So, in our AL Curse of Strahd campaign we lost almost entirely, with only 2 characters of the original party escaping a tense battle. We didn't even make it to Ravenloft, but our characters were levels 6-8, and none of us had backup AL legal characters. So we had the option of making -4- level 1 PCs when we were at the tier 2 level of the campaign, but at that point we were all a little bit sick of Barovia and Curse of Strahd in general. At that point we had a -75% PC mortality rate-, of every 4 characters who came into Barovia, 3 died or were removed from play somehow. Suffice to say, we were all beat.
So at the table after the session, we chatted about our options. I mentioned after we lost and got 4 players down and out, that it would be really difficult logistically to balance things out considering we'd already cleaned up a lot of early game encounters which would allow us to level up without just farming random encounters on the road for hell knows how long, especially considering we had 2 level 8 characters active, and Strahd's personal ire to hunt them down. So we talked about -everyone- bringing in a fresh level 1 PC, and having those Tier 2 characters hide out in the world as NPCs that reference the adventurers who came before and act as their legacy.
Though I thought it would be a lot on the DM, because he'd basically have to homebrew the entire first half of the campaign. We were very thorough. After it all, we put it to a vote. Instead of entering Bizarro Barovia as Level 1s, we decided to go to Avernus next week and start a new campaign. So here's the question... Could we indefinitely keep that game of Curse of Strahd going, and come back to do it one day in the distant future, AL legally? Or if we let it be, does it 'expire.'
Keep in mind that "AL legally" has options that may not be available when just playing the module.
"Spellcasting Services are Different The DDAL04 series of adventures in Ravenloft use spellcasting services that are quite different from their Faerûnian counterparts. DMs running the Curse of Strahd hardcover are encouraged to use these setting-specific services but may choose either method."
AL has spellcasting services, which are available even in hard covers between sessions. It is up to the DM whether a wandering cleric passing through Barovia or someone in Barovia is able to provide them but it is completely AL legal to do so. The main difference is that in season 4, the most likely NPC to provide such services is Jenny Greenteeth (if she is still alive in your game). However, as stated in the guidance the DM is under no obligation to impose this restriction.
Looking at the season 9 rules in the ALDMG - your characters can pay for spellcasting services to restore them to life. This is completely AL legal.
Raise dead is 1000gp for spellcasting services or if you purchase the scroll and have an NPC cast it. This amount can be paid by the character or the party. Alternatively, the character can give up a permanent magic item to a suitable NPC and reduce their magic item limit by 1 until they reach the next tier while being restored to life and having any conditions removed.
All of this is completely AL legal and available while playing the Curse of Strahd hardcover. The point of AL is to have fun and if your characters are permanently dead then the fun is usually decreased so AL has mechanisms in place to help minimize this issue though it does have a price. Each level in tier 2 in season 9 is worth 240gp + 320gp from tier 1 so your characters would likely have the 1000gp by around level 7 (and may already have enough magic items ... depending on how many are available in CoS).
So, your first option would be to raise dead, rest and regroup before taking up the quest again. This would be entirely AL legal even in CoS. Personally, I wouldn't want to replay all the content again. (Raise dead in Barovia can result in picking up a form of indefinite madness ... though that can be cured with greater restoration).
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You could start off a new party of level 1s and have them meet up with the existing tier 2 characters when you hit tier 2. However, the tier 2 characters can't replay chapters/content that they have already played so they can't join the new characters until after they have completed content that equals or passes the existing characters.
The big issue with this is that the DM can't "homebrew" the entire first half of the module to give you a completely different experience. At the very least that is a very gray area since the DM can make changes ... however
"You’re Empowered. Make decisions about how the group interacts with the adventure; adjust or improvise but maintain the adventure’s spirit. You can’t implement new rules."
I would say "adjust or improvise" means just that. Make some modifications to fit the party/adventure/fun the group is looking for but the DM doesn't really have the leeway to completely re-write the content. At least that is how I think most would interpret it. However, "maintaining the adventure's spirit" is a gray area since you can make significant changes that keep with the spirit if not the fact of a published module. If the DM generally replaced locations/encounters/monsters/treasure with content that isn't in the HC then I would say that is going beyond adjust and improvise but opinions might vary.
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Finally, you can always come back and finish the module later as long as the characters don't level out of it. Also, a character can't play two hardcovers at the same time. However, CoS is a bit different, if a character wants to play other modules between chapters/sessions from CoS they have to use the Escape the Mists downtime activity to exit Barovia and remove the Demiplane of Dread story award. I don't think the chapters of CoS are individually labeled for levels so it would be the AL level range of the adventure that would be applied.
Well, a funny anecdote. We had broken the campaign so badly that the DM jokingly said it was 'basically homebrew' at some point, because we had gone so off-book for every situation that the rational sequence of events was out the window. He said he only used the book for stat blocks, locations, and the general rules, but the story was more or less completely in flux and beyond the confines of the book for all we'd done.
I guess that means we could get back our party if one of our survivors decided to go pluck up our defeated characters' belongings (and a piece of their bodies considering the requirements for most resurrections require a bit of the person) and found a spellcaster suitably strong enough to bring us back into play by trading our magical items. I will bring it up to the DM over text maybe. Thank you very much!
Well, a funny anecdote. We had broken the campaign so badly that the DM jokingly said it was 'basically homebrew' at some point, because we had gone so off-book for every situation that the rational sequence of events was out the window. He said he only used the book for stat blocks, locations, and the general rules, but the story was more or less completely in flux and beyond the confines of the book for all we'd done.
I guess that means we could get back our party if one of our survivors decided to go pluck up our defeated characters' belongings (and a piece of their bodies considering the requirements for most resurrections require a bit of the person) and found a spellcaster suitably strong enough to bring us back into play by trading our magical items. I will bring it up to the DM over text maybe. Thank you very much!
I'd say yes and no :) ... players running a module can easily run the narrative in different directions than the module writers intended.
However, in CoS for example, you still have Strahd, you still have the same objectives and overall quest (unless somehow the DM let the characters kill off Strahd early on ... which isn't actually possible).
On the other hand, if the DM takes out Strahd, replaces them with a demon or dragon, rewrites the demiplane of dread into one of planes of hell, replaces all the villagers with demons, changes all the magic items, just keeps a couple of stat blocks and locations from a map then they aren't keeping to the "spirit" of the adventure. However, as long as your long term goal is still to defeat Strahd and escape the demiplane of dread ... the adventure is still on track no matter what route the characters are taking to get there. If places remain the same, some encounters may be adjusted easier or harder depending on when the characters encounter them, an additional encounter or two or some NPCs are required they can be added as needed to support the story line, the overall goals and objectives remain the same, then you are still playing the same module ... every party's path through an adventure will differ.
It doesn't become "homebrew" until the DM starts making stuff up just because they think it would be cool.
P.S. As for getting the party raised from the dead, the magic item trade might get you true resurrected even if you don't have body parts available.
"Alternatively, the character can trade a permanent magic item (excluding common magic items) to an NPC that is capable of providing spellcasting services (see below)—who in turn returns them to life and removes any conditions (or in some circumstances, story awards) that removed them from play—including those requiring a wish. This option reduces their Magic Item Limit but is available even if their limit has been reduced to 0 or they have no magic items."
The objective is to allow a character to return to play, no matter what status effects or how they died, as long as they give up a magic item.
I'll see if my DM can allow it. Question on this vein since we're talking Curse of Strahd: https://dndadventurersleague.org/barexit-escaping-the-mists-of-barovia/ Is this downtime activity still legal? Because if so, we may just pluck our adventurers right out of Barovia by having our ranger lead us through the mists until we find our way home to Faerun and go our seperate ways. Also: For the Resurrection, I assume you have to have someone who will do it for you in-character? Like obviously your corpse can't request a Resurrection or make the trade themselves, do you have to have an executor?
Also thanks for all the answers, I'm incredibly green with D&D, and AL in particular, so I like having someone answer my more bizarre questions.
I'll see if my DM can allow it. Question on this vein since we're talking Curse of Strahd: https://dndadventurersleague.org/barexit-escaping-the-mists-of-barovia/ Is this downtime activity still legal? Because if so, we may just pluck our adventurers right out of Barovia by having our ranger lead us through the mists until we find our way home to Faerun and go our seperate ways. Also: For the Resurrection, I assume you have to have someone who will do it for you in-character? Like obviously your corpse can't request a Resurrection or make the trade themselves, do you have to have an executor?
Also thanks for all the answers, I'm incredibly green with D&D, and AL in particular, so I like having someone answer my more bizarre questions.
As far as I know the downtime activity is still the way to extract AL characters from CoS if you want to play them elsewhere. As for resurrecting the character, as far as I know it is a downtime activity and as such doesn't go into the details of how it is accomplished. The character pays the required fee (a magic item in season 9 or purchasing the spellcasting service/scroll if they have sufficient gold) and an NPC is found who casts the spell and restores the character. It is up to the DM how they want to run it in a hardcover. The AL guidance for CoS gives the DM the choice to modify it requiring the characters to use Jenny Greenteeth or to use the standard AL spellcasting services which assumes the existence of some NPC capable of casting the necessary spells.
Keep in mind that the goal of AL tends to be fun for the players and DM which can mean that some of the inter-module continuity expected in a home campaign ends up sacrificed for the sake of expediency.
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So, in our AL Curse of Strahd campaign we lost almost entirely, with only 2 characters of the original party escaping a tense battle. We didn't even make it to Ravenloft, but our characters were levels 6-8, and none of us had backup AL legal characters. So we had the option of making -4- level 1 PCs when we were at the tier 2 level of the campaign, but at that point we were all a little bit sick of Barovia and Curse of Strahd in general. At that point we had a -75% PC mortality rate-, of every 4 characters who came into Barovia, 3 died or were removed from play somehow. Suffice to say, we were all beat.
So at the table after the session, we chatted about our options. I mentioned after we lost and got 4 players down and out, that it would be really difficult logistically to balance things out considering we'd already cleaned up a lot of early game encounters which would allow us to level up without just farming random encounters on the road for hell knows how long, especially considering we had 2 level 8 characters active, and Strahd's personal ire to hunt them down. So we talked about -everyone- bringing in a fresh level 1 PC, and having those Tier 2 characters hide out in the world as NPCs that reference the adventurers who came before and act as their legacy.
Though I thought it would be a lot on the DM, because he'd basically have to homebrew the entire first half of the campaign. We were very thorough. After it all, we put it to a vote. Instead of entering Bizarro Barovia as Level 1s, we decided to go to Avernus next week and start a new campaign. So here's the question... Could we indefinitely keep that game of Curse of Strahd going, and come back to do it one day in the distant future, AL legally? Or if we let it be, does it 'expire.'
Keep in mind that "AL legally" has options that may not be available when just playing the module.
"Spellcasting Services are Different
The DDAL04 series of adventures in Ravenloft use spellcasting services that are quite different from their Faerûnian counterparts. DMs running the Curse of Strahd hardcover are encouraged to use these setting-specific services but may choose either method."
AL has spellcasting services, which are available even in hard covers between sessions. It is up to the DM whether a wandering cleric passing through Barovia or someone in Barovia is able to provide them but it is completely AL legal to do so. The main difference is that in season 4, the most likely NPC to provide such services is Jenny Greenteeth (if she is still alive in your game). However, as stated in the guidance the DM is under no obligation to impose this restriction.
Looking at the season 9 rules in the ALDMG - your characters can pay for spellcasting services to restore them to life. This is completely AL legal.
Raise dead is 1000gp for spellcasting services or if you purchase the scroll and have an NPC cast it. This amount can be paid by the character or the party. Alternatively, the character can give up a permanent magic item to a suitable NPC and reduce their magic item limit by 1 until they reach the next tier while being restored to life and having any conditions removed.
All of this is completely AL legal and available while playing the Curse of Strahd hardcover. The point of AL is to have fun and if your characters are permanently dead then the fun is usually decreased so AL has mechanisms in place to help minimize this issue though it does have a price. Each level in tier 2 in season 9 is worth 240gp + 320gp from tier 1 so your characters would likely have the 1000gp by around level 7 (and may already have enough magic items ... depending on how many are available in CoS).
So, your first option would be to raise dead, rest and regroup before taking up the quest again. This would be entirely AL legal even in CoS. Personally, I wouldn't want to replay all the content again. (Raise dead in Barovia can result in picking up a form of indefinite madness ... though that can be cured with greater restoration).
-------
You could start off a new party of level 1s and have them meet up with the existing tier 2 characters when you hit tier 2. However, the tier 2 characters can't replay chapters/content that they have already played so they can't join the new characters until after they have completed content that equals or passes the existing characters.
The big issue with this is that the DM can't "homebrew" the entire first half of the module to give you a completely different experience. At the very least that is a very gray area since the DM can make changes ... however
"You’re Empowered. Make decisions about how the group interacts with the adventure; adjust or improvise but maintain the adventure’s spirit. You can’t implement new rules."
