TOPIC: First time TD, instant addiction.

And the best part is yet to come. Getting to meet and befriend so many awesome TD folks (both volunteers and players) is a huge bonus of getting involved with TD. Welcome to the TD Clan!

I think everyone did a great answering the original questions. I didn't see these two things mentioned so I figured I would plug them.

There are some great electronic character builders out there. Check out truedungeon.com/resources for some links.

Also, I started a pod cast which is great for new players give it a listen: spreaker.com/show/talkingtd

Ed

It looks like the questions have been covered, but please allow me to say welcome to the forums and the greatest game ever Timothy!

I know others have answered but I wanted to give my own insight onto some of these, and for completeness I'm going to answer everything.

Volunteering

1) If you and three friends are all accepted as volunteers I believe you can expect to get a room together if you request that. But on the other hand I don't think there is a way to get non-volunteer friends in there. There is a limited supply of the rooms. You can also do part-time volunteering (no room) or full-time volunteering without a room (I believe you can receive another perk but I'm not sure if that's an official thing).

2) I believe they always need volunteers but it does vary by convention. Sometimes if they have extras they will bring you on for training (especially for things like DMing and coaching) where you shadow another volunteer. There is definitely a chance only some of you will be accepted. You could mention an "all or nothing" thing in the notes when you submit your application, and if you don't all get it you can withdraw your volunteer status right away. For smaller conventions FT volunteers pretty much work the whole time the dungeon is open (in my experience) so you'd all volunteer at roughly the same times. For GenCon they ask which shifts you prefer and on which days, so you could all make the same selections and have a good chance of it working out.

3) In my opinion you often times don't find out soon enough. For GenCon at least you know your status and schedule before event registration though. If you are a returning volunteer I think it is less of an issue, but for new GenCon volunteers I think you'd want a refundable backup housing option (e.g. if you can get something through the housing portal).

4) With a little care, as DM in the dungeon, you will only have one room spoiled for you. NPCs might see multiple rooms (like some did this year).

5) You definitely pick your preferences, but keep in mind that typically you'll be an assistant coach before being a coach, and typically a puzzle DM before being a combat DM.

Gameplay

1) I typically make small variations to my main build so that with an extra 10 tokens or so I can play any class with a decent build. But I also try to get into arranged runs on the forums so I know in advance which classes I'll be playing.

2) Not sure actually. But arriving early is the key to getting the class you want in a random group.

3) There is some debate on that, and it seems Hardcore was harder this year (from what I hear). Traditionally a solid Hardcore build would run you under $100, assuming good skill and teamwork. Perhaps now it is more. If you bought a single $1k token purchase from Jeff, which includes 4 Ultra Rares of your choice and at least one random Ultra Rare, I think you would easily be able to equip 2 or even 4 people for Hardcore. You would likely need to or want to trade unwanted stuff for wanted stuff and would have leftovers. Alternatively you could probably spend $200-$300 per character just buying stuff on the secondary market.

4) I hope INT, WIS, and CHA will matter more in the future, but for now DEX and STR are the big ones, with CON being good for extra HPs. Some people go glass cannon melee and max out on STR. Others prefer ranged and go DEX. Spellcasters go for spell damage plus DEX and CON to stay alive.

Treasure

1) Typically I suggest drawing your treasure because it is fun, but people will buy or trade for treasure draws. If they expire then their value will typically go down but somebody still might want them for collecting purposes.

2) I have horrible luck and my best two draws out of several thousand draws has been two Ultra Rares. But there are definitely high end things in there like Legendary tokens, Orbs of Dragonkind, 25K GP Bars, etc.

Tokens

1) I'm biased because I run TD Tavern, but I think tdtavern.com is a good source There is a thread on the forums where people review trades. There is a forum section for individual trades, stores, etc. Feel free to reach out to me if you want a thumbs up on somebody you want to trade with or buy from. I can at least say if I've had positive transactions with them in the past. True Dungeon players are 99% awesome so you are generally fine, but there are at least a few bad apples out there (since we have counterfeit tokens).

2) There is a lot of trading going on at conventions. For example Wednesday before GenCon is a popular time. But most of it takes place online (websites, forums, eBay) throughout the year. The busy season starts just before Origins and runs through a few weeks after token development.

3) Completion tokens generally end up being more valuable than standard uncommons and rares from each year, but normally not extraordinarily so. I'd say the average completion token is worth 2-3 times the average non-completion token from the same year. There are exceptions. At one point the Ring of Heroism needed them for its recipe but I don't know if anything like that will happen again.

