Just let me play a dang spore druid already. PHB+1 gets more and more restrictive with every new sourcebook
You actually aren't looking for a change to PHB+1 if you want to play a spore druid. You are looking at adding source books that aren't currently AL legal. Circle of Spores is either UA (never AL legal) or Ravnica (not an AL legal setting - currently only Eberron and Forgotten Realms have AL legal content and for those you have to use related source books).
It's possible they might be convinced to ease up on PHB+1 restrictions or add seasonal exceptions like they did for aasimar and winged tieflings in season 9 but I don't see them allowing UA (which is typically poorly balanced because it is playtest material) or content designed for Ravnica which is also not necessarily that well balanced for any setting except Ravnica (e.g. spells awards as part of backgrounds and guilds as well as some OP magic items which might fight a Ravnica setting but no where else).
Just let me play a dang spore druid already. PHB+1 gets more and more restrictive with every new sourcebook
in addition to what david42 said...pretty sure the PHB+1 restriction stays the same regardless of how many new books are published. Its actually exactly the same restriction.
Just let me play a dang spore druid already. PHB+1 gets more and more restrictive with every new sourcebook
in addition to what david42 said...pretty sure the PHB+1 restriction stays the same regardless of how many new books are published. Its actually exactly the same restriction.
I can't tell if you're making a joke or being pedantic, but the rule is relatively more restrictive. When you only have a PHB and one sourcebook as available sources, PHB+1 allows you to use 100% of the material, i.e., there is no restriction. With 9 sourcebooks plus the PHB, the PHB+1 rule covers only 20% of the material.
I don't know what all the fuss is about. I have yet to play at a non-convention DDAL game where the DM did not subvert at least one ruie, if not more. If your a regular at a DDAL game in a store, talk to the DM, give him or her the reasons you want to deviate and most will let you. DDAL has become little more then an excuse to gather at stores, with the rules since season 8 meaning nothing. Specific rule I see ignored on a regular basis are the gold limits, magic item limits. PHB+1 limitation.
Unless you are a convention player, most of these are moot points. Hell I can not remember the last time I saw a Adventure Log Sheet and I play at 5 different stores.
I don't know what all the fuss is about. I have yet to play at a non-convention DDAL game where the DM did not subvert at least one ruie, if not more. If your a regular at a DDAL game in a store, talk to the DM, give him or her the reasons you want to deviate and most will let you. DDAL has become little more then an excuse to gather at stores, with the rules since season 8 meaning nothing. Specific rule I see ignored on a regular basis are the gold limits, magic item limits. PHB+1 limitation.
Unless you are a convention player, most of these are moot points. Hell I can not remember the last time I saw a Adventure Log Sheet and I play at 5 different stores.
I see minor rules being broken occasionally, but I've never seen PHB+1 intentionally broken. When it is, it gets corrected.
I have yet to play a game in store or a DDAL. After much re-search I finally was able to get myself a DDAL number but for the life of me I have yet to figure out how to run a private home game as a DDAL ? Ive downloaded and read the AL pdfs from the Dungeon Masters Guild yet after all that I have read I cant seem to find out how to enter in or where to enter in info from the log sheets for AL private games. I did come across a vague web site for this on a random reddit submission (adventuresleaguelog....) that I found and this only took me two months to find this web site not sure if it is a official AL entry site so you get the players credit for the games played?? I have been getting back into D&D over the last couple years since playing when I could in the Satanic Panic Era "not fun" yet this thing about AL and DMing private home games has eluded me I hope to one day play a game at a local store or one at my library if my body allows it due to complex medical issues. That is why home games are the best for me and my situation eventually I want to get into the online game thing .
PHB+1 is usually broken when it comes to Spells. Most DMs are not familiar with every spell and spell variation. Toll the Dead from XGtE for example is probably the most abused, but I don't consider Gold and Magic Item limitations as Minor, since they can severely impact games if the character is run across locations.
In either event, outside of conventions, DDAL is becoming increasingly irrelevant. The Adventures are not of a quality that they are worth $ 5.00, the rules are overbearing and only serve to frustrate DMs & Players.
Like I said, other then Conventions, DDAL is a Dead Man Walking.
