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Coming Soon: D&D Adventurers League!
Interview: 'D&D's' Liz Schuh on the 5th Edition's Organized PlayBasic D&D will be a free PDF available online when the D&D starter box is released in July. It will later expand to include essential core material.
"It runs from levels 1 to 20 and covers the cleric, fighter, rogue, and wizard, presenting what we view as the essential subclass for each. It also provides the dwarf, elf, halfling, and human as race options."
Some Info on Basic Dungeons & Dragons
A page out of the equipment section of the new Beginner BoxA look at the spell lists from the Beginner BoxSome notes from the D&D 5th Edition panel at Origins (6/14)• What are you calling the game? Official name is Dungeons & Dragons. When we're differentiating, we call it the fifth edition of D&D.
• No announcements yet on other setting support in RPG products and novels.
• Rodney's talking about changes from the playtest packet to the final game. Bonus actions - you only get one per turn. "Warlock and sorcerer are real things."
• Warlock is a blend of 3E and 4E warlock. Has spell slots with scaling spells. Sorcerers use sorcery points, and can use metamagic to modify spells. Can convert spell slots to sorcery points and back.
• Wizard has more persistent ongoing spells, sorcerers and warlocks have more "fire and forget" spells.
• Draconic sorcerer has transformational powers as well as dragon fear.
• Talking now about different subclasses appeal to different edition playstyles - the Battlemaster fighter is an example.
• Last three months have been polish. 900 changes made to the PH just from public feedback from alpha playtesters.
• Mike on product releases. Starter set for Core+ WPN stores July 3, others on July 15. no character gen - Basic D&D for that. Basic D&D (out in July) going to have player info and rules at first, expanding to MM and DMG materials a little later on.
• "PH, MM, and DMG are more like advanced versions of the game."
• Mike wrote a sidebar on THAC0 for the DMG! DMG will be more like a "hackers guide" to the game.
• Monster stat blocks will reference spells, but otherwise should be self contained. Mike walks into the audience to show an example stat block from the MM.
• Mike talking about process of change for the game. Using constant specific feedback from the community to adjust. D&D will be more of a living game and a conversation rather than Wizards dictating what the game should be. Starting next spring, surveys will go out to assess how rules elements of the game are faring. Changes will be reflected in future products.
• Trap discussion - traps are more narrative and situational rather than a proscribed challenge system. Examples in the DMG.
• Five damage levels for traps in the DMG to help DMs determine trap deadliness for the tiers of play.
• Traps are treated more like hazards or terrain features rather than a monster.
• High level gameplay should be faster due to bonus action rules and concentration mechanic for spells.
• Multiple things slowed down D&D high level play; addressing it from many subsystems. Esp. battlefield effect complexity.
• If you want to play a less complex wizard, play one from Basic D&D. Great for a new player that wants a wizard.
• Cantrips are like at-will spells, so casters will always feel like casters.
• Downtime activities will be PH. More complex & optional downtime activities will be in DMG. Good way to spend gp. You can use downtime to find where magic items are, and adventures to obtain them.
• Downtime activities in the DMG create stories that can be seeds for adventures. Going on a crime spree, etc.
• Crafting for magic items? It is an optional element that should appear in DMG. Must possess schematic or formula to craft.
• Hoard of the Dragon Queen levels 1-8. Rise of Tiamat levels 9-15.
• DMG has more optional stuff for combat. Flanking, using characters as weapons, friendly fire, lingering wounds, etc.
• A few varieties for many characteristic monsters in the MM. Enough to help inspire the DM to create more variations.
• Comment from the audience: Trapdoor's "Morningstar" demo is excellent. Great enhancement that focuses players on the game.
• You can approach monster design from a mechanical perspective, or just build it narratively and then adjust numbers.
• "Spoiler alert for the Starter Set: don't fight the dragon." - Rodney.
• Adventuring is based more around the day. More forgiving for smaller groups.
• Other starter adventures? The DMG will have Daggerford, including updates as a result of D&D Encounters play.
• How long is the Starter Set? About 20 hours of play, give or take depending on your groups' style.
• Beginning of the new edition design, R&D started w/ iconic adventures from all editions to influence the core of the game.
• Adventures highlighted idea of the three pillars of game: exploration, interaction, combat.
• How many adventures? Tyranny has two adventure products, Starter Set, DMG, and lots in D&D Adventurers League. More adventures in the future - products focused on story and driving campaigns, less of a "splatbook" approach.
