TOPIC: Gear Mat

I want to add to what I said on Page 1.

Cranston's app is beyond great. There have been a few times since he created it that I have used it on the fly. You know? Those occasions where you have your character ready to go in the Coaching Room and someone in your Party asks if they can play your character instead. That leaves you less than 10 minutes to equip a character you have never played or don't have pre-equipped.

Well, with Cranston's app (True Dungeon Character Generator) I was able to do it in less than 4 minutes.

Ro-gan wrote: I was able to do it in less than 4 minutes.

You shouldn't brag about that!

Ed

Brad Mortensen wrote: I've handed coaches printed versions from Amorgen's (free but requires Excel and a printer), or handed over my phone with Cranston's (costs a couple of bucks and requires a smart phone/tablet), and I'll never go into the coaching room ever again without doing one or the other.

FYI: OpenOffice works as well for my spreadsheet and higher end phones/tablets will run the unlocked version if you have mobile versions of Excel.

Brad Mortensen wrote: Amorgen's (free but requires Excel and a printer)

Or if you have a tablet with Excel on it, you can show your stats on the tablet without printing it out.

Druegar wrote:

Brad Mortensen wrote: Amorgen's (free but requires Excel and a printer)

Or if you have a tablet with Excel on it, you can show your stats on the tablet without printing it out.

Ah! Good to know. Also, the bit about running on OpenOffice. Another selling-point: as I recall, the spreadsheet actually creates a party card, so if you're in a pre-planned group with Synergy tokens, it can be super-awesome.

Options are good. All the more reason to use one or the other, or sometimes both.

Brad Mortensen wrote: Options are good. All the more reason to use one or the other, or sometimes both.

As a good friend of mine says, "Ah, good and evil are both fine options."

I do use both Excel and iPad and they are excellent tools. Normally iPad for single characters and quick builds and Excel for groups/parties.

Ed

I use both too. Excel on the computer, and then I transfer builds to the app before the run. It is nice being able to modify things on the fly if needed.

Similar to Ro-gan's story, last year once for a PUG normal run, when I arrived all my classes were taken. So I ended up playing Monk which I never played before, and was able to build one quickly in the coaching room using the app.

Now I have builds for every class made in advance though

I never considered using Excel on mobile. That is a good idea too!

MasterED wrote:

Ro-gan wrote: I was able to do it in less than 4 minutes.

You shouldn't brag about that!

Ed

That's what she said...

Hmmm will check out the excel spreadsheet. My phone is an old flip-phone that they haven't made in over 8 yrs. They don't even make accessories for it anymore. My tablet is a Kindle Fire (not the HD one), so would it run Cranston's?

As to the why... my reason was to come up with an effective build. Helps if I can see what the weak links are by using the mat. Doing them on the fly isn't working for me anymore. Too many tokens and interactions.

As to the group thing... I don't have a choice. I have to take PUGs. None of my friends do TD because "it's too expensive". I am not rich but I still have fun doing it, planning my next build, etc. Because of my limited cash situation (still haven't hit the lotto), I can't have one of each class, at least not one that would be fun. Also, Wizard/Elf Wizard skill test seems especially hard to me. Cleric skill test seems only slightly better. None of the spell casters can be practiced beforehand as the exact chart isn't published anywhere that I can find.

I have been concentrating on Fighter/Dwarf Fighter as they are the funnest to play and would allow me to branch into more classes with minimal investment.

To be honest, I still feel like a newbie. I know that I have a lot to learn, ESPECIALLY with the token interaction thing. What stacks with what, what the limits are that you are subject to in a room (in general obviously), etc. Some of it I have managed to pull from the guides but most of it has come from reading the forums and asking questions.

This brings me back to the gear mat. The first two times I played, I had my builds done by someone else well before the whole coaching thing began. I did have trouble remembering which tokens I was supposed to use but after seeing how well my last group was organized and some of the things they were doing, I got inspired and started changing my approach to TD. Its definitely a journey.

