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Xanathar’s Guide to Everything seems amazing. It seems a shame not to be able to use it in Adventurers League play along with one of the other supplements, in addition to the Player’s Handbook.

How does one successfully advocate for a change to Adventurers League policy to allow combining material it currently disallows? Are there any direct statements from AL staff or evidence that they take into account any specific channel of player feedback?

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    \$\begingroup\$ Maybe there's a possible question here about how Adventurer's League rule decisions are made, and how those decisions might be influenced? \$\endgroup\$
    – mattdm
    Oct 7, 2017 at 21:13
  • \$\begingroup\$ I thought that the guide would be allowed: according to the August 25th version of the Adventurer's League Player's Guide, "Xanathar's Guide to Everything" is one of the permitted sources to use. This question is still worthwhile regardless of that, but it seemed worth mentioning. dmsguild.com/product/208178/DD-Adventurers-League-Players-Pack \$\endgroup\$ Oct 9, 2017 at 17:21
  • \$\begingroup\$ I’m sure it will be allowed. The real question is whether you can play an Aasimar Celestial Warlock. That combo, which is an extremely obvious one, would require Volo’s and Xanathar’s, which is currently illegal. \$\endgroup\$
    – user39712
    Oct 9, 2017 at 19:47
  • \$\begingroup\$ Related: Is the upcoming D&D 5e supplement “Xanathar’s Guide to Everything” AL-legal? \$\endgroup\$
    – V2Blast
    Mar 19, 2020 at 8:05

3 Answers 3

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You can advocate whatever you'd like, but don't expect any response or effect.

There is no process in place with WoTC or the AL admins for participants to make changes to AL rules, and I have never heard any conversation about one. I play semi-weekly with one of the admins, and while they certainly listen to suggestions on social media (primarily Facebook groups), they do not actively solicit participant input in that way.

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    \$\begingroup\$ It might be worthwhile pointing out they are aware of this issue and are willing to print things in multiple books. For example, Goliath is in the Elemental Evil Player's Companion and Sword Coast Adventures Guide. And there will be 4 of the subclasses from the SCAG in Xanathar's as well. \$\endgroup\$
    – diego
    Oct 8, 2017 at 2:02
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You write to Wizards if the Coast and the AL team to express your views

Contact details for the WotC customer service are here.

The D&D AL has its own contact form here

In addition, you should encourage everyone you know or can influence to do the same - that’s what advocating is.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Does anyone know who the decision makers are in the Adventurer’s League? Are they Wizards of the Coast employees? Are they volunteers? Is there a council made up of regional administrators? Can one region allow more content than another region? \$\endgroup\$
    – user39712
    Oct 8, 2017 at 16:51
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Rummy That's unlikely to be answered in comments. (Comments are seen by an order of magnitude fewer people who might know the answer.) If you have a question about AL's organisational structure and regional variation (if any), that's a new question all its own that you could ask. \$\endgroup\$ Oct 8, 2017 at 20:40
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Rummy Actually, asking "how is the AL Organisation structured" IS a pretty good question, even if little people have the needed insight. \$\endgroup\$
    – Trish
    Oct 8, 2017 at 20:50
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Rummy Ask it as a separate question, and it may just get answered. There is at least one AL admin who is a user here. \$\endgroup\$
    – T.J.L.
    Oct 9, 2017 at 15:00
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Start a Petition

Gamers petition all sorts of companies and groups for changes they would like to see. GoPetition.com’s gaming section is a popular tool for this.

There’s no indication that Wizards monitors online petitions, but they have stated they are keen on input from their gaming community: “D&D has been a resounding success, due in no small part to the feedback and insight we gained from nearly 200,000 playtesters.” (Ref.)

If you got enough support, it is likely you would at least get the attention of the decision makers.

Example: The Inclusivity Petition

A noted example of petitioning Wizards is this Care2 petition which gathered 649 supporters.

How much these few hundred signatures affected thinking at Wizards is unkowable — but that typically the case for any advocacy. However, many people do believe that great progress has been made since the petition.

This is how advocacy generally works: people make their voices heard, and others respond to it. Rarely does an organization point to a particular piece of advocacy and say, “We changed because these people said we should.”

Advocacy comes with no guarantee

I’ve gotten a couple comments asking for proof such a strategy would work. But that is not the question at hand: the OP has asked for a way to advocate for a goal, that is to “to publicly support a particular policy or way of doing things” and make his voice heard.

There is no guarantee that any company will listen to any particular customers advocacy, but they often do, and Wizards of the Coast say they listen to their customers:

We listened and we took notes. We looked at what people wanted from D&D, how they play the game, and what they value about it the most. Just as we took the time to get the rules right, we spent time making sure the core of the game would be delivered to you in the best way possible.

http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/gazing-crystal-ball

and...

Ever since Sage Advice started in January, we’ve received requests to gather it in one place. We’ve listened and created the following PDF to make it easier for you to find answers to your questions

http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/sage-advice-june2015

So again, this answer does not guarantee the advocacy will attain any particular goal. It simply provides a time-tested way to advocate for a change. The OP is not asking for guarantees.

Will WOTC see the petition?

Wizards employs Community Managers. Community Management “is about relationships and how your brand seizes opportunities to interact with your community in public online spaces.” (Ref.) A good community manager understands “your community is spread out all over the internet.” (Ref.)

It would be a very poor community manager indeed who did not spot a popular petition to their company making its rounds on the internet — if it is popular, people will be sharing it on their social media. Still, it’s easy enough to tweet the results of a petition to Wizards if you are afraid they might be missing your efforts.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ There are direct ways to contact the developer via customer support or the AL team via their web page. The AL team is responsible for deciding what is AL conform and what not. \$\endgroup\$
    – Trish
    Oct 8, 2017 at 21:59
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    \$\begingroup\$ If the scope of this question is "any way to petition," it's too broad, for there are infinite useless ways of trying to provoke change. \$\endgroup\$
    – mxyzplk
    Oct 8, 2017 at 23:55
  • \$\begingroup\$ Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat. \$\endgroup\$
    – V2Blast
    Mar 19, 2020 at 8:05

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