TOPIC: Newbie tips to gear up for E1 and E2 at GenCon?

At GenCon this year my wife is going as a member of two runs by herself, E1 and E2, as she loves TD (while I'm off trying megagames). She loves the puzzles and is decent at the shuffleboard thing too.

We did a sealed run last year at GenCon for the first time and have a handful of tokens left over from that, I think nothing valuable. Prior to her solo runs she and I are doing a sealed run with 2 other friends. So she'll have those tokens in hand too.

Starting from basically scratch with say a ~$200 budget, how should I help try to get her geared out for her runs by herself so she holds her own with a group of 7 strangers?

What class, where should I get the tokens at GenCon, which ones? Anything else to think of?

Maybe lean suggestions towards painless and easier solutions, I don't care about saving pennies or anything as GenCon FUN TIME is finite.

Thanks for any advice, I am totally clueless!!!

Hello Hoosier Jeff!

Class wise, I think that is a personal choice. If she likes sliding, one of the melee classes would be ideal. If she likes the idea of casting spells, Wizard or Druid come to mind. If party support is more her thing, look to Cleric or Bard.


For where to get tokens, there is a cart that will have a bunch of stuff for sale - its run, I believe, by MasterEd and TD Tavern (tdtavern.com). I'm sure they will be able to give you hours of operation, but I believe they open up on Wednesday. I've purchased from the cart before and I feel I've been treated fairly. I would avoid the exhibit hall vendors unless you really know what you're shopping for, or you may end up over paying (I didn't really get into shopping for tokens until after last Gen Con, so my memory may be a bit hazy on those vendor hall stores).

TD Tavern has some starter builds available that I presume are available that will run ~30 to ~40, and those builds will get you coverage with a mix of around 20 different 2019 tokens in varying slots (depends on class). If you're looking for builds a little more complete and not restricted to the current token year, you can see my starter threads in the class sections. Some sample direct links to those are below:

Barbarian: www.truedungeon.com/forum?view=topic&catid=561&id=248798
Dwarf Fighter: www.truedungeon.com/forum?view=topic&catid=565&id=248765
Ranger: www.truedungeon.com/forum?view=topic&catid=568&id=248764

HoosierJeff wrote: At GenCon this year my wife is going as a member of two runs by herself, E1 and E2, as she loves TD (while I'm off trying megagames). She loves the puzzles and is decent at the shuffleboard thing too.

We did a sealed run last year at GenCon for the first time and have a handful of tokens left over from that, I think nothing valuable. Prior to her solo runs she and I are doing a sealed run with 2 other friends. So she'll have those tokens in hand too.

Starting from basically scratch with say a ~$200 budget, how should I help try to get her geared out for her runs by herself so she holds her own with a group of 7 strangers?

What class, where should I get the tokens at GenCon, which ones? Anything else to think of?

Maybe lean suggestions towards painless and easier solutions, I don't care about saving pennies or anything as GenCon FUN TIME is finite.

Thanks for any advice, I am totally clueless!!!

First welcome to the forums. I would recommend checking to see if there is a thread for people on the same run as her. The others on the run might not end up as strangers that way. They also might have tokens to lend. They also might have class preferences that can be worked out.

Group Index finder thread. www.truedungeon.com/forum?view=topic&catid=613&id=249245

Trent has some great starter kits too! All reds means you can comfortably play on HARDCORE.

https://www.trenttokens.com/collections/character-starter-kits

Both good suggestions.

I would definitely check with TD token (Kirk Bauer on here) for class builds. You can usually get a fully rare build for less than $100 for most classes.

Checking for groups is a good idea

Cleric/Fighter/Dwarf Fighter/Paladin can more or less use the same token set.

Wizard / Elf Wizard tends to be the least used classes

If she enjoys spellcasters I would look at a wizard and a druid build, that would be solid for grouping

I would also suggest buying a fighter build, that should safely let her play about 5 classes

I would also suggest looking for open runs on the forums here for her if she has spaces in her list or hasn't bought random tickets yet.

Many forum goers buy full runs and organize ahead of time so you know exactly what class you will be playing on a run before you even head to gencon. This could make things a lot easier


ALSO may want to look at Game Hole Con coming up in November as an option for future TD goodness. It's a smaller con but has a lot of true dungeon, a lot of pre-made groups, a good armount of D&D games and is generally cheaper to fly into and get hotels for since it's a smaller con!

General advice:

No need to spend more than $20-40, if that, to play on Normal or Hardcore (if you are in a well equipped party and you don't play Paladin or Dwarf Fighter). If the people in her groups want to go higher difficulty, they should be prepared to loan tokens/builds to make her at least good enough to survive.

