Five Take-aways From Last Night's AL Game 12/4/17

Last night was the most recent session of Adventurers League (organized play) using the fifth edition rules of Dungeons & Dragons at my favorite local game store. A game recap is forthcoming one of these days. Quite the backlog to process! However, I may pull a Robert E. Howard - Conan approach and not worry about chronological dates when each session occurred. Instead, I decided to copy an approach my local newspaper does covering sporting events. Essentially, the article is five take-aways, ie memorable moments/things learned from the event. My hope is to do this as a regular feature. Although I may not use that as a title for every entry. My latest Shadowrun entry about Suppressive Fire and PANs is kind of an early prototype.

1. In-depth note-taking intensifies the feelings one experiences when one's PC is gang-piled - Every time I finish taking notes for a mod, I tell myself next time I will simplify. Sometimes I do. Sometimes I don't. Last night was the former. Short but sweet, my PC ended up being swarmed by a band of baddies. Didn't go well for my PC. While the PC survived, I quickly became overwhelmed while recording each blow and my exasperation reached its peak when I repeated my PC was dropped to 0. In hindsight, the mere act of recording each blow immersed myself too much in the experience.

1. Became too reliant on minis - I didn't play table-top role-playing games with miniatures until after I had been playing for at least five years. Theater-of-the-mind is an old familiar friend to me. More recent gaming, on the other hand, is very dependent on minis. Last night's game was a theater-of-the-mind session. Alas, I relied too much on my own assumptions and didn't inquire too many details from the DM. As such, my PC got into far too much trouble than I imagined.

1. Familiarity with 5E Monk - Fifth edition difficulty lies within its apparent simplicity. While I am familiar with monks from earlier editions, I have not fully grasped how to play a monk PC in fifth.

1. Offbeat modules - Other than my PC getting into far too much trouble than I at the time could maturely handle, I had been greatly enjoyed how the module deviated from the standard format. Adventurers League modules generally are comprised of three or four combats. This one only had the one. The other two chapters weren't combat encounters per se. First one could've been more for role-playing whereas the second was reminiscent of skill challenges from 4th edition. Without the tedious baggage of skill challenges. Would like more modules like that. Granted without the ramped up combat difficulty to compensate for the lack of combat.

1. Thematic, game mechanic effect regarding zombies - In 5th edition, zombies make a saving throw when reduced to zero. If the zombie saves, the zombie was only reduced to 1 hp instead. Hit points and injuries are abstract in fifth edition. Only being reduced to zero hit points serves as the single arbiter of injury, ie "healthy" to dying. Zombies are extremely resilient and can require special means to dispatch. Since hit points are so abstract, called shots are meaningless. Thus, the mechanic. The DM decided to alter the mechanic. While the zombie wasn't reduced to zero hit points, ie destroyed, the zombie falls prone. Then on its turn, the zombie uses some movement to stand. Very thematic way of demonstrating the zombie's resilience while also providing a clue to PCs/players that the zombie isn't just an impenetrable mound of hit points.

So those are five things I gleaned from my most recent D&D session.


Happy Gaming!


Next time.