4) Silver Nuggets are great both for usability (more loot!) and future appreciation (they will probably only go up in value). Getting the first kilt (2017 PYP) means you can save up for the 4-kilt transmute in the future, but otherwise might not be something you want to use between now and then. It will likely appreciate in value as well. Neither is a bad choice.

5) About half of the rare tokens will one day be worth more than their trade good equivalent. A few may even be several times more valuable. But you never know for sure. Most uncommons and commons are pretty much just good to be converted into trade goods.

Misc

1) You have a small chance of getting a Golden Ticket in a $1k order which lets you do a special run at GenCon on Wednesday night. You also get a nice bag of loot. They typically can be purchased or sold for the $1,000 to $1,500 range.

2) That's a hard question. If you ignore everything else and just look at playing True Dungeon, I'd say skip the big ones and do PAX South and Gamehole Con. If 2018/2019 is a good indicator, you'll be able to play all three new dungeons each year at a lower cost and less craziness. At Origins there are more special events and tons of space, but also not too crazy or expensive, so perhaps that instead of one of the others if you prefer it. Or in fact going forward you could do Origins only if you don't mind waiting until the end of the season to see new content each year. GenCon is great in many ways, but it is also the most expensive and most busy place to play True Dungeon.

MasterED wrote: There are some great electronic character builders out there. Check out truedungeon.com/resources for some links.

^^^^THIS!!!! Being able to instantly see the results of swapping one token for another is key to learning the craft of a well-rounded build and understanding the in-game impact of your tokens.

Also, welcome to the realm!

Volunteering: Not the one to ask about this I never get picked -.-


Gameplay:

1a) I would suggest each person have gear that is flexible between 2-3 different classes in case you can't get one you like.
1b) I tend to play rogue but the vast majority of my tokens transition well between monk/ranger if need be. All the fighters/barb/paladin are pretty interchangeable. Obviously both wizards are close. And the bard is similar to rogue but ideally you want a lot of class specific token for rogue or bard.

2) I generally only see one wizard played. I also see a lack of a bard/monk quite frequently. Rogue is almost always picked.

3) A reasonable token order should get you a great starting point. I would recommend just full reds to easily get your group to hardcore difficulty.

4) Generally strength gives you the most benefit. Dex is also very good because if they can't hit you then obviously it doesn't matter how low your con is.


Treasure:

1a) They do expire and if you don't want to sell them or trade them away always pull them at the last con you plan to attend for the year.
1b) There is a small aftermarket for them and depending on how good the treasure is for the year they can go from around $3-$8 per pull (Most often $3-$5)

2a) There can be anything in the boxes except commons. Eldritch, Legendary, Relics, Ultra Rare, Rares, Uncommons, Dragon Orbs, Monster bits, box specific tokens, completion tokens. It all varies on the mix for the year.
2b) The rogue boxes are mostly full of rares with the exception that a box or 2 MAY have a Relic or higher. I have heard of legendaries being in rogue boxes before.


Tokens:
1) The market is pretty stable as long as the game is popular. The best place to get tokens is via people on the forums although if you want to pay a premium there will be a vendor or two that dabble in the token trade at most cons.

2) Token sales/trading takes place year-round on the forums/ebay. When the new tokens come out there is a lot of activity. Post con is a great time to get anything you maybe missed at the con. And a final surge on the previous years tokens happens about now.

3) I recommend keeping any single of each for yourself as they may be used in the future, but getting rid of extras is probably fine. I wouldn't transmute them into trade goods though if you want to get rid of them people will be interested.

4) I would always advise people start with treasure enhancing tokens as runs are expensive and the more treasure you get per run is the more physical return value you get for your ticket price. Take prices at Gen Con this year. Max treasure = 19 * $4 per pull = $76 in value. Anything less than max is what you are paying for strictly entertainment purposes.

5) Always just try and gear up with what you have first and then you can generally transmute the excess tokens. It seems that Origins is probably the best con to do transmuting (especially trade goods) but it really depends when they offer it.

Misc:
1) GTs are a special token you can get in an order that are basically a free run with lots of bonus perks. They generally are valued around $1000 and are very difficult to get unless you are fortunate enough to open one (From what I've heard about 1 per $16,000 in orders roughly)

2) It really depends on what you like to do at cons. Obviously the con with the most going on aside from TD is Gen Con so if you don't want to spend Gen Con doing TD I advise going to GHC and Origins as they are cheaper and tickets are easy to come by.

Oh wow, I got a ton of answers here. Thanks for the warm welcome everyone! I would have responded sooner, but I was out of town followed a day after by company arriving and wanted to be able to sit down and take my time to fully unpack all the awesome extensive responses to my questions and see if I had any follow-ups.

