General Discussion

[Poor_Knight]

Hey Everyone - I'll re-post this General Discussion thread in case anyone just needs a thread to make idle conversation with and doesn't want to create a new thread.

[Poor_Knight]

We're still discussing the transition of Old MW to new MW and how that pertains to Adventurer's League Games so check out that thread and add your two coppers.

[lemonstyx]

Hi all,

I seem to be over my health issues (hopefully, anyway), and am looking to get back to posting here. It looks like I'll need to figure out Baldr and port my game from the old site over here, as well as catch up on the games in which I'm a player.

[Poor_Knight]

Glad you're feeling better @lemonstyx. I believe there's still plenty of time before a move is required, but it's inevitable. If it won't finish in less than a year might as well move it.

[lemonstyx]

Ah, okay. Good to know. Thanks PK!

[Poor_Knight]

Good to see more people "joining" this hub. Be sure to follow the Game and/or the Topic to get your post reminders. Not quite clear on if you can just follow the game and get notifications for everything, or if you need to follow each topic you want notifications for.

If there are players looking to get into a game make yourself know. DMs, start up new games at your leisure - hopefully you add the Badge and post in the Recruiting topic so we know it's happening 😉

Edited August 11, 2023 by Poor_Knight (see edit history)

[Poor_Knight]

Yeah, I like @omegoku's idea here: https://www.myth-weavers.com/index.php?/topic/8604-omegokus-characters-for-al/

I'll just make a mega thread too, maybe just for characters that are active though.

[lemonstyx]

Yeah, that is a good idea. I'll see about getting around to doing that as well at some point.

[Gregorotto]

So I have some questions for the madding crowd given my relative inexperience but profound interest in AL.

• How is AL any different in PbP? Are there any considerations from the AL Rules that need to be considered when adapting AL adventures/rules to a place like MW?
• Storyline-wise, it seems like AL is moving away from doing adventures that are adventure-adjacent and just themed around the adventure, whether they can be incorporated in or not; I refer to the fact Wild Beyond the Witchlight's adventures are adjacent at best, and Spelljammer did not actually have official AL content, though Dragonlance did, despite the ready amount available on the DM's Guild. Is there an official announcement regarding that or message somewhere, like Twitter or some such?
• Is there a list of what adventures are part of this AL collective? I am considering starting a game that's part of AL, but I don't necessarily want to do something someone else has done; I'm leaning towards either the Waterdeep stories or Baldur's Gate stories, released alongside those adventures rather than the hardcovers themselves. More to that point, am I required to run them verbatim, or can I adapt and borrow from DM's Guild/AL-sanctioned additions like Blue Alley or some of the DiA-adjacent additions? Also, is all the AL stuff on MW Forgotten Realms-based?

Probably typed too much, but there it is.

[Siryuu]

3 hours ago, Gregorotto said:

So I have some questions

AL works the offical WotC campaigns, rules are standardized. If you play a story as part of the AL setting, your character's progress & persona carry over. If you gain a level, that leveled up character carries over to almost any other AL game you play.

At the old website, we had a directory with the games (some of them are still active); the new website works differently than it used to, and this posed a challenge for the management of the campaigns. Other than being played by post, there aren’t any relevant differences.

May post the link to MWs AL games in my next message.

[Siryuu]

3 hours ago, Gregorotto said:

Is there a list of what adventures are part of this AL collective?

https://og.myth-weavers.com/showthread.php?t=384083

[Gregorotto]

27 minutes ago, Siryuu said:

AL works the offical WotC campaigns, rules are standardized. If you play a story as part of the AL setting, your character's progress & persona carry over. If you gain a level, that leveled up character carries over to almost any other AL game you play.

I guess my first question was more one of procedure than of the rules: I've read the mechanical differences, but I was more wondering, from a DM's perspective, what different considerations went into adapting AL modules (if not outright adventure paths) to PbP. The rest I knew.

