S8 Rewards and Equipment

Spending Treasure Checkpoints

Unlike the rules given in XGE, DDAL does not require you to spend your treasure checkpoints immediately. You may bank them on your logsheet and spend them as desired. However, treasure checkpoints may not be spent on items above the tier at which the checkpoints were earned. Thus, treasure checkpoints earned at tier 1, may only be spent on items earned on tier 1 items, while tier 2 treasure points could be spent on tier 1 or 2 items.

Converting Your Current Treasure

Your character keeps all of the gold and items they currently have except as listed below under Problematic Items (below). Rules for trading items are not changed.

• • Faction Items. Treasure previously available for purchase from your faction, if you had one, is no longer available. Any items you have purchased by this method are retained.

  • Problematic Items. Some items currently in the campaign have proven disproportionately disruptive and are immediately removed from play. If your character has one of these items, they receive the listed compensation. If there is a choice of items or treasure checkpoints, you must choose one of the options. If you gain treasure points, you must spend immediately on items of your character’s tier or lower using the Treasure Points lists above. If you’re still playing the adventure from which the items were awarded, immediately convert it to a Story Item (see below) instead of gaining treasure checkpoints and begin earning treasure checkpoints as described above.

  • Illegal Items. The linked items were never legal for DDAL play (see the FAQ). If you have them, remove them from your character’s list of magic items.

  • Problematic Items that Advance a Story. Some items on this list, such as the Icon of Ravenloft or Tinderstrike, are found in hardcover adventures where the item is needed to complete the goal of the adventure. These magic items become a special kind of Story Award that is bound to the party. Once the characters find one of these items, the party is considered to have it whenever they are playing that adventure—so long as one of the characters that found it is present. If a character leaves the party to participate in a different adventure, the item stays behind for other members of the party to use and does not go with the traveling character but is available to be used by them should they return. When the adventure is completed, the story award expires, and the item is removed from play.

Equipment

Your character may sell or buy equipment using the rules found in the Player’s Handbook. Between sessions, your character may purchase equipment found in any resource listed in Step 1 & 2, above. Individual adventures may provide limitations on what equipment is available for purchase during play.

Rewards and equipment can’t be given to another character, except as follows:

• • You may lend equipment and consumable items to other characters at your table but must return it at the end of the session (unless it’s been consumed).

  • Permanent magic items may be traded (see below).

  • Characters may choose to divide the cost of NPC spellcasting services obtained during an adventure.

Buying Potions and Scrolls

Similarly, your character can purchase potions and scrolls per the tables below. The cost of scrolls below is in addition to any component cost - regardless of whether it’s consumed or not.

Potions for Sale

The Adventure Logsheet

You must use an adventure logsheet to track your character’s rewards from adventure to adventure.

• • Session Number. Record the session’s number. This will help you keep your adventure logsheets organized as you accumulate more.

  • Advancement and Treasure Checkpoints. Annotate the number and tier of any checkpoints your character earned at the end of the session.

  • Downtime. Annotate how many downtime days you earned and spent at the end of each session (including what days, if any, were spent towards a long-term downtime activity—such as training). For example, if you spent 10 days learning Gnomish write “Training: Gnomish (10)” in the adventure logsheet’s note section. You don’t pay lifestyle when spending downtime.

  • Item Unlocks. Annotate what magic items or special treasure (if any) you unlocked during the session.

  • Gold. If your character gains a level (or for 20th-level characters, for each 8 advancement checkpoints you earn), add the gp reward they earn as determined by the table below. This gold can be spent or saved - recording expenditures normally.

• Renown. Note any renown earned.

• Adventure Notes. Record other important things that happened during the adventure or information you’ll need later, here: deaths, special rewards (story awards, renown, etc.), special events, leveling up, etc.

Advancement

As you level, your character evolves and grows. In advancing your character the following rules apply:

• • Character Rebuilding. You may choose to rebuild your character prior to playing their first adventure as a 5th-level character (levels 1-4). You can change any of your character’s statistics but their name. Other, non-mechanical aspects of your character such as their alignment, sex, gender, or personality traits can be changed between sessions regardless of their level. Your character keeps any rewards and equipment earned to that point. If you change your characters class or background, they lose any equipment (along with the proceeds from selling it, or benefits derived from it, such as copied spells) associated with the class or background. Similarly, if you change their faction, you also lose any renown from their former faction.

