Gregorotto Posted October 10, 2023 Clone Share Posted October 10, 2023 (edited) Want to Play ALG? Start Here! NOTE: This guide is up to date as of Season 14 of ALG. Well-met, adventurer! ALG is Myth-Weaver's own dedicated Adventurers League, modifying exciting adventures to play-by-post format within ALG's pick-up-and-play format. Our dedicated DMs are here to help you scratch that itch you've had for games that last and tables that are exciting, dynamic, and challenging. Before we begin, let's set some expectations and lay out how this goes down. Games are first-come, first-serve: when a spot at a table opens up, and you have a character that meets its specifications, the first person to claim that spot receives that spot. Each game has a limited number of spots at the table, so be mindful of this. This is play-by-post: if you don't already know what that means, it means we play here on Myth-Weavers, over time. Games are more drawn out than they are at actual tables, and require a certain level of dedication and patience. PbP combines the thrill of gaming with the joy of collaborative writing, and while we aim to reproduce the game as accurately as possible, some rules may need to be reworked per your DM's prerogative. Players often drop out of games, and sometimes DMs do too. Err on the side of grace: real life will always take precedence over the gaming we do here. Communication is key, though: always communicate your needs and availabilities, as a player and as a DM. You can make as many characters as you want, but that doesn't mean there will be a game for them. Often with ALG, PFS, and similar games, demand for DMs outstrips supply by a wide margin. You can make a million characters, but there may not be a DM who can take you on, whether because your character isn't the right level or simply their table is full. Whatever the case, be aware of this discrepancy. Want to see change? Consider becoming a DM! Records make and break ALG. It's important you keep accurate records of your games and keep track of those, using the resources we've provided below. This allows you to transfer characters between games and keep a track of character growth for all to see. Have questions about this process? Reach out to us. Character Creation and Maintenance Now that we've set expectations, let's focus on how to create and maintain your character over time: If you're building a character from level 1, Use the Player's Guide to build your character, being mindful of the following: All backgrounds now provide Feats, but Settings provide additional Feats; Be mindful of what books are available for your game; Custom lineage and backgrounds are regulated, so follow those rules closely; Be aware of what factions are available in your world and in your game, but know that they are optional; Every ALG game has a specific setting: know what yours is and check the bottom of the Player's Guide. If you're building a character from level 5, Follow the rules listed above in level 1, with the following changes: Select a magic item from the list provided on page 1 of the Player's Guide. See below on how to level up properly. If you're rebuilding a character from a past season, Basically recreate your character from level 1 (above) to their current level, following current rules. Use the bonuses you received from past adventures accordingly. Be mindful of new Feats and Setting rules. If you gain a level in game, Follow the guidelines on the Player's Guide; tl;dr: you take half HP+your Con mod, Feats are allowed at levels you would gain an Attribute, and at level 5 you gain a magic item from the list provided in the Player's Guide; You level up when the DM tells you to, based on adventure guidance, adaptation, and DM prerogative depending on the adventure; You may rebuild your character if you wish, using the notes below. If you want to rebuild your character, Rebuild them from the ground up, losing all items you gained from your class and background but keeping all items gained through adventuring; You may select any race, class, background, etc. permissible by the Player's Guide. Once an adventure is completed, you add it to your Adventure Log. You may use the official PDF or you may use Adventurers League Log, the latter of which is suggested. Older custom logs made with tables are no longer provided by the AGL community and are discouraged; Collaborate with your DM on what Rewards, Mundane and Magic Items, and Leveling guidance are necessary; Make sure your DM checks your log! Once you've made your character, a few things need to happen: Post your character in the appropriate game forum, which your DM will provide; Create a backstory following your DM's specifications, but be aware of a few things: Your DM has a limited capacity to change the story to include some backstory elements, so don't make too elaborate a backstory and get upset if your backstory is never touched upon; Keep your backstory appropriate to the adventure and to your level; no one wants to play with an experienced general who's level 1; Make a character who is dynamic and engaging, and who is willing to grow: don't make lone wolves unless you intend on that to change, no character is an island. Create a character header appropriate to your DM's taste: Not everyone requires a header, but these are often encouraged and are community norms for 5e games, unofficially; Make sure your