TOPIC: True Grind at GenCon 2015!

As most of you know, the GenCon Event schedule is now live!

As with last year, True Grind is officially 1.5 hours long, where the first 30 minutes are usually spent in the coaching room and then the Grind adventure is designed to be about 60 minutes long. (Before last year, the event was officially 1 hour long but we strongly encouraged players to arrive 15-30 minutes early).

Grind tickets remain the same cost as last year ($28), so there is no price increase this year (unlike the main dungeon which went from $48 to $52 this year).

This year there will be a total of 20 Grind runs (one more than the 19 from last year). The GenCon event catalog should only display 18 runs since 2 of them were apparently chosen for the token lottery. The Friday 7 PM Grind goes to persons unknown while the Saturday 12 PM Grind will be an Epic tale written in the blood of Kirk Bauer (and friends)!

* True Grind has a history of selling out quickly during Event Registration, so best of (Questor's) luck in getting the tickets you need!

Players are strongly recommended to prepare their character stats beforehand through one of the various character generator tools (there is a +1 HP bonus for players who do so). It is also helpful for players to submit an equipment list (please include the event time) during the coaching session - players who do so will get another +1 HP bonus. If you are doing multiple Grinds with the same build, you don't need to submit a list the second time but if you are doing normal runs as well, you will need to turn in the equipment list (for good) if you want the HP bonus.

The official details of the Grind event are:

True Grind: Journey to Shallowdark

A combat hackfest. Players fight their way to a safe haven in the Underdark. Harder difficulties available. No XP. Expect a high casualty rate! Teamwork is essential & tokens also help!

A combat hackfest for those who enjoy TD’s combat slider system. Players fight their way to a safe haven in the Underdark. Familiarity with TD’s combat system required! (New players should first go through a normal dungeon or attend the TD101 seminar). Harder difficulty levels are available if the whole party agrees. No XP. Expect a high casualty rate! Historically, survival rates have been around 90% on Normal, 60% on Hardcore, and 10%-20% on Nightmare. Teamwork is the most critical element of success. Tokens can also help, especially with proper preparation and by carefully planning your token build.

Note that the description involving difficulty levels was using last year's difficulty system. This year there will be four difficulty levels:

NEW Normal = OLD Normal
NEW Hardcore is easier than OLD Hardcore
NEW Nightmare is harder than OLD Hardcore but easier than OLD Nightmare
NEW EPIC = OLD NIGHTMARE

As always, I reserve the right to utilize old environmental rules.

Based on the adventure description and the themes from this year's tokens, diligent players should be able to make some educated guesses about what they may or may not encounter (though there will certainly still be some surprises ).

AoW, Eldritch Runestone, and UR Special effects are TBD.
UPDATE: Preliminary versions are announced a few posts down!

Prestige classes are available in Grind if you choose to use your once per year RoSP voucher for your Grind event.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Incognito wrote:
As always, I reserve the right to utilize old environmental rules.
...
Let me know if you have any questions.

Should I bring my Ring of the Deep ?

An actual question - how do we submit equipment lists to you ahead of time - via email for forum PM?

Matthew Hayward wrote:

Incognito wrote:
As always, I reserve the right to utilize old environmental rules.
...
Let me know if you have any questions.

Should I bring my Ring of the Deep ?

Perhaps! Logically speaking, would it make sense to expect an underwater environment given the adventure title and description?

An actual question - how do we submit equipment lists to you ahead of time - via email for forum PM?

What I mean by that is submitting the equipment lists during the coaching session. Let me correct that!

I'm trying for a ticket this year, like every year!

curse you international lag!

I look forward to being killed by you

Brad wrote: I'm trying for a ticket this year, like every year!

curse you international lag!

I look forward to being killed by you

I still have two spots in my Saturday noon run if you are ok with Epic difficulty.

Kirk Bauer wrote:

Brad wrote: I'm trying for a ticket this year, like every year!

curse you international lag!

