Virtual True Dungeon During Gen Con Weekend
This year will be the first Gen Con I have missed since the days when Gen Con's exhibitor hall was inside a non-air conditioned small gymnasium (1982). I am very bummed, and I am sure lots of gamers are as well. True Dungeon has been at Gen Con since 2003, and the thought of not being able to present some fun for folks is just depressing.
So...we decided to do something about it.
While I cannot announce anything "official" quite yet, we are hard at work tweaking a system that I think can work well. Our goal is to recreate the True Dungeon experience as best we can over a Zoom meeting. There should be a Coach to check your Treasure Tokens to prepare your character's stats, and a training room will be available to hone your skills before entering the adventure. A dedicated DM will guide you through the entire experience with voice narratives, hi-rez video clips viewed on YouTube, screen graphics and audio clues. Your party can also vocally direct a controlled golem (camera person) whose eyes you see through as an 11th player. Their costumed arm will come into view as it manipulates objects for your group.
There will be combat that may feature live NPCs and a form of token sliding. The tweaked combat system will involve each player sliding a "puckless" weapon token at home. Their target will be a printed PDF that is taped to a flat slick surface. Players will be given the monster's AC so they can determine if they hit and how much damage is delivered. Alternatively, gamers can roll a d10 and add 10 to the result to obtain the number they slid. While the sliding is happening, characters who are not sliding will have their actions handled by the DM. During this whole encounter the NPC will be interacting with the party through the golem's viewpoint.
Finally, there will be an Epilogue phase to the adventure where you virtually "check out" similar to an in-person event. The week following your adventure, we will send out (via USPS Mail) any gained swag such as a free bag of tokens, 3 random treasure draws (or more if Treasure enhancing tokens are equipped*), a limited edition Participation token, and a Survivor button if appropriate. Also, XP codes will be emailed the next week to all players.
*Special Treasure Generators will have their monster ingredient tokens proportionally replaced by Golden Fleece tokens.
So...all in all...we hope to make this as much like a normal Gen Con run as possible.
Ticket prices will be slightly less than a Gen Con ticket (which would have been $80 this year). If you factor in not having to buy a Con badge, the price will be much less expensive. The price is necessary due to the expensive of presenting this adventure. It will require a larger than normal crew to make it happen, and most of those folks will need hotel rooms and stipends. We appreciate your support as we try to find ways to entertain our players -- as well as seek to generate revenue to pay the bills until conventions resume.
Again, nothing is official just yet. I just wanted to let folks know this event is a real possibility so they can plan their schedules accordingly. We will have exact info in late June after we do some live testing with the Patrons.
Support Us with Treasure Tokens
It appears the cancellation of conventions may be extended well into 2021. While we hope that is not the case, we are faced with that real possibility. If you have it to spare and feel so inclined, consider placing a Treasure Token order here. This will allow us to have more options during the closed period -- and while things slowly ramp back up. We very much appreciate your support.
Update on Golden Ticket Runs
As reported in the last newsletter, due to the cancellation of Gen Con we are making a special virtual event for all holders of 2020 Golden Ticket tokens. Players who received a random Golden Ticket token must use our Transmuting system to mail in the token.
NEW PROCESS: Once we receive and process your Golden Ticket token at TD HQ, we will send you a notification email. This will enter you into our system so that you will be emailed needed game info and links before the event -- as well as being mailed your swag after the event. If we do a Virtual True Dungeon during Gen Con weekend, then you will either receive a coupon code for a free run -- or the Golden Ticket run will be a full two-hour adventure (plus special thing at the end). More info will be released in late June.
NEW DATE: To keep the possibility of a Virtual True Dungeon happening Gen Con weekend, we are moving the date of the GT runs to Thursday, July 30th.
Also, we will be using the forum listing to place folks into groups, so be sure to visit the Forum to claim your spot.
Last Word
Take care of yourself. These crazy times can wear on you, so be sure to reach out to folks -- in new ways if necessary to connect and indulge your gaming needs. I really miss my weekly game, and it started to bum me out. Luckily, we found a way to make playing an old war-game work over Zoom, and it has lifted my spirits. That benefit is what gave me the idea to explore this virtual True Dungeon idea, and I hope (if we are able to work out all the details) that it can bring you some of the much needed interaction we all are missing this year. Know that the TD Team is thinking of our awesome community and hope that you can reach out and find ways to stay connected. We've learned that Zoom gaming is better than NO gaming!
Jeff Martin
TD Creator
Token Conjurer
Geek Dreamweaver
Nerdomancer
Author of the never-to-be-released "The Secret of Trees"
