Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Setzer_G Jul 08, 2015 12:43:20	Admittedly, my search ability on this forum is poor. With that:   I run AL at my store on Wednesday, using PoTA. We're towards the tail end of the Encounters material, with intention to continue to the full adventure.   My players are growing in number, somewhere between 7 and 11 to 12. I have second DM now for the other table if it becomes an issue. My question is this, really:   If there are new people with a mix of regulars at the (new) other table and DM, where should they start? Should they start with Lost Mines and abandon PoTA? start the Encounter materials over? Continue where I left off and just deal with the inconsistencies between the tables as they go forward? As the default store coordinator, I'd like to set up a policy as the group expands, for this other DM and any additional DM's that might come along. I'm going to keep chugging ahead as the PC's go to another Haunted Keep.   What works for your tables and groups?
#2 Avross Jul 08, 2015 19:09:37	This has been bandied in a few threads.  The final answer is going to largely be what makes sense for the community at your store.   But here's some of the points which have been brought up:   Once you're playing the full adventure, it's no longer technically Encounters, it's Casual Play.  (I'm not crystal clear on the impact of that statement....) You don't have to worry about Tiers...you can technically have level 3s sitting at the same table as level 6 characters.  There has, however been some (really good) advice on this point to split the tables based on level *if at all possible*, so newer players are somewhat less overshadowed by the higher level ones. Brand new players can join the table with new level 1 characters if there is space, but they should be told that they are joining a game in progress... another piece of good advice is to consider having the second DM run Expeditions (or Encounters again for the new players...)   But that depends of course on your gaming troupe's make up. At our store, we have two tables of Encounters running for 7-13 players because we have two DMs who both want to run the entire campaign.   We're steadily growing by a player or two a week, but since there isn't enough space in the store for a third table, we may have to cap at 14...but if there was space, I'll probably suggest a round robin of Expedition adventures for the people who can't fit into the "main tables".