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D&D Adventurers League Player & DM Pack
Publisher: D&D Adventurers League
by Chris P. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 09/03/2018 17:09:44

At first I promised myself I wouldn't complain too much about the new rules until I tried them, but they are actually far worse than I had previously imagined. The final rollout of rules is so complex that it confused both veteran and new players.

Things I realized just in my first session:

  • There are now 9 different kinds of currencies that players have to keep track of, none of which actually exist in the narrative of the game (DT, ACP, Renown, Secret Missions, Gold, Tier 1 TP, Tier 2 TP, Tier 3 TP, Tier 4 TP).
  • New players have to spend $50 on a DMG if they want to use magic items.
  • The Content Guide is a mess of copy-paste that contradicts itself and the season 8 rules.
  • DM's have almost no incentive to run non-Season 8 content (I guess it works out, because non-season 8 content is largely unplayable now that the gold rewards have been updated but in-game costs for each module haven't).

Worst of all was the fact that the rules were rolled out with less than a week's notice, and the rules weren't even complete by the time the season started. This mismanagement has really hurt my confidence in AL to the point that I won't be playing anymore, and probably won't even come back if the rules are fixed.

I've cancelled my AL organization's preorders of the new hardcover, and we will just keep running pre-season 8 content with homebrew rules (basically season 7 rules but with checkpoints).



Rating:
[1 of 5 Stars!]
D&D Adventurers League Player & DM Pack
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DDAL07-18 Turn Back the Endless Night
Publisher: D&D Adventurers League
by Chris P. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/28/2018 12:15:10

This was a great end to what I felt was otherwise a rather lackluster season. I like that they put so many possible encounters in this module, especially because I think it is one people will want to replay. I felt Dendar was a little underpowered for the final Tier 4 boss, my players killed her without taking hardly any damage even though I maxed out every NPC's HP in every encounter.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
DDAL07-18 Turn Back the Endless Night
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DDAL07-17 Cauldrons of Sapphire
Publisher: D&D Adventurers League
by Chris P. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/28/2018 12:09:44

I think this adventure finally cracked the code of how to write a T4 adventure that actually challenges the players. The environmental hazards early on are so brutal that they can prevent characters from cheesing their way through the later boss fights. Speaking of boss fights, both the dragon and Dagon were very fun encounters, especially if you make sure to utilize the environmental hazards at the bottom of the ocean. I advise any DM's running this module to make liberal uze of the Glabrezus' innate dispel magic ability, as it forces players to think on their feet and can spice up encounters.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
DDAL07-17 Cauldrons of Sapphire
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DDAL07-14 Fathomless Pits of Ill Intent
Publisher: D&D Adventurers League
by Chris P. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/28/2018 12:03:34

This is the gold standard by which DDAL modules should be written. Everything from the locations, to the puzzles, to the combats is clearly and concisely described, including notes on what to do if you party throws a curveball. All of the traps are creative and require a lot of investigation (not just rolls), and even some intense action if they go off. The final combat is especially well designed, as it can be as challenging as the DM wants depending on how you use the legendary and lair actions (especially the unlimited dispel magics). Finally, there is a story award in this module that can't be earned unless the players played other modules and think critcally, and I really appreciate when modules give rewards that are challenging to achieve and aren't immediately obvious.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
DDAL07-14 Fathomless Pits of Ill Intent
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DDAL07-12 In Search of Secrets (5e)
Publisher: D&D Adventurers League
by Chris P. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/28/2018 11:56:24

This mod is great to run if you need a quick theatre-of-the-mind to run with little prep-time, but otherwise I would advise skipping it. The hook with the compass rock is fun and interesting, but everything kind of slows down once the players get to the temple. The first puzzle is extremely unintuitive, and if a player doesn't speak a certain exotic language, literally impossible to figure out. Roleplaying the ghost character was very fun for me and the players. The reason I suggest running this theatre-of-the-mind is that it only has one or two combats both of which are extremely easy, even for small or low-level parties.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
DDAL07-12 In Search of Secrets (5e)
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DDAL07-10 Fire, Ash, and Ruin (5e)
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
by Chris P. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 05/02/2018 23:59:47

