The Big Update: Game On, August 2022 Edition

Illustration by Robson Michel.


Hello everyone! We've been spending a good part of the summer working on some exciting updates for Adventurers League going forward. It's been a long while since I last posted a good update, and today's promises to be a hearty stew of news. We'll start with the biggest bit, and then move on to other pieces. 


Adventure Content Update

As I've mentioned before, one of the primary pillars of Adventurers League is its community. There are a lot of great creators out there, making all sorts of cool content on the DMsGuild. We love the creativity, and going forward, we're looking at two primary ways you'll engage with adventure content.


1. Playing adventures adapted from official D&D releases. 

2. Playing adventures created by the community, including our premier organizer partners (currently Baldman Games and The Gamehole). 


This means we'll be moving away from content created by our admin-led process - something we would call "D&D Adventurers League official." Now, we'll have official D&D content adapted for play, and community-created content. In general, our goal is to motivate newer players to play official D&D releases first, and then as they get hungry for more, to look to the community adventures to satisfy that need.


In practice, it means that this won't affect day-to-day play much at all - you'll still have plenty of adventure options. On the administration side, this is a lot of work to shift the model, and we have some additional details below.


Dreams of the Red Wizards

A new series of four short introductory adventures will release in October and November on DMsGuild. These four introductory adventures serve as a great way to start a new 1st level character in the Dreams of the Red Wizards storyline. They also represent the last of the admin-led adventure content that will appear on DMsGuild. 


Our organizer partner, Baldman Games, has agreed to continue the storyline with guidance from our administrators. While there will be a delay in the next story arc's arrival to late in the year, we anticipate that the campaign will continue on without much other disruption.


Spelljammer Season

We had always planned our content model around what we did last year for The Wild Beyond the Witchlight​, so from our perspective, there's not really a change here. But to lay it all out, here's what's happening with Spelljammer:


Spelljammer: Adventures in Space adaptation guide is available. While we await website updates (see below) it is available on the official Dungeons and Dragons Discord server, in the "al-updates" channel [updated release information].  

Spelljammer Academy series remains playable in the Forgotten Realms campaign. It's still the best way to get leveled up to play Light of Xaryxis (the adventure in the Spelljammer product). 

- A Spelljammer Dungeoncraft document is also available on the D&D Discord server (#al-updates) while we await website updates. Much like with last year's Dungeoncraft, we're opening up Wildspace for your creativity to shine! [updated release information]

- All Spelljammer play will be tied to the Forgotten Realms Adventurers League campaign.


Epic Adventures

We're moving design of the multi-table epic adventures over to our premier organizer partners. Epics are labor intensive and require a lot more coordination in design than single-table adventures, so we wanted to let our experienced convention partners develop them going forward. 


Admin Shuffle

As a result of these changes, our administrator roles are changing, and we're going to say goodbye to one of our long-serving admins. 

- Claire Hoffman will continue as the organizer and event liaison, as well as contribute to Dungeoncraft documentation.

- Toni Winslow-Brill will be our communications lead, responsible for social media and blog strategy. 

- Ma'at Crook will continue work on diversity, inclusion, and accessibility and will also take on the massive role of Discord community lead as well as the lead for community events. 

- Greg Marks will be a content facilitator, responsible for coordinating with our premier organizer partners, Dungeoncraft development, and creating adaptation guides for official D&D products. 


And lastly, we'll be bidding safe journey to our longtime administrator, Travis Woodall. He'll finish out September before heading out into the mists. I brought Travis onto the Adventurers League team all the way back in 2014 before fifth edition released. He's contributed so much to Adventurers League content over his 8+ years, and we'll miss having him on the team. If you see Travis around on socials or in real life, give him a thanks for being awesome. 


Dungeoncraft Update

When we decided on these changes, we also decided to make Adventurers League a lot more appealing for creators, Dungeon Masters, and players by expanding our Dungeoncraft program. Dungeoncraft is our community-created content program, which allows anyone following specific guidance to create Adventurers League content. Right now, it's focused on the Forgotten Realms, but we have exciting news to share! 


Eberron and Ravenloft will be receiving Dungeoncraft support, and we plan on supporting additional D&D worlds as they release in the future. Each world will receive a separate Dungeoncraft document. Information to come on both Eberron and Ravenloft Dungeoncrafts release dates [updated release information].


One Ruleset, Many Worlds

We're also taking steps to modify our existing Adventurers League rules and documentation to be broadly applicable, no matter what world you're playing in! While characters will still be linked to a specific world, they will all use the same rules and guidelines for play (they're all part of the same play format), making it easy for players to understand how the system works. We'll be using our current rules for the Forgotten Realms campaign as the baseline. Each world will have a small number of specific considerations. These include:


- Rule sources for character creation will be slightly different per campaign. For example, Eberron characters will be able to use the Eberron: Rising from the Last War rules source, but won't have access to the rules sources specific to Forgotten Realms. Almost all of the rules sources for character creation will be applicable across each campaign world. 

- There will be a specific FAQ section to address any challenges or clarifications needed for play in those worlds. 

- Some of the official D&D adventure adaptations will be accessible to characters from different campaign worlds. 


What about Ravenloft: Mist HuntersEberron: Oracle of War, Critical Role content, etc.? Those are still playable as their own campaigns with their own rules. However, adventures from Ravenloft and Eberron will be also integrated into their respective Adventurers League campaign play format. Critical Role is essentially the same format as Forgotten Realms, so it really doesn't need any updates. We'll provide guidance on how to adapt adventures from Ravenloft and Eberron as necessary. 


What's Cooking

We have several documents and guidelines on the way soon! Here's a status report.


- Webpage Update. We are in the process of  revising our Adventurers League landing pages in on the Wizards site. We'll also post the Critical Role Pack and Journeys through the Radiant Citadel adaptation guide there as well (you can obtain them right now on the D&D Discord server, #al-updates). 

- Big Adaptation Guide Revision. This is being worked on internally. We expect to see this publicly available by the end of November [updated release information], aligning with the other document drops.

- DM's Guide, Player's Guide Updates. We'll be dropping these by the end of November [updated release information]

Service Awards. Are currently available on the D&D Discord server (#al-updates) while we await website updates [updated release information]


There's a lot happening, and I shall return very soon with some more news before the season changes. We have a lot of exciting things planned for the near future, so keep your eyes peeled on our Discord server or our Twitter account for news!


To Wildspace and Beyond!