i did some research on adventurers lague but do not undertand it fully.
here are some of my questions i still have. thx in advance for helping.
am i allowed to maniupulate my game ? with this i mean or iam allowed to ignore rules so that my players have more fun or do i need to folloow al te rules strictly ?
am i allowed to ignore adventurers lague rules ? do i need to follow all adventurers lague rules or am i allow to run an adventure like i would normaly do ?
An example I can give is from my first Adventure League game where everyone was playing a group of level 1 characters. The module wasn't particularly well-balanced for such low-level characters, and the DM let us know a few times when he would fudge the dice to keep the game running smoothly. In particular, one character got smacked with a critical hit when he was already down to 1 life... the DM chose to treat it as a normal hit, since a critical would have killed his character instantly, and since it was his first game he didn't have any resources that could resurrect his character. He still rolled death saves after the fact and if no one had gone up to him and force-fed him a potion he would have died outright, but the DM didn't want the player to feel like he had been completely screwed over and all his time creating the character wasted in the first session against an otherwise mundane enemy.
AL DMs can't add rules. They can't remove rules. They can't use homebrew content. The available content includes only published materials and not unearthed arcana. There are a large number of AL legal modules available at DMs guild and elsewhere. All the hardcover publications are also AL legal.
AL DMs are allowed to modify the encounters in the book to accommodate variations in party strength by adding or removing creatures or in some cases substituting creatures of equivalent difficulty. They can't change the magic items or other treasure (if any - since season 8 rules do not reward gold found in the module). Of course, the DM can also adjust die rolls made if they think it necessary though usually the characters would experience the consequences of their die rolls (level 1 would be a notable exception in some cases since characters are very fragile at level 1 and the overall goal of AL like any other D&D game is to have fun :) ).
One goal of AL is that it is a shared game environment, meaning that characters playing a specific module at a game store in the US should have more or less the same experience as a DM running an AL game at their house or any other venue in Finland, Japan, South Africa or anywhere else. In addition, AL characters are portable so that you should be able to take your properly logged AL character from wherever you play normally to any other AL venue and expect to be allowed to play the same character.
Adventurer's League does its best to eliminate the DM from the game completely without rewriting the D&D rules from the ground up. The explicit intent of Adventurer's league is to ensure that no DM can make a decision which alters the course of a game, so that characters can be picked up mid-session, plunked down into the same adventure in the same mid-session point two tables over, and be in exactly the same game. As stated by the others, Adventurer's League DMs cannot change rules, cannot remove rules, cannot add rules, cannot make rulings on obscure or unclear rules at their table. Players cannot attempt to do things that are not explicitly covered in the rules, as these actions would force the DM to make an unofficial table ruling and AL DMs are not permitted to do this.
Rule 0 does not apply to AL games - if the player can point at a passage in the book that says they can (or more often, can't) do a thing, the DM must acknowledge and accede to this rule.
You can think of Adventurer's League as a sort of simplified, video game-like D&D facsimile, rather than being actual D&D. It's played using similar materials and similar rules, but the heart and soul of the game has been ripped free of it in an attempt to make the game more accessible to the masses and more predictable/script-like in its execution. if Adventurer's League is somehow the only D&D you can play, then by all means, play and derive what enjoyment from it that you may. But if you're in a position to run a normal game rather than an Adventurer's League game, as it sounds like you are, do so. There are absolutely no advantages to running an Adventurer's League version of a normal game, unless and only unless you're running the game at a venue which requires Adventurer's League compliance.
I wouldn't say that there's no reason to play AL games, but I do agree that it makes it a very... different game. Part of my motivation for getting into AL was the fact that I normally play online with friends who unfortunately live in different states, and that game is more interesting and compelling, but is also extremely RP focused without a lot of combat and other stuff.
But I was craving the feeling of actually rolling dice and moving miniatures, so it's nice to have this alternative that's focused more on mechanics than roleplay that can be played casually. It's very fun to be able to experiment a bit and have an outlet for all those tactic-focused ideas one tends to get while reading the manual and abilities, but yeah, I don't want to argue too much... I think I wouldn't enjoy AL nearly as much if I didn't also have a longer form game that I also play.
Hm. That's a fair counterpoint. Heh, I suppose that I just have a hard time seeing why Wizards would explicitly design 5e with a lean "let the DM tweak the game as she desires" mindset, and then set up Adventurer's league to go exactly and strictly counter to that. Nevertheless, thanks. I hadn't considered the notion of using AL as a mechanics testbed.
