TOPIC: Highlights of Gen Con 2018

1. All the added production and floorspace came together. I noticed the step up, especially in the immersive hallways with gameplay elements! Way to put more game into the game using the loading halls . The "hallway" outside the river puzzle in N2 could have been a room in the old days.

Downside: now that Jeff has set the bar so high, it's going to be real had to lower it again - especially for new players who only know the "N" level of theme and quality. Oh well - onward and upward!

2. Several times I saw Stu out front and/or in the coaching area saying hi and greeting folks - it was neat to see that and I think made things feel welcoming sort of like when an owner of a restaurant stops by mid meal to see if everything is OK.

3. N1 was a total breath of fresh air, it was so neat being able to see pretty well in some rooms in the dungeon but still feel immersed. The ship set was also very well executed.

4. Nice thoughtful touches where players were encouraged to go slightly beyond hack and slash (throw ashes on the invisible monster, take a risk drinking from fountain to cure corruption).

5. Epilogue was super smooth this year, no backups.

6. Epic difficulty - I was lucky enough to fall in with some TD royalty in a pick up group and got to run Epic, it was fantastic!

7. I really liked the monster design in N2 - I liked how tough they were, and how much they rewarded having high saves.

8. I've been wearing Ioun Stone Topaz Trilliant for like 5-6 years now and never once been hit with Darkrift. Thank you for giving it a workout this year so I know its batteries are still good . Also, my Ice Crag Hero Earcuff really earned its keep this year.

9. Slotless completion tokens that do something! Always a hit with me.


Thanks to all the professionals and volunteers who made it come together. Having done TD every year since 2007, I think this is my favorite since my first year (which is primarily for sentimental reasons).

Seems like a good thread to add my 2 cents.

First, I really enjoyed the puzzles this year. A lot of really fun and workable puzzles.


The NPC's were exceptional! All were very interactive, which made the experience all the better. Special call out for the Troll Shaman and the Giants. The people running the Giants had some great lines ready, and with the mouth/head and arms working, it was hard to concentrate on the combat. The Troll Shaman was very expressive without saying a word. Never out of character. Thank you everyone!

Matthew Hayward wrote: 8. I've been wearing Ioun Stone Topaz Trilliant for like 5-6 years now and never once been hit with Darkrift. Thank you for giving it a workout this year so I know its batteries are still good . Also, my Ice Crag Hero Earcuff really earned its keep this year.

This was a part of the dungeons this year that I really appreciated as well. It seemed in recent years that we've been hit with an awful lot of unreduceable Eldritch damage. It was really nice that many of my elemental resisting items got a workout this year (my Icecrag saved me from easily 25 or 30 damage this con!).

I loved the opening rooms of N1 and N2. The effect of standing on land jutting into the astral plane was just beautiful. The valkyrie's challenge with multiple paths was very neat, and I loved the expression on her face as I started belting out a battle cry to "Ride of the Valkyries."

The increased amount of environmental interaction was a really nice idea, between the rooms where melee characters have to climb or hiding from sweeping blows in a cage.

I also thought the quality of the costumes was excellent, my favorites being the rakshasa and the troll shaman.

My thoughts on the recorded sound were provided in another thread, so the only other downside to me were the unnecessarily arcane puzzles (for my party, the stepping stones, but I gather some people did figure that out so...the swords). The good thing is the number of these has greatly decreased in the time I've been doing True Dungeon...the bad thing is they're still there I know it's a sort of tradition from original D&D modules, but if a puzzle can't realistically be deduced by 10 people in the time limit, why is it there? Who is it fun for?

I quite enjoyed the bifrost and sailing the ship.

How could I forget how much I loved the drinking song?!