TOPIC: Thank You!

Just made it back home and still can't stop thinking about the awesome memories captured this year. But I'm also fully aware that the those awesome memories would not have happened without the efforts of so many other people. So, before I forget...

I have to start with Jeff and Lori for all the work the put into this. I hope you realize all the joy you bring into people's lives by bring this wonderful experience to Gen Con. This is a such a great community of people and I don't hesitate to tell anyone that every chance I get.

To all the other people who are integral to this effort. I hope you can forgive me for not remembering all the names, I really, really am bad at that. But I know many of you put in hours throughout the year and it shows.

To the volunteers. You are all awesome (ok, yes, I come back from the con every year with "Don is awesome" stuck in my head, because he is), but really there are a lot awesome coaches, DMs and NPCs. I know there are frustrating moments from time to time in the dungeon, but who among us hasn't made a bad call in the heat of the moment. I really thought everyone tried to do their best and tried to correct situations when brought to their attention. No, not every situation was handled perfectly, but it wasn't because they didn't try. Everyone needs to just chill once in a while. It is just a game. But honestly, those frustrating moment were few and far between this year.

Adding the drow NPCs this year was such an excellent idea. Letting players interact with them over the course of several rooms added a phenomenal element to the experience. They all did a wonderful job and are to be commended (of course Drow already know how awesome they are).

To the other players, I can't thank you enough. TD staff and volunteers give us this playground, but the reason I run through so many dungeons is for the experience of getting to play and survive with so many groups (yes, I ran an insane 15 runs this year, so have a lot to cover, please bear with me).

Lazlo, I was so happy to even be present for that special moment at the Golden Ticket run. David and Toby, congratulations again and am so happy when you guys let me run with you every year. Sage, thanks for setting up the synergy runs and letting me run with those. Such an awesome, awesome (overused word, I know) experience.

Jeff, whoever came up with the baby beholder idea for the Golden Ticket run...they have my gratitude. Little Elsie (yes, mine has a name), also had an awesome time. She was a little conflicted about attacking others of her kind, but I assured her it was ok. She's quietly settled into her new home here, although I know I will wake up one day to find her eyeing me up for breakfast (they grow up so fast). Can I please lobby for extending her participation through Gamehole.con? Sure, it's a selfish ask, but I think it could also benefit TD. Others will, of course, ask me all about her and I'll explain how we were brought together through the Golden Ticket run. They will ask how they can get in on this and I can explain how they need to order lots of tokens in advance to increase their chances. Sounds like a win win to me..

Nightmare mode. I don't have a solution, but power creep has reached new levels and long time veterans are able to power through even this mode with relative ease. More than once around 500 points of damage were being delivered in a single round. Even I am in awe of the sliders when I look at the pucks and see nothing but a tight cluster around the 20 space. Yikes. I'm sure the creative people on the boards will be debating this.

In general, I really liked the puzzles this year. The chain was problematic, but the groups I was with seemed to handle it better and better each day. The room with the black light writing was way too easy, but I also know it was insanely hard for us on the Golden Ticket run, so unfortunately something in between couldn't be worked out. I only did Behold Her Majesty puzzle once and heard some complaints about the laser light puzzle, although our group kind of figured it out through trial and error.

A lot of comments this year on how the rogue clues were actually useful. That hasn't always been the case, but I heard a lot of praise about that this year.

The fight where the group had to split into 3 groups guarding 3 lava pools had some challenges. I get the concept, but what you've got is two thirds of the players sitting and doing nothing while the third group fights that round. And if the monster appears at the same pool in consecutive turns, then it really gets boring. I know there were two occasions where he never appeared at my pool and I was worthless (bored) for the whole room.

The beholder fight was very well crafted. Things seemed very organized. We got into the fights very quickly and the DMs I think did a pretty good job trying to explain all the complicated scenarios and affects as they unfolded. Bravo.

