TOPIC: True Grind Prep Material

My son and I are signed up for True Grind but never played True Grind before (last year was our first year of True Dungeon, played at Gen Con and Gamehole Con). When we registered, we received a message to send an email to request "prep material" to play. Does anyone know when the prep material is emailed to registered players?

I do not, but the DMs for Grind are here on the forums and will probably see and respond to this.

Often Grind has some special annual rules that put a small twist on the game, for instance one year characters had to carry torches which took up their melee offhand or otherwise have a way to see in the dark.

Grind is a hackfest, combat after combat with minimal props all in one room. It is 'theater of the mind' - where the DMs do a great job of allowing you to roleplay novel solutions, things that would never work in the main dungeon like bribing monsters, or various kinds of player team work work in grind.

Have fun storming the castle!

Eric is a great DM but I have not known him to be particularly proactive so I wouldn’t expect it soon. I emailed to see if he can respond.

I’m wondering if he has anything specific in mind for this year. But I can offer some general advice to get you started.

1) treasure enhancers have no effect so equip something useful instead
2) AC and saves matter much more than the dungeon. If you build a glass cannon expect to use a ton of healing or you’ll die quickly. You’ll take a lot of attacks.
3) all skill tests automatically pass so don’t worry about those if you want to play a spellcaster. Bard is very useful especially for the lore checks.
4) harder than the dungeon, so normal grind is more like hardcore dungeon
5) more opportunity for creative role playing
6) bring your gear tokens and consumables, they may be useful.

John Franczyk wrote: My son and I are signed up for True Grind but never played True Grind before (last year was our first year of True Dungeon, played at Gen Con and Gamehole Con). When we registered, we received a message to send an email to request "prep material" to play. Does anyone know when the prep material is emailed to registered players?

Hello!

The prep material e-mail is just a generic message. There isn't any special prep material this year.

In the past, we sometimes used environmental rules (back when the main Dungeon used them more) but they usually end up being more of a hassle so we haven't bothered the past few years.

Note that True Grind does tend to be heavily combat focused. If you like the combat system in TD and fighting monsters, that's great! If you expected to see a fancy haunted house, animatronic monsters, and traditional puzzles, then you probably won't get that in Grind. Now there is creative problem solving and "puzzles" in the form of dealing with monsters and finding creative uses of tokens.

- Eric / Incognito
True Grind DM

Eric, anything to share about the storyline for this year's Grind? Is it related to any of this year's dungeons?

@john
I would suggest you try and find your running mates here on the forums. I would also encourage you to use of the token programs to prep your characters as best you can AND have backup characters ready incase you need to be flexible.

David Harris wrote: Eric, anything to share about the storyline for this year's Grind? Is it related to any of this year's dungeons?

Not related to this year's dungeons.

Grind has technically been around for 11 years now (since Stu did the first year) but this is my 10th year doing it. So to celebrate my 10 year anniversary, this year's Grind will pay homage to past Grinds with a lot of boss monster fights! Be prepared to face some of the most fearsome monsters that you have encountered in the past!!!

Incognito wrote:

David Harris wrote: Eric, anything to share about the storyline for this year's Grind? Is it related to any of this year's dungeons?

Not related to this year's dungeons.

Grind has technically been around for 11 years now (since Stu did the first year) but this is my 10th year doing it. So to celebrate my 10 year anniversary, this year's Grind will pay homage to past Grinds with a lot of boss monster fights! Be prepared to face some of the most fearsome monsters that you have encountered in the past!!!

Bring on the Gazebo!!!

Incognito wrote:

David Harris wrote: Eric, anything to share about the storyline for this year's Grind? Is it related to any of this year's dungeons?

Not related to this year's dungeons.

Grind has technically been around for 11 years now (since Stu did the first year) but this is my 10th year doing it. So to celebrate my 10 year anniversary, this year's Grind will pay homage to past Grinds with a lot of boss monster fights! Be prepared to face some of the most fearsome monsters that you have encountered in the past!!!

Awesome! Time to dig out the Holy Hand Gernades!

Incognito wrote:

David Harris wrote: Eric, anything to share about the storyline for this year's Grind? Is it related to any of this year's dungeons?

Not related to this year's dungeons.

Grind has technically been around for 11 years now (since Stu did the first year) but this is my 10th year doing it. So to celebrate my 10 year anniversary, this year's Grind will pay homage to past Grinds with a lot of boss monster fights! Be prepared to face some of the most fearsome monsters that you have encountered in the past!!!

Ooooh!!!! This sounds like fun!!!!

Eric, I don't know if you are aware but the Gen Con system sends this message after registration (and has for a couple years if I recall correctly):

"Please write Eric at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to receive prep material needed to be ready to play. Preparation for this event is essential."

If that message no longer applies maybe it should be changed going forward so people don't expect a reply

Jeff321 wrote: Eric, I don't know if you are aware but the Gen Con system sends this message after registration (and has for a couple years if I recall correctly):

"Please write Eric at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to receive prep material needed to be ready to play. Preparation for this event is essential."

If that message no longer applies maybe it should be changed going forward so people don't expect a reply

I keep emailing every year, hoping in vain that someday Eric will reply.