There were supposedly an updated ALPG 10 and an ALFAQ 10 posted on some Discord. I honestly have no idea if there's a Discord that's official for AL, but it seems likely they're either draft updates or the staged for release documents. If not, they managed to convince some usually very reliable people there.
There were supposedly an updated ALPG 10 and an ALFAQ 10 posted on some Discord. I honestly have no idea if there's a Discord that's official for AL, but it seems likely they're either draft updates or the staged for release documents. If not, they managed to convince some usually very reliable people there.
Yeah, I saw that after I posted the link above. The FAQ is on discord, too. Wizards still hasn’t updated it on the celebration page.
They SHOULD be on the D&D website since the 10.0 document is already out of date.
Key updates ... season 10 character creation ... choosing one of the available races does not count as your +1.
"When creating and advancing your character, you can use any race option listed below. You can also use any of the class rules options for your character from the PH and from one other product listed below. We refer to this campaign rule as "Player’s Handbook + 1". It is important to note that your choice of race is not restricted by PH + 1." Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything Volo’s Guide to Monsters Xanathar’s Guide to Everything
+1 sources no longer include SCAG or EEPC. It is not known whether some of the options in SCAG might be republished in TCE. There are apparently new archetypes for each class in TCE so it is possible that some SCAG content is being republished.
"Choosing Your Race. All races in the PH are appropriate for this campaign. Additionally, you may also select a race or subrace from the list below as well.
From Volo’s Guide to Monsters. Aasimar, Firbolg, Goliath, Kobolds, and Tabaxi From Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes. Deep Gnome, Duergar, Eladrin, Gith, Shadar-kai, and Tiefling subraces"
Character rewards for play in season 10 look to be the same as in season 9.
If you create a season 10 character then it can switch to playing legacy content if you like BUT it can't go back to playing season 10 content after doing so.
"Breaking From Seasonal Play. Once your character has reached 5th level (Tier 2) you can migrate them to play in content specific to the Dreams of the Red Wizards story arc. Additionally, your character can play any of the content from seasons prior to season 10. If you migrate your character, they may no longer play in the current season’s content."
Factions are more or less the same ... the Safe Haven background feature is still required and it is listed in the ALPG directly (since it was originally in SCAG)
There is a section on character customization that essentially allows races to reallocate their stat increases to different stats (if they have more than one stat increase they can't go to the same stat).
"If you’d like your character to follow their own path, you may ignore your Ability Score Increase trait and assign ability score increases tailored to your character. Here’s how to do it: take any ability score increase you gain in your race or subrace and apply it to an ability score of your choice. If you gain more than one increase, you can’t apply those increases to the same ability score, and you can’t increase a score above 20."
Characters can also swap skill, weapon and tool proficiencies that they acquire from their race.
"Some races and subraces grant skill, weapon, or tool proficiencies. These proficiencies are usually cultural, but your character might not have any connection to the culture in question or might have pursued different training. You can replace each of those proficiencies with a different one, as shown on the Proficiency Swaps table. PROFICIENCY SWAPS Proficiency Replacement Proficiency Skill -> Skill Simple weapon -> Simple weapon or tool Martial weapon -> Simple/martial weapon or tool Tool -> Tool or simple weapon"
Renown is more or less the same as season 9 except that everyone gains inspiration at the start of an adventure or chapter and you can choose the starting renown bonus from your current tier or lower. At level 5 (Adept rank), you can take as many of the renown magic items as you like up to the tier limit for magic items (3 for tier 2 as in season 9).
-----------
The FAQ also has some useful information. There will be a players guide for legacy adventures published. CCC's will be divided into legacy and season 10 - it doesn't look like you will be able to play both legacy and season 10 characters in ANY content where they can both get rewards. There will be no more legacy CCCs commissioned. Until the new rules for legacy play are introduced, use the season 9 rules.
-----------
Here are the contents of the Season 10 player FAQ
SEASON 10 PLAYER’S GUIDE FAQ
It looks like variant human and other variant rules are not called out (like multiclassing and feats). Is that intentional for season 10?
The variant human is one of the available races in the Player’s Handbook and therefore completely legal for play. Access to multiclassing and feats has not changed. You can still multiclass and take feats as per the rules listed in the Player’s Handbook.
If the season 9 documents are still in effect for post-migration characters, how does this effect Dungeon Master campaign rewards?
Dungeon Master rewards earned remain intact. Unused rewards can be used during season 10.
Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden lets new characters start the adventure with a set of cold weather clothes. Is that the case for AL play or will characters be forced to spend their starting gold on those, if they can even afford to?
All season 10 characters begin play with a set of cold weather clothes.
What adventures can I play with my Season 10 character and earn rewards for them, and still have that be considered D&D Adventurers League play?
The below table provides you with guidance on what you can play and earn rewards for. You can play your season 10 character in any level appropriate adventure from any season, but only receive rewards (including story-based rewards) or a level for advancement from season 10 adventures.
ADVENTURE CONTENT -> LEGACY(1) -> SEASON 10 Seasons 1 - 9(3) -> X -> Season 10(3) -> -> X Dreams of the Red Wizards -> X -> X(2) CCC Adventures(4) -> X -> X
(1)Legacy Characters are characters made and played in seasons prior to season 10. The only exception is if you created a character to play at D&D Live 2020 and have since played that character in content released prior to the rules for season 10 being released. (2)Once you’ve migrated your season 10 character to begin playing in the Dreams of the Red Wizards campaign, they’re no longer eligible to play season 10 content. However, they do become eligible to receive rewards (including story-based rewards) or a level for advancement from Dreams of the Red Wizards content. (3)These include the hardcover adventures published by Wizards of the Coast in support of their respective seasons. (4)CCC content will be designated as either Legacy content or Season 10 content on a case-by-case basis. No new Legacy content CCCs will be approved for creation.
I played my character at D&D Live and then played adventure content from prior seasons with that haracter before the current season’s rules were available. Do I have to remove the rewards I received during that play?
The current rules are effective September 15, 2020. If you played adventures between D&D Live and that date, they are considered legitimate under the rules you were playing, and you are not required to remove rewards received during that play.
