D&D Adventurer's League Tutorial. Introduction To Playing In Public D&D Games.

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  • čas přidán 9. 04. 2018
  • This is a tutorial talking about the special rules for D&D Adventurer's League that aren't in normal or homebrew D&D games.
    Here's the link to the Player's Packet on DMsguild:
    www.dmsguild.com/product/20817...
    Here are the rules for Storm King's Thunder:
    media.wizards.com/2016/dnd/do...
    Music Credit:
    ""Sunshine Samba" from the CZcams Audio Library
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Komentáře • 817

  • @seacliff217
    @seacliff217 Před 4 lety +223

    Puffin: Adventure's league is for new players.
    My Experience: Players who have been playing for years testing out their theory-crafted multiclass builds.

    • @CErra310
      @CErra310 Před 3 lety +13

      I think when he says "for new players" he means someone who isn't part of a private play group (yet)

    • @whiskeyhound
      @whiskeyhound Před 3 lety +14

      @@CErra310 If my first experience with D&D outside of seeing videos of other people playing it had been adventurer's league, I would've thrown my dice in the bin and never looked back.

    • @colby1398
      @colby1398 Před 3 lety +2

      Yeah... Adventurer's League is kinda trash.

  • @persephoneunderground845
    @persephoneunderground845 Před 3 lety +49

    Update- AL removed the PHB + 1 rule recently. Obviously this sort of thing can change, but basically be sure to check their official online rules to verify this stuff since the video may be out of date.

    • @Joshua-Eden
      @Joshua-Eden Před rokem

      It's just removed? So you can use any amount of all options in any official book?

    • @samhandwich1326
      @samhandwich1326 Před 7 měsíci +1

      @@Joshua-Edenid hope so, i think that makes characters more fun

  • @Destroyer_of_Worlds
    @Destroyer_of_Worlds Před 6 lety +132

    Me: Maybe I should find a local adventure's league. This sounds fun and I've been wanting to get into DnD for a while.
    My Social Anxiety: Bitch, you thought!

  • @Dudeman715
    @Dudeman715 Před 6 lety +129

    I think i might start using down time in my games... that sounds like a neat idea

    • @brosephnoonan223
      @brosephnoonan223 Před 6 lety +6

      It REALLY helps tidy things up. Like, wizards spend a lot of time copying shit into their spell book and in-session that can get really annoying. At higher levels the wizard could possibly be spending whole days just writing in their spell book and doing nothing but. It can get really fuckin boring for anyone who was hoping to do something that day, since they're not going to leave the wizard alone, but nobody is going to strike off solo either.
      With downtime you can help expedite these things. It helps newer group members catch up to existing ones too, which is nice.

    • @MeepChangeling
      @MeepChangeling Před 4 lety +1

      It's got upsides, and downsides. Upside, PCs can between sessions take care of housekeeping and not waste table time. Downside, "Hey so I know we'll be facing creatures week to fire so I made everyone a fireball wand."

    • @Devin-hg8cq
      @Devin-hg8cq Před 3 lety +2

      What about renown? And all the coo amazing things you can with it like, oh just so many things. Truly, the oyster is your world...

    • @davidlanier2290
      @davidlanier2290 Před 3 lety

      Great idea to use down time. Great opportunity for the party to interact.

    • @loke6664
      @loke6664 Před rokem

      Downtime is from AD&D 1st edition Dungeon masters handbook. Gygax recommended you to log all time and charge the players for it. Back then you needed to spend time and money to level up. You could also spend time researching spells, creating magical items, building your keep/thieves guild/temple or other class appropriate building and a lot of other stuff too. It was common for players to actually have 2 characters back then, 1 you played with while the other were training for leveling up or doing something else.
      There is advantages with tracking downtime, first you get a money sink, secondly you can use your spare character to do something else, like having your bard on a tavern tour while gathering information about the assassin guild leader that is the main bad of your campaign and it makes the campaign a bit more realistic as well.
      Downtime works great in certain campaigns but might be problematic in others.
      It makes it easy for the GM to set certain static events that will happen unless the players stop them when the GM is planning out the campaign. Say that an evil cult is kidnapping victims they sacrifice to summon a prince of hell. Each full moon they will kidnap 3 victims from the streets until the harvest moon 6 months after the campaign start, if they aren't stopped by then a huge nasty evil will be unleashed upon the world. In such a campaign, you do want to carefully log each day and since there will be other things going on you don't want to just skip until the next full moon.
      Time used right should be a resource the players have, they can use it wisely to their advantage or waste it by being drunk at the tavern their entire downtime (if they can afford it).

  • @Canadian_Ry
    @Canadian_Ry Před 6 lety +1386

    Since there are SO MANY things you can do with renown, maybe you could make a video all about it?! I'd love to hear it :D

    • @Fubnin
      @Fubnin Před 6 lety +63

      Yes Mr Puffs do enlighten us...

    • @krounos1
      @krounos1 Před 6 lety +46

      Part of me feels like you're playing alpng with the joke but at the same time part of me deels lile the joke (That renown is completely useless fluff) went over your head.

    • @ITR
      @ITR Před 6 lety +67

      +PepicWalrus part of you feels wrong

    • @Canadian_Ry
      @Canadian_Ry Před 6 lety +63

      My comment is purely in jest except for the implication that I enjoy his content. I do enjoy Puffin's content. Now the joke is deflated, like a spent whoopie cushion.