I have yet to play a game in store or a DDAL. After much re-search I finally was able to get myself a DDAL number but for the life of me I have yet to figure out how to run a private home game as a DDAL ? Ive downloaded and read the AL pdfs from the Dungeon Masters Guild yet after all that I have read I cant seem to find out how to enter in or where to enter in info from the log sheets for AL private games. I did come across a vague web site for this on a random reddit submission (adventuresleaguelog....) that I found and this only took me two months to find this web site not sure if it is a official AL entry site so you get the players credit for the games played?? I have been getting back into D&D over the last couple years since playing when I could in the Satanic Panic Era "not fun" yet this thing about AL and DMing private home games has eluded me I hope to one day play a game at a local store or one at my library if my body allows it due to complex medical issues. That is why home games are the best for me and my situation eventually I want to get into the online game thing .
It seems like you think AL is more centrally organized than it actually is. It's really mostly based on trust. There is no location where you enter games played except in your player or DM log sheet. You no longer even need the number. If you want to play a DDAL game from home, just invite people and play by the AL rules. AL-legal characters, AL-legal adventures, no house rules, and record anything in the log sheet.
That said, unless you really need the character portability that AL provides, a standard home game is better in every way.
PHB+1 is usually broken when it comes to Spells. Most DMs are not familiar with every spell and spell variation. Toll the Dead from XGtE for example is probably the most abused, but I don't consider Gold and Magic Item limitations as Minor, since they can severely impact games if the character is run across locations.
In either event, outside of conventions, DDAL is becoming increasingly irrelevant. The Adventures are not of a quality that they are worth $ 5.00, the rules are overbearing and only serve to frustrate DMs & Players.
Like I said, other then Conventions, DDAL is a Dead Man Walking.
The only way I've seen gold limitations broken is in awarding 4 hours of gold for a 3.5 hour session. Characters with too many magic items are hard to detect during play (unless they use them) without straight up inspecting character and log sheets. More DMs should do that.
As a player I'll usually call out others for PHB+1 abuse, even for spells. I think booming blade and green flame blade are more common, but perhaps easier to detect, than toll the dead. It would help if not every bit of character advice on the internet suggested those spells.
I agree that $5 is steep for an adventure. Especially when sourcebooks from WotC are available for ~$30 and provide much more and better content.
I don't know what all the fuss is about. I have yet to play at a non-convention DDAL game where the DM did not subvert at least one ruie, if not more. If your a regular at a DDAL game in a store, talk to the DM, give him or her the reasons you want to deviate and most will let you. DDAL has become little more then an excuse to gather at stores, with the rules since season 8 meaning nothing. Specific rule I see ignored on a regular basis are the gold limits, magic item limits. PHB+1 limitation.
Unless you are a convention player, most of these are moot points. Hell I can not remember the last time I saw a Adventure Log Sheet and I play at 5 different stores.
Your experience is different from mine. Where I play, everyone has log sheets and records the adventure name, gold awarded, what magic item if any was found and whether they kept it along with whether they accepted the level up. They also might note any other adventure details that could contribute to their character, their knowledge and any story awards.
Honestly, if you get rid of all the details of AL designed to level the playing field between different play locations then you aren't playing AL anymore. You are playing homebrew and as long as you don't expect to be able to play those characters in AL events then there isn't any problem.
Luckily, if folks ignore the gold limits, the magic item limits or the PHB+1 and try to play at an AL table they can be pretty easy to spot at least in tier 1 and 2. For example, a character claiming to have plate armor at level 5 may be cheating unless they have a cert or started in season 7 since otherwise they wouldn't have enough gold. The gold limits for the last two seasons have been pretty strict. Magic items are also easier to spot now since there is a hard cap of 1, 3, 6 and 10 in tiers 1 to 4.
Anyway, the point of AL is to allow the creation and play of characters that can be played at different locations and moved from game to game and venue to venue and DM to DM without requiring the characters to be rebuilt because one DM is far more generous than another. The limits are in place to prevent things like item and gold farming giving two characters of comparable level roughly the same resources. PHB+1 helps to avoid some OP combinations by combining multiple sources. Finally, AL sticks fairly close to RAW with the DM adjudicating anything that could be argued. (e.g. meaning of total cover). House rules and changes just because the DM doesn't like a rule are not AL. Anyway, it works for me, and there is no reason a creative DM can't run a fun and enjoyable campaign using published materials.
