I went to a café to play Dungeons and Dragons last week. It was an Adventure League sponsored thing (is "sponsored" the right word?) and the module was "Bad Business in Parnast". It was fun until the end.
This was a mystery themed quest. See, the party rolls into town delivering statues to a tavern, and the keeper of the tavern is the quest giver. He talks about how orcs have been causing trouble and he's trying to organize a defense but setbacks repeatedly delay the work. He asks for their help because they are armed and tough looking adventurers.
So the players look about the town, talk to people and investigate the setbacks/sabotage. That was fun. There was a good bit of roleplaying with the local blacksmith and the wagon/supply guy and a cleric. My character was a dwarf paladin and so I got to contribute by curing a couple horses and jumping into a burning building to save the tavern keeper's daughter (I failed both a Constitution saving throw AND an Athletics check and so I lost most of my HP).
The climax was a fight with the orcs who were causing all the problems. That was a close fight because everyone was rolling shit (including the wizard, whose Fire Bolt would otherwise have wasted the boss orc in half the time). I thought we were going to die the whole time but bit my lip from calling a retreat. In the end, my character was indeed knocked out and so was another guy's (by the last goblin, who ran away immediately afterward).
That was all fun. It was exciting. I was ready to sign up for the next Tier 1 adventure. Then we got to the rewards portion. The Dungeon Master gave everyone two "Advancement Points" and 2 "Treasure Points". There was no EXP, gold, or treasure. Furthermore, the other players left without a word.
I was told that Adventure League was in "season 8" which changed a lot of things. There was no "experience" in this format. There was only "advancement", and it was based on how long the module was supposed to take instead of what the players did. There would be no "gold" received except by leveling and no items except purchased, somehow, with "treasure points". Each session was a one shot pick-up-game, so you weren't likely to play with the same people again. Even if you did, it would be in a different story likely unrelated to the previous one.
All of this left a bad taste in my mouth. Given the nature of this campaign (helping out a small and out-of-the-way town with orcs), I wasn't expecting a big reward. Given my character is a classic For Great Justice type, he wouldn't even be looking for one. Yet, this state of things cheapened my experience, and soured me on the whole Adventure League thing.
One of the fun things about RPGs is finding treasure. You know, brave the dungeon, defeat the dragon, and you get this hoard of goodies.
Within this session, the party overcame this pair of bad guys and we disarmed them of their weapons. I was thinking about how we could use or sell their equipment and asked how we would split it up. Then another player basically said "leave it here; we just want them disarmed". I shrugged and said okay. What I realized later was that acquiring even these items, common daggers and crossbows, was apparently against the rules. The even bigger disappointment came at the end, where our party discovered that the boss orc was wearing Gauntlets of Ogre Strength. Did we get them? No.
Gauntlets of Ogre Strength are a 16 treasure point item. This meant we needed 14 more, and had to play 7 more modules. Then EVERYONE could get a pair. Yes, all five players, even though we only found one pair. How does that make sense? There is no in-story reason for it at all. I searched the internet for a story-based reason and I found the opposite.
Someone else wrote a blog post (or was it a comment on the blog) that "treasure points" were basically game tickets from a Chuck E Cheese; you play the game and then you exchange tickets for prizes. I immediately agreed with that person. What you, the player, did in the campaign did not matter. As long as you completed the main objective in the two or three hours the module maker set, you got tickets. Save up the tickets and get a prize.
What I gathered, from reading threads and reflecting and such, is that this is supposed to make campaigns easier for DMs to run by making everything simpler and more predictable. Also, that it was supposed to address player problems such as "who gets this special item?" by giving out-of-story tickets/treasure points.
From a certain point of view, it make senses. This set-up is more accessible for both new and old players. There is no commitment to a group or storyline. The rules on gold and treasure are so rigid that one could jump into any tier and any adventure by crafting a character of the appropriate level. What happens before doesn't matter and what happens after doesn't matter. It's convenient.
It also means you're basically playing alone. Remember when I said that everyone else at the table left without a word? There was no talking about the campaign, reflecting on how we worked together. There wasn't even a "see you next week" because there wouldn't be one. I reflected on my own and realized that there was no "party" but "five people working separately towards the same goal".
We spent most of the session separated, doing our own thing. I didn't think much of it at the time because we were all investigating. You know, "Let's split up gang, and search for clues". When it came to the battle, there was no unity there. I include myself in there.
I could have cast "Bless" to help everyone but I only had one spell left and I wanted it to save for Cure Wounds because I still had only half of my HP total (I ended up using it on someone else because they had 1 hit point left and a lower Armor Class than me). We fought our own targets (except the Rogue who mechanically needed help for Sneak Attack) and did our own thing. Though another positioned himself to guard my character after he was knocked out, which was nice. The orcs had better teamwork.
Ultimately, my impression of Adventure League (season 8) is that it is a good system for quick and convenient tabletop D&D, but for one-shot campaigns with strangers I'd rather go online. My impression of the specific module is much better. That was entirely fun.
