Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 BryceL Aug 17, 2014 16:47:47	Jus like the title says.   Can someone explain the relationship between Baldman Games, the Adventurers League, and con games, particularly around Baldman Games and the events run @ GenCon, such as "Corruption?"
#2 RCanine Aug 17, 2014 23:39:45	Wizards of the Coast has committed to writing adventures exclusively for Baldman Games's cons and a few other conventions.   This exclusive content is called D&D Epics. They're massive-scale adventures commonly called "battle interactives". Based on the marketing materials so far, it seems that these adventures will be basically the beginning, end and pivotal plot moments of the campaign.   Conventions with exclusive content include:   Gen Con Indy PAX Prime Dragon*Con Fan Expo Canada As far as I can tell from talking to the con organizers I know, I don't think Wizards is selling access to this exclusive content; it's possibly part of a package deal in exchange for Wizards getting space at the con, could be purely as a thank you for hosting them, or could be based simply on the number of expected players—the criteria has not been made public.   All other conventions and game stores will have access to D&D Expeditions, which are episodic self-contained adventures generally lasting 1 - 4 hours, as well as D&D Encounters, which seem like they'll be Reader's Digest-style versions of the published adventures such as Hoard of the Dragon Queen.   Home and online players can log experience from the published adventures only.   I'm really curious how this plays out. I considered Living Forgotten Realms battle interactives to be the can't-miss content for fourth edition, and it seems 99.999999% of all players will miss out on them in 5E. But it also creates a super exclusive experience for the hardest of hard-core players, which might be key to the strategy. It may also be just that these specific cons, Wizards and the admins just have great working relationships with each other; they trust that they'll create top-notch experiences, and that is the most important thing for a strong start to 5th Edition.
#3 Setzer_G Aug 18, 2014 7:54:03	It depends on how the community grows. If it grows like the LG community, then you might see Epics at local conventions if there is enough of a reason to do so.
#4 Wavester Aug 24, 2014 19:45:12	BryceL wrote:
#5 Hauntmaster Aug 25, 2014 15:30:40	Then you are the gentleman I was referred to. I would like to get involved in becoming a judge (DM) for such events. I currently DM encounters for my local game store on Wednesday night. The store owner has bumped it up to add Epics to his line of gaming in his shop. How may I get in contact to become one of these special DM's for large events? I am always at Gen Con and DragonCon but willing to expand to other regions.   Brett
#6 Galahad67 Aug 25, 2014 20:55:05	This spring baldman games put out a call for DM applications forboth Gencon & Origins.   DMs for those shows were chosen from among the applicants.   speaking from experience Baldman and his colleagues provide exceptional support for the DMs who are chosen to run in their games.   it is well worth your time to put in an application. I consider my time running the All-Access game this year at Gencon one of the highlights of my RPG career. I plan on returning in 2015.
(Reply to #5) Skerrit	Hauntmaster wrote:
#8 Veleria Aug 27, 2014 3:36:24	I am disappointed to hear that traveling several states is mandatory for participation in these events. In the past battle interactives were available to more than 4 venues so players who could not travel could participate even if the results were already determined at premier venues. It is a shame that 46 states are not worthy of inclusion in the national campaign. Perhaps a disclaimer should be put on the AL website to inform players in those states that full participation is not available outside select geographical regions.
#9 Mirtek Aug 27, 2014 6:46:25	Well, propably 90% of players in LC, LG and LFR have not participated in the battle interactives even though there were a couple more places having them than currently in Expeditions.
#10 Uthrac Aug 27, 2014 7:01:30	Of those 10% who did play a battle interactive [citation needed], most I have talked to played multiple times. I know in the NE area we scheduled game days to do it and smaller conventions would be able to draw in 5-10 tables to play.    Interactives are a draw because they require multiple tables, and thus conventions are pre-organized venues for pulling off such an event.   I think the group that will take the biggest hit are the smaller, regional conventions. Without an interactive or other convention-special type incentive, players will have a difficult time going to a convention to play Adventurers League when they can play the same adventures - sooner - at their local stores.   What I would love to see is, if not interactives, other "specials" for smaller conventions that can be given to attendees as incentives to play in a large public arena. Hopefully, that is somewhere in the works.
#11 Skerrit Aug 27, 2014 7:08:06	Veleria wrote:
#12 TheBreen Aug 27, 2014 7:25:09	I am also disappointed. The big conventions are pretty far for me. GenCon is about 2,000 miles, DragonCon is a few hundred miles further, and Origins is about 2,500 miles (according to Google's "distance between cities" feature). Even staying on the West Coast, the distance to Pax in Seattle is about the distance between Boston and Myrtle Beach, SC. In other words, not close.   When I was active in the RPGA (1987-2001) convention organizers seemed to have a hard time taking that into account. It seems they still do. I'd love to see one of these awesome events run in the most populous state in the country. After all, the distance between SF and Los Angeles (the second most populous city in the US) is "only" the distance between New York City and Washington, D.C. ;o)