all of these items in previous seasons and perhaps wanted to purchase some but had insufficient treasure points. Do they just lose out?
Anyway ... lots of questions ... insufficient answers for now. However, the quantity and scope of changes makes me wonder if these folks really know what they are doing ...
Is anyone else a little frustrated with the "milestone" change, or is it just me? Unfortunately, some of the Dungeon Masters I've played with seem not quite ready to handle this kind of say over the players' advancement. Even if they are responsible, their playstyles (and in turn advancement rates) will be wildly different. And if a time-based "expected rate" exists, why not just use that?
Wizard (Gandalf) of the Tolkien Club
think its good for Tier 1...not so much for higher tiers, but time will tell.
Guide to the Five Factions (PWYW)
A rather comprehensive list of free WotC D&D resources
Deck of Decks
looks like they removed the 'zeroing in on advancement' post. magic items is still there. :)
Guide to the Five Factions (PWYW)
A rather comprehensive list of free WotC D&D resources
Deck of Decks
Our AL DM group sort of figures that we'll just offer up a milestone at the end of every session for non-static groups, and players can choose whether or not to take it. It's easier than trying to figure out how many sessions each player has played and if they now "earn" a milestone. Basically if you weren't screwing around in the adventure, at the end of every module, milestone offer. It will be up to players themselves to determine how fast they want to advance. :)
For hardcovers and more static AL groups, that may differ!
http://jessica-paints-minis.tumblr.com/
https://twitter.com/neondragonart
I'm sorry if it's already been stated, but I didn't see confirmation: Is it okay to not take advancement points (or whatever we are going to call them), while still accruing treasure points?
Thank you,
IT
no. you get treasure points from advancement points...you're not rewarded treasure points. treasure points will go away in season 9...they said AP would too, but now looks like they're back at the drawing board on advancement.
Guide to the Five Factions (PWYW)
A rather comprehensive list of free WotC D&D resources
Deck of Decks
Love milestone over XP leveling.
Updates in Adventurers Wanted
Feature Requests || Homebrew FAQ || Pricing FAQ || Hardcovers FAQ || Snippet Codes || Tooltips
DDB Guides & FAQs, Class Guides, Character Builds, Game Guides, Useful Websites, and WOTC Resources
My preference is 1) XP (math is not hard) 2) Milestone 3) ACP
Having DM's grant a Milestone mid-adventure during a Con adventure seems adverse to keeping the game on track - you are attempting to complete a 4 hour module in 3.5-3.75 as it is.
I cannot imagine sitting at GenCon and granting a milestone (unless it was just enough to get the party a Raise Dead/Resurrection/Fireball) hold on - rethinking this whole thing through - you mean when the party is suprised and the 4th level wizard is the only party member standing, I could grant them the Milestone to push them to 5th level. Now how do i get them to be able to have had the fireball memorized - perhaps they were studying it for the past month - Going back to watch Mythica: A Search for Heroes - Practice makes perfect.......
:)
Is that milestone thing legit? It’s a horrible idea. Why are you allowing random DMs the ability to throw out level up milestone or not? It was perfect how it was. Also there may be an incentive to just treasure hoard or something and purposefully not advance.
The opening post has been updated with the new ALPG and ALDMG information as well as answers to frequently asked questions. I will try to keep it up to date.
Guidance for converting existing characters coming soon,
Feature Requests || Homebrew FAQ || Pricing FAQ || Hardcovers FAQ || Snippet Codes || Tooltips
DDB Guides & FAQs, Class Guides, Character Builds, Game Guides, Useful Websites, and WOTC Resources
The opening post has again been updated with the conversion doc information and more FAQ answers.
Feature Requests || Homebrew FAQ || Pricing FAQ || Hardcovers FAQ || Snippet Codes || Tooltips
DDB Guides & FAQs, Class Guides, Character Builds, Game Guides, Useful Websites, and WOTC Resources
This particular one caught my attention. Prepare Remove Curse boys and girls. You might need it.
Feature Requests || Homebrew FAQ || Pricing FAQ || Hardcovers FAQ || Snippet Codes || Tooltips
DDB Guides & FAQs, Class Guides, Character Builds, Game Guides, Useful Websites, and WOTC Resources
Good catch re: Remove Curse. I think it warrants a purchase of a scroll on my wizards.
Is there anywhere to find a season 9 log sheet? The official stuff seems to be season 7 and I've tried googling it but cant find an official s9 one.
It is available in the AL package on DMsGuild.
https://www.dmsguild.com/product/208178/DD-Adventurers-League-Players-Pack