    • @therealvang
      @therealvang Před 6 lety +36

      The only big thing you can do with renown is once you reach a certain amount and have some secret mission under your belt you can get some magic items depending on your faction. Most of them suck some are good. The main thing is you can pick up +1 armor and weapons.

  • @jacoblyman9441
    @jacoblyman9441 Před 5 lety +53

    I watched this video last night, and played in my first Adventurer's League game today in a gaming convention. Its definitely a different experience than the homebrew campaign I am used to playing in. The story felt more 'on rails' and the world wasn't quite as 'alive' as I am used to in the home game. But the brevity (only two hours) was a treat, it was fun to play D&D on speed and really focus on the mechanical aspects of the game; and I still got to have some funny role playing moments. Quite a few laughs on a table of six strangers!
    It was also fun to try a class outside the home game. I have been playing a Warlock for nearly a year in the home game, and getting to play a fighter for two hours in AL was a great chance to experience something new and out of the comfort zone I have gotten into with my main character. That 1d6+5 attack for my sword with the duelist bonus was awesome for just a first level character, and it was great dishing out lots of damage so early in the game.
    I am not exactly dying to try it again anytime soon, but if I have the opportunity to play another D&D AL game I'd take it. It seems like it would be a good idea for any player looking to grasp the mechanics of D&D to try out Adventurer's League; and a good place for veteran players to hone their skills and try out new ideas.

    • @MeepChangeling
      @MeepChangeling Před 4 lety +1

      " a great chance to experience something new and out of the comfort zone " Hello. I am austisic and would like to ask a question of you. Namely... Why would you ever want to do that? You have a finite lifespan. If you know there is a thing you like, why do anything else? That's time spent doing a thing you may not like that you can never get back. Do neurotypical people just have a need to not master the things they choose to do? Is there a compulsion to abandon progress on one thing and take a new one on without benifit nor need?

    • @GamersFree640
      @GamersFree640 Před 3 lety

      I don't really like adventurers league it's really strict unlike the homebrew games I am used to playing and like playing the reason is that i play dnd to do things i can't do in real life and have fun doing it not someone telling me yes you are a ranger and yes your previous companion died but you can't have a giant wolf spider i believe it was (it was a 1/4) challenge rating which is the requirement as well as (no you can't attack my bbeg yet he's almost dead) dm (but it's my turn and why can't i?)me (you just can't)dm so not my cup of tea

    • @brokenhunter9132
      @brokenhunter9132 Před 3 lety

      @@GamersFree640 please consider using more punctuation in your posts, it was extremely difficult to read this as one excessively large run-on sentence.

  • @Dan-hr1uj
    @Dan-hr1uj Před 6 lety +56

    AL is great for getting started when your circle of friends wants nothing to do with D&D. i then crafted my own campaign and stole all the people i enjoyed from AL to my home game where we have ultimate freedom.

  • @Ent229
    @Ent229 Před 6 lety +31

    Once you have 10 renown, are 5th+ level, and have 1 SECRET MISSION, you can purchase some faction magic items with downtime and gold. This is one way to make +1 weapons available in Adventure's League.

  • @strongarm852
    @strongarm852 Před 6 lety +18

    Puffin Forest Adventurer's League does more than teach new players how to play though. Because Adventurer's League is a shared campaign that runs across all states and regions in the world. So if you move from one city to another, as long as you can find an Adventurer's League night at the new location you can bring your whole character to the new game. Not only that, but because of the scope of the campaign it's one of the only ways you can reliably play a character from level 1 all the way to level 20.

  • @TheKidnappedOne
    @TheKidnappedOne Před 5 lety +36

    I've basically had one group ruin AL for me. First time playing DnD, only basic idea of rules and what I'm doing right?
    Okay so a table is set up for a handful of us to play at, most of them vets and me and another newbie, seems like things are going well, even got some very basics of character creation done until the room next door tells a few members that they HAVE to go join our table and we All MUST create a level 6 character. Of course I'm like, how the hell do I do that, I literally just figured out basic stats and got some equipment and stuff listed. Then they proceed to tell me that I'm "building my character all wrong" I need to min/max or gtfo, now remember I'm a new player at that point, I don't even know what that means, the people that were forced over to us get disgusted with us newbies, saying how we are holding things up for them and they hate dealing with this crap, all the while my friend and the other vets that originally set up the table to help us newbies learn are trying their best to help us muddle through and throwing dirty looks at the ducks that have steamrolled our group.
    I doubt I'll play AL again, but I still love DnD, it's just a shame that basically one guy and his trolls ruined my first attempt to play DnD or AL.

    • @colby1398
      @colby1398 Před 3 lety +4

      The problem is that's most of AL. Since you get basically nothing for roleplaying, you're encouraged to make the most efficient combat character you can and just bash through stuff as quickly as possible.

    • @M3ricle
      @M3ricle Před 3 lety +7

      @@colby1398 I’ve never played and wanna start playing dnd but what’s the point of just bashing through things to write down items on a piece of paper? I thought the whole point of the game was the experience and role playing. Being good at a completely made up game just doesn’t sound appealing. Just go play WOW right?

  • @Heritage367
    @Heritage367 Před 6 lety +49

    AL is certainly not for everybody, but if you want to play 5e and you can't find a group, it's a good intro. I've played in two sessions, one of which was kind of a mess and the other which was fun, but a bit by the numbers. It will never be a replacement for a good homebrew campaign, nor is it meant to be. Nevertheless, I'm excited my teifling warlock is now 3rd level!