Adventurer's League does its best to eliminate the DM from the game completely without rewriting the D&D rules from the ground up. The explicit intent of Adventurer's league is to ensure that no DM can make a decision which alters the course of a game, so that characters can be picked up mid-session, plunked down into the same adventure in the same mid-session point two tables over, and be in exactly the same game. As stated by the others, Adventurer's League DMs cannot change rules, cannot remove rules, cannot add rules, cannot make rulings on obscure or unclear rules at their table. Players cannot attempt to do things that are not explicitly covered in the rules, as these actions would force the DM to make an unofficial table ruling and AL DMs are not permitted to do this.
Rule 0 does not apply to AL games - if the player can point at a passage in the book that says they can (or more often, can't) do a thing, the DM must acknowledge and accede to this rule.
You can think of Adventurer's League as a sort of simplified, video game-like D&D facsimile, rather than being actual D&D. It's played using similar materials and similar rules, but the heart and soul of the game has been ripped free of it in an attempt to make the game more accessible to the masses and more predictable/script-like in its execution. if Adventurer's League is somehow the only D&D you can play, then by all means, play and derive what enjoyment from it that you may. But if you're in a position to run a normal game rather than an Adventurer's League game, as it sounds like you are, do so. There are absolutely no advantages to running an Adventurer's League version of a normal game, unless and only unless you're running the game at a venue which requires Adventurer's League compliance.
I think what you have stated is mostly incorrect (in my experience ... your experiences may be different).
"Adventurer's League does its best to eliminate the DM from the game completely without rewriting the D&D rules from the ground up."
Completely untrue. The DM is essential and has to make many decisions resolving the actions of the party in the context of the plot of the current content.
"The explicit intent of Adventurer's league is to ensure that no DM can make a decision which alters the course of a game, so that characters can be picked up mid-session, plunked down into the same adventure in the same mid-session point two tables over, and be in exactly the same game."
Actually explicitly not allowed in Adventurers League. If you have played part of a module or chapter in a hardcover, you can't play that chapter or module again. The situation never occurs and I have played the same module run by two different DMs (with different parties and characters) and except for the overall plot line, they played out quite differently. Encounters were different, sometimes adjusted monsters and scalings and sometimes different player responses and ways to solve the problems.
"As stated by the others, Adventurer's League DMs cannot change rules, cannot remove rules, cannot add rules, cannot make rulings on obscure or unclear rules at their table."
AL DMs can not add or remove rules. However, they are explicitly instructed to make rulings on anything considered unclear, obscure or ambiguous. You can't add critical misses but you are free to rule on whether a wall of force provides total cover or not.
From the AL DMG:
Playing the Dungeon Master You have the most important role—facilitating the enjoyment of the game for the players. You provide the narrative and bring the words on these pages to life.
You’re Empowered. Make decisions about how the group interacts with the adventure; adjust or improvise but maintain the adventure’s spirit. This doesn’t allow you to implement new rules, however. Challenge Your Players. Gauge the experience level of your players, what they like in a game, and attempt to deliver what they’re after. Everyone should be able to shine. You may adjustment the encounter by adding or removing thematically appropriate monsters. Keep the Adventure Moving. When the game gets bogged down, provide hints and clues to your players facing puzzles or engaging in combat and roleplay interactions that might get frustrated over a lack of information. This gives players “little victories” for figuring out good choices from clues. Watch for losses in momentum when this happens, but make sure that the players are provided the full play experience.
From the AL FAQ
"Sage Advice/Twitter. Sage Advice (SA) and tweets from the Wizards of the Coast staff are a great barometer for the ‘rules-as-intended’, in any case. Whether or not your DM chooses to utilize them for rules adjudication in is at their discretion; as always, the DM remains the final arbiter of rule disputes."
On to your next false hood ...
"Players cannot attempt to do things that are not explicitly covered in the rules, as these actions would force the DM to make an unofficial table ruling and AL DMs are not permitted to do this."
Completely untrue. Players can attempt to do anything they please just like in a regular D&D campaign. The DM determines the outcome of the player actions just like in a regular game. The only difference is that they can't make things up or invent homebrew rules like critical misses. If someone wants to attempt an impossible leap or other challenging task the DM chooses a relevant skill/stat, assigns a DC, the player may roll a die and the DM narrates the result just like in any other game.
"Rule 0 does not apply to AL games - if the player can point at a passage in the book that says they can (or more often, can't) do a thing, the DM must acknowledge and accede to this rule."