In the last 6 months I have played at store DDAL sessions in about 14 different stores in North Carolina, Texas and New Jersey. My characters are always DDAL legal, but I can tell you, I have never been asked by a DM to see a log. At any given store there are Death Clerics, Oathbreakers, Aarakocra, and a mountian of other obvious issues. In most cases the player shows up right at the start time and the DM can either play rules lawyer for 30 minutes, or just ignore it and start the game. The only time they seem to care is when the player suddenly tries to break the game. I am fine with this, we are all there to have fun, nothing more. Moving from DDAL game to game has not been an issue for me even though I long ago gave up creating logs. DDAL is alive and well in name and spirit, but not in reality. The DDAL administrators are not WotC people, but a 3rd party vendor who runs multiple DnD support sites, including DNDBEYOND and DMSGUILD, so they are not interested in what happens at the sessions anymore. Remember the old days when stores had to keep records of players DCI that played and DMs had to fill out a session log and send it in to DDAL? Well those days are long gone, DDAL just does not care anymore as there main profit center is not the in-store games.
Thanks so much for the reply's I eventually would love to run and play some AL games I do prefer a RAW style with a occasional rule as fun until I figure out how it is supposed to be. I'm still confused as to where I can enter in logsheets for AL hopefully I eventually find out how as it would be fun to be able to be able to have it so my players can take their characters to a AL game and know how it should be played officially at another AL table. All of this information is helpful and I don't want it to be a hi jack of a thread . My only wish for AL season 10 would be clear info on how to DM a private game and how to enter log sheets??
In the last 6 months I have played at store DDAL sessions in about 14 different stores in North Carolina, Texas and New Jersey. My characters are always DDAL legal, but I can tell you, I have never been asked by a DM to see a log. At any given store there are Death Clerics, Oathbreakers, Aarakocra, and a mountian of other obvious issues. In most cases the player shows up right at the start time and the DM can either play rules lawyer for 30 minutes, or just ignore it and start the game. The only time they seem to care is when the player suddenly tries to break the game. I am fine with this, we are all there to have fun, nothing more. Moving from DDAL game to game has not been an issue for me even though I long ago gave up creating logs. DDAL is alive and well in name and spirit, but not in reality. The DDAL administrators are not WotC people, but a 3rd party vendor who runs multiple DnD support sites, including DNDBEYOND and DMSGUILD, so they are not interested in what happens at the sessions anymore. Remember the old days when stores had to keep records of players DCI that played and DMs had to fill out a session log and send it in to DDAL? Well those days are long gone, DDAL just does not care anymore as there main profit center is not the in-store games.
There were plenty of Adventurers League certs that players can earn through DM rewards (Oathbreaker, Death Cleric) DMing at an epic (cert that allows the creation of a goblin using any +1 sourcebook, aarokokra allowed as an AL legal race, etc) and charity certs that can be purchased on extralife that also allow for strange +1 combinations. In the area where I play regularly there are enough experienced DMs and players that walk new players through the creation process and explain the PHB +1 rule so I haven't seen this abuse occur outside of an accidental selection of toll the dead as a cantrip.
I've come across cheaters in AL as well, and I've seen DMs call them out sometimes, and sometimes they're given a pass. I've also seen people stepping in as DMs who only did homebrew and have treated AL the same way until the players get to the point where they want to bash him over the head with the PHB. The worst thing about AL isn't any of the above, it's when a store bills themselves as Adventurers League when they are about as far from it as you can possibly be. The kinds of places that charge you to get in a game, tell you that they're AL, and then when you sit down the DM tells you he's running a homebrew campaign that he wrote. (This has happened to me at least 3 times in different states)
I do agree that the adventurers league administrators need to go back to the DCI system, but I think that the season 8 changes caused such a negative backlash that the reason they have taken almost a total backseat to AL play in season 9 is because they fear hurting the player base even further. I saw stores that regularly ran 5-6 AL tables 3 times a week drop to 2 tables twice a week after the implementation of season 8 rules, and they are just now recovering. The biggest issue to growing the game now is getting more people to DM again, and the season 9 DM rewards are the worst out of any season, so several people are wondering why they should even bother. I've been to a few conventions in the bay area and northern california where several tables get cancelled due to lack of DMs because they'd rather just play.
You Hit the Nail right on the head. I actually play at a store now that took down all reference to DDAL, and pulled out the Old "D&D encounters" poster so people are not turned off by the DDAL label. As great as DDAL was in the beginning to bring players back to the game it is now doing its best to screw that all up.
You Hit the Nail right on the head. I actually play at a store now that took down all reference to DDAL, and pulled out the Old "D&D encounters" poster so people are not turned off by the DDAL label. As great as DDAL was in the beginning to bring players back to the game it is now doing its best to screw that all up.
Interesting perspective but I kind of find the opposite to be true. DDAL has been trying to make the game more accessible at the risk of alienating the old timers.