  • @dunewizard
    @dunewizard Před 6 lety +451

    Not going to lie, as a GM who has had several hand crafted campaign settings (as in original, as opposed to TSR or WotC published), Adventurers league just sounds like taking a fun hobby where you gather with friends and have great bonding adventures, where you fight monsters and solve puzzles for experience points and loot... and strip it down to fighting monsters for experience points and loot.
    May as well play Warhammer 40k or spin up Final Fantasy 7, for the Nth replay.

    • @ryanstoyan8980
      @ryanstoyan8980 Před 6 lety +56

      I've been DMing adventures league for a few years now and honestly story has been what comes first at my tables and most tables I've played at. It's worth noting that the published adventures that have come out are rich with well developed characters settings and ideas that the DM is able to flesh out bring to life and worlds for their players to really in habit that feel lived in.

    • @dunewizard
      @dunewizard Před 6 lety +35

      It is quite possible that the few places I have observed Adventurer's League sessions were just run by poorly skilled DMs with murder hobo players, someone should probably start recording sessions and post them to clarify for situations like this.

    • @liquidhazetv8756
      @liquidhazetv8756 Před 6 lety +10

      Sometimes with AL or also in Pathfinder Society the time constraint is was causes the season to just seem kinda phoned in. Most are only supposed to last 2-4 hours. That's not to say there aren't fun moments and chances to role-play, that can still happen. I DM alot with my friends so something like AL or PFS gives me a break from it.

    • @certanmike
      @certanmike Před 6 lety +3

      AL has it set that exp is tied to killing (or overcoming) stuff BUT they have started exp for traps and RP in the new stuff

    • @phantam23
      @phantam23 Před 6 lety +8

      It's actually a great method for finding players to play in said homebrew campaigns.
      The modules do tend to be railroady, though there are some good semi-open ended ones (Cloaks and Shadows comes to mind) and the WotC published hardcovers are great fun if you run with a semi-regular group.
      It definitely isn't just stripped down to fighting monsters for exp and loot, it feels more like an expansion from a circle of friends to a community of roleplayers. If your GM just wants to rush people through the module in the strict time limit and hand out gold then you're going to have the experience you described, but if your GMs take the time to explore the possibilities in the module and improvise like any good DM can, then it's as fun (sometimes even more so) than a regular session. It's why the FLGS I play at has 3 and a half hour timeslots for 2 hour modules, to allow for character interaction, shenanigans and roleplay.

  • @GonnaDieNever
    @GonnaDieNever Před 6 lety +3

    Thanks for making this, it's an adventurers league DM and it's always great when people know the rules before they come to my table. Thanks.

  • @ultris07
    @ultris07 Před 6 lety +89

    so Basically D&D: AL is 50/50...
    On one hand it's great for teaching players how to play D&D straight up and getting them up to speed on how things work, but it's extremely rigid and has no flexibility outside of time due to life and work, etc.
    For me this would be an extreme 70/30, I would probably most likely lean towards an experienced D&D player whom I know more than actually go to an officially sanctioned AL.

    • @The_NthGineer
      @The_NthGineer Před 4 lety +1

      It's definitely a league... If you can't commit, then don't get in it. That's the reason I left them, life kept getting in the way, since all the games I checked out had weird play times.

    • @VancouverDave
      @VancouverDave Před 4 lety +2

      Nth Knight Ashtree .. so my experience is the opposite. I like that I can drop in and out of AL at my convenience. The league mechanic allows for busy schedules. One trick that your AL group seems to have missed it to pick a day and a time and stick with it, so people know it’s there when they need it.

  • @Rockler101
    @Rockler101 Před 6 lety +2

    Thank you so much for everything you do, you're channel is so amazing and I look forward to each new video as they come out, all of your content is informative and entertaining, keep up the good work man and never stop being you!!! 👍👍👍

  • @dustyrae9939
    @dustyrae9939 Před 6 lety +4

    I just started playing in Adventure league so I can relate. I’m new to DnD so thanks for the link and great videos!

  • @Bronyshawn
    @Bronyshawn Před 6 lety +1

    Hey Puffin, thanks for doing this. I run a regular adventurer's league and this info vid you've done up has proven to be incredibly useful for my players coming into AL for the first time! Thanks a bunch man and make gr8 content

  • @dekrum3410
    @dekrum3410 Před 6 lety +1

    Love the video, thank you for making it! Renown deals with the player's faction in Adventurer's League, where renown is similar to the xp for the faction. in the faction guide it talks about how you can level up in your faction and get rewards for doing so after getting a certain amount of renown. These rewards include free magic items and the ability to use less downtime to gain skill proficiency and languages.

  • @EzE134
    @EzE134 Před 5 lety

    Thank you sir, I’m looking to get back and I figure doing this will get me back into circles. Your videos are awesomeness in a pill and I have enjoyed your story vids based your RPG’s you have experienced and provided.

  • @cage5577
    @cage5577 Před 6 lety +276

    If you enjoy being that Roleplayer but not as much for combat, you're gonna have a bad time.

    • @xh0rsex
      @xh0rsex Před 4 lety +13

      So in video game terms, AL is like the Icewind Dale of DnD?

  • @arturomoreracomas2322
    @arturomoreracomas2322 Před 5 lety +1

    Just found your channel and i totally love it. Thanks for making all these great content.

  • @elementalcobalt1
    @elementalcobalt1 Před 6 lety +1

    This was timed perfectly. Going to my first Adventure league this upcoming weekend.