Stay away from this adventure unless you are trying to run the entire season. The adventure is riddled with so many typos in the maps, descriptions, and monsters that it is near-unplayable in its current state without a lot of prep and guesswork. The encounters are so easy that a party of 5 level 11's were able to walk through without taking hardly any damage. Even the final boss died in the first round without landing a single hit. I would hold off on this adventure until it is majorly overhauled by the author.



Rating:
[1 of 5 Stars!]
DDAL07-10 Fire, Ash, and Ruin (5e)
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DDAL05-12 Bad Business in Parnast (5e)
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
by Chris P. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 04/12/2018 20:55:20

This might replace Uninvited Guests as my favorite of the season 5 T1 adventures. The investigation was a ton of fun to run, and as a DM I got to lead and mislead the characters to keep things interesting. There are a lot of alternate paths the characters can go on, which influence the arson section and the final battle. The final battle was also fun and challenging to run.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
DDAL05-12 Bad Business in Parnast (5e)
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DDAL07-04 A Walk in the Park (5e)
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
by Chris P. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 04/12/2018 20:48:57

The first part of the adventure was a blast for both me and the players, but after they meet Wadumu everything seems lackluster. My players liked the mystery aspect of the previous adventure, so they enjoyed the start of the adventure. They also had fun getting their stuff stolen and having to chase the kids into the alley. The ability challenge with the mudslide was a little lackluster as any potential consequences were reversed by the ensuing long rest. The final combat also seemed way to easy, and didn't provide the players with any new information. I would like to run this adventure again and tweak the encounters a little bit to make them more challenging and meaningful to the story.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
DDAL07-04 A Walk in the Park (5e)
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DDAL07-03 A Day at the Races (5e)
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
by Chris P. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 04/05/2018 20:56:08

I enjoyed the lack of combat for the majority of the module, and the final combat was fun and interesting enough to keep the players engaged. The roleplaying at the beginning was also very fun, as my players tried hard to solve the mystery before proceeding onto the race. The race itself, as many have pointed out, is far too clunky to be fun or engaging. It amounts to just constantly rolling dice, both for the players and the DM, and the rules are not laid out in a clear manner. I would have preferred something more akin to DDAL07-01.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
DDAL07-03 A Day at the Races (5e)
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DDAL07-09 Unusual Opposition (5e)
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
by Chris P. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 03/28/2018 23:36:25

This was an awesome module to run. For a Tier 3 module, it didn't get bogged down in combat as I expected, and the players and I enjoyed tons of roleplaying. The Ramshackle king and the hags were really fun characters, and the players' interactions with them really tested their diplomacy skills.

I didn't get a chance to use them in my game, but the two sidequests in this mission are probably the best faction quests I've seen in AL. They both legitimately test the players' roleplaying abilities and character abilities, instead of just being a free renown for two factions.

My only concern is the easiness of the combats, which obviously depends on the party. I ran this with a party of 4 characters, making them a weak party, but they still managed to end every combat in 1 or 2 turns while playing at average difficulty. The first and last fight just aren't suited for players who have access to spells like banish, so I would suggest adding lots of minions to supplement the big monsters.

I was also pleasantly surprised by how quickly the adventure went by. Like I said, my players made easy work of the combats, but in total they finished the adventure in two hours and fifteen minutes, even with plenty of roleplaying. This isn't a problem for me, but it's something to consider when you schedule the game.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
DDAL07-09 Unusual Opposition (5e)
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DDAL05-07 Chelimber's Descent (5e)
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
by Chris P. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 03/28/2018 23:28:27

I really love puzzle-based adventures, but this one fell flat for me. In particular, the section toward the end where the players must sing the songs of the elemental gods: it rewarded the players' ability to recall minor details from the room descriptions earlier in the adventure rather than their critical thinking. That also made it difficult to give them a hint when they got stuck without outright saying "Go read the text on the previous floor." It also got confusing for me and the players that there were four gods in the adventure and four elemental deities, but there didn't seem to be a relationship between the two. In the aforementioned section, the players tried hard to find some kind of correspondence between the gods and the elementals, but none of that helped.