In terms of rules this is correct. An AL DM can't make rules as they go along. They use the NPC stat blocks, can adjust hit points/substitute other NPC/monsters of equivalent difficulty if they really want and make other changes to the module to make it a fun game but they can't suddenly decide that "the party is winning so my favorite monster will get 8 attacks this turn because I say so". It isn't much of a constraint but is needed so that folks at different tables play similar content using more or less the same rule set.
The only advantage of running Adventurers League rules at home is that you can take those characters and play them in any other Adventurers League venue ... game store, conventions, another country or continent. If you want to create a character that you can play even if your current campaign dies and you want to take it to a different campaign then there might be some reason to play Adventurers League at home. Otherwise, there isn't much reason. However, unless the DM you are playing with loves to add rules, change rules, or use home made classes and races ... then the D&D you play in AL is pretty much the same as D&D run anywhere else using pre-made content.
From the content of your post, I can only assume you've had some bad experiences playing AL somewhere since from what I have seen and played, very little in your post is an accurate representation of AL where I play it.
Heh. Late reply, but recent events have me thinking about this again.
To be fair, I stated there was no reason to run an Adventurer's League game if you have any other choice. Being an AL DM is strictly and categorically worse than being a regular DM, because being an AL DM strips away virtually all of your freedom and your ability to enjoy the game you're running in exchange for...giving youthe ability to watch your players pick up their stuff, ditch your game, and go play somewhere else because they don't like the pizza flavor you ordered that week.
It's utter hogwash.
There's a reason the system has to give people rewards and lift character building restrictions to get people to DM for AL. Being a DM already drastically increases the work in exchange for about half the fun; conforming to AL rules doubles the workload again in exchange for just hoping you're willing to stick with the torture until you can get your winged tiefling ticket and make some other poor schmuck's life a living hell until he earns his ticket.
Heh. Late reply, but recent events have me thinking about this again.
To be fair, I stated there was no reason to run an Adventurer's League game if you have any other choice. Being an AL DM is strictly and categorically worse than being a regular DM, because being an AL DM strips away virtually all of your freedom and your ability to enjoy the game you're running in exchange for...giving youthe ability to watch your players pick up their stuff, ditch your game, and go play somewhere else because they don't like the pizza flavor you ordered that week.
It's utter hogwash.
There's a reason the system has to give people rewards and lift character building restrictions to get people to DM for AL. Being a DM already drastically increases the work in exchange for about half the fun; conforming to AL rules doubles the workload again in exchange for just hoping you're willing to stick with the torture until you can get your winged tiefling ticket and make some other poor schmuck's life a living hell until he earns his ticket.
I haven't noticed an issue with any of the AL DMs I've met. I've played through a couple of hard covers using the AL rules set and the DMs did a fabulous job and they were both a lot of fun. I've also played a lot of modules with similar experiences. The DMs don't seem to have any issues making the storyline fun, interesting and challenging for the players. The only thing missing from a home game is the ability to completely make things up as you go along.
There is another topic on here discussing the range of things a DM can do when running a hard cover under AL rules and other than maintaining the spirit of the adventure and not changing things so it is unrecognizable, the DM has a lot of leeway.
However, if you are the type of DM who likes to make things up as you go along and as the mood takes you (I've DMed like this sometimes and it can be a lot of fun having little more than the general ideas planned in advance) then you won't like running any module at all (AL or not) since the modules themselves impose constraints.. This has far more to do with the style of DMing you prefer than with AL specifically. I've run modules, run my own content, and run sessions with just a general idea of what is in the area and created maps/lairs/encounters on the fly. They each have their own advantages and disadvantages. However, completely freeform DMing isn't generally compatible with pre-generated module content. If that is the only kind of DMing you do then the concerns you have are related to your preferred DMing style and are more specific to modules in general than AL in specific.
i have a question regarding the new rules allowing players to take a common magic item. is pot of awakening allowed?
The season 9 rules only allow you to choose a common magic item if you choose the "inherited malevolence" trait. The text from the ALPG 9.2 is the following:
"Inherited Malevolence If your character isn’t an aasimar or tiefling, that’s not to say they get left out in the fiery, acidic rain. Characters that don’t choose Plane-Touched Wings can choose to start with any common magic item from Xanathar’s Guide to Everything except magical armor, weapons, wondrous items that function as weapons, a clockwork amulet, a dark shard amulet, a hat of wizardry, or a ruby of the war mage. Additionally, the item has one of the following features incorporated into its design. d20 Infernal Legacy 1 Human hair or skin 2 Geometric pieces of green steel 3 Teeth from a large, unknown creature 4 The stench of sulfur 5 Wisps of acidic (but harmless) steam 6 A blinking red eye 7 A nimbus of harmless flames 8 The terms of a now-void infernal contract 9 Whispered voices urging the wearer to do evil 10 An expended soul coin 11 A tiny vial of demon ichor 12 Blood-red crystals 13 A mirror that occasionally reflects a devil’s eye 14 Profane prayers written on scraps of flesh 15 Chitinous spikes 16 Black wood that oozes red sap 17 Green glass 18 Pitted silver stamped with Infernal runes 19 Barbed, cold iron chains 20 Flecks of blood that never wash off"
Based on this, I think you could take a pot of awakening. I think the shrub should have the infernal legacy characteristic as well as the pot but strictly speaking it doesn't have to. Keep in mind that pets in AL are strictly cosmetic. They can't fight for you etc.