Any player is equally helpful for puzzles, so 50% of the game is played without tokens.

The best buys for a starting player, to my perspective, are tokens that are useful for all/most/many classes, for flexibility, so that she can take whichever classes are available, and tokens that provide stat boosts (AC, STR, DEX, primarily) so that she isn't having to think about too many situational bonuses/reactions.

Class wise, Monk is great if she's sliding, or a caster class, particularly wizard/bard/druid, if you're going in with few tokens.

The +1 Bliss Hammer is a great starter weapon that is usable by all classes. This year's Nether Knocker isn't too much worse.

A +1 Sling is a great flexible missile weapon (one handed so you can keep a shield bonus). This year's Nether Short Spear is usable by most but 1-off. A Longbow and Archer's buckler is good for Rangers, Fighters, Paladins, Barbarians, and Bards.

So having 2 melee weapons and 2 ranged ones - one that is better but for fewer classes, and one that is weaker but usable by more classes - is a good start.

If she likes to slide or doesn't like to memorize or remember what spells she has, getting a Defender Set (Helm, Shield, Armor) is a good buy, as it's 13 AC and Free Movement (+1 Saves) for your (Dwarf) Fighter, Paladin, or Cleric. That said, there are plenty of armors, shields, and helmet combos that will get her to around 10 AC bonus for less money. (This year's Nether Stout Helm, Nether Shield, and Soul Leech Armor would put her at +9 AC, +4 HP for about a third the cost of a Defender Set).

Beyond that, I'd look for low-cost tokens that bump STR, DEX, AC, Saves, and HP for the other slots, making sure to get STR, DEX, and CON to even numbers if possible.

If she bought a Robe of Deftness, Soul Stain Armor (and Maybe Soul Leech Armor), she'd have a good torso token for any class, and the rest of the tokens she buys should be usable by all or most classes.

Exceptions:

Get 1 Treasure Enhancing Rare if possible, an Ioun Stone Agate Orb to gain extra health (if your teammates use Cure Minor Wounds spells, you're getting double value), and a Charm of Acuity - which lets casters re-try a failed skill check.

I would not buy any token usable by fewer than 3 classes. She is least likely to be playing Rogue, and most likely to be able to play a Fighter, Wizard (because of the Dwarf & Elf), or Monk.

I avoid Monk and Ranger for random groups as they have a higher tendency of filling early.

Barbarian / Fighter / Cleric / Druid / Paladin use almost the same armor sets. Barbarian has a few less options.

Druid and Paladin share a few healing booster items

Wizard is the most restrictive on build tokens but is the least used class so it's normally available.

A basic Wizard build and a basic Fighter/Cleric/Druid/Paladin build should give solid choices

Arcanist Kolixela wrote: Druid and Paladin share a few healing booster items

I think you mean Druid and Cleric.

jedibcg wrote:

Arcanist Kolixela wrote: Druid and Paladin share a few healing booster items

I think you mean Druid and Cleric.

Druid Cleric and Paladin all do. Druid and Cleric share more tho you are correct

Since nobody has mentioned it:

A level increasing item is also something that would greatly benefit her.

For around 100 you can find a ring of fateful heroism, that has some drawbacks (-1 to all saves and essentially takes up both of your ring slots).

For around 200 you can get a ring of heroism, that has no drawbacks associated with it besides taking up a single ring slot.

For 250ish you can find a charm of heroism, that goes in a less contested spot than ring and also has no drawbacks.

There are many other options and sets that will increase level, but those are some easily available ones.


A level increasing item she will use on every single non-sealed run she does, and for many classes add not just stats but interesting new abilities. As others have suggested a red in every single other slot will get you doing hardcore no problem and run you less than $100 easily.

Another item you may want to pick up is an Enchanter's Whetstone. It makes every rare weapon she will ever use better, and is currently in-print.

Good luck with the token rabbit-hole, and do your best to stay within your budget

Honestly start with good general purpose rares, those will get you 75% of the way there at 10% of the price

Everyone should have ioun stone beryl prism, gauntlets & belt of ogre power, a cloak of resistance, and something that grants free movement. You should be able to score all that for give or take $20

From there add +1 d6 weapon, +1 d8 weapon, a mighty sling, and maybe a +1 heavy weapon like a bastard sword.

Finally throw in a light (chain) & heavy(plate) armor and you'll be good to equip just about any class. None of these should run you more then a couple of bucks each.

If you want to go further, maybe some focus item for casters, or a rare treasure enhancer. Blighted pants, charm of rage, ear cuff of sonic splendor also punch significantly above their item class in terms of bang for your buck.

Endgame has also written some extensive budget gearing guides.