TOPIC: Opinions Please!

Well, I bought 12 bags of tokens, and find myself in a bit of a fix.

I need to do some trades to improve my survivability in a dungeon, but I don't have THAT many extra tokens... relatively speaking anyway.

So, to that end, here are my choices.

1) Try and trade so I have a reasonable, though less well equipped set of tokens no matter what class I might end up playing...

OR...

2) Select a small handful of classes, and trade away anything that does not relate to those classes.



Say for example, I decide to focus on melee characters (Fighter, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue). To that end, I can feasibly get rid of any arcane/divine only scrolls/wands etc as I have no intention of playing any other class. This gives me a MUCH larger list of items to trade with.

So, what would you all do? Focus on a few specific classes, or go for a less well equipped, but able to play any character strategy?

Personally I have outfitted myself for just the Cleric. Granted several tokens work for all...like plate+shield etc could make me a fighter or Paladin.

There are ample opportunities to play whatever class you want to play so what you token yourself out with is up to you...just play the CHAR you like.

With 12 bags - you should count on 30-40 weapons and armor to trade for gold/and or other goods to outfit with. I know someone that got 3 bags and ended up with 15 weapons or armor tokens - 50% YIKES.

I ended up with 38 armor/weapons and 481 GP (got a 200 GP gem as a VR)

Granted, I can sell off the extra armor/weapons when I get there, but I was hoping to work out some trades here before then.

I'm seriously considering focusing on Melee since a good set of equipment will work equally well for just about all of them.

Well, I bought 12 bags of tokens, and find myself in a bit of a fix.

I need to do some trades to improve my survivability in a dungeon, but I don't have THAT many extra tokens... relatively speaking anyway.

Balkin,

Honestly, unless you are going into the Hardcore side, I think your tokens will have far less impact on your survivability than your game play. Many people, myself included, made it through last years dungeon without ANY tokens. I think I had 3 potions of cure minor wounds and a rope. If you have 12 bags of tokens, you are already FAR ahead of the average player and I think you have nothing to worry about from that end. Having said that, I can understand your desire to "max out" from a gameplay perspective. So you might want to pick two classes and try for tokens in those, sort of a primary and a backup incase you group with someone who has their heart set on your primary.

My 3 cents,
Douglas

Agreed, in a standard dungeon survivability, while always in question, isn't all that equipment intensive.

A Hardcore Dungeon on the other hand :shock: hehehe

I do want to max out, and I think I'm going to go ahead and plan on melee types. I guess it's time to post up my "Gotta have" list.

Hey Balkin,

Playing a fighter tank is both pretty easy tokenwise for someone who got 12 bags and gets you in the middle of the action very quick.

Here's my thoughts as to what you might go for--assuming you make yourself playable for fighter/paladin/ranger:

Full plate
+2 cloak(very hard to trade for if you didn't get a token for it, otherwise just stick with the +1)
+1 Longsword
Potions cure light/minor heals
+2 shield
Studded Leather
Shortsword
Missile weapon - Longbow?

Additional stuff that never hurts:
Gauntlets or
+1 bracers of armor(can you use both??)
+1 amulet of armor
ring of feather fall

Ya know, it's kind of funny...

Your list matches mine exactly... LOL

I'll get an actual post up shortly.

Maxing out tokens is a lot of fun for us min/max'ers, but I should point out that there are a lot of other things that will contribute to your survival.

1) Good teamwork. This is the number one thing...even though it sounds corny. I have seen a group full of MENSA-heads (literally) get slaughtered because they were all trying to out do each other -- instead of trying to help the team out the most. They argued, bickered and tore at each other -- and took damage until a certain spider finally took them out of their misery. A group that is comprised of easy-going, team-oriented players will usually do much better than a team of "I want to be the smartest" players. The cool thing about TD is that players of all abilities can contribute. Puzzle-solvers are good to have, but you need a few athletic types who can slide and disarm traps well under pressure, and a few people with good memories is also handy.

Finally, having someone who is not a typical gamer is useful, as their perspective is good to have. A puzzle from the first year was very gender-bias. Women got is so much easier than men -- and it was solved during the first VIP run ever by a woman employee of the Hyatt who had never even seen a game of D&D. (BTW, she also single-handedly killed an Ogre with a critical with a Great Axe while doing a Power Attack!)


2) Have fun! Groups that are so tensed up about solving every puzzle or finding every secret compartment usually end up stressing themselves to death. They take some damage, leave a puzzle unsolved and then end up with poor morale. You will take some damage...you will screwed up a trap or a puzzle, but keep loose and have fun. You are more likely to solve later problems if you are worried about failures in earlier rooms.

3) Be friendly and cool to your team-mates. I have made some really good friends at Gen Con with people I first met when we got thrown into a group together. Be friendly and think of it as an opportunity to make a new friend. One group of gamers I met at the AD&D Open ended up meeting every year to try our hand at the Open. Perhaps you will get as lucky.

Try to get to know your team in the tavern before you enter the dungeon. The more comfortable you are with them...the better your team will work.

4) Let yourself go! You only get to play TD once a year...so go ahead and geek-out and let yourself fully enjoy the experience. Try to get yourself into the idea that you are creeping down a dungeon hallway -- or prying open an ancient sarcophagus. These players tend to intuitively know the puzzles better, and they seem to react better to the environment. These players did not get caught by the Giant Spider's webs!

5) Realize that not everything is obvious! We are sneaking gamers, so our dungeons can be sneaky as well. A lot of people complained that there were not more puzzles last year...but there were...they were just not obvious ones. For instance, in order to get into the dungeon, the players had to land some gems on a summoning circle. The hard way was to actually throw the gems...but the hidden "sleaze" or puzzle was to use the two 10 ft. poles as a gutter to gently guide the gems onto the circle.

Keep on the look out for unlikely help in the dungeon...it may save your skin.

5) Realize that not everything is obvious! We are sneaking gamers, so our dungeons can be sneaky as well. A lot of people complained that there were not more puzzles last year...but there were...they were just not obvious ones. For instance, in order to get into the dungeon, the players had to land some gems on a summoning circle. The hard way was to actually throw the gems...but the hidden "sleaze" or puzzle was to use the two 10 ft. poles as a gutter to gently guide the gems onto the circle.

Keep on the look out for unlikely help in the dungeon...it may save your skin.

Or like our group did, which was to use the felt to tie the gem to the end of the pole and lower the gem into the circle.

George

5) Realize that not everything is obvious! We are sneaking gamers, so our dungeons can be sneaky as well. A lot of people complained that there were not more puzzles last year...but there were...they were just not obvious ones. For instance, in order to get into the dungeon, the players had to land some gems on a summoning circle. The hard way was to actually throw the gems...but the hidden "sleaze" or puzzle was to use the two 10 ft. poles as a gutter to gently guide the gems onto the circle.

Keep on the look out for unlikely help in the dungeon...it may save your skin.

Or like our group did, which was to use the felt to tie the gem to the end of the pole and lower the gem into the circle.

George

Or like some group did (don't think it was my group, but talked to someone who did). They put a gem in a shoe/boot and tossed the boot into the circle.

[quote="Lord of Mistakes.

Or like some group did (don't think it was my group, but talked to someone who did). They put a gem in a shoe/boot and tossed the boot into the circle. [/quote]

Very nice. I would not have thought of using my clothing.

Hmm... a cape with pockets may have many uses I had not considered.

George