How do I get in on table top DnD/Pathfinder? Most of the events look sold out. Those that aren't seem to have complex pre-requisites. Can anyone help a newish to Con rpg fan figure out how to play a lot of DnD?
I can speak to the DnD side (since I run it).
Everything we do is part of the D&D Adventurer's League. (Pathfinder has their version called oddly enough Pathfinder Society).
This allows you to make a character (or use a pregen) and play in various adventures at the show (or your local convention or even store) and keep that same character and continue to level him up and play with lots of different people. It can sound a little confusing at first but once you play a few games it becomes really simple and a lot of fun.
While most of our D&D events are sold out we continue to recruit great DM's and normally sit about 10-15% more players then our tickets show due to accepting generics. As a new player I would suggest playing in "Intro to Adventure" or "DND AL 5-1" as your first events. This cost 2 generics and happen every 2 hours starting at 8am each morning. You can grab a pre-gen 1st level character and have some fun (and they can be played multiple times). I have twice as many DM's ready compared to tickets so we will be sitting extra people every time. If you have fun with that we can look at getting you into one of our 4 hour games that start 8am, noon, 5pm, and 9pm every day.
All of these D&D games are in the Hyatt Regency Ballroom so stop by and visit.
So I should try to use generics to get in on "Intro to Adventure" early in the Con. Assuming that goes well I can use that character in other adventures? You plan for generics so even though everything looks soldout I may be able to get into a few games by arriving early and signing up on a wait list?
Is my DCI number useful for this at all?
This response is very helpful. Thank you!
You'll definitely want your DCI number. Your DMs will thank you for it!
You will be able to use your character in other adventures. Adventurer's League is divided into tiers of character levels. Tier 1 is for levels 1 - 4; tier 2 for levels 5 - 10. You can play Intro to Adventure more than once with the same character (it will be divided into parts - you should be able to play each part once).
Hope you have tons of fun!
Correct. If you show up early (10-15 minutes) to a scheduled game time with generics (especially on Thursday and Sunday) I can just about guarantee you will be sitting in a game playing.
DCI # is useful but not required (as in years past).
Dave BMG
This is why I miss Tower of Gygax :( If you had some time on your hands, you could just show up with some generic tickets and sit down and play for a while.