Brian Wilkerson is a independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor degrees in English Literature and History (Classical Mediterranean Period concentration).
This was a mystery themed quest. See, the party rolls into town delivering statues to a tavern, and the keeper of the tavern is the quest giver. He talks about how orcs have been causing trouble and he's trying to organize a defense but setbacks repeatedly delay the work. He asks for their help because they are armed and tough looking adventurers.
So the players look about the town, talk to people and investigate the setbacks/sabotage. That was fun. There was a good bit of roleplaying with the local blacksmith and the wagon/supply guy and a cleric. My character was a dwarf paladin and so I got to contribute by curing a couple horses and jumping into a burning building to save the tavern keeper's daughter (I failed both a Constitution saving throw AND an Athletics check and so I lost most of my HP).
The climax was a fight with the orcs who were causing all the problems. That was a close fight because everyone was rolling shit (including the wizard, whose Fire Bolt would otherwise have wasted the boss orc in half the time). I thought we were going to die the whole time but bit my lip from calling a retreat. In the end, my character was indeed knocked out and so was another guy's (by the last goblin, who ran away immediately afterward).
That was all fun. It was exciting. I was ready to sign up for the next Tier 1 adventure. Then we got to the rewards portion. The Dungeon Master gave everyone two "Advancement Points" and 2 "Treasure Points". There was no EXP, gold, or treasure. Furthermore, the other players left without a word.
I was told that Adventure League was in "season 8" which changed a lot of things. There was no "experience" in this format. There was only "advancement", and it was based on how long the module was supposed to take instead of what the players did. There would be no "gold" received except by leveling and no items except purchased, somehow, with "treasure points". Each session was a one shot pick-up-game, so you weren't likely to play with the same people again. Even if you did, it would be in a different story likely unrelated to the previous one.
All of this left a bad taste in my mouth. Given the nature of this campaign (helping out a small and out-of-the-way town with orcs), I wasn't expecting a big reward. Given my character is a classic For Great Justice type, he wouldn't even be looking for one. Yet, this state of things cheapened my experience, and soured me on the whole Adventure League thing.
One of the fun things about RPGs is finding treasure. You know, brave the dungeon, defeat the dragon, and you get this hoard of goodies.
Within this session, the party overcame this pair of bad guys and we disarmed them of their weapons. I was thinking about how we could use or sell their equipment and asked how we would split it up. Then another player basically said "leave it here; we just want them disarmed". I shrugged and said okay. What I realized later was that acquiring even these items, common daggers and crossbows, was apparently against the rules. The even bigger disappointment came at the end, where our party discovered that the boss orc was wearing Gauntlets of Ogre Strength. Did we get them? No.
Gauntlets of Ogre Strength are a 16 treasure point item. This meant we needed 14 more, and had to play 7 more modules. Then EVERYONE could get a pair. Yes, all five players, even though we only found one pair. How does that make sense? There is no in-story reason for it at all. I searched the internet for a story-based reason and I found the opposite.
Someone else wrote a blog post (or was it a comment on the blog) that "treasure points" were basically game tickets from a Chuck E Cheese; you play the game and then you exchange tickets for prizes. I immediately agreed with that person. What you, the player, did in the campaign did not matter. As long as you completed the main objective in the two or three hours the module maker set, you got tickets. Save up the tickets and get a prize.
What I gathered, from reading threads and reflecting and such, is that this is supposed to make campaigns easier for DMs to run by making everything simpler and more predictable. Also, that it was supposed to address player problems such as "who gets this special item?" by giving out-of-story tickets/treasure points.
From a certain point of view, it make senses. This set-up is more accessible for both new and old players. There is no commitment to a group or storyline. The rules on gold and treasure are so rigid that one could jump into any tier and any adventure by crafting a character of the appropriate level. What happens before doesn't matter and what happens after doesn't matter. It's convenient.
It also means you're basically playing alone. Remember when I said that everyone else at the table left without a word? There was no talking about the campaign, reflecting on how we worked together. There wasn't even a "see you next week" because there wouldn't be one. I reflected on my own and realized that there was no "party" but "five people working separately towards the same goal".
We spent most of the session separated, doing our own thing. I didn't think much of it at the time because we were all investigating. You know, "Let's split up gang, and search for clues". When it came to the battle, there was no unity there. I include myself in there.
I could have cast "Bless" to help everyone but I only had one spell left and I wanted it to save for Cure Wounds because I still had only half of my HP total (I ended up using it on someone else because they had 1 hit point left and a lower Armor Class than me). We fought our own targets (except the Rogue who mechanically needed help for Sneak Attack) and did our own thing. Though another positioned himself to guard my character after he was knocked out, which was nice. The orcs had better teamwork.
Ultimately, my impression of Adventure League (season 8) is that it is a good system for quick and convenient tabletop D&D, but for one-shot campaigns with strangers I'd rather go online. My impression of the specific module is much better. That was entirely fun.
Brian Wilkerson is a independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor degrees in English Literature and History (Classical Mediterranean Period concentration).
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