Ditching XP, gold limits, magic item limits - these things all make the game much simpler for new players and a much more even playing field. Now, you can level up or not when you complete a module, you can take the magic item or not (up to the character limit based on tier), you receive the same gold as anyone else playing through the level. All these things help new players get into the game without having to face characters with 10 magic items, plate armor, and other perks at level 5.
Some of the issues with season 7 and before that have gone away:
- magic item farming and gaming the system to award them. Some folks refused all magic items until tier 2 or 3 so that they would get first choice on the best items since they had the least. Another person I heard of serially created tier 1 characters and when they got a magic item, they retired and started another. Their character often had the least at the table, often got the item, and often irritated others at the table. Taking magic items for trading. "Oh, that very rare item than would be perfect for your character, too bad, I am taking it since I have less and want to trade it." The way AL modules were designed there might only be one chance for a character to get a particular item. This caused significant irritation for some folks.
- imbalance in gold rewards. I was on a White Plume Mountain run in season 7 with one character and walked out with 10,000gp and three magic items. If you weren't lucky enough to have a DM run White Plume you just didn't have as much stuff. Too bad. I could buy 100 healing potions, drop them in a bag of holding and never need a cleric between fights. Add in some lesser restoration, revive, raise dead, remove curse etc scrolls and my character was way better off than someone who didn't get to play that content. I could sit down next to someone with 100gp since they just didn't play the right content. The current system does a much better job of evening out these discrepancies especially for new players.
- XP farming - Modules had a minimum and a maximum XP amount. Usually, to obtain the maximum, the party had to kill almost everything in the module. Perhaps DMs were supposed to award equivalent XP for avoiding or bypassing the encounters but I don't think I ever saw that happen. As a result, if you roleplayed, avoided combat if it wasn't necessary but still completed the module objectives, you often received minimum XP. This resulted in quite a few players taking a scorched earth/murder hobo policy in AL. Kill kill kill .. all in the name of getting the maximum XP from the module. Personally, I didn't enjoy that play style. I'd rather a bit of role playing and the characters doing what makes sense for the characters. The changes to advancement in season 8 and then even better in season 9 have really opened up the options for the party. The party achieves the goal of the module however they see fit, role play, combat, exploration. Honestly, I find the quality of play and the fun to be much better than season 7 and before. However, some folks like playing murder hobos so YMMV.
Anyway, I find that the overall changes to the AL system in the last few years have generally made it better and not worse as a shared game. They aren't intended for homebrew campaigns where the DM can do whatever they like. They are intended to make play more fun for folks who drop into a local game store, for new players, for folks who move around and want to play their characters in different venues.
As for log sheets, some DMs ask, some don't, some only ask if an issue comes up. The goal is to have fun. Even the ALDMG suggests not accusing folks but approaching things diplomatically. Most of the time, issues are just honest mistakes. (Like accidentally taking Toll the Dead if you don't have Xanathar's as your +1). As for some of the less common options like death clerics/oathbreaker etc ... just ask to see their cert. If they don't have a cert it isn't AL legal and if they have a cert they won't mind showing it most of the time since they know it wouldn't be AL legal otherwise. In recent years, there have been a lot of certs from Extra Life and elsewhere for a lot of different things. In addition, there have been DM rewards over the years granting some certs. Most of the "illegal" choices could be due to certs. I also think you will find DMs checking characters a bit more at a con than at a local store though that varies too.
10k gold is a sign of a bad DM. Encumbrance would have prevented that. DDAL does have it's good points. As a DM I love level by module and chapter. Calculating XP sucks. The modules are good, just not worth the 5 dollars a pop, when at best you can hope for is 20 in store credit for DMing. I would rather be a player then DM because the expense to be a DM is far greater then the enjoyment for doing so. I am not looking to make a profit off dming, but it is a financial sink hole under current DDAL setup. Between DnD beyond Subscription, DMs Guild modules and supplies, I easily sink way over 20 per session
10k gold is a sign of a bad DM. Encumbrance would have prevented that. DDAL does have it's good points. As a DM I love level by module and chapter. Calculating XP sucks. The modules are good, just not worth the 5 dollars a pop, when at best you can hope for is 20 in store credit for DMing. I would rather be a player then DM because the expense to be a DM is far greater then the enjoyment for doing so. I am not looking to make a profit off dming, but it is a financial sink hole under current DDAL setup. Between DnD beyond Subscription, DMs Guild modules and supplies, I easily sink way over 20 per session
Does your local store have a collection of modules? Do the DMs share around the modules? As long as someone bought a copy somewhere along the way, everyone doesn't need to have their own.I agree that $5/week will add up over time. On the other hand, if you will be DMing AL for some time they can always be played again.
