Wizards of the Coast Released Changes to D&D Organized Play

Wednesday, May 28th, 2014

Wizards of the Coast has released details for changes coming to the Dungeons and Dragons Organized Play program, now titled the D&D Adventurers League,  which will accompany the release of Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition according to hobby news website ICv2.com.  In addition to the new name, Wizards has announced a new three-part program with overarching storyline themes (D&D Encounters, D&D Expeditions, and D&D Epics), as well as a new monthly scheduling and reporting structure for stores.

 
Each storyline event, in this case, The Tyranny of Dragons, will begin with a D&D Epics kickoff event hosted by Wizards at a select major conventions.  For Tyranny of Dragons, this event will take place at Gen Con Indy in August.  The goal of the event is to create buzz about the new season of OP, and get players excited to head back to stores to participate in the weekly D&D Encounters or D&D Expeditions sessions.

 
D&D Encounters will be the baseline store events, presenting the first portion of each storyline published adventure in an organized play kit.  The kits, which are free to participating Wizards Play Network (WPN) retailers at Gateway level or above, will introduce players to the main storyline and provide enough play to get players from 1st level to about 5th level.  Afterwards, players may continue by purchasing the rest of the adventure from stores, or participate in other play programs.  For the first season, the adventure will lead to a purchase of Hoard of the Dragon Queen, the first adventure published for the new edition of D&D.

The redesigned kits support up to 20 players and four Dungeon Masters, and will include gameplay aids and new components like certificates for special items or awards, table tents, blank character sheets, and more.  The adventure portion will be available as a complimentary PDF from Wizards.

 
D&D Expeditions play is intended for higher-level character play, either for experienced players or those that have completed the D&D Encounters portion of OP.  The organized play kits are available free to any WPN retailer at Core level or above.  Each month, these smaller monthly kits will contain a series of “convention-style” adventures, usually one-offs (about 4 hours), and certificates for special items in the adventure.  Stores are encouraged to use these kits to support local convention events, and contact Wizards’ retail support team if they require more than one kit.

 
Scheduling and reporting will be updated for the August D&D Encounters session, and qualifying stores can begin scheduling on June 8.  On July 8, scheduling opens for the September D&D Expeditions sessions, as well as that month’s D&D Encounters.  The process for reporting D&D Play has been simplified as well:  stores only need to enter their DMs and add players as a list now, rather than table by table.

What do you think gamers? Do these changes to the Dungeons & Dragons organized play program sound interesting? Let us know in the comments below!

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Tags: D&D Adventures, D&D Encounters, D&D Next, Dungeons & Dragons, ICv2.com, Organized Play, Tyranny of Dragons, Wizards of the Coast
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