1) So, with regards to which tokens I'd want to keep from a big order, I'm not necessarily just looking for what great/optimal gear to be looking out for. I'm also wondering what kinda sub-optimal items might be nice to hang onto that might still make someone's run a bit more fun. Since a lot of the people I run with are pretty casual about it, I imagine we'd end up with a lot of other casual players filling up slots not taken up by our party. To that, I was wondering what sorts of things (like maybe masterwork tools or that common ioun stone that gives HP) I could hang onto that can make fellow newbies experiences that much more fun that would otherwise be worth nothing to me beyond being 1/25th of a single crafting material. Also, what sort of rares can I potentially expect to appreciate in value the most and thus be worth hanging on to (I feel like those rare lenses seem pretty swell- that sorta thing)?

2) Then, I see that the 1k orders also include copies of adventure modules. What do those contain? Do they include the puzzles/solutions? I can't help but think of how fun those were and wonder if I might not be able to somehow integrate them into some DnD campaign sometime down the line.

3) Also, I see that TD runs at four different cons. Is this a consistent thing or does it kind of vary from year to year depending on factors? Also, what are odds of it expanding further than presently?

4) Follow up about golden tickets- are the special runs a lot more difficult/challenging? As in, if someone showed up with primarily rare gear and maybe one or two URs would they just be dragging down the rest of the group?


Questions aside, it seems I'm about ready to take the plunge and make that big order. Thinking I will be going with a pair of ioun stones and the two different kilts. When the next year's worth of items comes out I'll prolly be looking to pick up two more of the new ioun stones, the third kilt and either the rogue or bard transmute items. I've been favoring rogue presently while my wife seems to like bard. I figure I'll build ranger secondary and she'll prolly be building wizard secondary, though I'll likely pick up a few multipurpose things here or there (like a defender set) in case I have to do a quick change on the fly. Pretty hype about the new set of transmutes coming out and might be able to push a few of them on the more casual few from my current adventuring group- namely the whetstone and treasure charm.

1) There will always be a few uncommons worth keeping for groups like thieve’s tools and the class charms that are great to share. For rares I would keep any that you want to use for yourself or your group, and there will definitely be some that will gain value, you can usually tell the more powerful ones right away, as well as any that are used for transmuting. Wait a bit and check some of the token sites to give you an idea.

2) The modules are great, they explain the setting, the rooms, the puzzles, and the monsters statistics. You could definitely have some fun with them, and I often learn tricks or Easter egg tokens from them as well.

3) The current 4 cons are pretty consistent, with Origins and GenCon having multi year contracts, and one of the show runners for GHC now working with TD as well. PAX has gone from demo to a couple full dungeons, so you can expect the next 4 to be pretty set in stone. Jeff will post in the events section as well if anything changes or there are any special True Dungeon Celebration type events.

4) The golden Ticket runs are the first runs of the season on Wednesday of GenCon. Because they are more often found in larger token purchases, the people who go on those runs will be equipped for Nightmare. But as the majority of them are friendly veterans it would not be hard for them to help you with some gear if you are lucky enough to get a ticket. Definitely worth it either way.

Phil

1). Play the way that makes you and your friends happy. To get an idea of what trans mutes do, look on tokendb.com and flyer for relic, enhanced and exalted.

2). The modules describe the romsprooms as planned. Very often of hey are modified during GenCon. There are often larger changes between Cons. Sometimes one entire room is changed out.

3). Additional Cons. That is a fairly recent phenomenon. Last year was the first for Pax South, the second for Origins and IIRC the third for GHC. TD has also been to Who's Yer Con, but that doesn't seem likely to happen again. There have been two special events at Carbondale. And long ago at GenCon SoCal when that was a thing. It appears the intention is to run at least the four now on the schedule permanently. Depends on ticket sales I'd imagine.


4) Most GT groups will play on Nightmare level. They will almost always have spare tokens or entire builds to lend out. There is lots of preplanning on the forums as well

Whelp, just pulled the trigger on my first big order, so I suppose I'm all in now. <3

Timothy Lopez wrote: Whelp, just pulled the trigger on my first big order, so I suppose I'm all in now. <3

Congrats - it will be fun organizing and reviewing the tokens long before you actually play.

Ed

MasterED wrote:

Timothy Lopez wrote: Whelp, just pulled the trigger on my first big order, so I suppose I'm all in now. <3

Congrats - it will be fun organizing and reviewing the tokens long before you actually play.

Ed

Don't forget annoying the rest of my group by constantly bringing up TD out of nowhere. XD