For the last few years, I have played regularly at a FLGS / AL site. We run hardcovers (CoS, STK, HotDQ, etc).
We did not keep official AL Logsheets.
We do have journals and online (Google Docs) records of our play.
For the last 6 months, I have been exclusively DM'ing. I am looking at attending a regional convention to get a chance to play. I would like to play some old beloved characters instead of starting new Tier 1 / Level 1. How many problems will I have bringing my characters in for a few DDAL sessions? Do I need to try to create logs, can I just show the Journals, or am I wasting my time?
I know it can vary based on who is the organizer, but for a regional convention that draws from 1-3 states, what is your experience and are there suggestions for me to make this process easier?
Thank you!!!
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--
DM -- Elanon -- Homebrew world
Gronn -- Tiefling Warlock -- Amarath
Slim -- Halfling Cleric -- CoS (future Lord of Waterdeep 😁)
My experience is only with Origins Game Faire, but nobody checks logs sheets unless something is really wrong or strange. If you have ability scores or bonuses that seem high for the level, you might get some scrutiny. If you have a PHB+1 issue you will likely get some scrutiny.
My advice is to make a DM log that confirms to your records and then apply your DM credit as normal, noting such on your log sheet.
Checking of log sheets varies depending on whether there is something that seems incorrect with the character. If they seem too powerful, have particular magic items, or if someone notices an issue then the DM might ask to look at the logs. However, not having log sheets at all with your character could be a red flag by itself. Even if a DM doesn't check the log sheets, not having any log sheets could well be a problem if anyone notices that you don't have them.
If the modules at the FLGS were played using AL rules then I'd suggest just reconstructing the logs afterward from the adventure journals you already have. Some of the key things that a DM might look for in logs are unusual magic items or magical effects (like the magic effects in COS that can boost stats) so these should be properly noted.
The entire log system is based on trust anyway so if you are taking an existing character that has been played by AL rules and just writing up the logs later then I personally don't see an issue. If someone made up logs for imaginary sessions that they never played then that would be cheating but the logging system isn't designed to prevent this type of abuse anyway.
As the other poster also mentioned, you can probably also create almost any character you want just using DM rewards. You can basically level a character and choose magic items as if you had played all of the modules you DMed .. and these rewards can be applied to one or more characters allowing you to create pretty much any character you want. However, if you want a specific character that you have played previously with specific magic items or other character effects then you would probably need to log it.
Finally, it is probably more common for the DM to ask to look at the character sheet. I've seen folks just accidentally make mistakes that can persist for a long time. Breaking PHB+1 with spell selection is quite common and usually unintentional. I also ran into a person playing a cool halfling paladin/rogue character who had missed that a paladin multiclass needed 13 strength. They had reached level 10 already so they just adjusted their other stats down a bit to bring strength up to 13.
This was responded to quite well so far. I’d just echo that if you have journals of the sessions, just translate all those into logsheets and use the DM rewards to build whatever character you like. If you’ve you’ve been running hardcovers and have been exclusively DMing for 6 months, playing every other week (“regularly”), that’s ~14 sessions which in s9 rules could be as much as 14 levels in rewards, depending on how often you rewarded levels to the players. I think with hardcovers, your advancement might be more tied to player advancement. If you’re holding them to max hours played before advancing them, I think you only take a level when they can. I’m not sure, I’ve only ever run AL module games, where advancement is an option for any player at the end of the session.
Either way, I guarantee you have enough hours just from DMing the last 6 months to create a character, advance it well into tier 2, and supply it with quality magic items. And you likely have enough hours left over to build a second tier 1 character to whatever level you want to play there at.
https://www.adventurersleaguelog.com/ is what I use to keep track of my logsheets. There are separate entries for DM games and player games. And there’s dropdown menus where you can track which of your characters get assigned the rewards.
2) I did spend a couple of hours translating my journal to logsheet format. No one ever looked at them. In fact, one of the people I mentioned it to, thought the journal was "really cool and much better." That said, the Translation REALLY helped me remember how to play some beloved characters I had not played for 2-3 years!!! I spent time with the character sheet, equipment, magic items, spells, and history and it helped me remember how to play the character. So, the effort really helped.
3) I have the sheets updated in case I ever go to another Con.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
--
DM -- Elanon -- Homebrew world
Gronn -- Tiefling Warlock -- Amarath
Slim -- Halfling Cleric -- CoS (future Lord of Waterdeep 😁)
I went through this a few years ago when my gaming group broke up, and I wanted to transport my characters to AL. I talked to the AL coordinator at the con, and just created logs based off my recollection of the time. My GM at the time used the milestone system, so I just kinda took my best guess at it. I send him the logs just to make sure they were mostly correct, and he gave them his thumbs up.
That said, in about 20+ AL Con games, I was asked to look at my log sheet once, and the GM took a gander at the entire table's mostly looking for odd magical items.
Leveling up via DM rewards, as mentioned, is the best way for you. I'd DL the Season 8 and Season 9 GM rules. They give rewards for running games. I think Season 8 is where they introduced rewards based on time spent playing. Then it's easy to do the math: Number of Game sessions * average hour of play, and divide that off how many hours per level.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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For the last few years, I have played regularly at a FLGS / AL site. We run hardcovers (CoS, STK, HotDQ, etc).