Can characters (of appropriate level) made prior to season 10 play season 10 adventures if they take no rewards, including level advancement or story awards?
Yes, but the DM has the power to ask you to leave specific magic items behind to maintain the integrity of the play experience.
What is the level range for season 10 adventure content?
The level range currently planned for season 10 coincides with the level range of Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden. We are planning five Tier 1 (levels 1 – 4) adventures, five Tier 2 (levels 5 – 10) adventures, and one Tier 3 (optimized for level 11) adventure. Additionally, there will be two Tier 1 epics and 1 epic that is both for Tier 2 and Tier 3 characters. After this, we invite you to migrate your character to play the Dreams of the Red Wizards storyline/campaign.
Do the season 10 house rules apply to legacy characters?
Season 10 house rules for the D&D Adventurers League apply to season 10 characters only.
If I create a new character to play in legacy content, what house rules do I use?
The season 9 house rules are the final house rules for all legacy adventure content.
If season 9 DM/player documents are still usable for legacy characters, how does this effect DM rewards?
We’re still working on DM rewards for season 10. Our intent is to have them available for use by the end of October 2020.
If backgrounds can be custom, does that mean there’s no restriction on what resource they come from?
You may create a custom background, but background features from the sources listed in the player’s guide are the only ones allowed. The only exception is the Safe Haven feature, the rules for which are included in the player’s guide.
Buying potions and scrolls is no longer in the players guide, is that an oversight or intentional?
This is intentional, as this content will be found in the ALDMG 10.x when it is released.
Faction Agent is listed as a background in Sword Coast Adventurers Guide, but that is not listed as a viable book for backgrounds, can I just take it as a made up background?
Yes. We’ve included the Safe Haven feature in the ALPG 10.x for easy reference.
In the Proficiencies section of Appendix 1, it says you can swap out tool and weapon proficiencies. Can you swap out an armor proficiency, like the Mountain Dwarf has? If so, for what?
At this time there is no provision for swapping out your armor proficiency. If that changes it will be noted in a future version of the player’s guide.
Can only season 10 characters use Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything as a resource?
At the moment only season 10 characters can use this resource. However, look for a revised legacy campaign player’s guide by the release of Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything.
Will a free rebuild of legacy characters be allowed?
This question will be addressed in an upcoming revised legacy campaign player’s guide.
A facebook page just confirmed in their post 30 minutes ago that DMG not due out till the end of Oct. Wasn’t a typo in FAQ. “...keep track of your DMing so you can take advantage of those rewards as soon as they’re available!”
It also seems like a new character is required to play season 10 content. Someone please correct me if they interpret this differently.
To begin play in Plague of the Ancients, the D&D Adventurers League season supporting Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden, do the following:
Create a new 1st-level character for use in this season
Play in a seasonal adventure suitable for 1st-level characters, and/or begin playing Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden.
Holy shit this is bad.
I also noticed that they're no longer allowing Lawful Evil characters like in previous seasons. What is the reasoning for this? I think this, though it may be minor, removes a lot of player agency.
Why disallow monstrous adventurers like Kenku, Triton, Goblins and Bugbear? These can be incredibly fun character races to play. I haven't seen anyone playing these as evil or counterproductive to the party.
"Choosing Your Race. All races in the PH are appropriate for this campaign. Additionally, you may also select a race or subrace from the list below as well.From Volo’s Guide to Monsters. Aasimar, Firbolg, Goliath, Kobolds, and TabaxiFrom Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes. Deep Gnome, Duergar, Eladrin, Gith, Shadar-kai, and Tiefling subraces."
What happens to us players with Tritons, Goblins and Kobolds now? Are those characters that were allowed under previous rules permanently retired now?
And why do they keep ignoring the gold limit request? This has been a gripe since season 8 reared its ugly head, and if you read in adventurers league season wishlists on ANY forum it's something that keeps popping up. I would like to hear an actual reason why gold limits are good and how they help player immersion.
Last, why are they going with seasonality AGAIN? The idea was met with such a backlash last year before season 9 that they didn't do it. It feels like they snuck it in this time and WoTC think they can get away with it because less community involvement from the COVID pandemic. It's such a backdoor way for them to throw this trash at us.
It also seems like a new character is required to play season 10 content. Someone please correct me if they interpret this differently.
To begin play in Plague of the Ancients, the D&D Adventurers League season supporting Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden, do the following:
Create a new 1st-level character for use in this season
Play in a seasonal adventure suitable for 1st-level characters, and/or begin playing Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden.
Holy shit this is bad.
I also noticed that they're no longer allowing Lawful Evil characters like in previous seasons. What is the reasoning for this? I think this, though it may be minor, removes a lot of player agency.
Why disallow monstrous adventurers like Kenku, Triton, Goblins and Bugbear? These can be incredibly fun character races to play. I haven't seen anyone playing these as evil or counterproductive to the party.
"Choosing Your Race. All races in the PH are appropriate for this campaign. Additionally, you may also select a race or subrace from the list below as well.From Volo’s Guide to Monsters. Aasimar, Firbolg, Goliath, Kobolds, and TabaxiFrom Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes. Deep Gnome, Duergar, Eladrin, Gith, Shadar-kai, and Tiefling subraces."
What happens to us players with Tritons, Goblins and Kobolds now? Are those characters that were allowed under previous rules permanently retired now?
And why do they keep ignoring the gold limit request? This has been a gripe since season 8 reared its ugly head, and if you read in adventurers league season wishlists on ANY forum it's something that keeps popping up. I would like to hear an actual reason why gold limits are good and how they help player immersion.
Last, why are they going with seasonality AGAIN? The idea was met with such a backlash last year before season 9 that they didn't do it. It feels like they snuck it in this time and WoTC think they can get away with it because less community involvement from the COVID pandemic. It's such a backdoor way for them to throw this trash at us.
Your old pcs are still good. BUT they can not play season 10 content.
It also seems like a new character is required to play season 10 content. Someone please correct me if they interpret this differently.