  • @theophrastusbombastus1359

    Glad you made this vid. I tried to learn about it a year and a half ago when i picked the hobby up again but didn't get far.
    Basically, i tried to join a D&D group on facebook to try and find other players. The only thing i could find was an Adventurer's League group: so i joined - but i soon wished i hadn't.
    None of the questions i asked about groups near me were even entertained let alone answered, and i soon got the impression that this was something that wasn't quite D&D. Any other questions i asked about rules and adventures, playing online with folk, etc. were met with some quite rude answers - basically this wasn't an area to find people or discuss the hobby, and if i didn't know what AL was then i shouldn't even be there!
    I fortunately managed to rustle some people round to my house from a local "40k/MtG/& board game" club and we've had a blast since. And before that i also found some very patient people on Roll20 to teach me the virtual tabletop interface and macros and stuff.
    But if it wasn't for that the kind people i that facebook group would have destroyed the dreams of a paying customer looking to get back into the hobby.
    Anyone else have any fun AL stories to share?

  • @stealthX79
    @stealthX79 Před 6 lety +1

    Hey, awesome video! I'm asked to GM for the nearby library to set up a group. So this has been very helpful and looking forward to seeing the video about GM'ing at the adventurer's league!

  • @Rohml
    @Rohml Před 6 lety

    Cool explanation. I play AL and this sums up what you need to know about AL very smoothly. There are other details, but you need the document to understand it and a DM to explain some of the other quirks.

  • @EliteslayerX
    @EliteslayerX Před 6 lety +8

    Speaking as someone who's been playing, DMing, and organizing AL games for a while, this video will be really useful for new players, so thanks for making it!
    I won't get into the nit-picky stuff, since plenty of other comments already have, tho' I will mention that renown is used for improving your ranking within your faction, which can provide mechanical benefits down the line. That would really best be saved for a separate video about the factions, anyways, which I'd love to see your take on.
    Keep up the good work!

  • @rogue1112002
    @rogue1112002 Před 6 lety +1

    Hey Ben, I love this guide video style!
    I think if you make video stories of your experiences playing adventurers league sessions that correspond with these guides - It would be really engaging to watch. And the link to the material is a great touch too :)

  • @BurntToast256
    @BurntToast256 Před 6 lety

    Thanks Ben! I actually use your videos in my Meetup event descriptions to have new players watch so they know the diff between homebrew and AL.

  • @tylerwilliams417
    @tylerwilliams417 Před 5 lety +7

    I played my first session of DnD last Thursday. It was an AL game, but I had a lot of fun playing. Gonna have to go again sometime.

  • @TheCouzOnline
    @TheCouzOnline Před 6 lety +2

    The downtime stuff was actually really helpful!

  • @werewolf8994
    @werewolf8994 Před 6 lety

    These videos always make me smile even this one not about a story or a funny thing

  • @antonbonin5003
    @antonbonin5003 Před 6 lety +7

    Adventurer's league actually looks pretty legit. I'm an experienced D&D player and DM and I would definitely be into this

    • @karmathevaporeon9039
      @karmathevaporeon9039 Před 4 lety

      if you're not very into the RP part of the RPG, then you'd like it, yeah.

  • @gearzofhell1014
    @gearzofhell1014 Před 4 lety

    Played my first adventures league game this past Saturday. Lots of fun

  • @pinhak
    @pinhak Před 6 lety

    You are the only youtuber i have the Bell Icon turned ON! Thanks man! Nice videos!!!!!!

  • @mcgoo721
    @mcgoo721 Před 6 lety

    Great timing as I'm starting my first go at AL. Not only is it my first time playing organized games, I'm also the DM and only DM! So I'll be looking forward to that DM video in the future heh.
    Also loving the live gameplay over on nerdarchy. Doug was my home group's DM before I moved!

  • @juliocesardemoraescarvalho758

    Man you're truly growing one of the best channels i've ever subscribed!man i started a project about a game we could implement D&D in it! you could help with some unique art of yours and animation and i do the rest

  • @chechema1010
    @chechema1010 Před 5 lety

    This is a really nifty video for those who wants to have a crash course of AL. I show this to people who ask me intros about D&D AL
    I hope you make a new one with the season 8 changes :)

  • @gzer0x
    @gzer0x Před 6 lety +6

    ive played and DM'd a bit for a while, but hadnt heard of Adventurer League till your channel. it sounds really fascinating tbh

    • @Xane875
      @Xane875 Před 6 lety +3

      gzerox2 It's not as bad as people say, I'm having fun so far. My DM even does milestone exp to avoid murder hoboism. Though a lot of the fun comes from the fact I go with my two brothers.

  • @Big3Taxi
    @Big3Taxi Před 6 lety

    After watching your adventurer’s league videos I’m considering joining a league. It seems really interesting!!!

  • @seriousfanatics3487
    @seriousfanatics3487 Před 6 lety +1

    Love you man! Keep up the amazing work.

  • @jevanking4768
    @jevanking4768 Před 6 lety

    Love your videos, your art and humour please keep it up

  • @sped3644
    @sped3644 Před 6 lety

    Wow,Another video already? Sweet!