To the countless other players I ran with over the weekend, while I sadly will never remember names, I can't remember a year in which I ran with some many fun groups. Hopefully, I was able to add to your experience, I know I was trying very hard to not to give anything away, while making sure everyone also made it to the end. I think I did ok, but apologize if that wasn't the case at any time. For reference, I was the mad elven wizard with the propensity for spilling his own blood in pursuit of more powerful spells.

And that brings me to the end of the con and my epic demise. I survived the first 14 runs despite all the blood I left behind. Generous and well intentioned clerics, druids and paladins did their best to nurse me back to health. But in the end I simply longed to have an end with meaning. I couldn't have scripted anything better. I was running Deeperdark combat and after defeating the Spidaur in room six I was down to 23 HP (I started at 51). The cleric insisted on casting a spell to bring me back to 31 and then I begged him not to heal me any further. I gained one more HP from Icecrags going into Room 7 and started with 32 HP.
Round 1 - I used the Cabal set to cast 2 magic missiles, cutting myself on one of them. I did 83 pts of damage with bonuses and was down to 22 HP.
Round 2 - I spell swapped one of my higher spells into another magic missile and cut myself dealing another 47 pts of damage and was down to 12 HP. The bard did a lore check and learned that the Lave Beast would not attack anyone holding one of its eggs. The group offered an egg to me, but I insisted that they save themselves.
Round 3 - The beast yet lives and I have one last higher level spell that I swap using the Charm for another magic missille. I cut myself yet again, deal another 47 pts of damage and am down to 2 HP. Surely this would slay the beast. No, it was shaky, but the group hadn't quite yet killed it. The beast attacks me and deals 10 pts of fire damage, which is absorbed by my Supreme Ring of Elemental Command.
Round 4 - I only have one spell left on my card, a shocking grasp. But that involves physical contact with the creature. Nonetheless, I am determined that the fight will end. I cut myself one last time and with my dying breath lunge at the creature sending a final surge of damage into it and destroy it. As the DM described it, I fell to the ground in a bloody heap and the monster collapsed into a pile of ooze on top me. We were both dead. It was a fitting end to the con for me and one I shall never forget.

Thanks EVERYONE.

I came to the forums hoping to find a Thank you thread.

This was my first time and it was everything I had hoped for and more. My friends and I did two runs. Survived both and aquired a new addiction.

The staff was unfailingly upbeat and helpful except for that one Drow who betrayed me. Thank you all for understanding we were noobs and had lots of silly questions.

Thank you to the other six members of our teams. We had a blast.

We look forward to seeing you all again next year.

Well done!

David, agreed and well said. Lisa, welcome and I'm glad you loved it!

By the way, there were things the non combat players could do in the lava monster room that were useful.

As Dwarf Fighter I taunted the monster and pulled his attacks to me. I was missed, but if I had been hit the healer in our group would have had something to do.

There was a lore clue about freezing the lava pools, but we didn't figure that one out.

Harlax wrote:
There was a lore clue about freezing the lava pools, but we didn't figure that one out.

Maybe those seemingly useless Rainfall scrolls? ( Can not remember the real name of the scroll at the moment)

Davoruk wrote:

Harlax wrote:
There was a lore clue about freezing the lava pools, but we didn't figure that one out.

Maybe those seemingly useless Rainfall scrolls? ( Can not remember the real name of the scroll at the moment)

One of my groups tried that and were told no.
We didn't do a lore check. But figured we could try that

Davoruk wrote:

Harlax wrote:
There was a lore clue about freezing the lava pools, but we didn't figure that one out.

Maybe those seemingly useless Rainfall scrolls? ( Can not remember the real name of the scroll at the moment)

Yeah, not sure if was the same group (they all sort of run together), but our group tried the Rain Scroll and was told no.