To begin play in Plague of the Ancients, the D&D Adventurers League season supporting Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden, do the following:
Create a new 1st-level character for use in this season
Play in a seasonal adventure suitable for 1st-level characters, and/or begin playing Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden.
Holy shit this is bad.
I also noticed that they're no longer allowing Lawful Evil characters like in previous seasons. What is the reasoning for this? I think this, though it may be minor, removes a lot of player agency.
Why disallow monstrous adventurers like Kenku, Triton, Goblins and Bugbear? These can be incredibly fun character races to play. I haven't seen anyone playing these as evil or counterproductive to the party.
"Choosing Your Race. All races in the PH are appropriate for this campaign. Additionally, you may also select a race or subrace from the list below as well.From Volo’s Guide to Monsters. Aasimar, Firbolg, Goliath, Kobolds, and TabaxiFrom Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes. Deep Gnome, Duergar, Eladrin, Gith, Shadar-kai, and Tiefling subraces."
What happens to us players with Tritons, Goblins and Kobolds now? Are those characters that were allowed under previous rules permanently retired now?
And why do they keep ignoring the gold limit request? This has been a gripe since season 8 reared its ugly head, and if you read in adventurers league season wishlists on ANY forum it's something that keeps popping up. I would like to hear an actual reason why gold limits are good and how they help player immersion.
Last, why are they going with seasonality AGAIN? The idea was met with such a backlash last year before season 9 that they didn't do it. It feels like they snuck it in this time and WoTC think they can get away with it because less community involvement from the COVID pandemic. It's such a backdoor way for them to throw this trash at us.
Your old pcs are still good. BUT they can not play season 10 content.
Which at this point makes them mostly unplayable.
Season 10 feels very much like it's WoTC against the players. I'm not liking it.
So, if I'm reading this correctly, old PCs (S9 and below) are still valid for non-S10 content. Furthermore, you can still create new "legacy" PCs using S9 rules for use in non-S10 content. However, you CANNOT migrate "legacy" characters (old or new) to S10 content.
Also, S10 content is now divided into two parts: RotFM and DotRW. An S10 character MUST start in RotFM at lvl1, but may migrate to DotRW upon achieving lvl5, with the provision that they may never return to RotFM (similar to being unable to replay a module, but on a much larger scale). Furthermore, while an S10 character may be used to play in legacy content, they may NEVER earn any rewards (including, but not limited to level advancements, magic items, and story rewards), which makes them essentially obsolete for such content.*
*Perhaps if they are already built and geared out for play at the top of a given tier, this might cancel as they wouldn't be receiving rewards anyways, but that's about it. But, playing any legacy content with an S10 character this means that they are FOREVER BANNED from returning to S10 content, which in turn means that they can NEVER gain any further rewards or advancements. Once they run out of supplies they are effectively forced into retirement.
Am I reading that correctly?
Don't get me wrong, I can't say that I'm impressed by some of the race restrictions they have imposed (though I gather it's to reinforce setting flavor, meh), but I do like that they have decoupled race from the PHB+1 rule. I also like that they have expanded Inspiration a bit, varied the renown benefits (particularly the potions and the option to select benefits from a lower rank), and added the Bag of Holding to the list of renown items (though I think characters should be restricted to selecting only one each time you advance a tier to encourage adventuring over the gimme mechanic). Gold limit is still messed up, but I didn't think that would be fixed anyways.
In short, there are things that I like about this new season, but the lack of portability when that is what AL was specifically designed for is very disappointing, to say the least.
I understand that there is no way to please everyone, but I do expect AL to deliver on their stated goal of portability, and this simply does not deliver.
According to the ALPG: “Breaking From Seasonal Play. Once your character has reached 5th level (Tier 2) you can migrate them to play in content specific to the Dreams of the Red Wizards story arc. Additionally, your character can play any of the content from seasons prior to season 10. If you migrate your character, they may no longer play in the current season’s content.”
I read that as your S10 character can go play Legacy content at t2, and earn rewards with other Legacy characters, they just can’t ever come back to s10. It’s like defecting from the Soviet Union. Sure, if you’re well connected enough (t2) you can get out and defect to The West. Just know that if you ever set foot in in the USSR again, they will “permanently retire” you. :)
Season 10 feels very much like it's WoTC against the players. I'm not liking it.
I don’t know what your AL experience is. Maybe you only play at conventions where they only run the newest seasonal modules. But playing online, I come across games from every season all the time. It’s a total free for all. AL is just a common ruleset for us so we can jump into any game and trust that the DM hasn’t homebrewed Adamantine Skeletons to fight our t1 characters. Or that others in the party “just so happened” to roll 6 20s for their ability stats. DMs who are in the mood to run old mods from the SKT season do it. Those who want to run ToA run it. And those in the mood for only a pick up game grab a CCC and run that. I’ve seen a few online that have said s10 will just be ignored while they keep playing as much as ever.
Now, for those who have run everything, including the CCCs more than once and need the fresh stories, yes, I suppose they are left with s10 for their new content, and yes, old characters are essentially retired outside of the new DotRW modules as they release. But I’m not one of those. I still have a plethora of material I’ve never played or run.
They is alot of CCC content. 8 and 1/4 pages of modules. With about 40 per page that is what 300+ mods. My group currently is going to run the book. The either switch to CCC or older seasons.
It also seems like a new character is required to play season 10 content. Someone please correct me if they interpret this differently.
To begin play in Plague of the Ancients, the D&D Adventurers League season supporting Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden, do the following:
Create a new 1st-level character for use in this season
Play in a seasonal adventure suitable for 1st-level characters, and/or begin playing Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden.
Holy shit this is bad.
I also noticed that they're no longer allowing Lawful Evil characters like in previous seasons. What is the reasoning for this? I think this, though it may be minor, removes a lot of player agency.
Why disallow monstrous adventurers like Kenku, Triton, Goblins and Bugbear? These can be incredibly fun character races to play. I haven't seen anyone playing these as evil or counterproductive to the party.
