D&D Adventure League Experience on The Fan2Sea Cruise- D&D Discussions

[@Nerdarchy]

Help Support Nerdarchy by Shopping at YOUR Favorites Places on the Internet. Just use these links and shop as usual. Nothing changes for you- Amazon- amzn.to/2jf0boA Nerdarchy the Store- goo.gl/M4YZEQ Drive Thru RPG- goo.gl/6nf5zh Easy Roller Dice- goo.gl/1n0M1r

[@angela_eric]

Hey guys. I play adventure league every Wednesday at my local game store. I'm lucky that I have found a steady group that generally wants to stay together through seasons and we can plan out our party composition so we don't have to worry too much about changing aspects of our characters at the early lvls unless a large group of our party drops. I always have a lot of fun, and am able to try out great character builds designed for average game conditions. I enjoy watching your tip videos and explanations, and still find them easy to incorporate into league play.

[@RobertKAlaniz]

Glad you enjoyed the adventure, Ted. It was loads of fun to write. Thanks for the awesome review. :)

[@Nerdarchy]

Robert Alaniz You are quite welcome. We appreciate all the hard work you guys put in. Nerdarchist Dave

[@dbillau]

Yeah I sometimes jump in to one of my player's AL games he runs for his friends and I almost compare it to playing in a rec league with a strict ref when you are used to just getting a couple buddies around to toss a ball around. Some of the things that I have found is that when not every thing his home brewed and played RAW some of the lesser picked classes become more appealing.

[@TwistedTentacleInn]

This was a very solid and unbiased review! I agree with the "series of one shots" description. I also agree that with AL you don't always sit with people who match your play style. Sometimes you very into some serious dangerous situations because someone at the table thinks he's Rambo.

[@chaddixon9764]

That Ravenloft thing from Dave was... unexpected...

[@elspoko]

I'm from Tampa and have visited Armada a few times. Great bunch of folks. They steered me into the right direction when I went mini painting crazy.

[@Comrade2261]

That sounds like a great time.

[@Nerdarchy]

It was so much to do. -Nerdarchist Dave

[@Comrade2261]

I bet. I'm jealous of you guys lol.

[@GodLikeDevil]

Hey guys. Adventurers League games are pretty big here in my city, and it allows me and a lot of other people to have regular D&D games on a weekly, sometimes almost daily basis, and it has been a great way to meet and play with new people. It's also allowed me to find several regular groups to play with. And the portability of your characters is truly a godsend. You'll always get an eclectic mix at every table you play in, because sometimes you're gaming with total strangers, or with friends but they have their alts with them. You guys should really try getting in on an epic module for Adventurers League. Think something like raids in MMORPGs. Different tables going through different missions, all contributing to one central goal. I was able to play in the Liberation of Phlan during a convention here. Our Tier 1 table did some prep and grunt work that bolstered the efforts of the Tier 2 an Tier 3 tables in their quest to take down Vorgansharax.

[@kevinmuhamad2246]

Cool! I plan to participate in the local D&D Adventurers League in February, and now I'm more excited to play in these organized play after watching your video guys ;)

[@Nerdarchy]

It's definitely a your mileage will vary kind of thing depending on your DM. Have fun. -Nerdarchist Dave

[@pablopradas5295]

Love AL where I am at. Met some awesome players and DMs. I try and help out the league as much as I can. I bring in giant maps/grids, and minis for players at the table. It's the only way I can get some DND sessions in and has inspired me to start DMing again.

[@chaddixon9764]

Ted brings up a good point. In almost every group I have seen most people don't want to play martial classes. As someone who loves them I find it weird.

[@Nerdarchy]

I love bouncing back and forth between all the different types of character classes. Martial, divine, and arcane all appeal to me at different times. -Nerdarchist Dave

[@xXxSpeshulKxXx]

Chad-Solomon Dixon I'm very excited because my group is actually beginning a campaign where our actions in the first session will decide what class we will play. The randomness is pretty exciting

[@chaddixon9764]

Kyle S Sounds interesting. Tell me how it goes.

[@xXxSpeshulKxXx]

Chad-Solomon Dixon I'll keep you posted, but the Superbowl is going to interfere with our Sunday sessions. Some of the group is still uncomfortable with role playing a character, so instead we are playing ourselves dropped in a fantasy world. session zero we start at lvl 0 with all 10s except for one 8 in a stat that he chose for us (I have an 8 in strength due to my smaller stature) and he allowed us to choose any 5 skill proficiencies that made sense (you had to persuade him to give you proficiency in persuasion). As we level up and earn a class our stats will adjust to actual adventurer status. Very fun so far and a great way to introduce new players to roleplaying.

[@HawkThePhoenix]

party wipes are common. The guided scale doesn't work well and if anyone role plays their character leaving the party, everyone dies as a result

[@adamholcomb200]

I'm going to Winter Fantasy this week 2/1-2/4 to play AL

[@Nerdarchy]

Awesome! Have a blast. -Nerdarchist Dave

[@RobertAdducci]

See you there Adam!