[lemonstyx]

15 hours ago, Gregorotto said:

I guess my first question was more one of procedure than of the rules: I've read the mechanical differences, but I was more wondering, from a DM's perspective, what different considerations went into adapting AL modules (if not outright adventure paths) to PbP. The rest I knew.

AL does require a DM to run an adventure pretty much as is. There is a little wiggle room for DM discretion, but not a huge amount. You can't adapt and borrow from adventures to insert parts of them in other ones, for example (with a few exceptions). You can run Blue Alley in its entirety, but you can't borrow from it. In general, you can't insert or change the encounters in an adventure, except according to the guidance provided for parties of differing strength (although I believe you can swap out a creature for another one with the same CR if you think it makes the encounter more thematic).

As for the adaptation to PbP, I think the main thing you need to take into consideration is how long a PbP game takes. A 4-hour module is rarely completed in less than 6 months, for example. The main thing you want to do as a DM is streamline the game so that you don't lose weeks or months to inconsequential things. AL adventures are generally already a railroad, but I think they have to be even more so in PbP.

I wouldn't worry too much about what's been run already. The answer is almost everything at some point. If there's something you'd like to run, go for it. I can't imagine you won't find people willing to play.

I hope this helps. Perhaps others have some additional advice they can contribute.

[Gregorotto]

25 minutes ago, lemonstyx said:

AL does require a DM to run an adventure pretty much as is. There is a little wiggle room for DM discretion, but not a huge amount. You can't adapt and borrow from adventures to insert parts of them in other ones, for example (with a few exceptions). You can run Blue Alley in its entirety, but you can't borrow from it. In general, you can't insert or change the encounters in an adventure, except according to the guidance provided for parties of differing strength (although I believe you can swap out a creature for another one with the same CR if you think it makes the encounter more thematic).

As for the adaptation to PbP, I think the main thing you need to take into consideration is how long a PbP game takes. A 4-hour module is rarely completed in less than 6 months, for example. The main thing you want to do as a DM is streamline the game so that you don't lose weeks or months to inconsequential things. AL adventures are generally already a railroad, but I think they have to be even more so in PbP.

I wouldn't worry too much about what's been run already. The answer is almost everything at some point. If there's something you'd like to run, go for it. I can't imagine you won't find people willing to play.

I hope this helps. Perhaps others have some additional advice they can contribute.

Exceptionally insightful and just what I was looking for. Solid. Thanks for this.

[Poor_Knight]

I'm Poor_Knight and I support this message.

1 hour ago, lemonstyx said:

AL does require a DM to run an adventure pretty much as is. There is a little wiggle room for DM discretion, but not a huge amount. You can't adapt and borrow from adventures to insert parts of them in other ones, for example (with a few exceptions). You can run Blue Alley in its entirety, but you can't borrow from it. In general, you can't insert or change the encounters in an adventure, except according to the guidance provided for parties of differing strength (although I believe you can swap out a creature for another one with the same CR if you think it makes the encounter more thematic).

As for the adaptation to PbP, I think the main thing you need to take into consideration is how long a PbP game takes. A 4-hour module is rarely completed in less than 6 months, for example. The main thing you want to do as a DM is streamline the game so that you don't lose weeks or months to inconsequential things. AL adventures are generally already a railroad, but I think they have to be even more so in PbP.

I wouldn't worry too much about what's been run already. The answer is almost everything at some point. If there's something you'd like to run, go for it. I can't imagine you won't find people willing to play.

I hope this helps. Perhaps others have some additional advice they can contribute.

In addendum, yes AL started as exclusively FR, but they have been incorporating other settings. Those settings do not have nearly as much content to play with as FR but there is some. And many people enjoy re-playing some of the modules with different characters, so re-running anything is not likely to be an issue. But there are many unexplored modules that are not directly tied to the WotC Hardcover products; some of them have been exceptional. Others might know the details better but there are series set in the Moonshaes, for instance, where no WotC hardcover has set foot yet.

And welcome, by the way. Glad to see new names and hope to see more AL games firing up!

Edited September 13, 2023 by Poor_Knight (see edit history)