From the AL content catalogue 9.02
"It Followed Me Home, Honest! At certain points in these adventures the characters may have a chance to acquire dragon eggs, owlbear eggs, or some other exotic unborn version of a monster. These creatures are never suitable as pets, familiars, animal companions, and so on, though a character may retain it as a non-mechanical companion at a DM’s discretion."
So you can have the awakened shrub as a non-mechanical companion for role playing but it won't be able to help you out.
Interesting thread guys. Thanks for posting your thoughts. We have adopted AL play as a fill-in for our home play. For years, since 4E we have played through myriad prepublished campaigns/adventures (Scales of War, the H, P and E series) the moved on to 5E's Tyranny of Dragons, Princes of the Apocalypse, Rage of Demons, etc. The last year or so, as our families have grown and other responsibilities have taken one or more of us from the gaming table at a time, we have gone weeks and sometimes months between games. Recently we discovered the AL content and found that it was an excellent 'stop-gap' when we cannot run our regular prepublished home game (currently, Curse of Strahd). Now, when we can only get four to five of us together (including me as DM), instead of cancelling our game, we drop-in an AL scenario and salvage the game time. They are easy to prepare, run a consistent standard, are easily available, we can take turns DMing, and can experiment with different (AL legal) builds. So, thanks to the AL! It has kept us afloat and been a great crutch when we are missing one or more of the fellas (and gal) on our scheduling game days.
Now, with all of said, we do have a question and this thread presents a good opportunity to ask, I think (as Sazed would say).
Evergreen magic items: the Content Catalog mentions that word once or twice. It does even appear in the FAQ, APG or ALDMG. We have no idea what that means. What are they? Is the idea of evergreen still an AL thing? I assume it means buying 'regular' magic items, but we are not sure. Is there a list of such?
Interesting thread guys. Thanks for posting your thoughts. We have adopted AL play as a fill-in for our home play. For years, since 4E we have played through myriad prepublished campaigns/adventures (Scales of War, the H, P and E series) the moved on to 5E's Tyranny of Dragons, Princes of the Apocalypse, Rage of Demons, etc. The last year or so, as our families have grown and other responsibilities have taken one or more of us from the gaming table at a time, we have gone weeks and sometimes months between games. Recently we discovered the AL content and found that it was an excellent 'stop-gap' when we cannot run our regular prepublished home game (currently, Curse of Strahd). Now, when we can only get four to five of us together (including me as DM), instead of cancelling our game, we drop-in an AL scenario and salvage the game time. They are easy to prepare, run a consistent standard, are easily available, we can take turns DMing, and can experiment with different (AL legal) builds. So, thanks to the AL! It has kept us afloat and been a great crutch when we are missing one or more of the fellas (and gal) on our scheduling game days.
Now, with all of said, we do have a question and this thread presents a good opportunity to ask, I think (as Sazed would say).
Evergreen magic items: the Content Catalog mentions that word once or twice. It does even appear in the FAQ, APG or ALDMG. We have no idea what that means. What are they? Is the idea of evergreen still an AL thing? I assume it means buying 'regular' magic items, but we are not sure. Is there a list of such?
In the meantime, happy gaming.
Evergreen is a season 8 term that no longer has any meaning at all :) ... so you can safely ignore it. It won't apply for any character you create going forward and was only in effect for season 8.
Season 7 was run using XP leveling, gold rewards and magic item distribution using a system that awarded the item to whoever had the fewest magic items with anyone with lowest rolling off to see who would get the item. Basically, a pretty traditional D&D rewards set up. However, the hobby is evolving, more folks trying it out via AL at game stores, conventions and elsewhere and someone considered the system too complicated. Season 8 was the first attempt at simplification and it had flaws. Treasure points to buy magic items with/much more limited gold/Adventure check points for leveling. The evergreen list was a list of items that would be available in any season for purchase with treasure points. There was also a season evergreen list of items that could be purchased by any character playing that season. The Evergreen list was far too generous (particularly the season 8 items), the system was also considered a bit too complicated still.