[@billyw8186]

dude! I was there too! It was my first time ever playing, I was a tempest cleric. I waded right in. You were on the wrong table, lol. I had a great time and when I got home I found an AL game at Game Empire in Pasadena. very enjoyable! Ha! imbibing just a little bit?! he was 5 sheets to the wind! LOL, he was great!

[@necromancer0616]

Well to be honest the 1st time I played D&DAL I was vastly underwhelmed. The DM made it take 4 sessions which we didn't level up from 1st to 2nd where as the other table that had 3 more players than us was already at level 2 and MUCH farther ahead than us. To top it off we were on the cusp of dying several times as well as my character who was a Drow Paladin had her nipple cut off by a Drow princess because we were in a Drow prison. Needless to say I quit that game because it just seemed like we were being tortured by this DM as well as he was always late to the game. Recently I took the same character as a new one to a session at my local game store where 2 of my regular players played AL on a regular basis and one of them was running, and had a pretty good time. I was talked into playing the same character but sense the game she was in started you with NO gear I had to "acquire" gear in game. Which wasn't too hard. So now I'm the proud owner of a Drow Paladin level 2 who's next level is going into Rogue. Yes, Paladin/Rogue for Sneak Attack plus Smite FTW! One thing I did notice on AL adventures is that they are pretty much designed to kill low level PCs, so if you have a "Good" DM he or she will know how to adjust the adventures accordingly. Good Stuff as Always Guys!

[@RobertAdducci]

Any player at a game can make or break the game, but the DM especially can alter the fun of the table. Glad you found a new game that's more to your style.

[@mikegould6590]

My experiences with Adventure League...hmmm. I believe I've stated those a few times and they're all negative. That's not on the League at all. It's on the players I had to game with. Maturity can account for a lot, so when you have four of seven players actively sabotaging the others' fun for their own benefit, it ruins the experience. What I CAN say as a BIG positive is that Adventure League exposes you to a MASSIVE pool of potential players that you may not have otherwise known about. Were it not for that first horrible experience, I would not have had a second table of all new players (and DM) develop, which became our home table. Were it not for AL, then my daughter would not have been exposed to the game and see other girls playing. That's a big deal in a male-dominated pastime. She's now an AWESOME player. Because of AL, I got back into DMing, found this channel, became a writer, and have taught probably a dozen other players how to play 5E. So it's not all bad. Sometimes you need a proper storm to rebuild. And I'm quite sure there are some great AL tables out there. My advice for those who haven't tried is to do so. Yes, AL has restrictions, but its the restrictions that teach us to make the best of what's available. If you've had nothing but UA/free reign/home brew, then you might not know what you can accomplish with an Archfey Bladelock in a siege while outnumbered and outgunned. I know now. Those lessons go a long way to accounting for a successful prison break in Out of The Abyss. So go out and try it. You might meet some great people and make a friend or two. You might learn what you're capable of. And that's the biggest win of all.

[@Nerdarchy]

It's a great boon to the hobby. As you have stated your mileage will vary depending upon the table. The benefits do seem to out weigh the bad stuff. Ted lucked out and got a great DM and some D&D veterans. So I definitely would encourage others to roll the dice with Adventures League. As always thanks for weighing in Mike. -Nerdarchist Dave

[@fuzzywigschickenemporium]

did you guys get to role play your own campaigns on the cruise at all? or were you to busy?

[@Nerdarchy]

Matthew Liddell Ted ran a monstrous adventurers pirate hunter one shot. Nerdarchist Dave

[@glacialrelic7878]

Giants challenge means you dont have to pay for food there huh? See how long that lasts when the lizard folk runs back and devours the next prize catch from the hunt single handed. On another note, why would people not want to play martial class's at least from the way it sounds there was only one other player. Fighter is one of the best class's imo not enough variety i guess?

[@necromancer0616]

Well to be honest the 1st time I played D&DAL I was vastly underwhelmed. The DM made it take 4 sessions which we didn't level up from 1st to 2nd where as the other table that had 3 more players than us was already at level 2 and MUCH farther ahead than us. To top it off we were on the cusp of dying several times as well as my character who was a Drow Paladin had her nipple cut off by a Drow princess because we were in a Drow prison. Needless to say I quit that game because it just seemed like we were being tortured by this DM as well as he was always late to the game. Recently I took the same character as a new one to a session at my local game store where 2 of my regular players played AL on a regular basis and one of them was running, and had a pretty good time. I was talked into playing the same character but sense the game she was in started you with NO gear I had to "acquire" gear in game. Which wasn't too hard. So now I'm the proud owner of a Drow Paladin level 2 who's next level is going into Rogue. Yes, Paladin/Rogue for Sneak Attack plus Smite FTW! One thing I did notice on AL adventures is that they are pretty much designed to kill low level PCs, so if you have a "Good" DM he or she will know how to adjust the adventures accordingly. Good Stuff as Always Guys!