"Choosing Your Race. All races in the PH are appropriate for this campaign. Additionally, you may also select a race or subrace from the list below as well.From Volo’s Guide to Monsters. Aasimar, Firbolg, Goliath, Kobolds, and TabaxiFrom Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes. Deep Gnome, Duergar, Eladrin, Gith, Shadar-kai, and Tiefling subraces."
What happens to us players with Tritons, Goblins and Kobolds now? Are those characters that were allowed under previous rules permanently retired now?
And why do they keep ignoring the gold limit request? This has been a gripe since season 8 reared its ugly head, and if you read in adventurers league season wishlists on ANY forum it's something that keeps popping up. I would like to hear an actual reason why gold limits are good and how they help player immersion.
Last, why are they going with seasonality AGAIN? The idea was met with such a backlash last year before season 9 that they didn't do it. It feels like they snuck it in this time and WoTC think they can get away with it because less community involvement from the COVID pandemic. It's such a backdoor way for them to throw this trash at us.
Your old pcs are still good. BUT they can not play season 10 content.
Which at this point makes them mostly unplayable.
Season 10 feels very much like it's WoTC against the players. I'm not liking it.
Wrong. I am Currently running Season 3 2 hours modules for my Tuesday Group. Saturday I just DM DDAL00-11C a Pipyap Hell module. One Player pulled out a Season 1 PC who he last played in Season 2. Over 300 CCC modules are available. I let some one who started DM Season 1 when came out to tell me how many Season Modules exists before Season 10. But I will guess not counting epics about 150.
Season 10 feels very much like it's WoTC against the players. I'm not liking it.
I don’t know what your AL experience is. Maybe you only play at conventions where they only run the newest seasonal modules. But playing online, I come across games from every season all the time. It’s a total free for all. AL is just a common ruleset for us so we can jump into any game and trust that the DM hasn’t homebrewed Adamantine Skeletons to fight our t1 characters. Or that others in the party “just so happened” to roll 6 20s for their ability stats. DMs who are in the mood to run old mods from the SKT season do it. Those who want to run ToA run it. And those in the mood for only a pick up game grab a CCC and run that. I’ve seen a few online that have said s10 will just be ignored while they keep playing as much as ever.
Now, for those who have run everything, including the CCCs more than once and need the fresh stories, yes, I suppose they are left with s10 for their new content, and yes, old characters are essentially retired outside of the new DotRW modules as they release. But I’m not one of those. I still have a plethora of material I’ve never played or run.
I've been playing AL regularly since 2017 when TftYP had just come out, just before tomb of annihilation. At conventions, at stores, and I've been a coordinator and DM at both. The one thing that's been consistent since season 7 is when the new season's rules come out they piss off the majority of players because they become more restrictive and no good explanation is given why with little to no input from the community who are purchasing the content and playing the game.
My complaint is this: A season x character should be able to play season y content without any issue. Yes, we can play CCCs and older seasonal content. Not everyone wants to play these, and some people have played most of this content already (For instance, I've played all of season 1, 2, 5, 7, and 8. Most of 3 and 9, and a ton of CCCs). But why lock the players out of the newest content? I would like to to have the option to play both the new AND old content with my characters. What harm is there if I play a character who had just returned from Avernus in a season 10 adventure?
And I don't like that the Volos monstrous adventurer races are now restricted in this season's play when there was no issue with it in prior seasons. This seems very counter to the mission of Tasha's Cauldron of everything as a book that states that you don't have to be evil to be an orc. And removing "evil" characters isn't fixing a problem because I've seen just way more lawful good murderhobo paladins than I have lawful evil characters.
Inventing fixes for problems that aren't there generally causes more problems down the line. Look at the backlash to season 8 - A lot of FLGS stopped running adventurers league because of it. And in my area when some of them started to bring AL play back that's when seasonality was being openly discussed, and it caused such a major backlash in the community that the stores who had just started getting players back were losing them all over again. They had to walk back seasonality in season 9 to keep the community from an outright revolt.
What I don't understand is this; we the players pretty much do the work for WoTC and the AL admins by openly discussing what we're looking for in the next season and the next season's rules and work with us, the players on these issues? Every year players are posting a, "What we want to see in season X" somewhere, and it's largely ignored. The most common complaints have been gold limits, and not enough uses of downtime days starting in season 8 from the lack of unique story awards/crippling of factions. The only one that they seemed to listen to was removing race from the +1 restriction. But now they've restricted races. I really don't get it.
I also noticed that they're no longer allowing Lawful Evil characters like in previous seasons. What is the reasoning for this? I think this, though it may be minor, removes a lot of player agency.
No, it's not.
Look, the only reason for *anyone* to ever play an *anything* evil character in a game like Dungeons and Dragons is for an excuse to play an ***hole. That's it, and it goes *triple* for adventurers league since you can't actually play the sort of redemption arcs that the alignment would give you access to.
Lawful Evil, as an alignment, serves no purpose in AL. Mechanically it can't. Not even as a roleplaying tool.
I also noticed that they're no longer allowing Lawful Evil characters like in previous seasons. What is the reasoning for this? I think this, though it may be minor, removes a lot of player agency.
No, it's not.
Look, the only reason for *anyone* to ever play an *anything* evil character in a game like Dungeons and Dragons is for an excuse to play an ***hole. That's it, and it goes *triple* for adventurers league since you can't actually play the sort of redemption arcs that the alignment would give you access to.
Lawful Evil, as an alignment, serves no purpose in AL. Mechanically it can't. Not even as a roleplaying tool.
I don't think there's anything wrong with playing an ******* character as long as the player isn't an *******. Some of the most fun dynamics in groups I've been in have been between a LG paladin or something and a LE foil. So long as the player isn't making their character antagonistic to the group, evil characters can be quite enjoyable. And I say that as someone currently playing a NG knight in a group with a LE (because NE wasn't allowed) barbarian.
I also noticed that they're no longer allowing Lawful Evil characters like in previous seasons. What is the reasoning for this? I think this, though it may be minor, removes a lot of player agency.
No, it's not.