Season 9 simplified things further. You can choose to level up (or not) at the end of any module you play. Any character playing the content may keep a copy of any magic item available in the module. Gold is limited to 80gp/level in tier 1 and 240gp/level in tier 2 (I can't recall the tier 3 and 4 amounts off the top of my head). No matter how many modules you play, you can't earn more than that amount of gold/level. Characters are only allowed a limited number of magic items of uncommon and above, again limited by tier. Tier 1 - 1 magic item, tier 2 - 3 magic items, tier 3 - 6 magic items and tier 4 - 10 magic items. So characters have to be selective in deciding what they want to keep.
Overall, the new system is simpler, works fine, is easy to understand, less frustrating and avoids conflicts and hurt feelings that occasionally occurred with the season 7 rules.
Evergreen? Not a term you need to know anymore :)
P.S. One advantage of running AL rules in a home game is that you or your friends can take the character and continue to play them at a local game shop or even when traveling. Visit another city, find an AL game at a local shop, and play. Just be sure to have a log sheet showing what you have played and where your magic items/expensive items (if any) came from.
Woohoo! So glad we can ignore the idea of evergreen going forward. Makes life easy. We are definitely logging our play per the ALPG and ALDMG/DM Rewards. We are set now, as that evergreen thing was our last lingering question.
Thanks so much!
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i did some research on adventurers lague but do not undertand it fully.
here are some of my questions i still have. thx in advance for helping.
am i allowed to maniupulate my game ?
with this i mean or iam allowed to ignore rules so that my players have more fun or do i need to folloow al te rules strictly ?
am i allowed to ignore adventurers lague rules ?
do i need to follow all adventurers lague rules or am i allow to run an adventure like i would normaly do ?
Table variance can still occur for D&D rules that are more obscure or unclear, but for the most part rules are generally followed as written.
Adventurers League rules have to be followed as written.
Homebrew is not allowed unless the Adventurers League admins have created an exception.
The reason for these restrictions is so that characters all follow the same set of rules and can be portable from one game and dm to another.
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An example I can give is from my first Adventure League game where everyone was playing a group of level 1 characters. The module wasn't particularly well-balanced for such low-level characters, and the DM let us know a few times when he would fudge the dice to keep the game running smoothly. In particular, one character got smacked with a critical hit when he was already down to 1 life... the DM chose to treat it as a normal hit, since a critical would have killed his character instantly, and since it was his first game he didn't have any resources that could resurrect his character. He still rolled death saves after the fact and if no one had gone up to him and force-fed him a potion he would have died outright, but the DM didn't want the player to feel like he had been completely screwed over and all his time creating the character wasted in the first session against an otherwise mundane enemy.
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AL is run under a Rules as Written premise.
AL DMs can't add rules. They can't remove rules. They can't use homebrew content. The available content includes only published materials and not unearthed arcana. There are a large number of AL legal modules available at DMs guild and elsewhere. All the hardcover publications are also AL legal.
AL DMs are allowed to modify the encounters in the book to accommodate variations in party strength by adding or removing creatures or in some cases substituting creatures of equivalent difficulty. They can't change the magic items or other treasure (if any - since season 8 rules do not reward gold found in the module). Of course, the DM can also adjust die rolls made if they think it necessary though usually the characters would experience the consequences of their die rolls (level 1 would be a notable exception in some cases since characters are very fragile at level 1 and the overall goal of AL like any other D&D game is to have fun :) ).
One goal of AL is that it is a shared game environment, meaning that characters playing a specific module at a game store in the US should have more or less the same experience as a DM running an AL game at their house or any other venue in Finland, Japan, South Africa or anywhere else. In addition, AL characters are portable so that you should be able to take your properly logged AL character from wherever you play normally to any other AL venue and expect to be allowed to play the same character.
Adventurer's League does its best to eliminate the DM from the game completely without rewriting the D&D rules from the ground up. The explicit intent of Adventurer's league is to ensure that no DM can make a decision which alters the course of a game, so that characters can be picked up mid-session, plunked down into the same adventure in the same mid-session point two tables over, and be in exactly the same game. As stated by the others, Adventurer's League DMs cannot change rules, cannot remove rules, cannot add rules, cannot make rulings on obscure or unclear rules at their table. Players cannot attempt to do things that are not explicitly covered in the rules, as these actions would force the DM to make an unofficial table ruling and AL DMs are not permitted to do this.
