DDAL Best Adventurers League Season 1-10 / Advice on running it from home

[not-so-newguy]

Hi!
My DCC campaign is kaput*, so I'm considering running a 5e 2014 game again. The thing is that scheduling is a pain in the butt; a few players are very dedicated, others have crazy schedules, and a few others are just flaky. I figure that running an AL style campaign at home would resolve this problem; players can show up as they please and I can get my gaming fix.

I plan to use 5e 2014 rules and adhere to the rules for AL as if I was running it in an FLGS. I understand that some rules have changed from season to season, but I'll pick what work best for my situation. Advice on that is welcomed.

I made a poll just for fun, but I'd rather hear your opinions.

1. What was the best season to run/play in? I'm looking for best season overall. If a single adventure was great but the rest of the season sucked, then I'm not interested.

2. Bonus points for advising on what order to run the adventures.

3. Extra bonus points for sharing your opinion on AL rules for running a game.

4. Anything else dealing with AL that I haven't considered.





*PRO-TIP: If you kill 20+ characters over the course of a campaign, then the players will probably start to resent you. Who knew?

 

[Jolly Ruby]

Most seasons have some good adventures and some almost unplayable ones. My favourite as a DM is Storm King's Thunder: most adventures are fun without needing adjustments, and the Parnast bunch make a solid campaign when played together (I haven't played the other tiers). I doesn't remember the ideal order but I'm sure I have it written somewhere. I'll be back with it soon if nobody does it before me.

 

[jayoungr]

I ran season 4 (the Ravenloft season) as a home campaign. It was very successful, but I did quite a lot of massaging to make it work--partly because my group plays in a world where Barovia is just a place on the map, not a separate demiplane. I wrote up my experiences in this thread, but I need to finish the writeups for the last few adventures:

DDAL - Running DDAL04 (Ravenloft) Adventures as a Campaign

I've begun running season 4 of the DDAL adventures ("Misty Fortunes and Absent Hearts," the ones corresponding to Curse of Strahd) as a short campaign for a home table (i.e., not worrying about being AL compatible). There are 14 adventures in the season, and while they basically fit together...

www.enworld.org

 

[not-so-newguy]

. I doesn't remember the ideal order but I'm sure I have it written somewhere. I'll be back with it soon if nobody does it before me.

I found this:

The order you should play this in.

I got you boo!

01 is Level 1-2 and includes 5 mini adventures, mostly unrelated to the overall Giant plotline.

Tier 1: Parnast Problems

• 02, you travel to Parnast
• 03, 10, 06+07 are 'same time' interchangeable
• They all have a bit of a side quest feel, but slowly begin to show you pieces of the puzzle that is the giant's forces building
• 12, which puts the town's future in the party's hands and relies on their understanding of the folk living there
• 16, a siege where they protect the town from the Hill Giant Bad Fruul and his mob of goblins, orcs, ogres and worst of all - bears

Tier 2: Chilling Consequences

• If you happen to have access to DDAL-CGB Cloud Giant's Bargain that should be placed before or after 05 for the best understanding of the plot progression. But not too soon, because otherwise the players may question the validity of the claims of said Cloud Giant.
• 04, 05, 11, 13 are all 'same time' but I would run this in reverse
• In 13 the party goes up into the Spires to determine whats going on with the Giant migration due to the Horn.
• 11 is a long dungeon that gives a lot of history, establishing the 'ticking clock' and the villain
• 05 is a bit of a side quest so you can put it anywhere in the order. Perhaps it makes more sense to do first because there is little tie-in about the incursion of giants under Ryndolg.
• 04 is a great module with a climactic ending, mostly focused on ogres and their kin but includes giants towards the end, probably in passing for your group. Still, it has the sense of danger coming soon.
• then 17, which is the conclusion and ending of the arc overall.
• If you could, I would put 17 at the VERY end of the story after tier 3 and 4 because you literally fight the villain Jarl Ryndolg, a beefy Frost Giant with his army of 'inconceivable numbers' in the background. A good ending if you stop at level 10.

Tier 3: Gigantic Grievances

• 08 and 09 go together, and probably should be first but doesnt have to be.
• 14 and 15 go together, and should be second as a follow-up from Durlag but can be run in isolation

Tier 4: Ominous Outcomes

* 18 and 19 of course, go together in order.

 

[Jolly Ruby]

I found this:

That's better than the notes I had!

 

[Burnside]

Several years ago I ran the Season 5 Tier 1 adventures for my home group; wrote them up here:

D&D 5E - AL Season 5 without AL