I look forward to being killed by you

I still have two spots in my Saturday noon run if you are ok with Epic difficulty.

After I know our other events on Sunday I mnay have 2 bodies that would be able to join on the foolish hearty task.

Okay, so here are some tentative plans for the AoW / Eldritch Runestone / UR Special for True Grind at GenCon 2015.

The AoW & UR Special effects are close to being finalized, but the Eldritch Runestone effect might result in some tweaks if I missed any key issues.


Amulet of Wonder

Elemental Attunement: A player wearing an Amulet of Wonder chooses an element (Air/Earth/Fire/Water) at the beginning of the adventure during the coaching session. The Amulet provides the following benefits related to that element:

1. The player gets +2 energy damage to melee and missile attacks. The energy type depends on the chosen element (Air = shock, Earth = sonic, Fire = fire, Water = frost).

2. Spellcasters casting a damage spell may choose to change the damage type to their chosen element. Spellcasters do +2 damage with spells of their chosen element. (Air = shock, Earth = sonic, Fire = fire, Water = frost).

This effect could convert force damage (Magic Missile, Spiritual Hammer, Spiritual Maul, Glow Orb, Chromatic Orb, Prismatic Spray, Stone Storm), acid damage (Acid Ray), or divine damage (Searing Light, Sunburst) into shock/sonic/fire/frost.

3. The player takes half damage from the appropriate energy type. (Air = shock, Earth = sonic, Fire = fire, Water = frost).

The half damage is factored in after subtracting any damage/energy reduction. This does not stack with "half damage from the same energy" so a Ring of Fire Resistance does not stack with an Amulet of Wonder: Fire. It does stack with half damage due to Improved Evasion or the three-piece Mithral set.

4. Each element will have at least one additional effect which will be revealed later on in the adventure.


Eldritch Runestone

Anything You Can Use I Can Use Better: When you turn in the Eldritch Runestone during coaching, you may designate any single token. You may use that token, ignoring normal class restrictions. It does not grant class abilities.

Alternatively, you can think of it as being able to use that single token as if you were of another class of your choice (without granting class abilities).

Note that the various character generator programs probably won't be able to handle this so you may need to make some manual adjustments to your character stats!

Since it does not grant class abilities, a non-Rogue (who cannot Sneak Attack) will not get an additional benefit from Boots of the Vale, Boots of Elvenkind, Boots of the Underdark, Hood of Elvenkind, or Lenses of Vital Insight. A non-Monk (who cannot Flurry of Blows or Stunning Fist) would not benefit from the Gloves of the Flying Fist or Ring of Stunning Fist.

A Bard, Cleric, or Wizard could use the Coronet of the Arch-Druid to transform into a Dire Bear by sacrificing two 2nd level spells. A Fighter or a Rogue would not have any spells to sacrifice so they would not be able to benefit.

Only a single specific token is affected. NOT all tokens of that specific name. This especially applies to thrown weapons or two-handed Rangers or if a token gets "destroyed" during the course of Grind.

If a Wizard chooses a Viper Strike Fang, then using it as a Rogue will not provide an extra effect since he cannot Sneak Attack. Using it as a Monk will not allow him to Flurry of Blows, but with the Viper Strike Set he will get the +5 Poison damage on a crit.

Non-monks can choose a Bracer of Quivering Palm but it takes up their Bracer slot and they don't get to use Flurry of Blows for a second slider. A non-Monk, non-Ranger could choose to use an Orb of Might as a weapon but they still only get to slide one weapon.

If a non-Bard chooses a Bard instrument it does nothing if there is no real Bard doing Bardsong. However, if there is a Bard doing Bardsong and the non-Bard spends an action to use their instrument, then the damage bonus will stack if the characters are using different instruments. Non-Bards using a Widseth's or Briano's can contribute their musical talents while attacking/casting. In theory you could have a two or three-piece band with the right instruments....