  • @taxusbaccata3001
    @taxusbaccata3001 Před 6 lety +1

    I'm absoluty not interessted in D&D but I love you style

  • @gameaddict_6359
    @gameaddict_6359 Před 6 lety

    Loves these vids bro hilarious illustration keep it up

  • @byronsmothers8064
    @byronsmothers8064 Před 4 lety +3

    Having read the guildmaster's guide, renown let's you acquire guild power, which leads to npc assistance on some missions

  • @90daystillnamechange41

    I adore your channel ive been watching since you talked about hiw you played as an evil girl in the pokemon ttrpg and for some odd reason I'm JUST NOW getting super in to it

  • @benjamind7304
    @benjamind7304 Před 6 lety +2

    Renown is really only used to advance in your Alliance. When you are higher levels, you can use your renown (and gold) to have someone find you a magical item. I recently used it to get a +1 shield for my 6th level character.

  • @pwndguin6059
    @pwndguin6059 Před 5 lety

    Never played D&D but would totaly love to play with you.

  • @passedjudgements4729
    @passedjudgements4729 Před 6 lety +1

    And now you've peaked my interest in trying out some adventure league. Most of my friends who we try and play dnd with don't always get our schedules to align and then there's dm burn out so this might be what we need? Granted homebrews are great to fix problems tiny things anyone finds with the game and to fundamentally change certain rules but for AL to work it requires certain base line rules everyone uses for AL and that I can live with if it let's me get my dice rolling itch scratched

  • @jacksquatt6082
    @jacksquatt6082 Před 4 lety

    Fuckin' *THANK YOU!* for defining just what the hell Adventurer's League actually *is* in an accurate succinct description within the first ten seconds of the video. Not even the Adventurer's League's own website is capable of doing that, and it was genuinely pissing me off when I was trying to find out more info about what the organization actually does.

  • @whegger4998
    @whegger4998 Před 6 lety

    Hey man you may not see this but if you do I just want to let you know your videos are great and you are the reason why I am pushing my friends to play dnd. So I have have amazing stories like this. They want to play there just last LUL

  • @zoockon
    @zoockon Před 6 lety

    I started playing in an adventure league after this video and have had nothing but fun ^==^

  • @ThePsychedelicCherry
    @ThePsychedelicCherry Před 6 lety +1

    I dont play an adventures league game but downtime activities are always a great way to stir up your sessions. We did an a whole episode on Garage Quest about carousing. It costs some money but you also might gain a lot from it too!

  • @Avigorus
    @Avigorus Před 6 lety +5

    The AL FAQ lists several allowed variants you missed, including feats, variant humans, the SCAG variant half-elves and tieflings (albeit only if SCAG is your +1), and also specifies that the variant for multiple human languages is used regardless of your +1, and you can use ANY source when generating your background.

  • @StapleCactus
    @StapleCactus Před 6 lety +108

    Wait, so Adventurer's League ACTUALLY USES THE RULES IN THE PHB?! I thought those 20+ pages about lifestyle was just filler so they could make the book bigger by the way no one uses them. That sounds like my kind of group.

  • @DustySquitoNM
    @DustySquitoNM Před 5 lety

    So after watching this video, I looked up some local game shops and found one that was hosting an Adventurer's league night. I'd never played D&D before, but we got there a little bit early and a GM walked us through creating our first characters, the basic mechanics, etc. We were asked what kind of group we wanted (lots of combat or more story/roleplay), and the group we ended up with was an absolute riot. Playing in a friend's basement might be the 'right' way to get into D&D, but as someone who doesn't have a friend with a basement, joining up with some rando's for a four hour mission that only had two combat encounters was a blast.

  • @kabhes9040
    @kabhes9040 Před 6 lety

    thanks for explaining renown, now had i to look it up.

  • @IIIGioGioStarIII
    @IIIGioGioStarIII Před 6 lety +1

    Renown is for your faction. It's how you level up in your faction. It also helps with how you unlock items to buy in your faction.

  • @byronswain7569
    @byronswain7569 Před 3 lety +1

    Nice. I didn't know anything about Adventurer's League.

  • @adamholcomb200
    @adamholcomb200 Před 6 lety +10

    Renown is something you get while serving in a faction. Say your a member of the Harper’s your renown is point you get every secession some have faction assignment where you do something special for that mod. When you have a certain amount of renown and are in T2 and second Rank of the faction you are able to do secrete mission which you do a special thing in the mod where the DM May pull you aside to tell you what your faction want you to do in the mod. This can range from if your a Harper is to find or save someone of importance like a side quest or in the case of Zhents who are a evil self serving faction assassinate someone who stands in their way or steal something or destroy something or kidnap someone. When you do 3 secret missions and have 25 renown you a promoted to the next Rank of your faction which at that point you can take on a Mother player’s character like a apprentice or like a Jedi’s padawn under your wing.

    • @nimalandrew6275
      @nimalandrew6275 Před 6 lety

      Would this only apply to AL, or can you use this in any D&D game?

    • @AzureIV
      @AzureIV Před 6 lety +2

      I mean, the rules exist. So I assume anyone could incorporate it into their home game. But it would be up to the DM in home games. In AL it is the law.

    • @adamholcomb200
      @adamholcomb200 Před 6 lety

      Nimal Andrew I play only AL and these are very much true but you if you play the HC the Tier doesn’t matter I played with 3rd level characters while I was 11th level near the end of the book. It’s funny that those low tier characters can literally be killed in one hit by some of those monsters in the last part of the book or they can survive and level like crazy 😎👍🏼👍🏼

    • @BaronSengir1008
      @BaronSengir1008 Před 6 lety +1

      Adam Holcomb Hey, we Zhentarim are not all evil and self-serving... I am a neutral halfling guild merchant... The Zhentarim are like a second family...

  • @strongarm852
    @strongarm852 Před 6 lety

    Also some adventures give you access to unique downtime activities, and even repeatable ones. Renown helps you move up in your factions ranking system, and there are perks for being higher ranks in your faction. There is a guide on the DMs guild that explains everything you can do with it, and it's part of the DMs and Players packs on the DM's guild. For example you can spend downtime to get +1 Weapons and Armor, as well as faction ring (which is a magic item dependent on the faction), and a faction cloak/cape (which is also a magic item dependent on the faction). For example the Lord's Alliance faction ring is a ring of mind shielding, and their faction cape is a Cape of the Montebank.

  • @RyanABaird
    @RyanABaird Před 6 lety

    I love the adventure league that i play in, I've made tons of close friends that have translated new variety of home games that i can now attend

  • @joehall5807
    @joehall5807 Před 6 lety +1

    Useful. Thank Mr. Forest.

  • @fruitsalad4615
    @fruitsalad4615 Před 5 lety

    I only just started like a week ago so thank you!

  • @weedle5221
    @weedle5221 Před 6 lety

    way to make my day: see a new puffin vid

  • @robbiehussey4723
    @robbiehussey4723 Před 6 lety +3

    I've been playing with the same DM and one of the same people for like 4 years now and I started in Adventurers League. But we changed to just being home because of the store we were in and also we wanted to be more bendy with the rules

  • @arkt1k330
    @arkt1k330 Před 6 lety +41

    My most brutal death in dnd was in an AL game... Throat Leeches!

    • @asuragaming6671
      @asuragaming6671 Před 6 lety +6

      Aaron McBride recent character. Barbarian who used nothing but shields. Nat failed three attacks. He decapitated himself with his own weapon.

    • @randomforester_462
      @randomforester_462 Před 6 lety +10

      My wizard got killed (at lv 1) by the party barbarian (lv 3) wielding a lv 1 halfling wizard. Worst session ever.

    • @BaronSengir1008
      @BaronSengir1008 Před 6 lety +8

      My halfling rogue/sorceror was disintegrated by an undead beholder... :(

    • @BaronSengir1008
      @BaronSengir1008 Před 6 lety +4

      Asura Gaming Critical misses are not AL-legal...

    • @BaronSengir1008
      @BaronSengir1008 Před 6 lety +2

      So, he got an std that made him immune to diseases, and died of some unrelated event?

  • @matasmiliauskas4047
    @matasmiliauskas4047 Před 6 lety

    I need to study for some Tests soo i missed my weekly grupe fanks for making my day better

  • @warlordvir137
    @warlordvir137 Před 4 lety +1

    I played AL (oddly online. I know it is actually a thing), and I found it is great if wanted a game that really streamlined. No gold, ammo, supplies and such to keep track of and worry about. And access to magical item given you right amount of treasure point accumulated and item unlocked. So can be deep in dungeon, and get needed stuff before and after sessions.
    What I did not like was AL using modules, and said module have a lot loot that useless with AL rules. So you slay the dragon and search to find no magic item to unlock/keep just massive hoard of gold, jewels, art, and such enough for the party to buy collectively a castle. An awesome reward for home-brew players, but useless for AL making the dragon's exp the only true reward.
    Also, when people said it is rigid. They are not joking. My AL's DM had my fire breath work normal into water and another person's lighting be unaffected by water as in my fire breath went into water in still cone area not stop by said water, and lighting went in a straight line into the water. I know makes it streamlined for the DM,but that destroys immersion when spells and rules do not bend to maintain a sense of reality. So it kills a lot of creative solutions, and promote some really unrealistic solutions. That really killed a lot of fun for me.
    Would I play AL again? Sure to try out some modules and character ideas before trying them in a home-brew.
    And by the way, I love home-brew modified modules.

  • @Rohml
    @Rohml Před 6 lety +1

    On another note, renown is only useful if you want it's benefits. Renown + secret missions (to be explained in the document) allows you to rank up in your faction and ranks are important for getting True Resurrection cast upon you with a discount (on the off chance you get disintegrated on one of your missions, it does not happen often), having a high rank also allows your PC to take on a protege (which is cool and has some mechanical boons but nothing too crucial for an adventurer) . You could live your PC's whole life with 0 renown and there are very few things you will be lacking.

  • @burakc9673
    @burakc9673 Před 4 lety +1

    Extremely helpful

  • @BlueNEXUSGaming
    @BlueNEXUSGaming Před 6 lety +1

    I really need to look into the Downtime mechanics for my games

  • @xavianstarsider9654
    @xavianstarsider9654 Před 6 lety +1

    Great video. Have some reknown!

  • @WarriorTRZ
    @WarriorTRZ Před 6 lety

    Been Listening to some of your Stories... Yep, Have a Sub.

  • @almightyk11
    @almightyk11 Před 5 lety

    Gonna be joining my first AL game soon, so this vid helps.
    Mind you, by no means good to RPGs in general, just my first organised play game. (Heck, I even write my own systems)

  • @justinblaylock6396
    @justinblaylock6396 Před 6 lety +1

    You can spend renown on faction benefits as you rank up within your faction. If you create a character without a faction, you do not earn any renown because there’s nothing you can use it for. Also, if you choose to switch factions, you loose all previously earned renown , cannot rejoin your previous faction and must start your new faction from the ground up. The biggest thing any of this boils down to is gaining spell scrolls and items from your faction rank when playing in conventions and locally held epic events.

  • @AzureIV
    @AzureIV Před 6 lety +1

    Renown can be used to acquire magic items now. Once you are in Level 5/Tier 2.

  • @chargercarter
    @chargercarter Před 6 lety

    For renown you can use it for your faction and once you hit level III in your faction you can buy magic items from them. And there's other benefits later on but to hit that level III in your faction you need a lot of renown( I forget the number right now ) and one secret mission

  • @chad_chadley5762
    @chad_chadley5762 Před 6 lety +1

    I've only played in adventurers league once,And it was alright,Im looking to set up one in my neighborhood game shop

  • @brianwilliams2281
    @brianwilliams2281 Před 5 lety

    I run a adventurers league & I feel it is so much better for people who have never played D & D before. People who have played D & D before usually end up in my non-league home game were the DM, not the players have doesn't have is hands tied to the Well of Souls. It would be great to play in a game were you are the DM.

  • @deschickenman6971
    @deschickenman6971 Před 6 lety

    good video love your channel

  • @dreziv
    @dreziv Před 6 lety +11

    Renown shouldn't be shafted like it is in this video. Renown is actually extremely useful when paired with the factions system, which is what renown is, y'know, _for._ Although a lot of the functions of factions seem almost completely worthless, what's really important is the _Item Procurement._ (Look up "factions 5e pdf" and you should find what I'm looking at) Item Procurement is a system by which you can spend your gold and downtime for certain magical items, _but,_ you have to have 10 Renown with your faction first. What's specifically useful about this is that depending on how fast you get Renown, you can get a +1 Weapon, Shield, or Armor earlier than you normally would.

  • @purplecleo
    @purplecleo Před 5 lety

    I am a 33 year old lady, I live in the middle of nowhere, I've played D&D once for about 2 hours with people I didn't like, but I'm really hoping to actually learn how to play and have fun doing it so I'm going to take your advice and try to get involved with my local Adventurer's League games. Cross your fingers for me and thanks for sharing this info!

  • @jiminyrabbitson6075
    @jiminyrabbitson6075 Před 6 lety

    Great video. I highly recommend you do one for AL gming.

  • @aniallater33
    @aniallater33 Před 4 lety

    About renown, my GM has decided that the more renown you have, the easier social interactions are. Everytime we talk to someone, we roll to see if they recognise us, then we get advantage in a social interaction if we succeed. The more renown you have, the more chance you have to succeed in the role. Pretty cool.

  • @PebkioNomare
    @PebkioNomare Před 6 lety

    At the time you made this, there's a bunch of stuff you can do with renown. Like buy 5 different magic items. Once you hit a certain rank in your faction. Renown is for faction ranking, by the way.
    So let's say you're a part of the Harpers, and you've done enough adventuring to have 10 renown and *also* participated in specific adventures that have "secret missions" for the Harpers, then you will reach rank 3. At rank 3 of any faction you can buy +1 weapons, shield, and armor. You can also buy, being with the Harpers, A Cloak of Elvenkind or a Ring of Resistance. You buy these things with money and downtime... and the money for downtime.
    But that's just rank 3. At rank 2 of any faction you can train proficiencies linked to those factions faster. You also can't get credit for secret missions unless you're rank 2. You can also apprentice to other players who have reached rank 4... which comes with additional benefits for both. At rank 4 you can also pay from the high level character to raise other characters, from the same faction, who've died.
    Rank 5 is really underpowered; just give one inspiration once at the start of an adventure to someone from the same faction in the adventure.
    But see, look at all the stuff renown is useful for... mostly unlocking new abilities or some benefits to old abilities.

  • @Endorser
    @Endorser Před 6 lety

    Like number 667, great video and I wish there were more

  • @bigbadbob7070
    @bigbadbob7070 Před 6 lety +1

    Thanks to you, I finally started playing Adventures League. It certainly was an interesting experience for me to say the least. My first character was REALLY unlucky, he a dragonborn fighter who lost a leg in the first session, then it was revealed that he was forced to join a cannibalistic cult (we did a prequel session due to a lack of players), then later on, got insta killed after being struck with a high level lightning bolt spell only for one of our players made me a ghoul by doing some necromancy shit by putting soul into the rotting corpse of a half-orc they found in the streets and later on I got turned into a plant like zombie thing, and then I was killed again because Talona, the goddess of poison saw me and just killed me on the spot.

    • @brosephnoonan223
      @brosephnoonan223 Před 6 lety +1

      BigBadBob 70
      None of that sounds even kinda possible for an AL game. What module were you playing?

    • @bigbadbob7070
      @bigbadbob7070 Před 6 lety

      Heimskr, Prophet of Talos I don’t think it was a module, I think it was something the DM home brewed. I don’t know the full details of the plot cuz I dropped in near the end but it was centered around Neverwinter during some kind of Wizard War while a spell plague was happening (which is what we thought originally but turned out to be some of the realms merging together while some gods wared against each other)

    • @BaronSengir1008
      @BaronSengir1008 Před 6 lety +1

      That would be the Times of Trouble, when Mystra died...

    • @chrischickering1959
      @chrischickering1959 Před 6 lety

      BaronSengir1008 When the weave fell

  • @BlueTheSquid
    @BlueTheSquid Před 6 lety

    I'm a subscriber to your channel, and as such, I've seen your other video on Adventurer's League. However, I must ask, what places are these held? I know of a couple of stores that have Tabletop RPG areas, but none have had an Adventurer's League area. At least, not that I know of.