I'm also not sure how the DND Beyond subscription is related to AL. Most of the AL DMs I know don't have one since they don't need it and the support for AL within Beyond is virtually non-existent anyway.
As for the 10k gold, portable holes and a bag of holding go a long way toward carrying whatever you want to carry. If you look at most of the modules in Tales from the Yawning Portal, which are all AL legal, you will find that the gold and treasure available is far above the level of the typical AL module. White Plume Mountain can have every character in the party walking out with 10k gold and that is as written and has nothing to do with a good or bad DM. (at least it could when played in season 7 and earlier ... e.g. one chest contains over 10,000gp ... of that 1000gp is coin and over 9,000gp is gems with 5,000gp in a single gem, another room has a 2,000gp piece of jewelry, another chest has 10,000sp and 9,000gp, another chest contains 4 pieces of jewelry worth 11,000gp ... there is quite a bit more scattered about... in addition, the characters need to find every one of those chests to complete the adventure).
Where are people going that they get charged for AL? Maybe I'm just lucky but my local store doesn't charge any fees for AL or for renting the table or anything. They're mostly just happy that people are spending time (and money) in the store. I have done a few games online where the DM charged $2 a head, but that was mostly just to recoup the cost of buying modules.
Where are people going that they get charged for AL? Maybe I'm just lucky but my local store doesn't charge any fees for AL or for renting the table or anything. They're mostly just happy that people are spending time (and money) in the store. I have done a few games online where the DM charged $2 a head, but that was mostly just to recoup the cost of buying modules.
Some game stores charge a sitting fee to cover the costs of the games they make available. Folks go there to play the games they have in their library. Some of them also offer RPGs and charge the same fee since they are organizing the tables and getting the DMs. All of this takes time and effort so I don't begrudge them the fee. Of course, it is always up to the player whether they want to play there and pay the cover charge or not. Typically, the fees I have seen are $2-$5 for however long you stay. For a 4-5 hour module this can work out to $1/hour or less. Considering that you can walk into Starbucks and spend $4 on a beverage (or spend $10-$15 on a movie that takes less time and can be less entertaining :) ), the pricing doesn't seem that outrageous. On the other hand, if folks have a choice between eating and playing then eating clearly takes the financial resources first.
You actually aren't looking for a change to PHB+1 if you want to play a spore druid. You are looking at adding source books that aren't currently AL legal. Circle of Spores is either UA (never AL legal) or Ravnica (not an AL legal setting - currently only Eberron and Forgotten Realms have AL legal content and for those you have to use related source books).
It's possible they might be convinced to ease up on PHB+1 restrictions or add seasonal exceptions like they did for aasimar and winged tieflings in season 9 but I don't see them allowing UA (which is typically poorly balanced because it is playtest material) or content designed for Ravnica which is also not necessarily that well balanced for any setting except Ravnica (e.g. spells awards as part of backgrounds and guilds as well as some OP magic items which might fight a Ravnica setting but no where else).
in addition to what david42 said...pretty sure the PHB+1 restriction stays the same regardless of how many new books are published. Its actually exactly the same restriction.
Guide to the Five Factions (PWYW)
A rather comprehensive list of free WotC D&D resources
Deck of Decks
I can't tell if you're making a joke or being pedantic, but the rule is relatively more restrictive. When you only have a PHB and one sourcebook as available sources, PHB+1 allows you to use 100% of the material, i.e., there is no restriction. With 9 sourcebooks plus the PHB, the PHB+1 rule covers only 20% of the material.
I don't know what all the fuss is about. I have yet to play at a non-convention DDAL game where the DM did not subvert at least one ruie, if not more. If your a regular at a DDAL game in a store, talk to the DM, give him or her the reasons you want to deviate and most will let you. DDAL has become little more then an excuse to gather at stores, with the rules since season 8 meaning nothing. Specific rule I see ignored on a regular basis are the gold limits, magic item limits. PHB+1 limitation.
Unless you are a convention player, most of these are moot points. Hell I can not remember the last time I saw a Adventure Log Sheet and I play at 5 different stores.
Christopher A. Blanchard
I see minor rules being broken occasionally, but I've never seen PHB+1 intentionally broken. When it is, it gets corrected.
