D&D Adventurers League: Difference between revisions
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At each tournament, a [[Dungeon Master]] and four to eight players would play a 4-hour adventure supplied by the RPGA. Each player was given a pre-generated character with a background, equipment, and some limited information about the other characters at the table. At the end of the adventure, the players and Dungeon Master would select one player at the table as the "winner" of the adventure, based on his or her knowledge of the rules and role-playing ability. All players were awarded experience points based on how well they did in competitive events, and could add to that experience point total at the next event, allowing them, over time to advance to higher levels. |
At each tournament, a [[Dungeon Master]] and four to eight players would play a 4-hour adventure supplied by the RPGA. Each player was given a pre-generated character with a background, equipment, and some limited information about the other characters at the table. At the end of the adventure, the players and Dungeon Master would select one player at the table as the "winner" of the adventure, based on his or her knowledge of the rules and role-playing ability. All players were awarded experience points based on how well they did in competitive events, and could add to that experience point total at the next event, allowing them, over time to advance to higher levels. |
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Membership was originally paid by a yearly fee, and included a subscription to [[Polyhedron (magazine)|''Polyhedron'']] magazine (which was originally the official publication of the RPGA).<ref name="D&Dfaq"/><ref name=":2" />{{rp|152}} In the early years, membership was largely limited to North America, but in 1989, the RPGA Network branched out into Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the U.K., Israel, and Australia.<ref name="history"/> |
Membership was originally paid by a yearly fee, and included a subscription to [[Polyhedron (magazine)|''Polyhedron'']] magazine (which was originally the official publication of the RPGA).<ref name="D&Dfaq"/><ref name=":2" />{{rp|152}} In the early years, membership was largely limited to North America, but in 1989, the RPGA Network branched out into Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the U.K., Israel, and Australia.<ref name="history"/><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/648167119|title=Gaming Lives in the Twenty-First Century: Literate Connections|date=2007|others=Cynthia L. Selfe, Gail E. Hawisher, Derek Van Ittersum|isbn=978-0-230-60176-5|edition=First|location=New York|pages=146|oclc=648167119}}</ref> |
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In 1987, Instead of presenting single adventures that were not linked to any previous or subsequent adventures, RPGA conceived of a long-term endeavour, called a [[living campaign]], where the actions of the players would have an impact on the overall campaign story arc.<ref name="designers"/>{{rp|13}} The first campaign of this type was ''Living City'', a series of adventures set in the city of [[Ravens Bluff|Raven's Bluff]]. |
In 1987, Instead of presenting single adventures that were not linked to any previous or subsequent adventures, RPGA conceived of a long-term endeavour, called a [[living campaign]], where the actions of the players would have an impact on the overall campaign story arc.<ref name="designers"/>{{rp|13}} The first campaign of this type was ''Living City'', a series of adventures set in the city of [[Ravens Bluff|Raven's Bluff]]. |
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Revision as of 19:36, 28 March 2021
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (May 2015) |
The RPGA (also called the Role Playing Game Association and the RPGA Network at various times), was initially part of the organized play arm of TSR, Inc and then Wizards of the Coast. From 1980 to 2014, it organized and sanctioned role-playing games worldwide.
History
Frank Mentzer, one of the first full-time employees of TSR, Inc., the original publishers of the Dungeons and Dragons game, conceived of the Role Playing Game Association (RPGA) in order to promote quality roleplaying and to allow fans of roleplaying games to meet and play games with each other.[1][2] Mentzer founded RPGA in November 1980 primarily to run tournaments at gaming conventions using TSR's top sellers: AD&D, Gamma World and Top Secret.[3]: 13 In 1991, the RPGA ran 179 of these events.[4]: 152
At each tournament, a Dungeon Master and four to eight players would play a 4-hour adventure supplied by the RPGA. Each player was given a pre-generated character with a background, equipment, and some limited information about the other characters at the table. At the end of the adventure, the players and Dungeon Master would select one player at the table as the "winner" of the adventure, based on his or her knowledge of the rules and role-playing ability. All players were awarded experience points based on how well they did in competitive events, and could add to that experience point total at the next event, allowing them, over time to advance to higher levels.
