Community

I think that glory tier is just another slippery slope. Sooner or later most of the people asking for glory tier will be asking for special rewards for glory tier.

I find it interesting that the onus of providing a "glory tier" challenge falls on the authors/admins.

In my local community, many players found LFR to be too easy - and by "too easy" I mean "not challenging enough to be fun." Those players chose to stop using rewards cards. Without the auto-succeed skill challenge with That'll Do, never being dazed with Snap Out of It, and making saving throws more often with a +1 bump here or there, those "easy" encounters became more challenging.

There are a number of things a table can do to raise their own challenge level. Not all judges can gauge challenge and make appropriate adjustments on-the-fly. In fact, some (unfortunately) will just add in the Glory adjustments "as the norm" to increase the challenge - whether the players want it or not.

If "Glory Tier" is something the community is looking for, I'd prefer something player-driven/player-controlled, rather than extra tools in the DM's hands. (The DM already has this, to some extent, in the form of DME.) Perhaps this is something that could even be addressed in the CCG.

Glory Tier: If your table is looking for a greater challenge for any given adventure, try completing the adventure with the following limitations:
• Do not take an extended rest during the adventure.
• Each PC will only spend 1 action point for the duration of the adventure. (Not the extras provided by milestones.)
• Complete the adventure without using item encounter powers.
• Each PC does not spend half of their healing surges.

I could list more . . . the point becomes, the players have complete and total control of the difficulty of the adventure. Even better, if they find themselves in trouble or running short of time, they can reach into their bag of tricks and still complete the adventure.

(I'm a big fan of PC empowerment.)   

Locally, we never use the Glory Tier rules. We would rather complete
the adventure sooner and/or leave additional time for roleplaying than
to make things harder. As a DM, I would rather not have to prep them.

The suggestion to self-limit by not using cards, action points, items,
and other resources is a good idea for those who like bragging rights.

Every character is different, however. I recall the first ADCP adventure
where there was a penalty for action points made the Warlords grumpy.

Some characters are basic attack specialists, so taking away all of their
encounter or daily powers does not hurt. For others it will hurt far more.

The Glory Tier tends to appear in ADCP BIs or Specials, but not usual in other adventures.