Look, the only reason for *anyone* to ever play an *anything* evil character in a game like Dungeons and Dragons is for an excuse to play an ***hole. That's it, and it goes *triple* for adventurers league since you can't actually play the sort of redemption arcs that the alignment would give you access to.
Lawful Evil, as an alignment, serves no purpose in AL. Mechanically it can't. Not even as a roleplaying tool.
I don't think there's anything wrong with playing an ******* character as long as the player isn't an *******. Some of the most fun dynamics in groups I've been in have been between a LG paladin or something and a LE foil. So long as the player isn't making their character antagonistic to the group, evil characters can be quite enjoyable. And I say that as someone currently playing a NG knight in a group with a LE (because NE wasn't allowed) barbarian.
Evil characters depend largely on the player and the group whether they are acceptable or not. This varies from table to table.
In AL, I played Waterdeep: Dragon Heist with a group of mostly lawful evil members of the Zhentarim. I roleplayed my character as a Harper spy inserted into this cell of Zhents to keep an eye on them. We mostly played with the same group of people week to week. Some of the content was definitely not PG. One of the characters collected the ears of his defeated opponents. One maintained his own personal torture chamber in the basement of the Trollskull Inn which he applied to recalcitrant NPCs from time to time (mostly without the rest of the party knowing). Since they were all lawful evil and the characters had decided they would work together, and some of the most egregious actions of the evil characters were hidden from the more good aligned members of the party ... some of the other PVP issues didn't come up.
However, a mixed good and evil party usually leads to PVP. The morals are so diametrically opposite that the actions of one character are abhorrent to another leading, logically, to one character either being unable and unwilling to work with the other OR leading to one character really having no choice left but to kill the other since they are worse than some of the monsters the party goes out to fight in dungeons.
The problem with all of that in AL is that regular groups aren't the norm. Most of my AL play happens with groups who signed up for a particular game on a particular night. Not necessarily any history between the characters but some characters WILL have issues with the actions taken by evil characters. However, in AL, PVP is expressly forbidden. In fact it is up to the DM to prevent a player from going so far out of bounds that it kills the enjoyment of other players and that includes things like taking ears, torture, maiming and all sorts of things that evil characters are famous for.
This is in the section under Renown Suspensions:
"Just as your character earns access to rewards through heroic acts, they can lose them through unheroic ones. Your DM can suspend these benefits--immediately removing access to renown and faction benefits for the remainder of the current adventure or hardcover chapter and for an additional number of adventures or hardcover chapters determined by the unheroic acts they commit:
Long-Term Suspension.
Your character’s access to renown benefits is suspended for a number of adventures or chapters equal to half their level (minimum 1). These suspensions are imposed for egregious in-game and out-of-game actions, such as: -Attacking another character without the consent of their player and the Dungeon Master. -DM’s Discretion (use sparingly). This includes truly disruptive things; such as hostile behavior against faction members, overtly evil acts, etc.
If this type of behavior persists after this penalty has occurred, the DM has ultimate discretion to excuse you from the game—in which case you forfeit all rewards for the session. If excused in this way, you can’t replay the adventure with the same character."
So taking overtly evil acts even after the DM asks a character to stop will result in the character/player being "excused" from the game.
Most folks are reasonable and can tell whether the audience/group they are playing with will be ok with role playing an evil character but some aren't and since evil characters really add nothing of value to the game (I don't see role playing evil actions as adding value personally) then I can understand removing the option to play an evil character. From a player perspective, they get most of the role play options just playing a neutral character without going overboard into collecting ears or other body parts, mutilating the corpses of enemies, and taking other evil actions that cause inherent intra party conflicts that can't be resolved in AL.
There were supposedly an updated ALPG 10 and an ALFAQ 10 posted on some Discord. I honestly have no idea if there's a Discord that's official for AL, but it seems likely they're either draft updates or the staged for release documents. If not, they managed to convince some usually very reliable people there.
Ugh. I am disappointed I have to start over with S10. Even befor COVID I could only play AL twice a year.
Yeah, I saw that after I posted the link above. The FAQ is on discord, too. Wizards still hasn’t updated it on the celebration page.
Trying to Decide if DDB is for you? A few helpful threads: A Buyer's Guide to DDB; What I/We Bought and Why; How some DMs use DDB; A Newer Thread on Using DDB to Play
Helpful threads on other topics: Homebrew FAQ by IamSposta; Accessing Content by ConalTheGreat;
Check your entitlements here. | Support Ticket LInk
The documents are on the official WotC D&D discord server in the al-updates discussion.
https://discord.gg/dnd
They SHOULD be on the D&D website since the 10.0 document is already out of date.
Key updates ... season 10 character creation ... choosing one of the available races does not count as your +1.
"When creating and advancing your character, you can use any race option listed below. You can also use any of the class rules options for your character from the PH and from one other product listed below. We refer to this campaign rule as "Player’s Handbook + 1". It is important to note that your choice of race is not restricted by PH + 1."
Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes
Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
Volo’s Guide to Monsters
Xanathar’s Guide to Everything
+1 sources no longer include SCAG or EEPC. It is not known whether some of the options in SCAG might be republished in TCE. There are apparently new archetypes for each class in TCE so it is possible that some SCAG content is being republished.
"Choosing Your Race. All races in the PH are appropriate for this campaign. Additionally, you may also select a race or subrace from the list below as well.
From Volo’s Guide to Monsters. Aasimar, Firbolg, Goliath, Kobolds, and Tabaxi
From Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes. Deep Gnome, Duergar, Eladrin, Gith, Shadar-kai, and Tiefling subraces"
Character rewards for play in season 10 look to be the same as in season 9.
If you create a season 10 character then it can switch to playing legacy content if you like BUT it can't go back to playing season 10 content after doing so.
"Breaking From Seasonal Play. Once your character has reached 5th level (Tier 2) you can migrate them to play in content specific to the Dreams of the Red Wizards story arc. Additionally, your character can play any of the content from seasons prior to season 10. If you migrate your character, they may no longer play in the current season’s content."
