F&L – Incarnate Tournament

Background

In March, 2024 at Founders & Legends Con, we introduced a unique Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) premier tournament event crafted to test the mettle of even the most experienced gamers. This idea emerged while Luke Gygax was at Gen Con the previous year talking with his friend Andrew Scott Perry. Together, Luke and Andrew conceptualized a tournament taking place through two TTRPG conventions and designed as an homage to Luke’s father, as part of the 50th anniversary celebration of D&D. They wanted players to experience the difference in style through each edition of D&D in the same scenario. Andrew and Luke outlined the initial concept, then Andrew forged the opening and surprise ending scenario. Meanwhile, Luke recruited four of the best designers in the TTRPG community to help build the rest of the adventure. The team consisted of Keith Baker, David “Zeb” Cook, Kelsey Dionne, Mike Mearls, Andrew Scott Perry, and Luke Gygax, who worked for months to create something unprecedented and sublime. The result was Incarnate, Ragnarök! 

The people who participated in the inaugural event were blown away! Several said it was one of the best, if not THE best experience they had in their decades of gaming. The storyline, characters, and format were combined to challenge and entertain them in the best way possible. We plan to run Ragnarök again for those who missed out at Founders & Legends Con and are considering a few different dates–the Monday to Wednesday before Gamehole Con and/or a session in Las Vegas in early November for this special Founders & Legends Tournament. 

We won’t give away any spoilers about the scenario in Ragnarök, but we can tell you about the format.  The tournament begins when the “Heroes” (i.e., tournament players) arrive in the evening for our Day 0. We begin with a social hour, where everyone meets one another and chats before forming teams of eight (8) people and assigning characters. Heroes have until the first event begins the following day to familiarize themselves with their character and teammates. 

Each team is assigned a Dungeon Master (DM) and Assistant DM (ADM) for the following morning; for the inaugural tournament our DMs were the design team: Keith Baker, Zeb Cook, Kelsey Dionne, Mike Mearls, and Andrew Perry. In Ragnarök, there are four different game events, each up to 4-hours in duration. The tournament begins on Day 1 at 8:00 am sharp and lasts up to 4-hours. Event One is OD&D, Event Two is AD&D (1e/2e), Event Three is 3e and 4e, and Event Four is 5e. Each part is timed and tracked as the team earns points scored on how they navigate through the various challenges presented. Once Event One is complete, team members are given their character sheets for the next session before going on a break. After the intermission, players return for an afternoon session with a different DM and ADM. After completing Event Two, Heroes are issued character sheets for the following morning. There is an optional social event that evening so people can compare notes on the first half of the adventure. The next day, Day 2, follows the same pattern with Event Three in the morning and the afternoon session, Event Four, being the primary tournament’s scoring finale.  

After the Heroes have finished the adventure, our judges compile the scores and discuss how each team traversed the scenario. The winners are determined by an objective scoring system and other accolades are awarded (or made up) by committee. The following morning, team rankings are announced, and unique awards are presented to an assemblage of all the Heroes. After that, the epilogue/prologue begins with the winning team facing a final challenge. All of the participants went wild for the surprise ending to the tournament. 

To be completely honest, we weren’t sure how this tournament would be received, however the design team exceeded expectations and created something truly special. Luke couldn’t have asked for a better tournament to honor his father and celebrate the 50th anniversary of D&D.