In a different thread, Kalani notes that one of a number of expected skills for a DM is the ability to say 'Yes and'. This is a fairly popular catchphrase in modern game mastering, and the intent is certainly laudable; to enable cool things at the game table by encouraging players to be creative and contribute to telling the story of the game rather than passively sitting and only doing what the game master allows.
The problem with 'Yes and' in Adventurers League is that 'Yes and' presumes a traditional game master; a person who created the campaign world and has the authority to modify the game rules as she sees fit to support the kind of game she wants to run. Adventurers League DMs are not all-powerful world-creators; their main role is to represent the Adventurers League administrative staff at the game table. It is the admin staff who is responsible for making decisions on how the game world operates and evolves, which rules support and which hinder the telling of the story that the admins are trying to tell through the games modules, and what player options are acceptable or unacceptable in the furtherance of those goals.
Where possible, an AL DM should definitely encourage player participation in the adventure and overall story line of the Adventurers League season her characters are playing. However, there are definitely situations where an AL DM is encouraged, if not outright required, to say 'no':
Players using unapproved rules for their characters -
This is not optional -- if a player shows up to your table and that player has obviously used a die-rolling method to create his character, it's up to you as DM to disallow that character or require the player to modify the character to be legal.
This is going to become a more significant deal as the new storyline season begins, because, unless the current ALPG is modified to allow it, characters are not allowed to bring rules elements from Elemental Evil-specific rules items into use for their Tyranny of Dragons characters. So, for example, a player cannot currently bring a 1st level genasi character into a Tyranny of Dragons adventure, even if the adventure is specifically for level 1 characters (such as Defiance in Phlan). If the new rules contain elementally-themed cleric domains, those domains are only legal if the domains are also added to the D&D Basic Rules. If a player has some authorizing document to allow it (such as a certificate gained through play at Winter Fantasy or another convention), then go ahead and allow the element, but otherwise, these things need to be enforced at the table level, and the DM is the person who is expected to be the enforcer.
Players exploiting ill-defined or hard-to-remember rules for an in-game benefit -
The Hiding sidebar on p.60 of the Basic Rules discusses a number of rules related to hiding. However, some players may use this sidebar as an excuse to roll Dexterity (Stealth) checks whenever they choose to, conveniently ignoring that Hide is a specific action that requires a character to use an Action to attempt (BR, p.72). (Note that rogues gain Cunning Action, which allows them to use a bonus action to Hide.)
Likewise, characters who use Two-Weapon Fighting may attempt to take a bonus action on their turn, not realizing that attacking with the off-hand weapon counts as the character's bonus action (BR, p.74).
The ALPG notes that a DM should not presume wrongdoing in these sorts of situations, and it is true that conscientious players will recognize their mistake and correct it in future situations. But a player who continues to make the same error repeatedly is probably not an idiot -- he's hoping you're unwilling or don't have the stamina to continually correct his error so that he can gain an in-game advantage. Likewise, a player who uses a class feature that requires a rest to recharge in a game session, then in the next session uses the same class feature without having taken a rest may be innocently forgetting that he used the feature in the previous session. Should this happen repeatedly, you as DM should require the player to log the use of his class features and thus prove to you that they have not already been used in prior sessions. If a lazy player is allowed to exploit his lack of attention to detail, other players will receive the message that such lack of attention is effectively rewarded and one of the core assumptions of the Adventurers League campaign -- that players can be trusted to accurately log their positive and negative events for future reference -- will be undermined.
So to that polymath list of things that an Adventurers League DM is expected to be good at, add one more: knowing when and how to say 'no'.
--
Pauper
TheBreen wrote:
Pauper wrote:
We just got an update from Greg Marks (AL ass. resource manager) - Tyranny of Dragons and the Tyranny of Dragons Expeditions modules will be available next season. As such, next season it will be very important that characters write down their Story Origin for their characters, as Elemental Evils characters will be legal in Tyranny of Dragons adventures (and vice/versa).
A very wise GM a long time ago told me
"Your first answer should always be no, Its easy to chnage a no to a yes. Its very hard the other way around."
Coredump00 wrote:
Pauper wrote:
Pauper wrote:
Pauper wrote:
Skerrit wrote:
Coredump00 wrote:
Skerrit wrote:
Coredump00 wrote:
Mirtek wrote:
RCanine wrote:
Coredump00 wrote:
If you are a wizard, you can legally copy the new spells into your spellbook if you happen to find them in an adventure, regardless of what book the spells come from. The same would hold true for anyone with the Ritual Caster feat in respect to copying relevant rituals (if any). You just can't learn them via leveling up, nor can you access any of the new feats and other character options with your Tyranny characters.
On the flip side - any of the Tyranny features will be prohibited to EE characters, but seeing as that boils down to the Dragon Scholar background, that is largely meaningless in this instance. During third season however, your third season characters won't be able to use EE materials either, while your EE characters won't be able to use third season materials.
RCanine wrote:
I'd like to point out that limiting optimization options is something that OP has tried to do, with varying success, for some time now, edition-wise. The last few seasons of 4th edition Encounters, for instance, had specific character-creation rules: you could use either of the two core Essentials books, plus the most recent 'Heroes of' splat-book. No other character resources were supposed to be used.