Factions are more or less the same ... the Safe Haven background feature is still required and it is listed in the ALPG directly (since it was originally in SCAG)
There is a section on character customization that essentially allows races to reallocate their stat increases to different stats (if they have more than one stat increase they can't go to the same stat).
"If you’d like your character to follow their own path, you may ignore your Ability Score Increase trait and assign ability score increases tailored to your character. Here’s how to do it: take any ability score increase you gain in your race or subrace and apply it to an ability score of your choice. If you gain more than one increase, you can’t apply those increases to the same ability score, and you can’t increase a score above 20."
Characters can also swap skill, weapon and tool proficiencies that they acquire from their race.
"Some races and subraces grant skill, weapon, or tool proficiencies. These proficiencies are usually cultural, but your character might not have any connection to the culture in question or might have pursued different training. You can replace each of those proficiencies with a different one, as shown on the Proficiency Swaps table.
PROFICIENCY SWAPS
Proficiency Replacement Proficiency
Skill -> Skill
Simple weapon -> Simple weapon or tool
Martial weapon -> Simple/martial weapon or tool
Tool -> Tool or simple weapon"
Renown is more or less the same as season 9 except that everyone gains inspiration at the start of an adventure or chapter and you can choose the starting renown bonus from your current tier or lower. At level 5 (Adept rank), you can take as many of the renown magic items as you like up to the tier limit for magic items (3 for tier 2 as in season 9).
-----------
The FAQ also has some useful information. There will be a players guide for legacy adventures published. CCC's will be divided into legacy and season 10 - it doesn't look like you will be able to play both legacy and season 10 characters in ANY content where they can both get rewards. There will be no more legacy CCCs commissioned. Until the new rules for legacy play are introduced, use the season 9 rules.
-----------
Here are the contents of the Season 10 player FAQ
SEASON 10 PLAYER’S GUIDE FAQ
It looks like variant human and other variant rules are not called out (like multiclassing and feats). Is that intentional for season 10?
The variant human is one of the available races in the Player’s Handbook and therefore completely legal for play. Access to multiclassing and feats has not changed. You can still multiclass and take feats as per the rules listed in the Player’s Handbook.
If the season 9 documents are still in effect for post-migration characters, how does this effect Dungeon Master campaign rewards?
Dungeon Master rewards earned remain intact. Unused rewards can be used during season 10.
Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden lets new characters start the adventure with a set of cold weather clothes. Is that the case for AL play or will characters be forced to spend their starting gold on those, if they can even afford to?
All season 10 characters begin play with a set of cold weather clothes.
What adventures can I play with my Season 10 character and earn rewards for them, and still have that be considered D&D Adventurers League play?
The below table provides you with guidance on what you can play and earn rewards for. You can play your season 10 character in any level appropriate adventure from any season, but only receive rewards (including story-based rewards) or a level for advancement from season 10 adventures.
ADVENTURE CONTENT -> LEGACY(1) -> SEASON 10
Seasons 1 - 9(3) -> X ->
Season 10(3) -> -> X
Dreams of the Red Wizards -> X -> X(2)
CCC Adventures(4) -> X -> X
(1)Legacy Characters are characters made and played in seasons prior to season 10. The only exception is if you created a character to play at D&D Live 2020 and have since played that character in content released prior to the rules for season 10 being released.
(2)Once you’ve migrated your season 10 character to begin playing in the Dreams of the Red Wizards campaign, they’re no longer eligible to play season 10 content. However, they do become eligible to receive rewards (including story-based rewards) or a level for advancement from Dreams of the Red Wizards content.
(3)These include the hardcover adventures published by Wizards of the Coast in support of their respective seasons.
(4)CCC content will be designated as either Legacy content or Season 10 content on a case-by-case basis. No new Legacy content CCCs will be approved for creation.
I played my character at D&D Live and then played adventure content from prior seasons with that haracter before the current season’s rules were available. Do I have to remove the rewards I received during that play?
The current rules are effective September 15, 2020. If you played adventures between D&D Live and that date, they are considered legitimate under the rules you were playing, and you are not required to remove rewards received during that play.
Can characters (of appropriate level) made prior to season 10 play season 10 adventures if they take no rewards, including level advancement or story awards?
Yes, but the DM has the power to ask you to leave specific magic items behind to maintain the integrity of the play experience.
What is the level range for season 10 adventure content?
The level range currently planned for season 10 coincides with the level range of Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden. We are planning five Tier 1 (levels 1 – 4) adventures, five Tier 2 (levels 5 – 10) adventures, and one Tier 3 (optimized for level 11) adventure. Additionally, there will be two Tier 1 epics and 1 epic that is both for Tier 2 and Tier 3 characters. After this, we invite you to migrate your character to play the Dreams of the Red Wizards storyline/campaign.
Do the season 10 house rules apply to legacy characters?
Season 10 house rules for the D&D Adventurers League apply to season 10 characters only.
If I create a new character to play in legacy content, what house rules do I use?
The season 9 house rules are the final house rules for all legacy adventure content.
If season 9 DM/player documents are still usable for legacy characters, how does this effect DM rewards?
We’re still working on DM rewards for season 10. Our intent is to have them available for use by the end of October 2020.
If backgrounds can be custom, does that mean there’s no restriction on what resource they come from?
You may create a custom background, but background features from the sources listed in the player’s guide are the only ones allowed. The only exception is the Safe Haven feature, the rules for which are included in the player’s guide.
Buying potions and scrolls is no longer in the players guide, is that an oversight or intentional?
This is intentional, as this content will be found in the ALDMG 10.x when it is released.
Faction Agent is listed as a background in Sword Coast Adventurers Guide, but that is not listed as a viable book for backgrounds, can I just take it as a made up background?
Yes. We’ve included the Safe Haven feature in the ALPG 10.x for easy reference.
In the Proficiencies section of Appendix 1, it says you can swap out tool and weapon proficiencies. Can you swap out an armor proficiency, like the Mountain Dwarf has? If so, for what?
At this time there is no provision for swapping out your armor proficiency. If that changes it will be noted in a future version of the player’s guide.
Can only season 10 characters use Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything as a resource?