Since my baby beholder is of the cold variety the DM told me that the full effect of my spells would act as cold on the pool. Since the monster wasn't attacking me I tried an acid splash on the pool. I wasn't given the full effect of my bonuses (since it wasn't marked on the party card...grrrrr, even after I remember pointing that out), He did allow me a partial bonus for 22 cold damage on the pool. After doing that twice I was told the pool was about halfway closed. At that point I wasn't about to burn through 4 or more spells trying to close pool. Besides, that would cost 4 rounds of combat and most fights don't last that long and certainly not longer. If it really took 80-100 points of cold to close I can't even imagine how many scrolls that would take. The whole thing just didn't sound right, so it was time to move on. We beat the monster anyway.

Davoruk wrote:

Harlax wrote:
There was a lore clue about freezing the lava pools, but we didn't figure that one out.

Maybe those seemingly useless Rainfall scrolls? ( Can not remember the real name of the scroll at the moment)

Did anyone try to use the rain scroll to knock the Spidaur off the ceiling (...down came the rain and washed the spider out...)?

We thought of it, but only too late.

Matthew Hayward wrote:
Did anyone try to use the rain scroll to knock the Spidaur off the ceiling (...down came the rain and washed the spider out...)?

We thought of it, but only too late.

I really like that.

Based on bard lore, I did target the spider's legs with one my magic missiles and that did the trick.


One more Thank You to True Dungeon for coming up with the premade 10 token treasure bags. You ran out for a while, but when available I totally preferred them over the individual draws.

Harlax wrote:
There was a lore clue about freezing the lava pools, but we didn't figure that one out.

You could target the pool with cold damage and spells, freeze it over and the beast could not break through at the point. The wizard, Druid, and my bracers of frost combined on one to freeze it.

Unfortunately, I did not know the lava beat could target players not at the same pool and did not know taunt would work across the room as described so our wizard took a retaliatory hit that killed him

Time to add my thank you's. The puzzles were great this year. Probably my favorite year on puzzles. Solve-able but certainly not easy. No 2 puzzles were alike. Very well designed and implemented!

The NPC's were exceptional. The drow following the party through IDD was great, and created continuity through the whole dungeon. The NPC's themselves stayed in character and great to interact with.

The DM's were also exceptional. They were all efficient and ran the combats and rooms very well.

Did I mention the coaching was smooth and very well done? I haven't seen a problem there in many years.

The props were great, and the lava was amazing.

Ok, now some suggestions:

1. I was glad to see some signage added pointing to the coaching area from the storyscape. For the first few days, I had to point a number of groups to the coaching area. A related point is the signs showing which dungeon was which were dark and not lit, so hard to see until you are on top of them. (these were the ones visible from the entrance hall into the coaching area. The overhead signs were fine, but you had to be facing the dungeon entrance to see it.

2. Anime and hallway issues. I didn't have any issues with the COSPLAY group, but the Anime group was always a problem. No crowd control for events, and most events only allowed one or two people in the room at a time, and everyone else in the hall, despite the fact they had an auditorium. I know TD doesn't control them, but this was causing problems for TD and players. Anime was also running events in the hallway.

3. Food and Drink. The concession stand, and the only source for drinks, was only open for a very few hours each day. With TD starting early, and no concessions, this was a pain. The pop machine is $4 and only takes $1 bills, and is fussy about them, and thereby pretty useless. If you can point me to where i should direct this, I would be glad to bring it to Gencon management instead.

4. Seating outside TD and/or inside TD. Since TD is out of the ICC off on it's own, there is no good place for groups to congregate. While the chairs outside TD were comfortable, there were very few. No room really for anyone to hang around on the wait list. These chairs were also shared by Anime and COSPLAY players. Inside the storyscape, the tables were short of chairs. About 3 per table. I know the outer hallway had tables and chairs, but that was the only place for open gaming, so they tended to be full most of the time.

None of these are serious complaints, more items for improvement. The event went great for our groups and everyone enjoyed our runs. Another successful year!

THANK YOU!!!

People - awesome.

Adventures - awesome.

Working with Eric, Raven, and Kirk - super fun, as always.

Killing bad guys with friends, new and old - ditto.

Technically - best yet.

The hall - best yet.

Where the hall is - uhm...