• Minis? Themed to adventures and story. There will be signature minis for the storyline, hitting the high notes. Minis use amongst players is about 50/50.
• DMG has options for creating your own skills.
• Bonds, traits, and flaws drive roleplaying.
• Tension between flavor and mechanics: The core books lean a little more towards flavor.
• Player could pull apart the subsystems to hack the game a bit.
There was also a DM panel, which followed.• From the DM panel: Anything that lets you create things will be in the DMG
• How to play videos are on the way, probably after launch.
• Demons - locked in the Nine Hells. Need mortals to help release them.
• DMG has planar information.
• Exploration focuses on learning about the world. There is structure you can use to aid presenting exploration in rules.
• Game blends all 3 pillars - combat, exploration, and interaction. Each class has ways to speak to all of those pillars.
• The game is faster, more balanced, and more flexible.
• Game leans more on the DM making judgment calls. Once you understand difficulty of tasks, it speeds play considerably.
• Alignment exists, but has no mechanical impact. Focus on personality traits, bonds, and ideals.
• Personality options in Basic D&D. More in the PH.
• Eldritch knight is a fighter subclass with spell casting. You can stack spellcaster levels if you multiclass with wizard
• If you wanted to build a swordmage, multi fighter (eldritch knight) / wizard (abjurer) would be good.
• Tyranny of Dragons set in the Sword Coast in the Realms.
A look at the release schedule for the rest of 2014Notes from the 5th edition Organized Play panel at Origins (6/15)• Focusing on player feedback to shape the OP experience. Trying to make sure it responds to player needs based on actual play.
• Storylines in theD&D line are like campaigns. Each time a new one starts is a great place to jump in to Organized Play.
• Want to cut down on the intimidation factor of Organized Play.
• Everything in Adventurers League falls under three categories. D&D Encounters is similar to how it is now, but focusing more on the main storyline, playing through a portion of the published adventures. When you play Encounters, you get to experience the first part of the campaign. From there you can continue to finish the campaign at home...or you can move into D&D Expeditions, which is more like traditional OP. Your characters remain OP legal no matter which path you pick. Since the main campaigns are full 15 level campaigns, Encounters only covers the first few levels so that the season doesn't take a year. The complementary portion of the published campaigns is pared-down and aimed specifically at the short play experience of Encounters. The packets provided to stores includes the adventure content, plus guidance on running the adventures in the Encounters format. Each time a new storyline starts in the published RPG, a new season of Encounters begins, tied to that storyline. Format of Encounters adventures a little less proscribed than in the past to allow for flexibility for stores that need it.
• The next program is D&D Expeditions, designed to debut at a convention and playable in stores. Four-hour adventures. Expeditions adventures will be more tied to a specific region to create continuity. Expeditions adventures set in the Moonsea region. Expeditions adventures touch on the main storyline, but have their own plotlines not directly tied to the main plot. If you play both the published campaign and the Expeditions adventures tied to it you get a broader view of the story. Feedback from the published campaigns will also be integrated into the D&D Expeditions adventures. They will debut at conventions, but then will be given to stores. They do not need to be purchased. Expeditions adventures debut at conventions, then can go to stores and other conventions a month later. Expeditions adventures are digital releases, not physical.
• Goal for the start is to get D&D Adventurers League right and make sure players are happy with it. Other campaigns/settings not yet on the table. Want to focus on getting people used to the setting and the program first, helping make entering the D&D Adventurer's League program easier.
• Third part of D&D Adventurer's League is Epics. These are major, one-off events that are important points in the campaign. D&D Epic debuting at GenCon is also going to be available at PAX Prime, DragonCon, and FanExpo Canada. D&D Epics heavily inspired by battle interactives for previous Living campaigns.
• Looking to highlight efforts of individuals on Epics; when you participate in an epic, your character has the potential to walk away changed.
• A goal is to build a community with a shared experience. Want to have players recognize the awesome deeds of other players.
• The big advantage of OP is to be able to do things with thousands of players that you can't do with a home campaign.
• By end of 2014, looking to have about 10 Expeditions adventures released.
• Expeditions adventures will be available for play for a while, so that stores can access the back catalog of adventures.
• Looking at doing 2-3 different Epics per year.
• Nothing to announce about adventure retirement right now, still figuring out needs. Not relevant for a while. Want to cultivate an adventure catalog to make sure that organizers and DMs can consistently provide good experiences to players. Adventure replay will be legal, but you have to use a different character.