I would say "adjust or improvise" means just that. Make some modifications to fit the party/adventure/fun the group is looking for but the DM doesn't really have the leeway to completely re-write the content. At least that is how I think most would interpret it. However, "maintaining the adventure's spirit" is a gray area since you can make significant changes that keep with the spirit if not the fact of a published module. If the DM generally replaced locations/encounters/monsters/treasure with content that isn't in the HC then I would say that is going beyond adjust and improvise but opinions might vary.
---------
Finally, you can always come back and finish the module later as long as the characters don't level out of it. Also, a character can't play two hardcovers at the same time. However, CoS is a bit different, if a character wants to play other modules between chapters/sessions from CoS they have to use the Escape the Mists downtime activity to exit Barovia and remove the Demiplane of Dread story award. I don't think the chapters of CoS are individually labeled for levels so it would be the AL level range of the adventure that would be applied.
Well, a funny anecdote. We had broken the campaign so badly that the DM jokingly said it was 'basically homebrew' at some point, because we had gone so off-book for every situation that the rational sequence of events was out the window. He said he only used the book for stat blocks, locations, and the general rules, but the story was more or less completely in flux and beyond the confines of the book for all we'd done.
I guess that means we could get back our party if one of our survivors decided to go pluck up our defeated characters' belongings (and a piece of their bodies considering the requirements for most resurrections require a bit of the person) and found a spellcaster suitably strong enough to bring us back into play by trading our magical items. I will bring it up to the DM over text maybe. Thank you very much!
I'd say yes and no :) ... players running a module can easily run the narrative in different directions than the module writers intended.
However, in CoS for example, you still have Strahd, you still have the same objectives and overall quest (unless somehow the DM let the characters kill off Strahd early on ... which isn't actually possible).
On the other hand, if the DM takes out Strahd, replaces them with a demon or dragon, rewrites the demiplane of dread into one of planes of hell, replaces all the villagers with demons, changes all the magic items, just keeps a couple of stat blocks and locations from a map then they aren't keeping to the "spirit" of the adventure. However, as long as your long term goal is still to defeat Strahd and escape the demiplane of dread ... the adventure is still on track no matter what route the characters are taking to get there. If places remain the same, some encounters may be adjusted easier or harder depending on when the characters encounter them, an additional encounter or two or some NPCs are required they can be added as needed to support the story line, the overall goals and objectives remain the same, then you are still playing the same module ... every party's path through an adventure will differ.
It doesn't become "homebrew" until the DM starts making stuff up just because they think it would be cool.
P.S. As for getting the party raised from the dead, the magic item trade might get you true resurrected even if you don't have body parts available.
"Alternatively, the character can trade a permanent magic item (excluding common magic items) to an NPC that is capable of providing spellcasting services (see below)—who in turn returns them to life and removes any conditions (or in some circumstances, story awards) that removed them from play—including those requiring a wish. This option reduces their Magic Item Limit but is available even if their limit has been reduced to 0 or they have no magic items."
The objective is to allow a character to return to play, no matter what status effects or how they died, as long as they give up a magic item.
I'll see if my DM can allow it. Question on this vein since we're talking Curse of Strahd: https://dndadventurersleague.org/barexit-escaping-the-mists-of-barovia/ Is this downtime activity still legal? Because if so, we may just pluck our adventurers right out of Barovia by having our ranger lead us through the mists until we find our way home to Faerun and go our seperate ways. Also: For the Resurrection, I assume you have to have someone who will do it for you in-character? Like obviously your corpse can't request a Resurrection or make the trade themselves, do you have to have an executor?
Also thanks for all the answers, I'm incredibly green with D&D, and AL in particular, so I like having someone answer my more bizarre questions.
As far as I know the downtime activity is still the way to extract AL characters from CoS if you want to play them elsewhere. As for resurrecting the character, as far as I know it is a downtime activity and as such doesn't go into the details of how it is accomplished. The character pays the required fee (a magic item in season 9 or purchasing the spellcasting service/scroll if they have sufficient gold) and an NPC is found who casts the spell and restores the character. It is up to the DM how they want to run it in a hardcover. The AL guidance for CoS gives the DM the choice to modify it requiring the characters to use Jenny Greenteeth or to use the standard AL spellcasting services which assumes the existence of some NPC capable of casting the necessary spells.
Keep in mind that the goal of AL tends to be fun for the players and DM which can mean that some of the inter-module continuity expected in a home campaign ends up sacrificed for the sake of expediency.