At the moment only season 10 characters can use this resource. However, look for a revised legacy campaign player’s guide by the release of Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything.
Will a free rebuild of legacy characters be allowed?
This question will be addressed in an upcoming revised legacy campaign player’s guide.
©2020 Wizards of the Coast LLC. 2
A facebook page just confirmed in their post 30 minutes ago that DMG not due out till the end of Oct. Wasn’t a typo in FAQ. “...keep track of your DMing so you can take advantage of those rewards as soon as they’re available!”
Is there a link for the FAQ because the updated ALPG is available now
https://media.wizards.com/2020/dnd/downloads/AL_PGv10_1.pdf
Both documents are linked from Wizards' site: https://dnd.wizards.com/ddal_general
Holy shit this is bad.
I also noticed that they're no longer allowing Lawful Evil characters like in previous seasons. What is the reasoning for this? I think this, though it may be minor, removes a lot of player agency.
Why disallow monstrous adventurers like Kenku, Triton, Goblins and Bugbear? These can be incredibly fun character races to play. I haven't seen anyone playing these as evil or counterproductive to the party.
"Choosing Your Race. All races in the PH are appropriate for this campaign. Additionally, you may also select a race or subrace from the list below as well.From Volo’s Guide to Monsters. Aasimar, Firbolg, Goliath, Kobolds, and TabaxiFrom Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes. Deep Gnome, Duergar, Eladrin, Gith, Shadar-kai, and Tiefling subraces."
What happens to us players with Tritons, Goblins and Kobolds now? Are those characters that were allowed under previous rules permanently retired now?
And why do they keep ignoring the gold limit request? This has been a gripe since season 8 reared its ugly head, and if you read in adventurers league season wishlists on ANY forum it's something that keeps popping up. I would like to hear an actual reason why gold limits are good and how they help player immersion.
Last, why are they going with seasonality AGAIN? The idea was met with such a backlash last year before season 9 that they didn't do it. It feels like they snuck it in this time and WoTC think they can get away with it because less community involvement from the COVID pandemic. It's such a backdoor way for them to throw this trash at us.
content catalogue
https://drive.google.com/file/d/17XChRcLeTNbMJe849wDBWWLMQdJm4KTK/view
No Gaming is Better than Bad Gaming.
Your old pcs are still good. BUT they can not play season 10 content.
No Gaming is Better than Bad Gaming.
Which at this point makes them mostly unplayable.
Season 10 feels very much like it's WoTC against the players. I'm not liking it.
So, if I'm reading this correctly, old PCs (S9 and below) are still valid for non-S10 content. Furthermore, you can still create new "legacy" PCs using S9 rules for use in non-S10 content. However, you CANNOT migrate "legacy" characters (old or new) to S10 content.
Also, S10 content is now divided into two parts: RotFM and DotRW. An S10 character MUST start in RotFM at lvl1, but may migrate to DotRW upon achieving lvl5, with the provision that they may never return to RotFM (similar to being unable to replay a module, but on a much larger scale). Furthermore, while an S10 character may be used to play in legacy content, they may NEVER earn any rewards (including, but not limited to level advancements, magic items, and story rewards), which makes them essentially obsolete for such content.*
*Perhaps if they are already built and geared out for play at the top of a given tier, this might cancel as they wouldn't be receiving rewards anyways, but that's about it. But, playing any legacy content with an S10 character this means that they are FOREVER BANNED from returning to S10 content, which in turn means that they can NEVER gain any further rewards or advancements. Once they run out of supplies they are effectively forced into retirement.
Am I reading that correctly?
Don't get me wrong, I can't say that I'm impressed by some of the race restrictions they have imposed (though I gather it's to reinforce setting flavor, meh), but I do like that they have decoupled race from the PHB+1 rule. I also like that they have expanded Inspiration a bit, varied the renown benefits (particularly the potions and the option to select benefits from a lower rank), and added the Bag of Holding to the list of renown items (though I think characters should be restricted to selecting only one each time you advance a tier to encourage adventuring over the gimme mechanic). Gold limit is still messed up, but I didn't think that would be fixed anyways.
In short, there are things that I like about this new season, but the lack of portability when that is what AL was specifically designed for is very disappointing, to say the least.
I understand that there is no way to please everyone, but I do expect AL to deliver on their stated goal of portability, and this simply does not deliver.
According to the ALPG: “Breaking From Seasonal Play. Once your character has reached 5th level (Tier 2) you can migrate them to play in content specific to the Dreams of the Red Wizards story arc. Additionally, your character can play any of the content from seasons prior to season 10. If you migrate your character, they may no longer play in the current season’s content.”
I read that as your S10 character can go play Legacy content at t2, and earn rewards with other Legacy characters, they just can’t ever come back to s10. It’s like defecting from the Soviet Union. Sure, if you’re well connected enough (t2) you can get out and defect to The West. Just know that if you ever set foot in in the USSR again, they will “permanently retire” you. :)
I don’t know what your AL experience is. Maybe you only play at conventions where they only run the newest seasonal modules. But playing online, I come across games from every season all the time. It’s a total free for all. AL is just a common ruleset for us so we can jump into any game and trust that the DM hasn’t homebrewed Adamantine Skeletons to fight our t1 characters. Or that others in the party “just so happened” to roll 6 20s for their ability stats. DMs who are in the mood to run old mods from the SKT season do it. Those who want to run ToA run it. And those in the mood for only a pick up game grab a CCC and run that. I’ve seen a few online that have said s10 will just be ignored while they keep playing as much as ever.
Now, for those who have run everything, including the CCCs more than once and need the fresh stories, yes, I suppose they are left with s10 for their new content, and yes, old characters are essentially retired outside of the new DotRW modules as they release. But I’m not one of those. I still have a plethora of material I’ve never played or run.
They is alot of CCC content. 8 and 1/4 pages of modules. With about 40 per page that is what 300+ mods. My group currently is going to run the book. The either switch to CCC or older seasons.
No Gaming is Better than Bad Gaming.