Sorry for the long post, please just chalk it up to n00b-ness.

Nice thing about Fighter - tweak a token or two and you can turn then into ranger/paladin/barbarian/cleric pretty easily. I'm not saying to rush out and buy stuff, but it's something to keep in mind, and maybe build towards as you play.

Then there are monks. They're the only class that can literally walk into the dungeon without a single token and still be effective, and that double-slide thing can be a challenge. They're obviously better if they have some equipment, though.

Having four or five decent backup builds is better than two, especially if you play mostly PUGs.

The skill/memory tests aren't available anywhere, by design. But don't stress about them. Don't think of it as "if I fail, my spells take a penalty." Think "if I succeed, my spells get a bonus." Many players refuse to do them and just accept the lower amount of healing or damage to save time. (I'm not trying to talk you into playing a caster, just saying that they can be fun, too, if you get stuck with one, and if you don't put too much pressure on yourself.)

I understand you wanting a mat. They're a great way to be sure you haven't missed something. With the right URs, and counting all the slotless tokens, a "complete" build can be close to 50 tokens now. That's a SWAG, don't hold me to it...

Amorgen's may be the way for you to go. If you don't have access to Excel, OpenOffice is a free download. Then you can print out your six sheets and be ready for almost anything.

Another advantage for Amorgen's and Cranston's tools - they calculate set bonuses. If you had, say, the three Defender pieces, which are great rare tokens to have for tanks, you might not realize they grant you the Defender Set bonus of an additional +1 AC and immunity to Hold, Slow, Webs, etc because that's not on the tokens.

Hershel wrote: Hmmm will check out the excel spreadsheet. My phone is an old flip-phone that they haven't made in over 8 yrs. They don't even make accessories for it anymore. My tablet is a Kindle Fire (not the HD one), so would it run Cranston's?

As to the why... my reason was to come up with an effective build. Helps if I can see what the weak links are by using the mat. Doing them on the fly isn't working for me anymore. Too many tokens and interactions.

As to the group thing... I don't have a choice. I have to take PUGs. None of my friends do TD because "it's too expensive". I am not rich but I still have fun doing it, planning my next build, etc. Because of my limited cash situation (still haven't hit the lotto), I can't have one of each class, at least not one that would be fun. Also, Wizard/Elf Wizard skill test seems especially hard to me. Cleric skill test seems only slightly better. None of the spell casters can be practiced beforehand as the exact chart isn't published anywhere that I can find.

I have been concentrating on Fighter/Dwarf Fighter as they are the funnest to play and would allow me to branch into more classes with minimal investment.

To be honest, I still feel like a newbie. I know that I have a lot to learn, ESPECIALLY with the token interaction thing. What stacks with what, what the limits are that you are subject to in a room (in general obviously), etc. Some of it I have managed to pull from the guides but most of it has come from reading the forums and asking questions.

This brings me back to the gear mat. The first two times I played, I had my builds done by someone else well before the whole coaching thing began. I did have trouble remembering which tokens I was supposed to use but after seeing how well my last group was organized and some of the things they were doing, I got inspired and started changing my approach to TD. Its definitely a journey.

Sorry for the long post, please just chalk it up to n00b-ness.

Never stop learning or asking questions. That's when you know you're getting real old and crotchety. I understand about needing to visualize. I've got a basic core that is use in almost all classes. That saves me real time when I pug and use the app. Far as looking for group when it gets closer to event sales there are people who post looking for groups to add members. I usually run with a friend or two and that's it.

If you use the excel sheet you don't even need to print multiple sheets. Just print the party card and the equipment sheet. No matter what you end up playing you have it all there. This is what I do when I join runs I don't know what I am playing. I just build out the best versions of each character I can play and then it comes time to choose I already have the character stats no matter which character I end up being. Tell the coach to copy that character's line from the party sheet and ignore the rest.