Update to Conceptual Guide to Online AL Play

A conceptual framework for someone new to D&D online play.

Often I see someone who is interested in playing Adventurers League D&D 5e games online.

If you want to play Adventurers League D&D 5e Online, this post should get you started.

First, D&D 5e.

To begin, you will want to get and read the basic rules, which are free.  Get them here: 

Eventually, you will want to purchase the 5e Players Handbook (PHB).  Get a copy from a Friendly Local Game Store (FLGS), or Amazon.

Second, Adventurers League. (AL)

You will want to download and the Adventurers League Players Guide (ALPG).  Get it here:

You *might* want to join the many different Facebook and Google+ groups that discuss AL topics. I'm not going to post the names of all of them -- that might be a post of its own.

Third Online.

I updated this in September of 2016, so if it's a long time since then, YMMV

Adventures League Online play consists of a network of rules, customs, software platforms, and an amazing number of amazing DMs who make use of this network to deliver a satisfying game experience to you.

The parts that we'll deal with are:

The ALOnlinetools.net website that coordinates many DMs with (3 to 7)*many players.  The tools site has many other features, but the DM/player coordination is its reason for existence.  The site itself is created and maintained by David Williamson who is not getting any money for his work on the site.  If I were paying $5/month to have access to the site, I'd be disgruntled by its many quirks.  Since I get to benefit from the site for free -- I'm quite gruntled.  The games are reserved quite often far in advance, and people should drop their reservations when they know they won't be able to make it, but frequently don't.  I'd guess that when you're listed as an Alternate, you have a better than 50% chance of being seated.  When you sign up for a game, each DM does things differently -- so read what they say.

The Voice Platform:  Commonly used voice platforms are Teamspeak and Skype, less frequently used are Google Hangouts and Discord.  The DM chooses the voice platform (and the software platform) and you need to be able to communicate via voice in addition to text chat (with very few exceptions, DMs will not allow you to play using only text chat).  I'm not going to get into the details of setting up all of the various voice platforms here. If you're just starting out, you might choose your first game to match a voice platform that you're familiar with.

The Software Platform: Commonly used software platforms are Fantasy Grounds and Roll20.  In general Fantasy Grounds DMs prefer Teamspeak and Roll20 DMs prefer Skype, but there are exceptions.  Both platforms allow you to play for free, with catches.  In Fantasy Grounds, you can play for free if the DM has purchased the Ultimate License.  In Roll20 you can play for free. As a new player, you should try one game in each system before deciding which you want to focus on.

Also, even if you have a Tier 2 or Tier 3 character -- don't use it -- start online with a new Level 1 character.  This is because people are much more tolerant of (even celebration of) new people in the Tier 1 games, but expect you to have some proficiency with the rules, voice platform, and software platform in Tier 2 or Tier 3 games.  After you feel comfortable playing, you can import your AL legal character from other games into a software platform.

Things to keep in mind:
     In Fantasy Grounds, you can create your character on anybody's server -- find a game that is going to begin in a half-hour join the server and work on your character.  When the DM comes on ask if you can keep working on your character, and if not, exit and save the work you've done so far.
     In Roll20, you can create a character on your own campaign, and use the Character Vault to move your character to a new campaign once you get invited.  I may create a blog post in the future to describe this process.  It might be easier to get an invite to the campaign you want to play in first, and create your character in that campaign.

In general, the community is very supportive of people who are new to the software, and even new to D&D in the Tier 1 adventures for characters between level 1 and level 4.

So:
1) Get a Level 1 character.
2) Download the Voice platforms your DMs will use.
3) Download Fantasy Grounds, and set up a Roll 20 account
4) Sign up for a game, e-mail the DM to let them know it's going to be your first game.

Other things to keep in mind.

You can play D&D using these platforms that is not AL legal.  Roll20 and Fantasy Ground (forums) are full of those games. You can even play other non D&D games using these platforms.

You can play AL legal D&D face to face.  You might want to see if you have a local FLGS (Friendly Local Game Store) in your community.  You can even play AL legal D&D at home.