Wrong. I am Currently running Season 3 2 hours modules for my Tuesday Group. Saturday I just DM DDAL00-11C a Pipyap Hell module. One Player pulled out a Season 1 PC who he last played in Season 2. Over 300 CCC modules are available. I let some one who started DM Season 1 when came out to tell me how many Season Modules exists before Season 10. But I will guess not counting epics about 150.
But the rules for this season do suck.
No Gaming is Better than Bad Gaming.
I've been playing AL regularly since 2017 when TftYP had just come out, just before tomb of annihilation. At conventions, at stores, and I've been a coordinator and DM at both. The one thing that's been consistent since season 7 is when the new season's rules come out they piss off the majority of players because they become more restrictive and no good explanation is given why with little to no input from the community who are purchasing the content and playing the game.
My complaint is this: A season x character should be able to play season y content without any issue. Yes, we can play CCCs and older seasonal content. Not everyone wants to play these, and some people have played most of this content already (For instance, I've played all of season 1, 2, 5, 7, and 8. Most of 3 and 9, and a ton of CCCs). But why lock the players out of the newest content? I would like to to have the option to play both the new AND old content with my characters. What harm is there if I play a character who had just returned from Avernus in a season 10 adventure?
And I don't like that the Volos monstrous adventurer races are now restricted in this season's play when there was no issue with it in prior seasons. This seems very counter to the mission of Tasha's Cauldron of everything as a book that states that you don't have to be evil to be an orc. And removing "evil" characters isn't fixing a problem because I've seen just way more lawful good murderhobo paladins than I have lawful evil characters.
Inventing fixes for problems that aren't there generally causes more problems down the line. Look at the backlash to season 8 - A lot of FLGS stopped running adventurers league because of it. And in my area when some of them started to bring AL play back that's when seasonality was being openly discussed, and it caused such a major backlash in the community that the stores who had just started getting players back were losing them all over again. They had to walk back seasonality in season 9 to keep the community from an outright revolt.
What I don't understand is this; we the players pretty much do the work for WoTC and the AL admins by openly discussing what we're looking for in the next season and the next season's rules and work with us, the players on these issues? Every year players are posting a, "What we want to see in season X" somewhere, and it's largely ignored. The most common complaints have been gold limits, and not enough uses of downtime days starting in season 8 from the lack of unique story awards/crippling of factions. The only one that they seemed to listen to was removing race from the +1 restriction. But now they've restricted races. I really don't get it.
No, it's not.
Look, the only reason for *anyone* to ever play an *anything* evil character in a game like Dungeons and Dragons is for an excuse to play an ***hole. That's it, and it goes *triple* for adventurers league since you can't actually play the sort of redemption arcs that the alignment would give you access to.
Lawful Evil, as an alignment, serves no purpose in AL. Mechanically it can't. Not even as a roleplaying tool.
I don't think there's anything wrong with playing an ******* character as long as the player isn't an *******. Some of the most fun dynamics in groups I've been in have been between a LG paladin or something and a LE foil. So long as the player isn't making their character antagonistic to the group, evil characters can be quite enjoyable. And I say that as someone currently playing a NG knight in a group with a LE (because NE wasn't allowed) barbarian.
Evil characters depend largely on the player and the group whether they are acceptable or not. This varies from table to table.
In AL, I played Waterdeep: Dragon Heist with a group of mostly lawful evil members of the Zhentarim. I roleplayed my character as a Harper spy inserted into this cell of Zhents to keep an eye on them. We mostly played with the same group of people week to week. Some of the content was definitely not PG. One of the characters collected the ears of his defeated opponents. One maintained his own personal torture chamber in the basement of the Trollskull Inn which he applied to recalcitrant NPCs from time to time (mostly without the rest of the party knowing). Since they were all lawful evil and the characters had decided they would work together, and some of the most egregious actions of the evil characters were hidden from the more good aligned members of the party ... some of the other PVP issues didn't come up.
However, a mixed good and evil party usually leads to PVP. The morals are so diametrically opposite that the actions of one character are abhorrent to another leading, logically, to one character either being unable and unwilling to work with the other OR leading to one character really having no choice left but to kill the other since they are worse than some of the monsters the party goes out to fight in dungeons.
The problem with all of that in AL is that regular groups aren't the norm. Most of my AL play happens with groups who signed up for a particular game on a particular night. Not necessarily any history between the characters but some characters WILL have issues with the actions taken by evil characters. However, in AL, PVP is expressly forbidden. In fact it is up to the DM to prevent a player from going so far out of bounds that it kills the enjoyment of other players and that includes things like taking ears, torture, maiming and all sorts of things that evil characters are famous for.
This is in the section under Renown Suspensions:
"Just as your character earns access to rewards through heroic acts, they can lose them through unheroic ones. Your DM can suspend these benefits--immediately removing access to renown and faction benefits for the remainder of the current adventure or hardcover chapter and for an additional number of adventures or hardcover chapters determined by the unheroic acts they commit:
Long-Term Suspension.
Your character’s access to renown benefits is suspended for a number of adventures or chapters equal to half their level (minimum 1). These suspensions are imposed for egregious in-game and out-of-game actions, such as:
-Attacking another character without the consent of their player and the Dungeon Master.
-DM’s Discretion (use sparingly). This includes truly disruptive things; such as hostile behavior against faction members, overtly evil acts, etc.
If this type of behavior persists after this penalty has occurred, the DM has ultimate discretion to excuse you from the game—in which case you forfeit all rewards for the session. If excused in this way, you can’t replay the adventure with the same character."
So taking overtly evil acts even after the DM asks a character to stop will result in the character/player being "excused" from the game.
Most folks are reasonable and can tell whether the audience/group they are playing with will be ok with role playing an evil character but some aren't and since evil characters really add nothing of value to the game (I don't see role playing evil actions as adding value personally) then I can understand removing the option to play an evil character. From a player perspective, they get most of the role play options just playing a neutral character without going overboard into collecting ears or other body parts, mutilating the corpses of enemies, and taking other evil actions that cause inherent intra party conflicts that can't be resolved in AL.