I have yet to play a game in store or a DDAL. After much re-search I finally was able to get myself a DDAL number but for the life of me I have yet to figure out how to run a private home game as a DDAL ? Ive downloaded and read the AL pdfs from the Dungeon Masters Guild yet after all that I have read I cant seem to find out how to enter in or where to enter in info from the log sheets for AL private games. I did come across a vague web site for this on a random reddit submission (adventuresleaguelog....) that I found and this only took me two months to find this web site not sure if it is a official AL entry site so you get the players credit for the games played?? I have been getting back into D&D over the last couple years since playing when I could in the Satanic Panic Era "not fun" yet this thing about AL and DMing private home games has eluded me I hope to one day play a game at a local store or one at my library if my body allows it due to complex medical issues. That is why home games are the best for me and my situation eventually I want to get into the online game thing .
Your best teacher was your last mistake...
Quote from a High school Teacher
PHB+1 is usually broken when it comes to Spells. Most DMs are not familiar with every spell and spell variation. Toll the Dead from XGtE for example is probably the most abused, but I don't consider Gold and Magic Item limitations as Minor, since they can severely impact games if the character is run across locations.
In either event, outside of conventions, DDAL is becoming increasingly irrelevant. The Adventures are not of a quality that they are worth $ 5.00, the rules are overbearing and only serve to frustrate DMs & Players.
Like I said, other then Conventions, DDAL is a Dead Man Walking.
Christopher A. Blanchard
It seems like you think AL is more centrally organized than it actually is. It's really mostly based on trust. There is no location where you enter games played except in your player or DM log sheet. You no longer even need the number. If you want to play a DDAL game from home, just invite people and play by the AL rules. AL-legal characters, AL-legal adventures, no house rules, and record anything in the log sheet.
That said, unless you really need the character portability that AL provides, a standard home game is better in every way.
The only way I've seen gold limitations broken is in awarding 4 hours of gold for a 3.5 hour session. Characters with too many magic items are hard to detect during play (unless they use them) without straight up inspecting character and log sheets. More DMs should do that.
As a player I'll usually call out others for PHB+1 abuse, even for spells. I think booming blade and green flame blade are more common, but perhaps easier to detect, than toll the dead. It would help if not every bit of character advice on the internet suggested those spells.
I agree that $5 is steep for an adventure. Especially when sourcebooks from WotC are available for ~$30 and provide much more and better content.
Your experience is different from mine. Where I play, everyone has log sheets and records the adventure name, gold awarded, what magic item if any was found and whether they kept it along with whether they accepted the level up. They also might note any other adventure details that could contribute to their character, their knowledge and any story awards.
Honestly, if you get rid of all the details of AL designed to level the playing field between different play locations then you aren't playing AL anymore. You are playing homebrew and as long as you don't expect to be able to play those characters in AL events then there isn't any problem.
Luckily, if folks ignore the gold limits, the magic item limits or the PHB+1 and try to play at an AL table they can be pretty easy to spot at least in tier 1 and 2. For example, a character claiming to have plate armor at level 5 may be cheating unless they have a cert or started in season 7 since otherwise they wouldn't have enough gold. The gold limits for the last two seasons have been pretty strict. Magic items are also easier to spot now since there is a hard cap of 1, 3, 6 and 10 in tiers 1 to 4.
Anyway, the point of AL is to allow the creation and play of characters that can be played at different locations and moved from game to game and venue to venue and DM to DM without requiring the characters to be rebuilt because one DM is far more generous than another. The limits are in place to prevent things like item and gold farming giving two characters of comparable level roughly the same resources. PHB+1 helps to avoid some OP combinations by combining multiple sources. Finally, AL sticks fairly close to RAW with the DM adjudicating anything that could be argued. (e.g. meaning of total cover). House rules and changes just because the DM doesn't like a rule are not AL. Anyway, it works for me, and there is no reason a creative DM can't run a fun and enjoyable campaign using published materials.
In the last 6 months I have played at store DDAL sessions in about 14 different stores in North Carolina, Texas and New Jersey. My characters are always DDAL legal, but I can tell you, I have never been asked by a DM to see a log. At any given store there are Death Clerics, Oathbreakers, Aarakocra, and a mountian of other obvious issues. In most cases the player shows up right at the start time and the DM can either play rules lawyer for 30 minutes, or just ignore it and start the game. The only time they seem to care is when the player suddenly tries to break the game. I am fine with this, we are all there to have fun, nothing more. Moving from DDAL game to game has not been an issue for me even though I long ago gave up creating logs. DDAL is alive and well in name and spirit, but not in reality. The DDAL administrators are not WotC people, but a 3rd party vendor who runs multiple DnD support sites, including DNDBEYOND and DMSGUILD, so they are not interested in what happens at the sessions anymore. Remember the old days when stores had to keep records of players DCI that played and DMs had to fill out a session log and send it in to DDAL? Well those days are long gone, DDAL just does not care anymore as there main profit center is not the in-store games.
