TOPIC: Nimble's Thread of Accolades

No criticisms or complaints here. This thread is for your positive True Dungeon 2015 experiences.

Here are the things I appreciated this year.

1) Don is an excellent coach.

2) No Rogue boxes on the floor! This may not sound like a big deal to all you non-Rogue players, but not having to kneel and stand for every box after spending all day on my feet was a godsend. Whoever made this happen, I can't praise you enough.

3) GMs were, in general, prepared and knowledgeable. I know some people had issues (as happens every year); but for my part, it seemed like everyone knew their shtick.

4) Physical coordination puzzles are tricky to pull off, and while I'm not a huge personal fan of them, I do appreciate that room 1 of Sable (moving the orb with the sticks) didn't require the participation of all 10 players like lifting the egg from the tree stump did a couple years ago. That makes executing a successful transfer of the orb much easier (fewer hands are better).

5) No waits in post-dungeon processing. In fact, I don't recall even seeing another dungeon group in there with us. It was quick, efficient, and painless. Huge improvement over years past. That segways nicely into....

6) The XP cards are a stroke of genius. Not only do they let us register our XP on our own time to keep things moving in the dungeon areas, but they encourage newer players to check out the website and get involved in the community.

7) Ektdar is a helluva guy. I don't know how he stays sane alone in that room staring at tokens all day, but he keeps the transmute line moving despite being the only one in there. Someone get that man an assistant, and a God-damned trophy or something.

8) Having the start of the dungeons in the back of the hall and the exit up front is a great idea, and the scenery leading to the dungeon entrances was super cool.

9) I appreciate that the party card coaches recognize experienced groups and know that we often come prepared, with a accurate, printed party card, and trust us to be honest about our stats. Makes things very smooth in the prep room. Along those same lines...

10) Having the coaches check for fake tokens is also a good idea. Call me naive, but I wasn't even aware that fake tokens were an issue until this year. I always kinda wondered if such counterfeits existed given the value of some of the rarer tokens, but until now I'd never heard anyone talk about their experiences with getting fake tokens.

11) Taking steps to discourage "nerfing" rooms by managing push damage rather than attempting puzzles is a great idea. I don't necessarily agree with the system that was in place this year, but that's another topic for another thread. I'm very happy that it's an issue that's being looked at.



There might be more things I could mention, but I think this covers all of the things that crossed my mind while I was at TD.

Overall, this was easily one of my favorite TD years out of the 10 I've played

Some of my favorite things:

* awesome volunteers (as always)! Particular kudos to the blue hands stuck under the portals and the ones moving the giant spiders.

* no puzzles that felt like they required blind luck to get correct (though some felt like they needed luck to get right without experimentation).

* the new layout with the exit at the front and the entrance at the back. Everything felt less congested than previous years (it also felt like it helped with teardown)

* epilogue room went smoother than I've ever seen. And I much prefer the XP cards over last year's stickers. I don't recall ever having to wait on a previous group this year, or having another group arrive while we were still there

* the storyscape was one of the best I remember. Loved the feel of going deeper into the Underdark. But best of all, due to the placement, I felt like I actually could explore it

* Team Synergy runs! Thanks to all who sponsored runs, especially those that I was on

* in particular, the 10pm 11pm Friday Team Synergy run. I had a blast the whole way, but Barry as the boss monster in SG combat room 7... I really hope someone got a picture of that!

* getting to be last man standing in True Grind twice (though Eric did eventually kill me both times)

* having the Excel sheet for planning ahead of time (thanks Amorgen!) and the app on my phone for last minute tweaks (thanks Cranston!). Now, if only the app and the sheet could share character builds...

This year was probably my favorite TD yet. The story-scape was awesome, loved the split design cave with creepy ambiance. The navigation of the layout for newcomers was outstanding, with good signage. The store / treasure pull location was well run and efficient. Didn't have anyone ask me where the store was this year.

I found most DM's did an awesome job along with NPC's and puppeteers.

The DM training was good this year, having everyone get together first really helps break the ice and get everyone on the same page.