Can you think of any major abuses of this Eldritch Runestone effect? The best I can think of is having everyone using +2 Keen Slayer Bows or Io's +4 Ultra Keen Slayer Bows (everyone still needs to meet the DEX requirements). Or a Monk using heavy armor. Or everyone using Shield of the Phalanx (though the total AC is capped at +7 AC). You could also have some interesting synergy with Bardsong but that requires a variety of different instruments.


UR ? Special

PUPPIES! You gain a Blink Dog follower! The Blink Dog may attack with a puck (probably a Monk slider) and deal damage. Or it can run interference (giving a penalty to a monster's attack). The puppy has a moderate amount of HP and may die if you do not take proper care of it!

If multiple players use a UR ? Special, the party could very well end up with a pack of Blink Dogs! ::woof!::



Feedback and comments on these variable token effects would be appreciated!

Love these ideas. The elemental attunement is really interesting. And who doesn't love puppies? Are the puppies like familiars, so if it dies the character takes damage?

Will psychic powers work the same as in the dungeon?

Runestone:

How would the Lyre of Echoes work?

bpsymington wrote: Love these ideas. The elemental attunement is really interesting. And who doesn't love puppies? Are the puppies like familiars, so if it dies the character takes damage?

The Blink Dogs are followers, not familiars. So if they die, then you are a really bad dog owner, but you don't suffer any damage! And if you die, the puppies are still fine.

Will psychic powers work the same as in the dungeon?

Psychic powers are like normal:

Tier 0 - Cell Repair - Heal 4 HP (once) - Instant
Tier 1 - Adjust Mass - Walk on water as if it were solid ground - full room

Incognito wrote: The half damage is factored in after subtracting any damage/energy reduction. This does not stack with "half damage from the same energy" so a Ring of Fire Resistance does not stack with an Amulet of Wonder: Fire. It does stack with half damage due to Improved Evasion or the three-piece Mithral set.

The procedure to resolve magical damage reduction can be found in the DMG (p. 51) and at the bottom of the description for Dragon Tooth Amulet .

I'm not bringing this up because Incognito got anything wrong (quite the contrary!), but some folks may not be aware there is a specific process TD follows to resolve multiple sources of damage mitigation.

Milambus (Jake) wrote: Runestone:

How would the Lyre of Echoes work?

Good question!

Suppose we have:

Round 1:

5th Level Bard plays Lyre of Echoes
Fighter (w/ Eldritch Runestone -> Widseth's Lute) attacks and uses Widseth's
Wizard (w/ Eldritch Runestone -> Briano's Bodhran) casts a spell and uses Briano's

The normal Bardsong is in effect (+2 hit/damage) from the Bard playing the Lyre of Echoes.

The Widseth's adds +2 hit and the Briano's adds +2 damage, so you get +2 hit and +6 damage.

Round 2:

Bard does something else (not using a Bard instrument)
Fighter (w/ Eldritch Runestone -> Widseth's Lute) attacks and uses Widseth's
Wizard (w/ Eldritch Runestone -> Briano's Bodhran) casts a spell and uses Briano's

The Lyre of Echoes will continue the Bardsong from the round before, so the Fighter's Widseth and Wizard's Briano will work. You still get +2 hit and +6 damage.

Due to the rules regarding the Lyre of Echoes, the Bard can't effectively use another instrument during this Echo round (without canceling the Echo effect).



Alternatively:

If a non-Bard uses an Eldritch Runestone for the Lyre of Echoes, then as an action he can play that Lyre and if the Bard is using Bardsong, it will last for one extra round. It might be a few rounds before the Bard stops playing but when he does, if the Lyre of Echoes was played as accompaniment once, then his Bardsong lasts one extra round.

This does not stack (so playing the Lyre of Echoes for two rounds does not extend the Bardsong for two rounds after the Bard stops).

If there is no Bard or the Bard is not using Bardsong, then a non-Bard playing the Lyre of Echoes has no effect.

Essentially this will allow a player to "transfer" an action to the Bard. The non-Bard spends an action now, to give the Bard a Bardsong action for later.