header is sized properly, uses colors that mesh with your layout of choice, and use good hyperlinks to your larger character sheet and character in general; Don't know what a header is? Just ask in the General Discussion! Same with any question. And once that's done, have fun, and welcome to ALG! Clarifications What [races/classes/backgrounds/customizations] are available? A great question, and one mentioned by the Player's Guide. Obviously that excludes some of the newer sources: The Book of Many Things is not yet included, as of this edit. You'll note some settings allow certain books that others do not: be mindful of that, because warforged in Ravenloft isn't everyone's cuppa. When this changes, this document and all ALG documents will be updated accordingly. As of this writing, 3/19/24, we are currently in Season 13 of ALG, with clarifications for the latest adventures. As there is no official announcement regarding the 2024 Player's Handbook and how that will affect the game going forward, all data here is current until clarification is given. Customization of races/legacies and backgrounds is something you need to be transparent about, and something your DM should be involved in. Keep in mind the restrictions in the Player's Guide. How RAW is ALG? As written, ALG is very RAW: it's understood that everyone should be able to play the same character at any ALG table in the world at any given time, so everyone has to play by the same rules. That said, our medium, play-by-post, requires adaptation, which your DM will surely go over: things like how Initiative is handled, how you announce a Reaction, among other rules must be adapted, and indeed, ALG knows this and encourages DMs to make calls and be open with their players about how different things are. Now, RAW in ALG terms means by extension the actual RAW in the PHB, DMG, and MM are changed: magic items are handled very delicately, for example. Be mindful of this as well, and most important, be graceful. We here at MW aren't the ones in charge of writing ALG rules, just adapting them, and even then, we're only human. Well, mostly. What are the settings? Setting refers to the game world a D&D campaign is set in, and for the sake of ALG, this remains true: ALG games are always set in a pre-existing D&D world. So, what are those settings? Forgotten Realms is where most games are set. A world of high fantasy and ancient mysteries, Toril is the site of great magic and great evil, and is the world's largest shared universe, be it through novels by R.A. Salvatore, games like Baldur's Gate, and films like Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. From Lost Mines of Phandelver to Candlekeep Mysteries, the Forgotten Realms has become the default setting of 5e and of ALG. ALG's seasons are all defined by hardcover adventures and the adventures published by Adventurers League are often spinoffs of that: Season 9, for example, is a side story to Descent into Avernus, never crossing over but dealing with many of the same characters, themes, and locations. Spelljammer, set in Wildspace and including most every D&D setting, is for the purposes of ALG set in the Forgotten Realms, and as such, no Spelljammer game should include player characters from, say, Krynn or Oerth. Planescape, the multiverse-hopping zany setting of the Outer Planes, is officially part of the Forgotten Realms setting where ALG is concerned, with future news coming as ALG updates. Eberron is a setting of magic punk recovering from the scars of the Last War. A world of pulp adventure with heroes deeply scarred by conflict, Eberron is a unique blend of intrigue, magic, and conflict. Few ALG games are set in Eberron, but they allow use of Eberron: Rising from the Last War. Ravenloft is D&D's famed horror setting, featuring Curse of Strahd and the Mist Hunter storyline set within the Domains of Dread. Characters face unimaginable horrors and odds that will likely see them killed, and find themselves stuck in planar mysteries and the tragedies that shape great villain's existences. Characters from this world are allowed to use Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft. Dragonlance is the world of Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, an epic fantasy world of divine conflict and the horrors of war. Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen and select Dungeoncraft storylines are set in this world made famous by the series of novels that defined fantasy for a generation. Critical Role allows players to explore the storied world of Exandria from the hit podcast/streaming show. Call of the Netherdeep and similar adventures allow PCs to take part in one of the most famous settings in modern memory. Other settings, such as Greyhawk and Dark Sun that have appeared in earlier or new adventures, are not legal for ALG play... yet. Your DM will let you know which world your game is set in. How do you move characters between games? Can I jump settings? You may transfer characters across tables/games, yes: but you can only be in one game/table at a time, online or off. If a DM ghosts you and you don't get a replacement, that's a trickier situation that RAW means you don't get to advance that extra level or win those rewards and you can move to a new game freely. Moving settings, however, is another matter entirely. With very few exceptions, characters are made with specific settings in