Membership was originally paid by a yearly fee, and included a subscription to Polyhedron magazine (which was originally the official publication of the RPGA).[1][4]: 152 In the early years, membership was largely limited to North America, but in 1989, the RPGA Network branched out into Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the U.K., Israel, and Australia.[2][5]
In 1987, Instead of presenting single adventures that were not linked to any previous or subsequent adventures, RPGA conceived of a long-term endeavour, called a living campaign, where the actions of the players would have an impact on the overall campaign story arc.[3]: 13 The first campaign of this type was Living City, a series of adventures set in the city of Raven's Bluff. The first "Living City" module was "Caravan" released in August of 1987 at Gen Con.
Unlike previous RPGA tournament play, where players were given a pre-generated character, Living City adventures required each player to provide their own character. Previously, experience points had been accumulated by the player, but now experience points were accumulated by the player's character. Bringing the same character back to subsequent adventures allowed that character to accumulate more experience points and greater powers.
In order to have an effect on the overall storyline, at the end of each adventure, the players would send the result of their play to RPGA headquarters for compilation. Success or failure by a majority of players would result in a change to the campaign storyline.[6]: 71 For example, if most players in a particular adventure succeeded in lifting a curse, the curse would not appear in future adventures. "The RPGA set the template for MMORPGs; adventurers existing in the same world in a sort of mega-universe".[6]: 71–72
Living City proved to be a popular concept, and in the first decade of the twenty-first century, RPGA created a variety of living campaigns. The largest was Living Greyhawk, played by thousands of people around the world from 2000 to 2008. At this point, RPGA had members on all continents of the world except Antarctica.[1] "Creighton Broadhurst, who was in charge of the core modules for the Living Greyhawk world, explains that if a DM ventures too far off the pre-written adventure, players might get confused in subsequent RPGA adventures [...]. Writers for RPGA modules often come from within the RPGA community rather than being outside game designers. [...] RPGS writers must continually produce modules that will be used by the group. Adventurers [were] released on a weekly basis".[7]: 135
In 2002, RPGA membership became free, but the subscription to Polyhedron was no longer included as a membership benefit because the magazine had been bought by Paizo Publishing, who then published it as a section of Dungeon.[3]: 13
In 2014, WotC shut down the RPGA, replacing it with the D&D Adventurer's League.[8]
Reception
Jennifer Grouling Cover, in the book The Creation of Narrative in Tabletop Role-Playing Games, highlighted the constraints of RPGA weekend conventions. She wrote, "Because members of the RPGA move from one adventure to another, often with different players, there must be some attempts to maintain consistency in the world and the plotlines experienced. Thus, the DM of an RPGA game does not have the same flexibility that other DMs enjoy. In addition, time is often a constraint. [...] The constraints of the RPGA convention meant that the DM needed to convey certain information about the world and the story for these players to move on to other games during the course of that weekend that would build on this adventure. Therefore, rather than exploring whatever areas of space and elements of plot interested this particular gaming group, there was a pressure to cover certain storylines".[7]: 82–83
See also
References
- ^ a b c "Dungeons & Dragons FAQ". Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2008-10-03. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
- ^ a b "The History of TSR". Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2008-10-04. Retrieved 2005-08-20.
- ^ a b c Shannon Appelcline (2011). Designers & Dragons. Mongoose Publishing. ISBN 978-1-907702-58-7.
- ^ a b Ploeg, Scott D. Vander; Phillips, Kenneth (1998). "Playing With Power: The Science of Magic in Interactive Fantasy". Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts. 9 (2 (34)): 142–156. ISSN 0897-0521. JSTOR 43308337.
- ^ Gaming Lives in the Twenty-First Century: Literate Connections. Cynthia L. Selfe, Gail E. Hawisher, Derek Van Ittersum (First ed.). New York. 2007. p. 146. ISBN 978-0-230-60176-5. OCLC 648167119.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ a b Tresca, Michael J. (2011). The Evolution of Fantasy Role-Playing Games. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co. pp. 64–65. ISBN 978-0-7864-6009-0. OCLC 697175248.
- ^ a b Cover, Jennifer Grouling (2010). The Creation of Narrative in Tabletop Role-Playing Games. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co. Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7864-5617-8. OCLC 650516777.
- ^ Lindsay, Chris (2017-11-13). "Adventurer's League Survey: You say you want a revolution…". Dungeons & Dragons. Wizards of the Coast. Retrieved 2018-09-03.