Vacation Dungeons & Dragons

Way back during my younger years, I would take advantage of summer, winter, and spring break to play some role-playing games. As the years rolled on, those vacation/break gaming became fewer and fewer until within recent years not at all. That wasn't the case at all this year as I took advantage of some vacation time in order to play some fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons via the Adventurer's League at the local gaming store. For the most part it was great time.


Some tidbits:

• We all know that while gaming can be quite exhilarating at times, it can have some less than stellar moments. Those less than stellar moments are magnified when one's devoting one's vacation to that particular moment.
• I hate the con type atmosphere. Too much distraction. Fortunately, the one time my gaming experience was like that a con was the final vacation session.
• While I can accept some rules modifications when I play a game, do so upfront. Not mid-session and certainly within an episodic framework like the Adventurer's League. DMs can modify PCs abilities but that requires trust. Save that for your home game or the next session that you run with that player and PC.
• Fire resistance can mean the difference between a PC surviving or dying. My dragonborn paladin survived two encounters largely because he took half damage from a fireball.
• Adventurer's League loves using Fireball in modules designed for 1st thru 4th level characters.
• A new 5E D&D character can be made within five or ten minutes. Whether or not you understand everything about your character is another matter.
• Its is awesome when a character's background, flaws, and bond creep up during a mod.
• Automatic wild magic effects instead of relying on rolls is rather neat.
• So is describing how one's character dispatches a foe.
• I witnessed one-size-fits-all DMing while playing Living Greyhawk and Living Forgotten Realms. So its nice to see some variety allowed in Adventurer's League.
• At least at my local game store, I have witnessed quite a bit of role-playing. Nice change of pace from other living campaigns that I have played.

Overall, I had an enjoyable time spending some of my vacation playing fifth edition D&D. Perhaps, I'll do so again next year?