  • @darkdalon86
    @darkdalon86 Před 6 lety

    Curious Question: How do you become a DM for Adventure League and what are the requirements? I've been trying to get set up in my local town, however, I keep looking up for details on it and haven't found out the set up for DCI numbers or any nearby my home. Other Adventure League DM's haven't really told me exactly how to do it exactly, but reading the guides for players is all I got.

  • @dorkyface
    @dorkyface Před 6 lety +1

    I like the idea of collecting and spending downtime. Since my sessions follow a stricter story (RP fun over mechanics), doing things like research and crafting (that can take days/weeks in game time) feels really awkward to squeeze in. Being able to spend downtime + money to do it in the background seems like a simple way to streamline it!

  • @MrCotchios
    @MrCotchios Před 5 lety

    I started d&d in an adventurer's league campaign. It was fun but after play homebrews for a few years, I'm not sure if I can go back. Homebrews are much more fun and the stories are usually much better and the character creation is more unique, depending on the DM (or GM). I love these videos, though ❤️

  • @mimialves6343
    @mimialves6343 Před 6 lety

    It really depends on the DM or group. Some try to rush you through the module to make sure we finish, which is fine. But other's bring real character to it. My character actually got married to an NPC in AL because of how flavor and mechanics mixed.

  • @Xane875
    @Xane875 Před 6 lety

    I've been going to an Adventurer's League for about 3 weeks now, it's actually my first campaign. I've actually been having a lot of fun, but I think a lot of that comes down to my group and gm. For one thing, I've been going with both of my brothers, so we actually do have friendship that carries over in to the game. On top of that, the other 3 people that have shown up more than once all seem to know each other, so it's like having two groups of friends joining in to one. I'm having a lot of fun with my character, though maybe not the best or most original. He's Arvhec Xalathor, A True Neutral Black Dragonborn Pirate Captain Fighter who I'm probably going to make an Eldritch Knight.
    His personality isn't anything too special, but I've started giving people nick names after they do something weird. One of the two kids at the table has a character named Dench, A Half-Orc Barbarian. The only thing is, he doesn't even use his weapons to attack most of the time. At first he would just punch goblins in the face, and he ended up strangling one even though it wasn't the most efficient thing to do. So we were heading to a keep that was attacked by rock Giants, and as we were travelling through it, he asks, "Are there any weapons?" As in for us to take. So I snidely reply, " 'Are there any weapons?' Asks the strangler," and the name just kinda stuck after that. The kid even wrote "The Strangler" on his character sheet next to his name afterwards. So I just sorta call him strangler now.
    My older brother on the other hand brought "Rowan Liadon," a Wood Elf Rogue that literally just steals everything he sees. He puts my pirate to shame in terms of pillaging. My character has ironically become the voice of reason in the group. Anyway, when we got to the keep, the guards told us the lady had died, so Rowan said that he was going to "investigate" the Lady's room for clues. Knowing he was up to no good, I followed him in and he was picking the lock on the chest. It was at that moment a Magic Sword almost killed him. I then said, "Nice going, Investigator."
    Besides them, there's my twin brother who's playing a human Druid, a girl playing a Half-Elf bard, and Strangler's friend who is playing a High Elf Ranger. I dunno, it's been a pretty good time so far. I just look forward to seeing what Strangler does each week.

  • @Kulthul
    @Kulthul Před 6 lety +26

    I don’t have adventures league near me. I have been thinking of trying to start it up.

    • @FlatlandsSurvivor
      @FlatlandsSurvivor Před 6 lety +2

      Gene Wade there are online games if you are Ø K with playing over discord.

    • @lukefrederiks5906
      @lukefrederiks5906 Před 6 lety +5

      Check out Roll20.net! It's an easy way to find online DnD games or create your own! You can even invite friends if they make accounts too.

    • @Kulthul
      @Kulthul Před 6 lety +1

      I have a regular group I DM for. I have had a few people ask me about playing as well but my group is full. So I have been thinking of trying to run an adventure league down at our local shop.
      I have looked into roll20 and it seems nice but I’m old and I’m not sure how I feel about playing D&D over a computer.

    • @danielgehring7437
      @danielgehring7437 Před 6 lety +4

      Gene Wade
      If you're nearby a brick & mortar shop, you definitely should go talk to them. You get all sorts of free stuff from Wizards, like exclusive minis and maps and dice and stuff, so even if it fails you're still benefiting from your time.

    • @Kulthul
      @Kulthul Před 6 lety +4

      Daniel Gehring wait? I can get free stuff! That’s even more of an Incentive lol. I’m Definitely going to talk to my local shop about starting it. I think we chicks have a strong player base.

  • @bladehunter1097
    @bladehunter1097 Před 6 lety

    I looked up D&D adventures league and found one that's like 15 mins away.
    So that's nice...

  • @Hakaanu
    @Hakaanu Před 6 lety

    Minor correction, you get 5 downtime days for every 2 hours of hardcover play, or for every 2 hour module completed (regardless of how long it actually takes to complete a module, they have estimated times).

  • @xXKrullXx
    @xXKrullXx Před 6 lety

    i dont even play D&D but i love ur videos please moar! xD

  • @MrMlansbergen
    @MrMlansbergen Před 5 lety

    That was so cool I love his video's!!!!!😃😇😀😁😘😝😜😋

  • @thewarriorcat121
    @thewarriorcat121 Před 5 lety

    i love the music