Rule 0 does not apply to AL games - if the player can point at a passage in the book that says they can (or more often, can't) do a thing, the DM must acknowledge and accede to this rule.
You can think of Adventurer's League as a sort of simplified, video game-like D&D facsimile, rather than being actual D&D. It's played using similar materials and similar rules, but the heart and soul of the game has been ripped free of it in an attempt to make the game more accessible to the masses and more predictable/script-like in its execution. if Adventurer's League is somehow the only D&D you can play, then by all means, play and derive what enjoyment from it that you may. But if you're in a position to run a normal game rather than an Adventurer's League game, as it sounds like you are, do so. There are absolutely no advantages to running an Adventurer's League version of a normal game, unless and only unless you're running the game at a venue which requires Adventurer's League compliance.
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I wouldn't say that there's no reason to play AL games, but I do agree that it makes it a very... different game. Part of my motivation for getting into AL was the fact that I normally play online with friends who unfortunately live in different states, and that game is more interesting and compelling, but is also extremely RP focused without a lot of combat and other stuff.
But I was craving the feeling of actually rolling dice and moving miniatures, so it's nice to have this alternative that's focused more on mechanics than roleplay that can be played casually. It's very fun to be able to experiment a bit and have an outlet for all those tactic-focused ideas one tends to get while reading the manual and abilities, but yeah, I don't want to argue too much... I think I wouldn't enjoy AL nearly as much if I didn't also have a longer form game that I also play.
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Hm. That's a fair counterpoint. Heh, I suppose that I just have a hard time seeing why Wizards would explicitly design 5e with a lean "let the DM tweak the game as she desires" mindset, and then set up Adventurer's league to go exactly and strictly counter to that. Nevertheless, thanks. I hadn't considered the notion of using AL as a mechanics testbed.
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I think what you have stated is mostly incorrect (in my experience ... your experiences may be different).
"Adventurer's League does its best to eliminate the DM from the game completely without rewriting the D&D rules from the ground up."
Completely untrue. The DM is essential and has to make many decisions resolving the actions of the party in the context of the plot of the current content.
"The explicit intent of Adventurer's league is to ensure that no DM can make a decision which alters the course of a game, so that characters can be picked up mid-session, plunked down into the same adventure in the same mid-session point two tables over, and be in exactly the same game."
Actually explicitly not allowed in Adventurers League. If you have played part of a module or chapter in a hardcover, you can't play that chapter or module again. The situation never occurs and I have played the same module run by two different DMs (with different parties and characters) and except for the overall plot line, they played out quite differently. Encounters were different, sometimes adjusted monsters and scalings and sometimes different player responses and ways to solve the problems.
"As stated by the others, Adventurer's League DMs cannot change rules, cannot remove rules, cannot add rules, cannot make rulings on obscure or unclear rules at their table."
AL DMs can not add or remove rules. However, they are explicitly instructed to make rulings on anything considered unclear, obscure or ambiguous. You can't add critical misses but you are free to rule on whether a wall of force provides total cover or not.
From the AL DMG:
Playing the Dungeon Master
You have the most important role—facilitating the enjoyment of the game for the players. You provide the narrative and bring the words on these pages to life.
You’re Empowered. Make decisions about how the group interacts with the adventure; adjust or improvise but maintain the adventure’s spirit. This doesn’t allow you to implement new rules, however.
Challenge Your Players. Gauge the experience level of your players, what they like in a game, and attempt to deliver what they’re after. Everyone should be able to shine. You may adjustment the encounter by adding or removing thematically appropriate monsters.
Keep the Adventure Moving. When the game gets bogged down, provide hints and clues to your players facing puzzles or engaging in combat and roleplay interactions that might get frustrated over a lack of information. This gives players “little victories” for figuring out good choices from clues. Watch for losses in momentum when this happens, but make sure that the players are provided the full play experience.
From the AL FAQ
"Sage Advice/Twitter. Sage Advice (SA) and tweets from the Wizards of the Coast staff are a great barometer for the ‘rules-as-intended’, in any case. Whether or not your DM chooses to utilize them for rules adjudication in is at their discretion; as always, the DM remains the final arbiter of rule disputes."
On to your next false hood ...
"Players cannot attempt to do things that are not explicitly covered in the rules, as these actions would force the DM to make an unofficial table ruling and AL DMs are not permitted to do this."
Completely untrue. Players can attempt to do anything they please just like in a regular D&D campaign. The DM determines the outcome of the player actions just like in a regular game. The only difference is that they can't make things up or invent homebrew rules like critical misses. If someone wants to attempt an impossible leap or other challenging task the DM chooses a relevant skill/stat, assigns a DC, the player may roll a die and the DM narrates the result just like in any other game.
