The D&D Adventurers League

Some more news out of Wizards of the Coast today:

At the core of the new D&D Organized Play experience is the D&D Adventurers League. Essentially, we’ve given the system a name, because we wanted to emphasize the connected nature of our public play programs. For the first time, we’ll have our entire public play taking place in the same ongoing D&D campaign.

As a player, you’ll create a character for the D&D Adventurers League. You’ll be using the same rules to play at a convention, a store, or any sort of public event. There will be a D&D Adventurers League Player’s Guide available to let you know how it all comes together. Through the different programs, the D&D Adventurers League will be inviting to casual D&D players, experienced D&D players, and players looking for ways in which their characters can impact the campaign world. We want players to find the play that best fits them, and enjoy playing for years to come.

As a Dungeon Master, the D&D Adventurers League is a great way to run fun adventures that involve a minimum of prep work. We’ll find ways to reward you for your time and effort through the various programs, and there will be additional support and opportunities to showcase your skills.

As an organizer (either in-store or at conventions), you’ll find that the D&D Adventurers League is a great way to keep your players engaged. There will be fresh content available on a regular basis (mostly monthly), ensuring that there’s always something new around the corner.

There’s much more at the link, including a breakdown of the three different “levels” of adventures: D&D Epics as kickoff events, D&D Encounters as core adventures, and D&D Expeditions for what they’re calling “advanced play” (which seems to be a replacement for “living campaign” set-ups as they’ve had in the past).

I’m not a particular fan of organized play in general, beyond one-shot convention games, but it does seem good that Wizards is giving this aspect of things some thought, as I know it is central to the way a lot of folks play the game nowadays, although I have to wonder where this leaves the RPGA.

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Wargamer and RPG'er since the 1970's, author of Adventures Dark and Deep, Castle of the Mad Archmage, and other things, and proprietor of the Greyhawk Grognard blog.

5 thoughts on “The D&D Adventurers League

  1. ha, can't even imagine wanting to be involved in that. maybe they can have someone look over my shoulder to ensure I play correctly at home, too.

  2. No, your FLGS will run it, we'll keep track of who played and hand out swag. If your running at home, your DM will do something similar, but there is very little interaction.

  3. I'd say this is where I get off the bus; but really I haven't bought any modern WotC D&D products since 3.0. You guys let me know how it turns out.

  4. If the new rules don't succeed in a financial sort of way, Adventurer's Club is the backup plan. They'll recast it as a competitive tournament game (like CCG's). Players will pay to enter and for collectible merchandise necessary to play.

    I'm not being sarcastic. It's what happened with the last version.

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