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What is adventure league vs regular play? Is this just standardized more and stricter on rules or is there some system of advancement?
Im just not getting it I guess. I have a copy of Dues for the Dead, but nothing ive read is very clear on this. What makes it league?
The idea behind Adventurers League play is mainly for portability. If you create a PC using the league rules, and keep documentation for each adventure you play, you can take that character and join any Adventurers League game(Depending on what level the adventure is, and a couple other possible factors).
There's no such thing as a dumb question.
TLDR: Adventures League is standardized play with set level advancements(milestone)
Adventurer's League was initially a type of tournament play. The cool thing was you could participate from literally anywhere. Players and DMs had what was called DCI numbers. These numbers could be used to track player progression, involvement, and interest. DMs were tracked as well, and could get access to special content and rewards for running games in various places or at specific times. DCI numbers are no longer used or tracked. Now players track their characters on Log sheets that the DM can use to see their progression.
Each Adventure, called a season, has a set of rules for character creation. These rules are to make sure that everyone playing starts at the same level, and to simplify the overall game.
You may have heard of the rule, PHB + 1? Characters could be made using anything from the Players Handbook and any other 1 Official sourcebook. This made character generation faster and offered less options, thus reducing confusion. The big problem came from spells though. Players generally want access to any and all of the Official spells. By limiting to PHB +1 characters frequently did not have access to everything that they wanted. This rule has now Officially become obsolete, and is no longer used.
Now players are given a list of options that they may use to craft their characters in the players guide for each season. The DM also has a guide to help them figure out their rewards and general gameplay for the season. These are provided as free pdf downloads from the WoTc website.
Rules are to be played as written(RAW), so that characters can easily move from table to table, and still get the same overall gaming experience. The exclusion of house rules was to prevent confusion, and speed up gameplay.
Monsters and NPCs only use the Stats provided in the module. Which is nice, since you don't have to carry around a bunch of extra books. Examples are provided in each adventure on how to increase or decrease the difficulty of encounters, to make them fit better with the group you are running for.
Experience points are not used in AL Games. Instead characters receive Gold and level advancement as rewards for completing story chapters. Players are free to pass on character advancement to keep their characters at a specific level. Characters have a maximum amount of gold that they may have based on their level. The number of permanent magic items are also restricted by the level of the character. The higher level you become, the more magic items and gold your character can have.
Player Characters can easily move from game to game with different DMs, and still fit in the game with little to no problems.
DMs get character advancements for their own characters, so that they may join other people's games with characters of the appropriate level.
Regular play The DM is free to use any or none of the content produced by ANY manufacturer. Many find this wealth of options to be exactly what they are looking for. Many also find it difficult having too many options available.
DM is free to use Experience Points, Milestone Leveling, or any other system that they have discovered.
DM is free to award as much or as little gold and magic items as they see fit.
DM is free to add/change/subtract as many or as few rules as they wish.
DM can use monsters/NPCs from any source they wish, or change Official monsters in any way they choose.
Players are generally given some sort of guidance by the DM as far as what types of characters can be played. Race, Class, Backgrounds, Feats, Spells; everything is up to DM discretion.
Player Characters from one game will generally not work in any other game, unless it is ran by the same DM.
Thats interesting. Reminds me of how the card set for magic the gathering changes. so has there ever been real d&d tournaments then? like with prizes?
I see the appeal, but at the same time, whats the motivation if its so similar to any canon campaign?
There used to be tournaments all the time. Most of the major conventions/events held DnD tournaments. Prizes could be anything from exclusive game content to cash payouts. Many stores would hold monthly or weekly local events.
The stories told in the AL seasons are set in the same settings as the major adventures released each year. But they tell a completely different story than that in the actual adventure. You can play the Curse of Strahd, and play AL season 4 to really expand on the setting. Or play Rime of the Frost Maiden and AL season 10 to expand again.
When conventions become regular place things again we should see an increase in official AL games and tournaments. Until then, online games at virtual conventions continue to be played and can win you prizes and bragging rights.