Christopher A. Blanchard
Thanks so much for the reply's I eventually would love to run and play some AL games I do prefer a RAW style with a occasional rule as fun until I figure out how it is supposed to be. I'm still confused as to where I can enter in logsheets for AL hopefully I eventually find out how as it would be fun to be able to be able to have it so my players can take their characters to a AL game and know how it should be played officially at another AL table. All of this information is helpful and I don't want it to be a hi jack of a thread . My only wish for AL season 10 would be clear info on how to DM a private game and how to enter log sheets??
Your best teacher was your last mistake...
Quote from a High school Teacher
There were plenty of Adventurers League certs that players can earn through DM rewards (Oathbreaker, Death Cleric) DMing at an epic (cert that allows the creation of a goblin using any +1 sourcebook, aarokokra allowed as an AL legal race, etc) and charity certs that can be purchased on extralife that also allow for strange +1 combinations. In the area where I play regularly there are enough experienced DMs and players that walk new players through the creation process and explain the PHB +1 rule so I haven't seen this abuse occur outside of an accidental selection of toll the dead as a cantrip.
I've come across cheaters in AL as well, and I've seen DMs call them out sometimes, and sometimes they're given a pass. I've also seen people stepping in as DMs who only did homebrew and have treated AL the same way until the players get to the point where they want to bash him over the head with the PHB. The worst thing about AL isn't any of the above, it's when a store bills themselves as Adventurers League when they are about as far from it as you can possibly be. The kinds of places that charge you to get in a game, tell you that they're AL, and then when you sit down the DM tells you he's running a homebrew campaign that he wrote. (This has happened to me at least 3 times in different states)
I do agree that the adventurers league administrators need to go back to the DCI system, but I think that the season 8 changes caused such a negative backlash that the reason they have taken almost a total backseat to AL play in season 9 is because they fear hurting the player base even further. I saw stores that regularly ran 5-6 AL tables 3 times a week drop to 2 tables twice a week after the implementation of season 8 rules, and they are just now recovering. The biggest issue to growing the game now is getting more people to DM again, and the season 9 DM rewards are the worst out of any season, so several people are wondering why they should even bother. I've been to a few conventions in the bay area and northern california where several tables get cancelled due to lack of DMs because they'd rather just play.
You Hit the Nail right on the head. I actually play at a store now that took down all reference to DDAL, and pulled out the Old "D&D encounters" poster so people are not turned off by the DDAL label. As great as DDAL was in the beginning to bring players back to the game it is now doing its best to screw that all up.
Christopher A. Blanchard
Interesting perspective but I kind of find the opposite to be true. DDAL has been trying to make the game more accessible at the risk of alienating the old timers.
Ditching XP, gold limits, magic item limits - these things all make the game much simpler for new players and a much more even playing field. Now, you can level up or not when you complete a module, you can take the magic item or not (up to the character limit based on tier), you receive the same gold as anyone else playing through the level. All these things help new players get into the game without having to face characters with 10 magic items, plate armor, and other perks at level 5.
Some of the issues with season 7 and before that have gone away:
- magic item farming and gaming the system to award them. Some folks refused all magic items until tier 2 or 3 so that they would get first choice on the best items since they had the least. Another person I heard of serially created tier 1 characters and when they got a magic item, they retired and started another. Their character often had the least at the table, often got the item, and often irritated others at the table. Taking magic items for trading. "Oh, that very rare item than would be perfect for your character, too bad, I am taking it since I have less and want to trade it." The way AL modules were designed there might only be one chance for a character to get a particular item. This caused significant irritation for some folks.
- imbalance in gold rewards. I was on a White Plume Mountain run in season 7 with one character and walked out with 10,000gp and three magic items. If you weren't lucky enough to have a DM run White Plume you just didn't have as much stuff. Too bad. I could buy 100 healing potions, drop them in a bag of holding and never need a cleric between fights. Add in some lesser restoration, revive, raise dead, remove curse etc scrolls and my character was way better off than someone who didn't get to play that content. I could sit down next to someone with 100gp since they just didn't play the right content. The current system does a much better job of evening out these discrepancies especially for new players.