  • Advancing Your Character. Your character advances using the race and class options (including the multiclass rules, feats, spells) provided in your PHB+1. When you gain a level, use the fixed hit point value in your class entry; don’t roll your hit points.

  • Faction Advancement. If you earn enough renown to advance a rank in your character’s faction, they do so at the end of the session. Note their new rank on their character sheet and in your adventure logsheet.

My Characters Aren’t Advancing Fast Enough

• • Sometimes characters fall behind the adventure’s expected level. Aside from Catching Up and DM Rewards, there are two suggested methods of accelerating character advancement:

  • Random Encounters. You can’t grant players advancement checkpoints to make up the deficit, but you may add random encounters as needed if the adventure provides a list of random encounters.

  • Other DD-Series Adventures. In extreme cases, even random encounters may not be enough, or may be simply unavailable. Consider exploring weaving an adventure or two into the campaign to help out

Dungeon Master Rewards

DMs earn advancement and treasure checkpoints at the same rate as players that they can then apply to their own characters. DMs don’t earn magic item unlocks or other special rewards awarded by an adventure (such as story awards, downtime activities, etc.)

Dungeon Master Quests. DM Quests are out-of-game objectives that you complete for additional rewards such as checkpoints, magic item unlocks, etc. The DM Quest packet contains a DM Quest card and other documents. Magic items earned by DMs through the DM Quest program can’t be traded, but items that the players’ characters receive, can.

How Does Treasure Work?

• • It depends. As a general rule, if it is found in an adventure, the characters can take it. Whether or not they can keep it is another matter.

  • Nonmagical Items. As a general rule, mundane equipment and treasure can’t be kept - even if listed under a treasure subheading. The characters can use the items, but such items are lost at the end of the session - they crumble to dust, break, are lost, or are other rendered useless. The items can’t be sold and any gp found can’t be utilized - it too disappears at the end of the session in which it’s found.

  • Magical Items. If the item - or the table on which it is determined - is specifically mentioned as being present in the encounter, the item is unlocked by the characters for later purchase.

Specific Treasure FAQ

• How Do I Know What Is or Isn’t a Magic Item? Magic items are always annotated in italics. If the item isn’t italicized, it isn’t a magic item.

• How Many Magic Arrows do the Characters Find? Parcels of +X ammunition are found in lots of 1d6. Any other magical ammunition are individually.

• The Adventures Directs Me/the Player to Pick the Item… If an adventure specifically allows the player or the DM to choose an item for their character to unlock, the item selected is chosen from either the DMG or the adventure in which the item is awarded. If the adventure is silent on the rarity of the item, it must be tier-appropriate to the character receiving it.

• Can I Award Armor Nonstandard Material? Unless specifically mentioned in the adventure or encounter it is found in, armor is made of the materials described in the PHB.

  • I Don’t Know What My Item’s Rarity Is. Items are of like rarity to items found in the DMG unless they possess additional properties outside of those found in the Special Features tables on pages 142 and 143 of the DMG. This includes, but isn’t limited to saving throw bonuses, intelligence, additional benefits against specific foes, etc. Items like this are considered unique items. Items without a specified rarity or those that possess unusual properties are unique and can’t be traded.

  • What if the Certificate Lists a Rarity? Any item that doesn’t have a complete description (e.g., staff of defense, etc.) is considered unique *unless* you have a certificate which establishes the item’s rarity. You must possess an original, physical certificate (i.e., not a photocopy, photograph, scanned copy, etc.) of the certificate from the item in question, specifically from the adventure it was obtained from and it must accompany the trade.

  • Can My Familiar Attune to a Magic Item? Any item attuned to a creature under your control (familiars, beast companions, etc.) counts against both your character’s limit of three attuned items and the character’s permanent magic item count. This rule doesn’t imply that such creatures have the ability to attune to magic items. Whether or not a mindless undead creature—for example—can attune to something is subject to DM discretion.

  • Can I Take an Item of Lesser Rarity? If you are allowed to choose an item of a specific rarity, you may choose one of a lesser rarity unless otherwise specified. For example, if you are allowed you to pick a rare consumable item, you can choose an uncommon one instead.