• Home play is supported through the published adventures, which are OP legal. Count 100% toward character progression.
• Expeditions and Epics content is only available through store, convention, and other public play (libraries, Game Days, etc.)
• DMs should work with stores to schedule and report games, but it's OK for DMs to determine what content to run if the store is OK with it.
• If a store schedules OP events, there is additional support for DMs and players through D&D Adventurer's League kits sent to the stores. Stores can designate individual DMs as organizers, too, to schedule events through our event reporter. Scheduling is important for both stores and DMs/players because that's how stores get rewarded for running events and how kits get delivered.
• D&D Starter Set adventure will be supported in Organized Play. Rewards certs for the adventure will be included in first Encounters kit. Starter Set adventure is 100% Adventurer's League legal. Organizers will be able to run the Starter Set adventure in OP at box set launch.
• Event reporting will be done electronically. Con organizers report for con games, organizers in stores report through Wizards event reporter. Organizers need only enter the report the DCI number of each player that participates, and the time of the event run. Organizers should use
http://www.dndadventurersleague.org as a primary resource for information on the campaign. Site is meant to support you!
• Home play does not need to use event reporting.
• Getting DCI numbers for new players is going to soon be much easier. Players will be able to sign up directly.
• Storyline resets also give us a chance to reassess OP policies and make any needed changes to the program when the story changes.
• The D&D Adventurer's League kits contain player packs and DM packs. Player packs are faction-oriented, with a folder tied to faction. Faction kit has player sheets, table tents, introductory info, cert to show that the PC is part of the faction, other goodies. Joining a faction gives you story ties to the campaign, then as you gain ranks in your faction you get access to special rewards. For example, secret missions only available to members of certain factions, special downtime activities you can take between adventures. As you play adventures, you gain renown points in your faction. Renown points translate to ranks, new ranks unlock new benefits. Gaining rank also progresses you through the ranks of the faction in-world. Benefits of the first three ranks will be revealed before GenCon. Fourth and fifth rank benefits of each faction are only for high-levels.
• Factions are: Harpers (good, secret network of watchers, protect the common folk from the machinations of evil), Order of the Gauntlet (divine-inspired, very active against the forces of evil, aggressive and faces evil head-on),Emerald Enclave (believe in the balance of nature vs. civilization, lots of druids and rangers),Lords' Alliance (believe in keeping the people in power in power; champions of the lords and rulers of civilization, keeping things stable), the Zhentarim (self-serving and sort of evil-curious; believe in profit and hoarding their own power, self-serving to the end). Factions might have different goals, but usually not in direct conflict with one another.
• Characters can move between Encounters, Expeditions, and Epics freely.
• Factions give a way to see your efforts reflected on the larger picture; factions gain and lose power based on player actions. As factions gain and lose power, will have an impact on the story, and the story can react to the realities of faction growth/shrinking. Faction goals in adventures might shift to account for how the faction is doing in the campaign.
• Factions are not just an OP thing; you will see them in other expressions of D&D as well.
• Players can switch factions, but their renown goes down to 0, just like a starting character.
• There are three primary D&D Adventurer's League administrators and three assistants.
• The controlled nature of Epics is our chance to have crazy, major events that mimic the great moments of home campaigns, on a massive scale.
• Talking about the structure of the campaign's organization. At the top are folks at Wizards of the Coast, composed of R&D and OP reps. Below the administrators will be regional coordinators, not yet in place. Then local organizers, convention organizers, etc. will interact with the regional coordinators and the administrators.
• Certificates system is returning as a part of the reward structure. Changing how it works slightly.
• Dungeon Master kits contain special cert for the DM to give to his/her own character, only available to those who DM as a reward for running.
• Releasing an Adventurers League Player's Guide online a few weeks before GenCon containing campaign rules, character creation rules, etc.
• Permanent magic items will be more rare than in past campaigns. If you get one, you simply log it and then have access to it. If you play in public and get the cert for the magic item, it allows you to trade the magic item. You can get the magic item without a cert, but the cert puts the magic item into the community trading economy.
• Codified system for determining who gets magic items from adventures. First, if everyone agrees someone should get it, they do. If more than one person wants it, whoeever has the fewest permanent magic items gets it.
• Certs are only available in physical kits, specially designed to have a unique appearance.
• Encounters kits support four tables of Encounter play. Expeditions kits support six tables for each adventure released that much.
• If stores need more kits, they can contact Wizards of the Coast to request more. Certs are tradeable only on a one-to-one basis.