Yeah the layout was excellent, hopefully they keep it for next year.

I have to commend all the actors for this year! Excellent all around! It really added to the feel of the dungeon.

Loved the giant spider in Sable as well. That room was probably my favorite combat room.

I must also commend the DM of that spider illusion room on Saturday and Sunday. I was running on normal and both times he made it great fun for the new players while finding a perfectly acceptable way of removing me from the fight briefly (the spider grabbed me! )

Room 6 of Sable combat was also really amazing, loved the drow lady whom attacked us with the crossbows. And the pulsating sac... ewww

The fire salamander room was another favorite, the DM gave us a very good description and the actress was quite intimidating. Kudos to them as well!

I had some amazing players on my runs. Including a new bard who did an excellent job and made sure to relay the bard lore to all of us. A cleric on Underdark who unfortunately perished while keeping everyone else alive (go go mystic mushroom!). Everyone was great!

Stormie wrote: The fire salamander room was another favorite, the DM gave us a very good description and the actress was quite intimidating. Kudos to them as well!

What side and time did you do this run, I ran the room Saturday night puzzle and put everything I had left into it. My voice is still completely gone today! And yes the Salamander in the room did a great job, real trooper

mike coon wrote:

Stormie wrote: The fire salamander room was another favorite, the DM gave us a very good description and the actress was quite intimidating. Kudos to them as well!

What side and time did you do this run, I ran the room Saturday night puzzle and put everything I had left into it. My voice is still completely gone today! And yes the Salamander in the room did a great job, real trooper

Thursday at 4pm on combat, Friday morning combat.

When we were doing Sable (puzzle), when we got to the egg sac combat room, the drow lady there was hilarious. She didn't bother with the whole "in character" thing, she just talked some serious smack to us. It was great.

I actually felt a little bad about killing her. After all, she wasn't wrong....we did just go gangbusters on her home and start burning stuff.

Nimble wrote: When we were doing Sable (puzzle), when we got to the egg sac combat room, the drow lady there was hilarious. She didn't bother with the whole "in character" thing, she just talked some serious smack to us. It was great.

I actually felt a little bad about killing her. After all, she wasn't wrong....we did just go gangbusters on her home and start burning stuff.

She shouldn't have made her home in a dungeon then.

I thought I would pile on to this thread, in no particular order:

• All the volunteers, from bag check to treasure pull and everything in between.
• The male Drow NPC in Into the Underdark Thursday afternoon: "Gather round, I shan't raise my voice for the likes of you." - classic!
• The Salamander room design and NPCs
• The web puzzle room (two attempts didn't get either but figured out after the second - a "fair" puzzle that wasn't too obvious.
• The rotating physical effect in the Into the Underdark elevator room that simulated the wall flying by as you descended - a great subtle touch!
• Brad who gave us commemorative GT dice pouches with dice!
• The entire underdark storyscape - I swear there was a space heater blowing hot air from around one of the lava pools - or am I just suggestible?
• Raven to gave me a free bonus token I've coveted as a bonus to an existing trade (which I was already doing pretty good on by my reckoning!)
• The giant spider who snuck up behind you while you fought the illusion in the Sable Gauntlet - and the DM's who really did a good job of distracting you while it crept up.
• The logistics in the epilogue room - things went much smoother than any other year - definitely keep this system up!
• The lines at the treasure pull - I never saw them shorter.
• The archery game at the end of the GT run and the fates which smiled upon me despite me missing my target by around 8 feet (lucky bounces!)
• The "ah-hah" moment our party had in the lava letters room.
• Seeing the War Maul of the Ancients in action.

Matthew Hayward wrote: I swear there was a space heater blowing hot air from around one of the lava pools - or am I just suggestible?

Those are not mutually exclusive.

But yes, there was a hot air blower (the mechanical kind, not a politician) in the storyscape near the lava.

I had a great time, it was by far one of the best True Dungeon years I have had. My Synergy groups were awesome...Many thanks Barry and Chip for making me laugh so hard it hurt. Thanks to Amorgen for the excel program it sure makes life easier for all. And many thanks to all of the Volunteers!