- XP farming - Modules had a minimum and a maximum XP amount. Usually, to obtain the maximum, the party had to kill almost everything in the module. Perhaps DMs were supposed to award equivalent XP for avoiding or bypassing the encounters but I don't think I ever saw that happen. As a result, if you roleplayed, avoided combat if it wasn't necessary but still completed the module objectives, you often received minimum XP. This resulted in quite a few players taking a scorched earth/murder hobo policy in AL. Kill kill kill .. all in the name of getting the maximum XP from the module. Personally, I didn't enjoy that play style. I'd rather a bit of role playing and the characters doing what makes sense for the characters. The changes to advancement in season 8 and then even better in season 9 have really opened up the options for the party. The party achieves the goal of the module however they see fit, role play, combat, exploration. Honestly, I find the quality of play and the fun to be much better than season 7 and before. However, some folks like playing murder hobos so YMMV.
Anyway, I find that the overall changes to the AL system in the last few years have generally made it better and not worse as a shared game. They aren't intended for homebrew campaigns where the DM can do whatever they like. They are intended to make play more fun for folks who drop into a local game store, for new players, for folks who move around and want to play their characters in different venues.
As for log sheets, some DMs ask, some don't, some only ask if an issue comes up. The goal is to have fun. Even the ALDMG suggests not accusing folks but approaching things diplomatically. Most of the time, issues are just honest mistakes. (Like accidentally taking Toll the Dead if you don't have Xanathar's as your +1). As for some of the less common options like death clerics/oathbreaker etc ... just ask to see their cert. If they don't have a cert it isn't AL legal and if they have a cert they won't mind showing it most of the time since they know it wouldn't be AL legal otherwise. In recent years, there have been a lot of certs from Extra Life and elsewhere for a lot of different things. In addition, there have been DM rewards over the years granting some certs. Most of the "illegal" choices could be due to certs. I also think you will find DMs checking characters a bit more at a con than at a local store though that varies too.
10k gold is a sign of a bad DM. Encumbrance would have prevented that. DDAL does have it's good points. As a DM I love level by module and chapter. Calculating XP sucks. The modules are good, just not worth the 5 dollars a pop, when at best you can hope for is 20 in store credit for DMing. I would rather be a player then DM because the expense to be a DM is far greater then the enjoyment for doing so. I am not looking to make a profit off dming, but it is a financial sink hole under current DDAL setup. Between DnD beyond Subscription, DMs Guild modules and supplies, I easily sink way over 20 per session
Christopher A. Blanchard
Does your local store have a collection of modules? Do the DMs share around the modules? As long as someone bought a copy somewhere along the way, everyone doesn't need to have their own.I agree that $5/week will add up over time. On the other hand, if you will be DMing AL for some time they can always be played again.
I'm also not sure how the DND Beyond subscription is related to AL. Most of the AL DMs I know don't have one since they don't need it and the support for AL within Beyond is virtually non-existent anyway.
As for the 10k gold, portable holes and a bag of holding go a long way toward carrying whatever you want to carry. If you look at most of the modules in Tales from the Yawning Portal, which are all AL legal, you will find that the gold and treasure available is far above the level of the typical AL module. White Plume Mountain can have every character in the party walking out with 10k gold and that is as written and has nothing to do with a good or bad DM. (at least it could when played in season 7 and earlier ... e.g. one chest contains over 10,000gp ... of that 1000gp is coin and over 9,000gp is gems with 5,000gp in a single gem, another room has a 2,000gp piece of jewelry, another chest has 10,000sp and 9,000gp, another chest contains 4 pieces of jewelry worth 11,000gp ... there is quite a bit more scattered about... in addition, the characters need to find every one of those chests to complete the adventure).
Where are people going that they get charged for AL? Maybe I'm just lucky but my local store doesn't charge any fees for AL or for renting the table or anything. They're mostly just happy that people are spending time (and money) in the store. I have done a few games online where the DM charged $2 a head, but that was mostly just to recoup the cost of buying modules.
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Some game stores charge a sitting fee to cover the costs of the games they make available. Folks go there to play the games they have in their library. Some of them also offer RPGs and charge the same fee since they are organizing the tables and getting the DMs. All of this takes time and effort so I don't begrudge them the fee. Of course, it is always up to the player whether they want to play there and pay the cover charge or not. Typically, the fees I have seen are $2-$5 for however long you stay. For a 4-5 hour module this can work out to $1/hour or less. Considering that you can walk into Starbucks and spend $4 on a beverage (or spend $10-$15 on a movie that takes less time and can be less entertaining :) ), the pricing doesn't seem that outrageous. On the other hand, if folks have a choice between eating and playing then eating clearly takes the financial resources first.
My store charges $3 for each player....but gives it all to the DM as store credit.
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