For the last 6 months, I have been exclusively DM'ing. I am looking at attending a regional convention to get a chance to play. I would like to play some old beloved characters instead of starting new Tier 1 / Level 1. How many problems will I have bringing my characters in for a few DDAL sessions? Do I need to try to create logs, can I just show the Journals, or am I wasting my time?
I know it can vary based on who is the organizer, but for a regional convention that draws from 1-3 states, what is your experience and are there suggestions for me to make this process easier?
Thank you!!!
--
DM -- Elanon -- Homebrew world
Gronn -- Tiefling Warlock -- Amarath
Slim -- Halfling Cleric -- CoS (future Lord of Waterdeep 😁)
Bran -- Human Wizard - RoT
Making D&D mistakes and having fun since 1977!
My experience is only with Origins Game Faire, but nobody checks logs sheets unless something is really wrong or strange. If you have ability scores or bonuses that seem high for the level, you might get some scrutiny. If you have a PHB+1 issue you will likely get some scrutiny.
My advice is to make a DM log that confirms to your records and then apply your DM credit as normal, noting such on your log sheet.
Checking of log sheets varies depending on whether there is something that seems incorrect with the character. If they seem too powerful, have particular magic items, or if someone notices an issue then the DM might ask to look at the logs. However, not having log sheets at all with your character could be a red flag by itself. Even if a DM doesn't check the log sheets, not having any log sheets could well be a problem if anyone notices that you don't have them.
If the modules at the FLGS were played using AL rules then I'd suggest just reconstructing the logs afterward from the adventure journals you already have. Some of the key things that a DM might look for in logs are unusual magic items or magical effects (like the magic effects in COS that can boost stats) so these should be properly noted.
The entire log system is based on trust anyway so if you are taking an existing character that has been played by AL rules and just writing up the logs later then I personally don't see an issue. If someone made up logs for imaginary sessions that they never played then that would be cheating but the logging system isn't designed to prevent this type of abuse anyway.
As the other poster also mentioned, you can probably also create almost any character you want just using DM rewards. You can basically level a character and choose magic items as if you had played all of the modules you DMed .. and these rewards can be applied to one or more characters allowing you to create pretty much any character you want. However, if you want a specific character that you have played previously with specific magic items or other character effects then you would probably need to log it.
Finally, it is probably more common for the DM to ask to look at the character sheet. I've seen folks just accidentally make mistakes that can persist for a long time. Breaking PHB+1 with spell selection is quite common and usually unintentional. I also ran into a person playing a cool halfling paladin/rogue character who had missed that a paladin multiclass needed 13 strength. They had reached level 10 already so they just adjusted their other stats down a bit to bring strength up to 13.
This was responded to quite well so far. I’d just echo that if you have journals of the sessions, just translate all those into logsheets and use the DM rewards to build whatever character you like. If you’ve you’ve been running hardcovers and have been exclusively DMing for 6 months, playing every other week (“regularly”), that’s ~14 sessions which in s9 rules could be as much as 14 levels in rewards, depending on how often you rewarded levels to the players. I think with hardcovers, your advancement might be more tied to player advancement. If you’re holding them to max hours played before advancing them, I think you only take a level when they can. I’m not sure, I’ve only ever run AL module games, where advancement is an option for any player at the end of the session.
Either way, I guarantee you have enough hours just from DMing the last 6 months to create a character, advance it well into tier 2, and supply it with quality magic items. And you likely have enough hours left over to build a second tier 1 character to whatever level you want to play there at.
https://www.adventurersleaguelog.com/ is what I use to keep track of my logsheets. There are separate entries for DM games and player games. And there’s dropdown menus where you can track which of your characters get assigned the rewards.
Quick update:
1) Thank you SO MUCH for the responses!!!!
2) I did spend a couple of hours translating my journal to logsheet format. No one ever looked at them. In fact, one of the people I mentioned it to, thought the journal was "really cool and much better." That said, the Translation REALLY helped me remember how to play some beloved characters I had not played for 2-3 years!!! I spent time with the character sheet, equipment, magic items, spells, and history and it helped me remember how to play the character. So, the effort really helped.
3) I have the sheets updated in case I ever go to another Con.
--
DM -- Elanon -- Homebrew world
Gronn -- Tiefling Warlock -- Amarath
Slim -- Halfling Cleric -- CoS (future Lord of Waterdeep 😁)
Bran -- Human Wizard - RoT
Making D&D mistakes and having fun since 1977!
I went through this a few years ago when my gaming group broke up, and I wanted to transport my characters to AL. I talked to the AL coordinator at the con, and just created logs based off my recollection of the time. My GM at the time used the milestone system, so I just kinda took my best guess at it. I send him the logs just to make sure they were mostly correct, and he gave them his thumbs up.
That said, in about 20+ AL Con games, I was asked to look at my log sheet once, and the GM took a gander at the entire table's mostly looking for odd magical items.
Leveling up via DM rewards, as mentioned, is the best way for you. I'd DL the Season 8 and Season 9 GM rules. They give rewards for running games. I think Season 8 is where they introduced rewards based on time spent playing. Then it's easy to do the math: Number of Game sessions * average hour of play, and divide that off how many hours per level.