ATtH is not a good example of Organized Play

[Dork_Rage]

I’ve just finished reading part one and I’ve got players signed up to play it next week.  While it seems like a fun scenario, it’s a very bad example of organized play.  I’m a regular DM for Adventurer’s League and will be running this scenario for my regular AL players.  What makes organized play work is the modular nature of the scenarios.  They are designed to be run in a 4 hour block and, most importantly, players and characters can easily drop into any given scenario.  This doesn’t seem to be the case as A Time to Harvest is set up as more of a mini campaign.  Players who can return week after week will be rewarded but drop in players, as you’d expect with an organized play game, will be lost.

has anyone had any experience with new players dropping in and out of their games?  How did you handle it?

[nclarke]

Have you considered that Chaosium had different criteria from WotC for their Organised Play product?

While AL is run as if no-one will return week on week an investigative scenario differs from the D&D style scenario as it requires continuity in the participants or you'll spend at least 1/3rd of the time each week explaining what's gone on and what clues have been found to new players leaving current players fuming.

You cannot compare apples to oranges so I suggest you find alternative ways of engaging players via one shot games that last just 3-4 hours (there's plenty of those conventions style games produced over the years) rather than blame Chaosium for providing an interesting mini-campaign that most CoC players enjoy.

[Dork_Rage]

Hmmm, I must have worded that very poorly to make you think I was complaining.  Sorry.  What I was ultimately doing was asking for guidance from people who have had players drop and add as the game went on.  As I am used to more modular stories that allowed that to happen and were, in fact, designed with that in mind.  A Time to Harvest is set up as a mini-campaign that can only truly be enjoyed if the same group of players play the entire campaign.  That's the part that doesn't really fit into the "organized play" concept.  

[nclarke]

Sorry, but modular games don't do investigation at all well. You either have to have everyone (just about) play every time you run or play a different scenario style  - the convention scenarios designed to run in 3-4 hours instead.

There's no way you can honestly have 5 of 6 players sit around for 30 minutes while you explain to the one person who didn't turn up previously what exactly went on last time.

Alternatively you can have a cheat sheet which you have to write every time to bring people up to speed and then either they have to read it before hand or during the game - not much fun at all.

BTW that's your 'organised play' concept which is tainted by association with the AL style of play. Anyone playing an investigative game like they play D&D will not enjoy themselves at all and will likely be dead in the first session.

[KeeperXav]

I'm starting a campaign soon at my FLGS at the end of the month and am going to be running ATtH and plan to support both playstyles. I expect to have a core group returning weekly but will make sure there's always a seat open for curious players who want to see what it's all about and their D&D game cancel!ed this week. I plan to keep a couple of extra characters ready I can pass out to players who want a one-shot. Either extra students or employees of the oil company or displaced townsfolk depending on which chapter. If no one is playing them, they are off studying in the library of whatever is appropriate.

i legitimately hope to attract both. The returning loyalists and the curious drop-in. I fully believe that a balance can be struck with this series of adventures to keep everyone engaged.

[Dork_Rage]

That's a great idea, KeeperXav.  I'll do the same.

[joggiwagga]

When I ran ATtH I had a mix of new players, core players, and replacing of PCs for various reasons.  It honestly worked fine, it was very easy to swap PCs in and out depending on who was present.  Find a connection for the new person to be involved, and allow that new character to discover the weirdness as they go.

That being said, part one of ATtH was very much a 2 session chapter when I've run it.

[KeeperXav]

I don't expect to get through Ch1 in a single session either. 2-3 seems likely. I want to allow enough time to let the investigators explore and to establish the NPCs.  Plus the includes session zero.

I plan to use the first session to put the timeframe in historical context, and to have a discussion and interviews with the players to help them figure out some history and relationships for their characters before the first dice are rolled.

If we have time to start the story and do something exciting afterward then great!

Edited July 9, 2018 by KeeperXav

[GregFerguson]

I agree that there is a difference in play styles between the Genre's but I am sure that a system can be worked out, but it will take work and training.  (See future posts)

[Numtini]

I agree with the OP that it's not really a great option for organized play in the classic sense of a night at the FLGS. I don't think we finished any of the chapters in a single session. I felt like there was a significant amount of referencing earlier sessions as well, which would make it tough if you didn't at least have a core of players. We had a great time with it, but it was run as a campaign with a few of us as core players and people coming in and out was just an unpleasant aspect of life on roll20, not really a goal unto itself. OTOH in terms of bringing players into the fold,  while I go back to 1st edition, I hadn't played more than a handful of games in the last 20 or so years and finding a ATtH game on roll20 dragged me back in and I'm now involved with two to three per week. So mission accomplished I guess.

I'd disagree that modular scenarios can't do investigation well. You can easily do single session one shots within some kind of frame and which follow a theme to a longer term conclusion. I'm not sure that's the kind of book that Chaosium wants to publish though and I know that was one of the things they wanted from ATtH. Stygian Fox is doing well with shorter scenario anthologies, so there's a market, but it doesn't really "feel" like where Chaosium's at right now.

[KeeperXav]

One thing to keep in mind though, if new players don't have all the pieces of the story, that's pretty much status quo for CoC. Lol