The D&D Championship isn’t going to be our only focus while were in Indianapolis. As you can probably guess, we’ll be playing a whole lot of D&D. We’re also looking forward to meeting other gamers and bloggers, as well as authors and game designers from Wizards of the Coast and other small publishing houses. We plan to hit a few seminars and even try out some new games. Yes, we’re actually going to try something other than D&D – something I haven’t done in a very long time. We’ve already registered for a few games but our schedules aren’t complete yet. As we nail down our schedules we’ll share what we’ve got on tap with our readers. But today I want to focus on the Championship.
The D&D Open Championship isn’t all that different from a normal D&D adventure. The difference is that the players are scored on their teamwork and their levels of success. The better you do the more points you earn. The winner gets an obscene amount of swag from Wizards of the Coast. Last year’s champions each won over $1,000 in books and minis. I want to win this year.
The exact details of this year’s event are a bit sketchy (since Wizards hasn’t officially announced their complete GenCon lineup yet). This is the only description I’ve been able to dig up so far. It’s brief but you still get an idea of what it’s all about.
D&D Open Championship: A Hole in the World
Five heroes on their final epic journey must band together to save their world from the ravages of the Abyss. But stopping the world from the Abyssal assault isn’t enough; they must face down the demon lord responsible once and for all to end the threat! This D&D Open Championship is a qualifying round consisting of 5 encounters that must be passed in order to enter the final round. Epic-tier characters are provided. Form your team (5 + alternate) and prepare to prove your group can make it to the final round and be crowned D&D Champions!
My only basis for comparison is my experience from last year’s GenCon. I was fortunate enough to advance to last year’s final, but regrettably I didn’t win. Last year the PCs began at level 2 and everyone was able to create their own character. This year the adventure is at least level 21 (epic tier) and the characters are pre-generated. Apparently in years past, characters have always been provided for the Championship – last year being the first time players could bring their own PC. Personally, I have no problem with pre-generated characters. It should level the playing field and let the truly creative players shine.
Since the Championship requires a team of five, Wimwick and I are looking for three more players to round out our team. If you’re going to GenCon this summer and you’d like to participate in the D&D Championship, we want you to join our team. We’re currently registered to play on Thursday, August 5, at 1:00 p.m. This is the second slot on the first day. The event code is RPGA1016086 (D&D Open Championship: A Hole in the World) and there are still 40+ tickets available.
Ideally we’re looking for experienced players. Since it’s going to be epic tier play it’s important that you’ve familiar and comfortable playing high level games. Although we haven’t had many opportunities to play epic tier ourselves, we’re going to run through a bunch of Dungeon Delves before GenCon to get a better feel for it. If we learn anything else before August about the Championship we’ll be sure to post it.
Here is the complete coverage of my 2009 D&D Open Championship experience, as well as my letter to Wizards in which I share my thoughts, feedback and suggestions for improvement.
- GenCon: D&D Championship Qualifying Round
- GenCon: D&D Championship Semi-Finals
- GenCon: D&D Championship Finals
- An Open Letter to Wizards of the Coast on the D&D Championship
I know that at least two members of C-Team, last year’s D&D Open Championship winners, are not attending GenCon this summer. That means that none of us need to worry about competing against last year’s championship team. It’s an open field, may the best gamers win.
Update: Wizards of the Coast posted the Characters for the D&D Open Championship.
View Comments (8)
Me and some friends are attending genCon, and interested in joining you for the Open championship. We do not have the most expieriance, but i will run some epic leveled delves with them to get the feel down if your willing to try some younger players.
Dear Team Dungeon's Master:
You are going down.
Sincerely,
Team Critical Hits
:)
.-= Dave T. Game´s last blog ..How the iPad Changes D&D =-.
@Grant Marthinsen
I'll send you a private email this weekend to talk about this in more detail.
@Dave T. Game
It sounds like Team Critical Hits is getting kind of loud over there. Do you guys care to make a wager on which of us will finish higher in the D&D Open Championship? Nothing makes competition more exciting than a friendly wager.
In response to your latest email...
We just happen to be a team of 3 going to our very first GenCon. We'd love to play alongside some experienced attendees, but our tickets are for 8/6 @ 7PM.
If we can some how meet up though (do they exchange tickets?), that would be very cool!
In any case, best of luck!
@Surfbored
I'll send you a private email tonight and we can discuss options.
@Ameron
Didn't see the email yet, did you make other arrangements, or do you still want to discuss meeting up?
We're still game on this end!
Not sure if this is too late to post... You know, the day before you leave... But hi! I and Mechafishy (the two returning players of the C-Team) will be at GenCon this year, and we are actually in the same qualifying round as you! If you're looking for two experienced D&D Players that have picked apart these characters, and really examined them closely? We might be interested in joining up.
I was the one who played the Bravura warlord in the Championship last year. Mechafishy told me about this site, a while ago. So, hi.
@sndwurks
Your timing is excellent. We'd be happy to join forces. I'll send you a one-off email when I get home this evening.
We've studied all of the pre-gens and have even played the level 25 and level 30 versions a couple of times already. We're doing everything we can to win!