mind and must remain in those settings. Thus a warforged artificer of Eberron cannot magically appear in Waterdeep in the Forgotten Realms. The exceptions are few: Spelljammer and FR are connected so they can naturally change between them, and there is one season of ALG where a section of the Forgotten Realms appears in Ravenloft, creating a story issue where those characters cannot leave Ravenloft until they complete the story (how that's interpreted now is another matter entirely). I get to level up, but my DM is warning me that might not be a good idea! What gives? Each adventure is made with a specific tier in mind (see your PHB or DMG for how tiers are broken down). Thus characters within that tier can play a single adventure, but once they advance tiers, they cannot retroactively play in games. To give an example: I'm (as of this writing) running Escape from Elturgard, a Tier-1 adventure that levels up characters from 1 to 3. Players are allowed to level up after each part (it's a special adventure) and there are 4 parts. However, it specifies if a character advances to level 3, they cannot take part in any other part of the adventure: thus, despite having 3 opportunities to level up and potentially reach level 4, they are restricted to reaching only level 3 and only after the final part. For the next three adventures, which are still in Tier-1, characters are expected to stay in Tier-1, meaning they cannot level up to level 5 until after Chapter 4 if they want to take part. So: you must be careful about when you choose to level up. There are other considerations as well: wealth is restricted by tier, meaning you have to be careful about how you level. Essentially this is an artificial way to guarantee your characters stay at the appropriate level over time. What happens if my DM ghosts our game? This is play-by-post: we've all experienced it when players and DMs go missing without a word. If you suspect this of happening, first, give them at least a week of radio silence, then reach out to the ALG collective and we DMs will discuss what to do. In the past there have been cases of DMs taking over for ghosted games, as well as games where the DM had to suddenly step away for real life reasons. In any case, we ask you act with extreme grace. What new terminology do I need to know as a player? Aside from general gaming lore, you have to know very little in the way of new terms. The primary one relates to the aforementioned tiers and levels adventures are made for: APL, which means Average Party Level. This normal DM term is used for DMs of Adventurers League to determine how best to challenge their players: you add up the level of all PCs and average it, rounding down. Adventures come with advice about if a party is too strong, too weak, or on point, and offers ways for the DM to adapt: for players, it helps guide whether your character will be easily challenged, tremendously challenged, or if you're in the wrong tier altogether. Beyond that, you're ready to roll with the best of them! Should I build my character for combat, social encounters, or exploration? Should I worry about how little or how much RP there is to do? Yes. ALG seasons design each session to try and use all three pillars of play, meaning there are moments of exploration, moments of social encounters, and moments of combat... a lot of them. That said, certain hardcover adventures, and some season adventures, favor one thing or the other. For example, while Waterdeep: Dragon Heist and Rime of the Frost Maiden both feature exploration heavily, it is very different kinds of exploration. Thus, it's best if you make your character well-rounded, but also be aware of the rest of the characters at your table: your DM has minimal ability to adapt if a party, say, lacks a healer. As for roleplaying: this is entirely your prerogative. As a DM I expect each of my players to roleplay within reason (my normal games are prone to become novellas), but other games are lighter on RP and thus much quicker. Each DM will be different, so my advice is follow your bliss. Roleplay to your heart's content and invite others to join you, but don't expect them to. No one is required to be your dance partner. Where should I build my character? Most DMs will expect you to use Myth-Weavers' character sheets, so that is the norm. Others will allow other resources, such as D&D Beyond, but that is a DM-by-DM choice. Have further questions or clarifications? Check out the General Discussion! Resources The following are a list of useful resources you can use. ALG Character Creation Rules-The motherlode of all things Adventurers League, this is the official page of ALG, and contains whatever resources you should desire: the Player's Guide, the Adventure Logs, and more. Adventurer's League Log Site-The best place for an Adventure Log anywhere; it saves it for you digitally so you don't have to keep track of paper. AL Games-A list of games for ALG. Since migrating to Baldr, not all games are listed here. This is separate from Games Recruiting. AL Characters-A public archive of all the ALG characters people have. You are not required to post your character, but it could be useful! Edited May 8 by Gregorotto Publishing 13.0 (see edit history) Name xDiceName xDiceResult xDiceString xDiceRolls Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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