"Rule 0 does not apply to AL games - if the player can point at a passage in the book that says they can (or more often, can't) do a thing, the DM must acknowledge and accede to this rule."
In terms of rules this is correct. An AL DM can't make rules as they go along. They use the NPC stat blocks, can adjust hit points/substitute other NPC/monsters of equivalent difficulty if they really want and make other changes to the module to make it a fun game but they can't suddenly decide that "the party is winning so my favorite monster will get 8 attacks this turn because I say so". It isn't much of a constraint but is needed so that folks at different tables play similar content using more or less the same rule set.
The only advantage of running Adventurers League rules at home is that you can take those characters and play them in any other Adventurers League venue ... game store, conventions, another country or continent. If you want to create a character that you can play even if your current campaign dies and you want to take it to a different campaign then there might be some reason to play Adventurers League at home. Otherwise, there isn't much reason. However, unless the DM you are playing with loves to add rules, change rules, or use home made classes and races ... then the D&D you play in AL is pretty much the same as D&D run anywhere else using pre-made content.
From the content of your post, I can only assume you've had some bad experiences playing AL somewhere since from what I have seen and played, very little in your post is an accurate representation of AL where I play it.
Heh. Late reply, but recent events have me thinking about this again.
To be fair, I stated there was no reason to run an Adventurer's League game if you have any other choice. Being an AL DM is strictly and categorically worse than being a regular DM, because being an AL DM strips away virtually all of your freedom and your ability to enjoy the game you're running in exchange for...giving youthe ability to watch your players pick up their stuff, ditch your game, and go play somewhere else because they don't like the pizza flavor you ordered that week.
It's utter hogwash.
There's a reason the system has to give people rewards and lift character building restrictions to get people to DM for AL. Being a DM already drastically increases the work in exchange for about half the fun; conforming to AL rules doubles the workload again in exchange for just hoping you're willing to stick with the torture until you can get your winged tiefling ticket and make some other poor schmuck's life a living hell until he earns his ticket.
Why you shouldn't start ANOTHER thread about DDB not giving away free redeems on your hardcopy book purchases.
Thinking of starting ANOTHER thread asking why Epic Boons haven't been implemented? Read this first to learn why you shouldn't!
I haven't noticed an issue with any of the AL DMs I've met. I've played through a couple of hard covers using the AL rules set and the DMs did a fabulous job and they were both a lot of fun. I've also played a lot of modules with similar experiences. The DMs don't seem to have any issues making the storyline fun, interesting and challenging for the players. The only thing missing from a home game is the ability to completely make things up as you go along.
There is another topic on here discussing the range of things a DM can do when running a hard cover under AL rules and other than maintaining the spirit of the adventure and not changing things so it is unrecognizable, the DM has a lot of leeway.
However, if you are the type of DM who likes to make things up as you go along and as the mood takes you (I've DMed like this sometimes and it can be a lot of fun having little more than the general ideas planned in advance) then you won't like running any module at all (AL or not) since the modules themselves impose constraints.. This has far more to do with the style of DMing you prefer than with AL specifically. I've run modules, run my own content, and run sessions with just a general idea of what is in the area and created maps/lairs/encounters on the fly. They each have their own advantages and disadvantages. However, completely freeform DMing isn't generally compatible with pre-generated module content. If that is the only kind of DMing you do then the concerns you have are related to your preferred DMing style and are more specific to modules in general than AL in specific.
i have a question regarding the new rules allowing players to take a common magic item. is pot of awakening allowed?
the weirder the idea, the better. usually though just kaboom
The season 9 rules only allow you to choose a common magic item if you choose the "inherited malevolence" trait. The text from the ALPG 9.2 is the following:
"Inherited Malevolence
If your character isn’t an aasimar or tiefling, that’s not to say they get left out in the fiery, acidic rain. Characters that don’t choose Plane-Touched Wings can choose to start with any common magic item from Xanathar’s Guide to Everything except magical armor, weapons, wondrous items that function as weapons, a clockwork amulet, a dark shard amulet, a hat of wizardry, or a ruby of the war mage.