Rating:
[2 of 5 Stars!]
DDAL05-07 Chelimber's Descent (5e)
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DDAL05-10 Giant Diplomacy (5e)
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
by Chris P. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 03/28/2018 23:23:10

This is a very great module, one of my favorite Tier 1's. There is a good balance between combat and role-play, which is the main thing I look for in Adventurer's League. My players really enjoyed the ability contest in the middle of the adventure, and it's fun to get to roleplay the different giant characters. I wish there was a non-combat approach for the final encounter, as my players repeatedly tried to find a peaceful way to deal with the noisy halflings, but as written, I had to make the halflings outright attack them, which seemed like it didn't reward the players' roleplaying. One of my players tried to intimidate them by saying that the halflings didn't want to get on the wrong side of Gralm's army, which I think was a very legitimate approach that should have been rewarded.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
DDAL05-10 Giant Diplomacy (5e)
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DDAL05-06 Beneath the Fetid Chelimber (5e)
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
by Chris P. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 03/15/2018 00:39:06

This is a pretty lackluster adventure. As others have mentioned, the entire adventure is basically just 2-3 combat encounters with three ability checks in the middle. The combats on the large island at the end have a potential to be very tactical and engaging, but I would have preferred opportunities for roleplaying or problem-solving.

The ability checks in the middle of the adventure could have been fun, except I found them way too easy. If the players complete two very easy tasks (which don't involve skills at all), they can get a +5 or +10 bonus to their rolls and have advantage on all the checks, which makes it almost impossible to fail.

I feel like the NPC companion in this adventure was rather underwritten and had no effect on the players' experience other than that small statistical boost mentioned above.

I would only recommend this adventure if you are planning on playing the next module in the series, although it can stand on its own just fine.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
DDAL05-06 Beneath the Fetid Chelimber (5e)
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DDAL05-02 The Black Road (5e)
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
by Chris P. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 02/22/2018 21:13:35

I have mixed feelings about this module. It is great for new players as it gets them familiar with things like combat, skill checks, and thinking critically, but there's very little substance to the adventure beyond the two combat encounters. In my experience running the module, the only section that allowed for significant role play was the optional encounter with the Zhentarim travelers, but that encounter didn't actually affect the rest of the adventure or give the players any useful information, so I'm inclined to just skip it.

The beginning of the adventure also sets up that the players need to buy desert clothing to avoid the harsh weather. When it came time for me to run the module for the first time, I realized that it never actually outlines the consequences of not buying desert clothing. I improvised and gave the players a DC10 CON check (with advantage for those with the clothing) after the sandstorm encounter or they would face a level of exhaustion, but that penalty didn't actually have an effect on the rest of the game. I'd love to hear ideas for alternatives.

Overall, I would only recommend this module to those who plan to play through all of Season 5 in order, as it serves as a nice prologue to the rest of the season and ties in especially well with DDAL05-3, which I really enjoy.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
DDAL05-02 The Black Road (5e)
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DDAL05-03 Uninvited Guests (5e)
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
by Chris P. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 02/18/2018 18:47:47

This is definitely my favorite Tier 1 adventure from any season to run as a DM. The adventure starts with the characters just arriving in the village of Parmast, which gives them tons of time to explore and roleplay with the citizens of the town. The conflicts of the story allow the players a lot of choice of which side to take, and unlike some adventures, their choices actually affect the encounters later on. Even during the final combat, there are opportunities for less combat-inclined players to help out through roleplaying and ability checks, which can actually aid their companions in the fight.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
DDAL05-03 Uninvited Guests (5e)
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