Just a few minor announcements about this year's True Grind (Race to the Oasis):
Jeff has corrected the event description (a previous version incorrectly had last year's cabin in the woods description).
I do not believe there is a price increase for True Grind this year (unlike the normal adventure which has had an increase).
In the past, True Grind was officially one hour long, but we asked players to arrive 15 minutes early to get the party card filled. Even then, 15 minutes often was not enough.
This year, True Grind will officially be one and a half hours long (90 minutes), with 30 minutes intended for filling out the party card. We tried this arrangement at Who's Yer Con and it was soooooo much better than the stress-filled cram sessions we have had in the past.
So this year, you do not need to arrive 15 minutes early. You should just show up on time for the 90 minute session, of which the first 30 minutes will be working with the DM's to fill out the player card.
Also, based on Raven's clever suggestion, there will be a minor reward (non-material, in-game advantage) for players who arrive with their stats already filled out. Note that there will be some minor differences for Grind (Monk and Ranger will have different + hit and damage for their primary and secondary weapons instead of just using the bonus for their primary for both; any players with typed damage bonuses like fire, shock, sacred, etc. should list it). We will provide more guidelines as GenCon approaches.
So the good news for Grinders is that you will be getting as much as 50% more time for what is probably the same price (I don't believe there is an increase but even if there was, it would be fair given the time increase).
The bad news is that even though the Grind DM's will be working more hours, there will be fewer total Grind runs (since each Grind run is longer).
In the past couple of years, we have traditionally had 23 official Grind runs. This year, it is looking like we will only have 19 (the event catalog might show even fewer if some of the lottery winners chose a Grind slot).
So with an 18% decrease in total number of Grind runs, if you really love Grind then make sure to prioritize it during Event Registration!!!
That's it for now. Feel free to let me know if you have any questions.