Additionally, the item has one of the following features incorporated into its design.
d20 Infernal Legacy
1 Human hair or skin
2 Geometric pieces of green steel
3 Teeth from a large, unknown creature
4 The stench of sulfur
5 Wisps of acidic (but harmless) steam
6 A blinking red eye
7 A nimbus of harmless flames
8 The terms of a now-void infernal contract
9 Whispered voices urging the wearer to do evil
10 An expended soul coin
11 A tiny vial of demon ichor
12 Blood-red crystals
13 A mirror that occasionally reflects a devil’s eye
14 Profane prayers written on scraps of flesh
15 Chitinous spikes
16 Black wood that oozes red sap
17 Green glass
18 Pitted silver stamped with Infernal runes
19 Barbed, cold iron chains
20 Flecks of blood that never wash off"
Based on this, I think you could take a pot of awakening. I think the shrub should have the infernal legacy characteristic as well as the pot but strictly speaking it doesn't have to. Keep in mind that pets in AL are strictly cosmetic. They can't fight for you etc.
From the AL content catalogue 9.02
"It Followed Me Home, Honest!
At certain points in these adventures the characters may have a chance to acquire dragon eggs, owlbear eggs, or some other exotic unborn version of a monster. These creatures are never suitable as pets, familiars, animal companions, and so on, though a character may retain it as a non-mechanical companion at a DM’s discretion."
So you can have the awakened shrub as a non-mechanical companion for role playing but it won't be able to help you out.
Interesting thread guys. Thanks for posting your thoughts. We have adopted AL play as a fill-in for our home play. For years, since 4E we have played through myriad prepublished campaigns/adventures (Scales of War, the H, P and E series) the moved on to 5E's Tyranny of Dragons, Princes of the Apocalypse, Rage of Demons, etc. The last year or so, as our families have grown and other responsibilities have taken one or more of us from the gaming table at a time, we have gone weeks and sometimes months between games. Recently we discovered the AL content and found that it was an excellent 'stop-gap' when we cannot run our regular prepublished home game (currently, Curse of Strahd). Now, when we can only get four to five of us together (including me as DM), instead of cancelling our game, we drop-in an AL scenario and salvage the game time. They are easy to prepare, run a consistent standard, are easily available, we can take turns DMing, and can experiment with different (AL legal) builds. So, thanks to the AL! It has kept us afloat and been a great crutch when we are missing one or more of the fellas (and gal) on our scheduling game days.
Now, with all of said, we do have a question and this thread presents a good opportunity to ask, I think (as Sazed would say).
Evergreen magic items: the Content Catalog mentions that word once or twice. It does even appear in the FAQ, APG or ALDMG. We have no idea what that means. What are they? Is the idea of evergreen still an AL thing? I assume it means buying 'regular' magic items, but we are not sure. Is there a list of such?
In the meantime, happy gaming.
Evergreen is a season 8 term that no longer has any meaning at all :) ... so you can safely ignore it. It won't apply for any character you create going forward and was only in effect for season 8.
Season 7 was run using XP leveling, gold rewards and magic item distribution using a system that awarded the item to whoever had the fewest magic items with anyone with lowest rolling off to see who would get the item. Basically, a pretty traditional D&D rewards set up. However, the hobby is evolving, more folks trying it out via AL at game stores, conventions and elsewhere and someone considered the system too complicated. Season 8 was the first attempt at simplification and it had flaws. Treasure points to buy magic items with/much more limited gold/Adventure check points for leveling. The evergreen list was a list of items that would be available in any season for purchase with treasure points. There was also a season evergreen list of items that could be purchased by any character playing that season. The Evergreen list was far too generous (particularly the season 8 items), the system was also considered a bit too complicated still.
Season 9 simplified things further. You can choose to level up (or not) at the end of any module you play. Any character playing the content may keep a copy of any magic item available in the module. Gold is limited to 80gp/level in tier 1 and 240gp/level in tier 2 (I can't recall the tier 3 and 4 amounts off the top of my head). No matter how many modules you play, you can't earn more than that amount of gold/level. Characters are only allowed a limited number of magic items of uncommon and above, again limited by tier. Tier 1 - 1 magic item, tier 2 - 3 magic items, tier 3 - 6 magic items and tier 4 - 10 magic items. So characters have to be selective in deciding what they want to keep.
Overall, the new system is simpler, works fine, is easy to understand, less frustrating and avoids conflicts and hurt feelings that occasionally occurred with the season 7 rules.
Evergreen? Not a term you need to know anymore :)
P.S. One advantage of running AL rules in a home game is that you or your friends can take the character and continue to play them at a local game shop or even when traveling. Visit another city, find an AL game at a local shop, and play. Just be sure to have a log sheet showing what you have played and where your magic items/expensive items (if any) came from.
Woohoo! So glad we can ignore the idea of evergreen going forward. Makes life easy. We are definitely logging our play per the ALPG and ALDMG/DM Rewards. We are set now, as that evergreen thing was our last lingering question.
Thanks so much!