With that said, I don't know anybody who actually followed or, more to the point, enforced those character creation rules. I hope more DMs get behind enforcing the 'no intermingling of storyline season rules' rules.
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Pauper
Yeah, the third time I retired a character at level 2, I decided encounters wasn't for me.
Expeditions is where it's at, so if options are limited, I hope they're at least unlockable via participation (and not only for the 1% of players that attend specific large conventions, either).
We'll have to see how it goes, but the Admins are specifically trying to prevent the power creep that comes from combining older books with books from newer storylines that were never intended by the designers to be combined. We saw this in LG and regularly see it in PFS now.
Skerrit, I have a suggestion that has worked wonders for preventing power creep at my table.
Each player can use the PHB and one other book for their character.
Instead of limiting us to a story origin, you limit us to a single splatbook (which is marked on your character sheet).
That prevents power creep, but at the same time allows players to pick their favorite sourcebook for their character, as not every player will enjoy/appreciate every book the same way. Playing an entire season with a book you don't like may end up in that player leaving OP completely. While some of these players may return in a later season, chances are they will simply move onto a different form of entertainment.
Players are simply not used to the fact that a company is giving away the rules, and so many players may draw comparisons between OP and say magic the gathering, believing (falsely) that Wizards is trying to force players to purchase the most recent splatbook which will breed resentment in those players. This belief would be reinforced if they played in the latter 4E OP environment, as those rules weren't simply provided in a free-of-charge pdf.
My suggestion nips that potential issue in the bud.
The only problem with my suggestion is that it might be difficult to police unless players are expected to provide the rules for their character upon request (aka, whatever PDF or rulebook they used for their character). Then again, the same holds true in respect to characters from different story origins at the same table - as some players may "cheat" by including elements from different story origins.
Kalani wrote:
Err...I should have mentioned that I have used that particular trick in my home-games since the 3.X days - although depending on the game, I sometimes open it up to 2 sourcebooks + PHB. I have found it an invaluable tool in my DM arsenal, and has been the best compromise between power creep prevention and player expectations.
Kalani wrote:
Fair enough. I wasn't aware we could choose different story origins during character creation. I thought you were limited to the story origin of the current arc only. My mistake.
I definitely understand the desire to limit available options. I think my favorite part of LFR was those character creation cards that you could earn. Yeah, some of them came from cons, but others were just downloadable. The options weren't more mechanically powerful, but because they required a trade-off, they made your character rare. Playing The Paladin's Plague with my spellscarred revenant was amazingly memorable, even though I was at a huge disadvantage for most of it 
Apropos of this discussion:
Paizo Pathfinder Society blog wrote:
Skerrit: so, if I have a character that is currently only using options from the PHB, could I say that I chose to start him with the "second season" books (not knowing at character creation what the second season would be?) I am not 'cheating' because I am not using any (either?) of the player options from HotDQ.
This one is easy. You choose a story origin for your character. Currently the only option is Tyranny of Dragons. After the start of next season you could choose either tyranny or Elemental evil. You cannot choose the EE story origin until ~March 17th approx
So, early adopters are S.O.L. then? No chance to get new stuff, even though we were the ones who bought into 5e first? I'm stuck with just using one book since I am not using the options from HotDQ. But someone else can come in on March 17 and get the ability to have access to the PHB and EE books, while I am still stuck with just the PHB? That doesn't really make me want to spend more money, in the long run....
Honestly, my guess is that if this turns out to be a major problem in the future (right now it's all hypothetical), the AL admins will make a change. They're not stupid, y'know! :)
I am almost 100% convinced you cannot change your story origin, for the same reasons you cannot change your starting gear, or your character's name (gender seems to be fine though). Story origin sets the rules by which your character is built.
Tyranny of Dragons characters will be the only story origin that is disadvantaged per se (as the only ToD unique elements are the two backgrounds in the back of HotDQ). Once we hit season 3, Elemental Evil characters will be forbidden from using S3 material, and vice versa.
EE characters will be legal to participate in ToD missions (HotDQ, RoT, and Tyranny Expeditions) as will ToD characters be legal to participate in EE missions (PotA, and EE expeditions).
You cannot change your story origin. You declare it when you make your character and it is then fixed. It does not however mean that your character, nor you as a player are totally SOL. There may be adventures that grant you the ability to access specific rules items outside your story origin for some existing characters. Also, for players you likely have a higher level PC by the end of ToD if you are an invested player (level 5+). Please note that while the DnDAL is putting out higher level content, we are also still putting out tier 1 content as well so if you want all of the story, you might still make a second character to take advantage of that content as well, and that PC could choose EE as their story origin.
Greg Marks
Associate Resource Manager, DnDAL
TheBreen wrote:
Kalani wrote:
I'd actually be worried if AL decisions were made primarily on getting players to buy WotC products, and not on telling good stories first. The advertising push is always a secondary goal as OP is one of the "gateways" into the hobby, but I don't think we'd enjoy an AL experience that was aimed at giving you a "100% incentive" to buy certain products.
Undrhil wrote:
Undrhil wrote:
RCanine wrote: