TOPIC: True Dungeon Timeline

Background: The purpose of this thread is to capture all of the new and interesting things that happened for each year of True Dungeon. It will be a community effort, everyone feel free to let me know any additional information to add for each year. Everyone should also feel free to post memorable True Dungeon experiences on this thread. Thanks!!

2003:

. It all began at a friends-only gaming weekend shown below (JefCON). Here, over pancakes at a nearby Bob Evans, Gen Con CEO Peter Adkison took a gamble, and he welcomed Jeff Martin and his friends to bring a "yet to be designed" True Dungeon to Gen Con 2003. Below are the winners of the AD&D tournament that year. Shown is Peter (middle bottom) and the person responsible for getting him to JefCON -- Stefan Pokorny (the guy with the proudful tongue).

• This was the first year of True Dungeon, with one Dungeon (The Five Aspects). TD1 - "The Five Aspects", involves the party being lost in a savage land, and to survive, they had to escape a druidical proving ground. There were 300 slots of 6 tickets each available for $9 per ticket. There were 8 rooms in the Dungeon, and True Dungeon was held in the Hyatt Ballroom. It stayed at that location until it moved to the Marriott hotel in 2005 (and then to the Convention Center in 2012).

• 20th Anniversary Review - The walls for the first three years of True Dungeon were made of spray-painted black coroplast which were hung with zip-ties on exhibitor pipe.


. Wooden tokens were introduced. At GENCON Indy there were no token packs sold, you could only get tokens by finding them in the Dungeon during the adventure. 300 Token Bags were sold at GENCON SOCAL. The token bags were either Black, Burgundy, or Silver colored and they had True Dungeon Treasure Kit Embossed on them. They contained one rare or uncommon token, and nine common tokens.

• The True Dungeon event was held in 2003 and 2004 at the Hyatt.

• For 2003 and 2004, there were no armor tokens, and the only weapon tokens were Rare +1 Weapon Tokens that gave you an additional +1 to hit and damage. Each character class had a set armor on the character card, and your character slider had the chosen weapon for each class incorporated into it.

• According to Jeff Martin, the first True Dungeon in 2003 was a last-minute thing; there was no promotion for it. It wasn't even in the program book. We weren't even in the Gen Con ticketing system.

• In 2003, the lighting in the Dungeons was much dimmer than in later years, and groups were only given one light source. There were tokens such as Scroll Light which could be used to give the group additional light sources.

• In the 2003 True Dungeon, when a player died, instead of being allowed to remain with the party as a “Ghost”, an NPC dressed as Death came to escort the player out of the Dungeon. On some occasions, the deceased player was allowed to slide on a combat board in a separate room before leaving the Dungeon, and if they slid a “20” they were resurrected and allowed to return to the party.

• One of the earliest reviews of True Dungeon came in the Knights of the Dinner Table magazine after the 2003 GENCON. Jolly Blackburn, creator of Knights of the Dinner Table, did a 2003 True Dungeon run with Mike Steele, John Lahr, Ed Whalen, Lew Herring and Joel Bozell, and wrote a very positive review of the experience in his KoDT Magazine. Lew and Joel were the inspirations for the Bob and Brian characters in KoDT, and on the TD run Joel notably died in Room #2 (a feat that wouldn’t be matched for years) and the TD staff felt so sorry for him that they gave him a free T-Shirt.

• One memorable feature of the 2003 Dungeon was a tunnel that only the Halfling Rogue could enter. Way back in the tunnel, there was a sign giving the Rogue the option of healing the entire party a certain amount, or getting a True Dungeon T-Shirt that said “I screwed my party for this T-Shirt”. When this room was revisited in the Retro Dungeon in 2009, the option was changed to getting a token draw for the entire party or getting the T-Shirt.

• In 2003 there weren’t any Treasure boxes or Token Draws. Instead Treasure Tokens were hidden in rooms for the players to find. This practice was soon discontinued and replaced by Treasure Token Boxes because of the risk of players damaging the sets in attempts to find tokens.

• In 2003, when you signed in for your Dungeon, instead of an arm band you were given a wooden token with “True Dungeon.Com” stamped on the back and the day and time hand-written on the front of the token. Very few of these “Day and Time” tokens are still known to exist.

• In 2003 and 2004, each group would have a single Dungeon Master that accompanied them throughout the entire Dungeon.

• Below are the percentages of the last room reached by players in 2003:
1 0%
2 0.40%
3 0.20%
4 1.89%
5 9.16%
6 23.90%
7 18.92%
8 45.52%

2004:

• The 2004 Adventure was TD2 - "Return to Hommlet", where the adventurers had to explore the wilderness north of Hommlet to find an evil wizard who had convinced a group of lizardmen to destroy Hommlet. Notably it had an opening voice-over by Gary Gygax.

• 2004 was the first time that tokens were sold in packs at GENCON Indy. Tokens were sold in black and Burgandy faux leather bags with gold-embossed writing "True Dungeon Treasure Kit". They could also be ordered prior to GENCON. You got nine treasure tokens (one Very Rare (equivalent to the current rare) or Rare (equivalent to the current uncommon) and 8 common) and a faux leather pouch for $9, or 7 for $50. If you ordered more than $100 the shipping was free, otherwise it was an extra $3 per token bag.

• 2004 provided the first Volunteer reward token, the wooden Ultra-Rare Ring of Regeneration. The Ring of Regeneration as well as Ultra-Rare Ring of Three Wishes (of which only a few were made) were the first Ultra-Rare tokens.

• In 2004 there were about 1500 players and only 20% of characters survived the Dungeon.

• There was an Inn in True Dungeon for the first time in 2004, it used approximately 650 square feet. There was a Dust of Appearance Token on the top of the bookshelves in the tavern.

• In 2004 True Heroes was introduced, in adventure TH1 - "Wanted: Wolverine", where the party had to discover who was planning an evil attack on the United Nations and stop them. True Heroes was a superhero-themed game that is played much like True Dungeon. It was produced in conjunction with Upper Deck Entertainment and Marvel Comics. Combat involved throwing small balls containing magnets at metal targets. Combat also used aspects of Upper Deck's "VS System". Experience points for True Heroes were cumulative with True Dungeon.

• Rumor Tokens were introduced in 2004 and were in use until 2007, in varying rarities. They allowed a player to give the Rumor token to an NPC / Coach / DM and get a rumor regarding the True Dungeon adventure. The higher the rarity of the Rumor token the more likely the rumor would be useful. They were discontinued after 2007 and cannot be used now. It is always possible that they will make a return in a future Token set.

• The $1,000.00 Master Maze Winner was Thomas Rusterholz from River Falls, Wisconsin! He was randomly selected at the True Dungeon Illinois HQ from Riddle Reveal participants to receive the $1,000.00 Master Maze product pack! He was contacted while camping in Canada (busy gamer), and he was delighted to hear the news. By the way, Thomas fell victim to the spider.

• After the 2004 GENCON, XP was listed on the True Dungeon website for the first time. The levels were determined using the following: Level 1 0-999, Level 2 1000 – 2999, Level 3 3000+. You got XP by how far you got in the Dungeon. Players that played multiple times only received XP for their best game played within 1 year or per module. Thus, if you played True Dungeon in 2003 and 2004, and True Heroes AND got at least 1000XP each time, you would be be 3rd level. After the 2004 GENCON there were: 71 3rd level players, 1495 2nd level players, and 734 1st level players. 304 players did not come back and tell us their last room reached and thusly their XP read 0.

• Following are the percentages of “last room reached on 2004 by players (note that the rooms were adjusted from 2003 so it was not possible to die before room 3). Compared to the high mortality rates in 2003 where only 45% of players made it to the final room, over 80% of the players made it to the final room in 2004 Indy and over 90% in 2004 SoCal:
Room#, 2004 Indy, 2004 SoCal
1 0% 0%
2 0% 0%
3 0.78% 0.31%
4 0.62% 0.15%
5 2.32% 1.22%
6 8.04% 3.36%
7 6.57% 2.75%
8 82.37% 92.21%

• There were nine rooms in 2004 (including the Tavern) in True Dungeon, and here is a brief description of them (from the Riddle Reveal):

Room One - Tavern
The wonderful tavern was a player favorite, and I am sure it will return in some form next year. There were a lot of artifacts in the room – all of which were just there to add to the atmosphere. We were very grateful to Mr. Gary Gygax for doing the voice over work for the video – even though his health is not the best.
Rumor Tokens – If you handed the barkeep your rumor token facing her, then you got a true rumor and if it was facing the other way it was a false rumor.
NPC’s – Some lucky groups got to deal with a mysterious stranger in the corner of the tavern who was selling rare and very rare tokens. This man was in fact Dave Arneson – the father of the role-playing game, and we were very privileged to have him among us. His 11-year old granddaughter was along as well…as she had a very good time.
You might have run into some other NPC’s in the tavern that might have sold you a variety of things. This was a last minute add-on to the experience, and it was a good experiment. Next year we will probably make things a bit more structured to ensure that proper things are done by the NPC’s in the tavern.
Bullentin Board – This was another great idea. Jenn collected posts from our website from players who wanted to leave funny messages to friends from their gaming group – often mentioning memorable events from the group’s gaming past. There was also a notice from the “Greyhawk 10 Ft. Pole Co.” that was a clue of what to due in Room 3 (The Imp Entrance).

Room Two – The Camp
This area was supposed to be the ruins outside the moathouse in the module T1. I really liked the way everything was integrated into a natural setting. A few tokens were available to be found under some debris from time to time – as I put some there occasionally.
Bard Book – Note that most of the info in here was not that useful, but there was some big clues about 4 challenges. A funny note: The cover of the bard book was the same as the cover of the cookbook from that famous Twilight Zone episode called “How To Serve Man”.

Room Three – The Imp Entrance
This room was really a creative problem solving exercise that was sort of disguised as a physical challenge. Some players said that there were less puzzles this year…when in reality many failed to see that this was actually a puzzle!
You were supposed to land a gem inside the pentagram…which is possible with a lucky throw. The “sleaze” or trick in this room was to use the two 10 ft. poles in the room to make a gutter-like device to slowly roll the gems onto the platform.
Several groups came up with other clever ways to get this done – including putting a gem inside a boot and tossing that onto the circle!

Room Four – The Octagon Room
This was a tough puzzle that had a simple solution – if you thought of it. Your basic choice was one of three archways, but two of the pictures above the archways could be spelled with the cubes (avian and shell). The trick was to drop the cubes in the pool of water…and allowing the letters A-V-I-A-N to always float to the surface. The cubes were especially rigged to do so.

Room Five – The Closing Hallway Choice / The Sarcophagus
This was another “puzzle” that many failed to recognize as such.
The “jump-behind-the-closing-wall” encounter was dreamed up by a friend of mine 20 years ago, and I fell for it myself. What possessed nearly 98% of player to jump behind the closing wall (and thus trapping themselves) is a mystery…albeit a funny one. The best thing to do in this situation is to let the wall close…and not trap yourself. Doing that, you could then enter the other doorway into a reward room that contained a divination device that would answer Yes and No questions about the dungeon before you. You also got some treasure tokens buried in a huge pile of 14,400 gold coins – which is a sight to see by itself.
The sarcophagus contained an undead that breathed a poison gas on the players, and on some days there was a Chaotic Medallion of Temptation inside. This was detailed in the Bard’s book where it said that the medallion grants any paladin an18 Strength, but it turns their alignment to Chaotic Good – thus making the Paladin become a Fighter. It was a tough choice…
Also, there was an opened crypt in this room that tempted someone to crawl inside and retrieve some treasure tokens. Anyone who entered was trapped by a falling wall, and then escorted out of the hole by a prop person. This person was said to have been captured by a Phase Spider that paralyzed him and then took him to his lair (Room Seven – The Spider Cave). More about this later…but basically this person is gone from the party for about 20 minutes. Many of the victims/players said that their group did not even recognize them when they were found in the spider cave.

Room Six – The Perilous Chasm
This one killed a lot of players. By the end of the event the pit was almost filled with the dead! I did not realize that it would be so deadly…but some of that was due to poor DM training on my part. If you were one of the players who feel that you died unjustly in this room you have my apology…and promise that next year I will do a much better job of setting good guidelines for the DM.
If you tried to cross the bridge without crawling or being tied to a rope, then you had to make a Reflex DC of 15 to stay on the bridge from the strong winds…both going onto the platform and off of it.
Also, the correct thing to do was to leave the Djinni bottle all alone…as it was just a red herring and not crucial to your mission of finding the Faceless One. If you did let the Djinni out of the bottle, then all you had to do was simply throw the bottle off of the platform and into the black abyss to get rid of him. The DM should have hinted that the Djinni was “half-in” the bottle, and thus tied to it.
Note that if no one from the party was greedy enough to go into the open crypt in the previous room, then they were “taken” by the spider here – through the fire exit door. Many groups kind of freaked out when one of their party members just disappeared without a trace.
Also, all the players that entered the crypt (or were taken in this room) got to go to a special area where they got to view an infra-red camera set up in the Chasm room. They got to watch their party deal with the peril of the bridge, and thank their lucky stars they actually avoided the room.

Room Seven – The Spider Cave
This area was one were I wanted to give players the feeling of what it was like to creep around some twisting tunnels…searching for potential threats. I wanted their guards to be down when they finally came around the corner and saw their party member trapped in the web. Most of the party’s got a good fright when the spider hissed, lit up and then sprayed them with silly string. Some clever parties used Detect Evil, a mirror or good eyes to see the spider before it sprayed. Good work!
Note that some groups found more than one player in the web if a previous round’s party had died before having a chance to rescue their trapped party member. At one time we had 3 or 4 people trapped in the web!

Room Eight – The Faceless One
Players immediately found out why he is called the Faceless One…he is naturally invisible and he attacks as an Improved Invisibility spell has been cast. After hearing the Efreeti and the Faceless One exchange some heated words, the party got attacked by the flying and invisible wizard. He was a very tough opponent – only beatable if you had some way to magically detect invisibility or if you said you were throwing the fine sand from the brazier into the air.
The big “sleaze” or trick was to find the gem in the room and then place it on the platform that holds the Efreeti. You knew from their conversation that the Efreeti hated the wizard, and that freeing him would spell the wizard’s doom.
There were lots of clues to do this. The front of every treasure token and every leather coaster had a broken pentagram on it, and the fireplace and barstools in the tavern had one as well.
Kudos to the groups that figured out this “puzzle”.

Room Nine – The Idol Room

If you missed seeing this room…it was a real shame as it was a loving tribute to the first edition cover of the Player’s Handbook. We exactly replicated the cover of the 1st Ed. PHB – minus the dead Lizardmen and party. When you walked into the room, it was like walking into the front cover of the PHB.
If your fight with the Faceless One went fairly fast, then you were informed that you had one round to prepare to fight the encounter inspired from the PHB’s cover. Many player’s healed up, some rogues sought the shadows and others looked at the altar in front.
But soon 4 Lizardmen were faced and a nasty fight ensued. Those who fought well survived to face a tougher challenge…that of the puzzle on the altar. It had 8 idol heads around its perimeter, and these faces had open mouths that were hand sized. Under each head was a word like Respect, Awe, Command, etc. The words on its front read:
“YOU MUST UNDERSTAND – THE EYES THEY SEE
AND THEN PULL FORTH THE SCEPTER FROM ME”
Now this is a tough puzzle. A clue was on a scroll in the previous room that said that the God of the Lizardman liked to test his clerics with anagram puzzles.
Another clue was the first line of the puzzle:
YOU MUST UNDERSTAND – THE EYES THEY SEE
Which means you must understand that “The Eyes” and “They See” are anagrams, and thus that anagrams are important. Once you understand that anagrams are in play, you can then look for an anagram for what you are looking for -- a “scepter”. One of the mouth choices was RESPECT…which is an anagram for SCEPTER.
I can hear the moans across the internet…yes…it was a tough one. I think about 5% of the groups actually figured the puzzle out this way…while others just guessed. One group surmised somehow that the idol was looking at the RESPECT mouth hole and picked that one by luck. Never underestimate the ingeniousness of the bold.

2005:

• In 2005 two different adventures were run in parallel: TD3 "Battle Below Castle Greyhawk" and TD4 "Assault Above Castle Greyhawk". In the last room of the Battle Below Castle Greyhawk adventure the adventurers had to delve deep under Castle Greyhawk to find a clue to help the party in the opposite adventure. If successful the players could send a brief message to the other adventure, providing a clue to help the second party complete their last room. In "Assault Above Greyhawk", the adventurers had to travel into the bizarre tower of Greyhawk to stop an evil artifact from destroying the city of Greyhawk. While some players liked this linkage, many were unhappy that their success was linked to the success of another group instead of being entirely in their hands. Ticket prices were $20 per Dungeon.

• In 2005 True Dungeon moved to a new location, from the Hyatt to the 21,000 square feet Grand Ballroom at the Marriott Hotel located directly across from the Exhibit Hall entrance, in order to get extra space for the expanded event.

• In 2005 over 4,000 gamers participated in the adventures and the tavern, which was TRIPLE the size of the event in 2004! About 42% of the characters survived the Dungeon, doubling the survival rate in 2004.

• Starting in 2005, the Dungeons were reduced from the eight rooms they had in 2003 and 2004 to seven rooms.

• The bags of tokens in 2005 expanded from 9 tokens to 10 tokens and went to one Rare token, two Uncommon tokens and 7 Common tokens, and went for $10 a bag. The selection changed to less GPs and Gems in order to make room for the different weapon and armor tokens.

• In 2005 Rumor tokens were turned in at the Tavern for clues and hints.

• In 2005 Ultra-Rare tokens were introduced as part of the token set, beyond the two more limited Ultra-Rare tokens in 2004. You couldn’t get them with your token packs; they could only be obtained as treasure in the Dungeons. There was one puzzle room in particular that contained a random Ultra-Rare token if you solved the puzzle. This caused unexpected problems though, as there were many runs where someone participated who had done previous runs, and when entering the room they immediately ran to that puzzle and obtained the Ultra-Rare token, which caused ill-will among the other party members.

• In 2005, armor tokens and weapon tokens with combat wheels were made for the first time. In order to make sure that characters had weapons and armor for the adventure, prior to the Dungeon each person was allowed to randomly pick one weapon token (two for the Ranger) and one armor token. The tokens were primarily commons, but there were some uncommons and perhaps a very few rares mixed in as well.

• There were actually two token sets released in 2005, known as 2005a and 2005b. This is because token demand was much greater than expected and 2005a sold out quickly. 2005a did have some typos on the tokens, such as the Quarter Slaff and the Exiler of Life. There were numerous misprints in the 2005b set, involving the 2005b token back and either 2005a or 2006 fronts.

• Token bags in 2005 were faux leather with True Dungeon Treasure Kit screen printed on them in gold ink. They were colored burgundy for the 2005a set and Black for the 2005b set.

• New token sliders were created to hold the tokens, instead of the previous sliders which were solid and had the damage wheels screened onto them. The character classes weren’t printed on the sliders, which Jeff noted as an improvement to be made for the following year. From the newsletter “The cool thing about the weapon tokens is that the combat sliders will be now be token holders with a recession in the middle of their tops to accept the weapon tokens. Players will now carry their weapons (tokens) with them from room to room, and just insert them briefly into a slider/holder during combat. The damage indicator numbers will be shown on the outside edge of the token imprint area, corrected for that weapon and any magical bonus. Armor tokens will be stored inside your Gen Con badge holder so that the DM can easily see the armor bonus of your armor token.”

• Starting in 2005, rather than having a single Dungeon Master accompany the group through the entire Dungeon, each room would have a separate Dungeon Master to assure more consistent rulings in each room. And there was a head DM assigned to each room to tweak and tighten the rooms.

• In 2005 the Hardcore difficulty Level was introduced, to account for the widening gap between new players and those that were more experienced and/or had significantly more tokens. Hardcore level offered more experience points than did Normal level.

• In 2005 a second year of True Heroes was offered with the adventure TH2 - "Avengers Assemble!". In it the mighty Avengers had to unite to save the world from a mysterious Super Villain. Unfortunately because of rights and fee issues with Upper Deck, this was the last year that True Heroes was available. Hopefully something similar can be offered at some point in the future.

• Following is a summary of the 2005 True Heroes adventure, based upon 11 year old memories from players (primarily Angela Small, with some added notes from me).

In the first room, there was a story about a villain escaping who had to be tracked down. The villain went down a tunnel and it was suggested that player playing Black Panther was to use his heightened sense of smell to figure out what tunnel our villain used to leave. Perfume bottles were used for this puzzle - one was the villain's scent, and you needed to figure out which tunnel had the perfume bottle of the same scent.

In one the following rooms The Hulk was encountered and was being mind-controlled, and needed to be incapacitated in combat.

In another room there was a puzzle/large box. For this puzzle, the story was that The Wasp was the only character small enough to enter a machine (I think it may have been the device being used to control The Hulk's mind), and either press some buttons/cut some wires/manipulate the innards of the machine. Teamwork was needed for this puzzle since all other party members could see (I think due to some filter) which areas/nodes needed to be manipulated, but The Wasp couldn't - and the other party members needed to communicate to The Wasp, where to strike. Whoever was playing The Wasp received some sort of bracelet with essentially a laser pointer attached. Three attempts were allowed to get this correct. In the adventure we ran, nobody wanted to play the Wasp while there were multiple people trying to play Thor, and ironically the Wasp was possibly the most interesting character to play on this adventure.

In another room we encountered Sub-Mariner, who I recall being angry at us about something. Someone in Angela’s party wanted to role play with Sub-Mariner/Room GM to solve the issue. She didn’t think the script allowed for it, but the GM gave it his best!

The last room had was a free-for-all with multiple villains, and quite a lot going on. It’s possible that at some point in that room or in the Dungeon there were cards for Spider-Man's mask and Captain America's shield, which might have helped if they had been picked up. It may be (it’s a bit foggy) that someone from on top of the wall (or through a hole in the wall) hitting us with nerf darts every so often, which would incapacitate a player.
2005 True Heroes combat was done with a magnetic ball and target (as in a bullseye). It was a yellow circle on the wall with a smaller red circle in the middle. The sizes of these circles would vary depending on how difficult the combat/villain/to hit was supposed to be. I think if you hit in the yellow area, it would stun the villain for one round, while hitting in the red area would incapacitate the villain. The villains didn't attack randomly, they followed a set strategy, starting with taking out Captain America.

Black Panther's special combat ability was upon a successful hit, Black Panther could make another attack.

For each successful completion of a True Heroes room, we were given a VS card. I think the idea was there were abilities on the cards we could have used to aid us on the adventure - Unfortunately, no one in my party understood that. All the VS cards we collected by the last room GM upon exiting True Heroes.

• There was a Video Introduction to the adventure, but it was hard to hear and too long. Jeff noted that an improvement to that will be an “actor” module introduction inside the tavern next year.

• A Cityscape was introduced in 2005. There was a Tavern which was the start of the module (Jenn, Lance and Lexi and others did a lot of hard work to pull it off), and there were also Blacksmith and Magic shops, where players could trade weapons/armor tokens and magic tokens. This was the only year that True Dungeon set up actual token trading areas operated by True Dungeon volunteers using True Dungeon owned tokens. The great demand for weapons and armor drove up prices at the Blacksmith toward the end of the event – by the end there were no Rare weapons or armor to be had. I have really fond memories of both of those shops, as do many players. They are largely what prompted me to change from buying a few packs to buying a LOT of packs.

• Five special True Dungeon mugs were created in 2005. They all were clear plastic with the True Dungeon Tavern logo on them, and had an airtight space in the bottom where a token was inserted. Four of them were sold in the Tavern and contained uncommon tokens (+1 Mug of Brawling, Mug of Beauty, Mug of Courage, and Mug of Charisma), and the fifth (Bucknard’s Everfull Mug) contained an Ultra-Rare token and was the Volunteer reward for that year. Bucknard’s Everfull Mug was pretty limited and not all Volunteers got one, and the idea behind them was that the Volunteer that owned it could always bring it in to the Tavern for a free soft drink. Unfortunately, the Marriott put their foot down when they saw TD providing beverages - even free ones - and Jeff had to discontinue that plan. Also, while the uncommon token mugs generally had no game value, the +1 Mug of Brawling was used by many in True Arena for a combat bonus, and you had to actually be holding it during True Arena to get its benefit.

• At GENCON SOCAL, a free BarFight game was introduced. It was similar to True Arena (see the 2006 listing), but all players (16 per session) had the same stats (except for a bonus to those with a Mug of Brawling). It was offered at the following times: Thursday and Friday: 1 pm, 4 pm, and 9 pm, and Saturday: 1 pm, 4 pm, and 8 pm.

• HARDCORE DUNGEON DEATH: If a person died during the Hardcore dungeon, they were taken to the Hall of Valhalla were they got to hang out until the next round starts. At that time, they were given a chance to match their fighting prowess against a rowdy Demi-God who would resurrect them IF they can slide a natural 20 with one slide. Death took them back to their group at full hit points if they could do so. If they did not, then Death took them to the temple, and they exited normally.

• For the Assault Above Castle Greyhawk adventure, 91.97% on Normal mode and 87.57% on Hardcore Mode made it to the Final Room, and for the Battle Below Castle Greyhawk 77.68% on Normal mode and 55.81% on Hardcore mode made it to the Final Room.

• The fantasy inn in 2005 was 10 times the size of the 2004 inn, taking up over 6,500 square feet. It was divided into several areas including general seating, an "outdoor" beer-garden with a stage for performers, several areas with NPC’s and a town square or market. The town square had shops that players could visit to get clues and buy supplies before the adventure. Players had a full 30 minutes inside the inn before they actually entered the dungeon, and it was a vital part of the adventure as clues and good equipment awaited.

• You were able to stay at the True Dungeon Tavern all convention long. It was open to ALL Gen Con badge holders. This will allowed gamers to live out their sword and sorcery dream of hanging out in the proto-typical inn. The Inn was open on Wednesday after 6:00pm, and 9:00am to 2:00am Thursday through Saturday. It was not open on Sunday. There were treasure tokens hidden around the Tavern. There were also in the early days treasure tokens hidden within the Dungeon. That was discontinued at some point though because people were damaging or stealing portions of the set or props while looking for tokens.

• In 2005, True Dungeon offered a True Dungeon Treasure Token Collector’s Kit, which was a 3-Ring Binder with the “True Dungeon Real Dungeon. Real Props. Real Cool” Registered Trademark Logo, the “Treasure Token Collector’s Kit” logo, neat black and white photos on the front and back of tokens from the 2005 set, and the front also had the GENCON and Wizards of the Coast logo (who were sponsors of True Dungeon). Inside, there were 24 pocket plastic sleeves for wooden tokens (too small for the Chip tokens that were released starting in 2007), a special wooden Bag of Holding token that could only be obtained with this binder and has no game value, and a copy of the True Dungeon 2005 Token Guide v 4.1 (I’m not sure when v 1.0 was developed/released).

• The first version of the player guide back was written by Dirtdazzy in 2005. The combat portion was written by Dave Radtke, who continued to update it with new characters, new spells, and changes in combat. But he tried to do so in the tone Dirtdazzy (the Tavern Pixie) had set in her drafting of the guide. The really funny part is that Dirtdazzy had been volunteering for TD since 2003, and in 2005 when she wrote it she still had never actually played the event.

• After 2005, there were 4,421 players registered. 776 (17.55%) were first level, 3,052 (69.03%) were second level, 550 (12.44%) were third level, and only 43 (0.97%) were fourth level.

• The Barbarian Class was added in 2005. When you were playing Hardcore with your group of seven characters, you had the option of adding an eighth member of the party, who would be a person from the standby list and would play the Barbarian character. The plan was the party would have to pay 50 GP to hire the Barbarian, but that charge wasn’t always applied.

• Since there weren’t modules released for the 2005 Dungeons, here are the room descriptions from the Riddle Reveal / Recap:

Assault Atop Castle Greyhawk

Room #1: The Column: This was a fairly straightforward room that demanded the party retrieve an “egg” from the center of the column – and then place it on a pedestal to unlock the door. The door was also trapped, so it had to be removed as well.
“Retrieve the Egg and you shall see
The way is open for you to flee”


Room #2: The Faerie Room
This strange room held many trees and several statues of Faeries holding different objects. Lastly, a few stalactites could be seen with water dripping down them. If you listened carefully to the fountain statue, then you could here it repeating something:
“You are trapped - you cannot flee
Your choice, in giving, will set you free
This one small clue you shall be told
For there is one item I wish to hold
Follow the tears that were shed by the Mother
Who weeps still longer to form the other”
The riddle tells the party to follow the pointing “stalactite” down to the one faerie statue which has a simple rock in its hand. If the rock is dropped into the pool, then another voice will say the following:
“You are wise to listen to the whispering pool. The guardian will sleep this day.”
Should the party touch any other object besides the stone, does not solve the challenge within 8 minutes or delays in putting the stone into the pool (after they have grabbed it) for more than 30 seconds, the DM will tell them that a terrible wind buffets the area, and when they uncover their eyes they see that the large bear has awakened. Note that during the fight the voice message will change to:
“You are spared if you can bring, that which is carved by vainest kings.”
This refers to the simple rock of marble. The bear could be dispelled still if the stone was placed into the fountain.
Room #3: The Sundial
The party will come into this room to see a giant sundial on the floor – complete with a gold pole in the center of the dial. On the far wall they will see a table (with a drawer) with a staff resting on it. The staff is a Staff of Light, and it will be glowing when the party enters the room. Written upon the floor inside the sundial is this inscription:
“If you wish to open the door
Look for reward inside drawer”
They will also see written on the wall above the staff the following:
“NOTES IX”
The solution to the puzzle here is to look for “reward” inside “drawer” – which means that they need to realize that “reward” is “drawer” spelled backwards. This should alert them to check what the other message says backward:
“SET ON XI”
The trick is to pick up the staff and position it so the shadow of the sundial rests on “XI” or “11”. That will open the door.
Room #4: The Silent Wall
When the players enter the room, the DM will inform the group:
“This room has a Silence spell cast in it, and you may not speak or make noises until you are told that the silence is lifted. No spells may be thrown in here. Failure to properly play this setting will cause damage to your character. You may speak quietly to me if you must, but please try to limit it. Thank you.”
This room is non-descript except for one wall that has four large carved skeleton heads with open mouths. Each one of the mouths is on a hinge, and they are approximately 8” in diameter. There is an opening in the wall behind each mouth that allows the insertion of a hand. The four mouths are illuminated changing lights.
Above these mouths on the wall is the following text:
“You have shown your wits –most true,
But now a test of nerves for you.
To leave this room the noise must sound
For inside the wall a clue is found
Each mouth must taste a different hand
And great distress you must withstand
Keep them in ‘til a sign appears
Combine them now or death draws near”
The correct method is to have one gamer put their hand into each mouth – and if they can keep it inside for 15 seconds, they are rewarded with a stamp on the back of their hands. The stamp is either the letters S, N, A, P – which spells “snap”.
The solution to this room is to simply have someone in the party snap their fingers. This would end the silence spell and allow the party to leave the room. Note that during the Hardcore sessions, the stamps were in invisible UV ink that could only be read if the party through a Detect spell.
The cool thing about this room is that it is solvable by accident – with a player using his fingers to get players attention.
Room #5: The Wall of Numbers
This room will appear to be a sparsely furnished library with a few old scroll tubes, a small fountain, some old over turned goblets, and with non-descript walls save one. The wall will be lined with 2’ x 2’ stone blocks (they look very real), and some of the blocks (16 of them) will have a 1’ x 1’ white, bone placard hanging from a hook sticking out of those stone slabs. A few of the slabs are face out – showing numbers to give the party a clue to what the order is on the wall. A sign above reads:
“To leave this room your wisdom is key
To finding “15” among all that you see
This clue I will now give unto you
The answer is easy at 1-3-2.”
These tiles are in alphabetical order – if the numbers are spelled out. The list starts with “Eight” and sends with “Two”. The correct answer is to turn over the one in the bottom right corner or the tile “15” -- which is third in alphabetical order.
Also, in this room was a very cool puzzle from the first True Heroes event – it was too cool not to use in TD. There was a box with an ultra-rare or very rare token underneath a grate. The party had to figure out a way to get it out. One method was to place a large scroll tube over it and then fill the tube with water – thus the token floats up to the party. Another way was to use a small tube and negative air pressure to “hold” the token at the end of a scroll tube.
During the Hardcore sessions, there was a multi-drawer chest that was sort of a random treasure generator. Each player was allowed to open one drawer – claiming a Common to Ultra Rare token.
Room #6: The Scrying Pool
When the party enters this room they will see a stone table with a basin along the middle of one wall. Flanking the basin on both sides are tables filled with different potion bottles – most of which are very ornate. Written on the basin is the following:
“To see what truth your heart does seek, pour forth the tears of those most meek.”
The correct answer was to pour forth the small bit of water out of the least fancy bottle – which is a plain glass one in the back.
If the correct bottle was poured, then the DM activated a remote control switch which turned on a TV below the basin – and facing up. This will cause a live image of the other party (in the hex room via closed-circuit TV) to magically appear in the basin. This gives the party the image they most seek – to know how the other party is fairing down in the dungeon.
Room #7: Gearon’s Puzzle
This room was quite interesting in that it utilized a relatively new technology called “Chromadepth 3D”. The lenses of the glasses have a prismatic effect that causes different wavelengths of light to be perceived as slightly different locations. The result is that blues appear to move to the back, and reds move forward. The effect is quite intense and startling.
After the party put on the magically glasses, a magical doorway appeared, and the party was able to enter the final room – located in the Astral Plane. When the party entered the room, they were startled to see an amazing 3D environment of floating stars with a platform in the middle. Resting on the platform will be a table where the party can assemble Gearon’s Puzzle. (Thanks for volunteer Gary Aswegan for suggesting this puzzle prop!)
At this time the party received a message from the dungeon group (if any survived) to tell them which of the seven hex pieces went in the center. With this hint, the party went to work on trying to get all the symbols to line up. The groups that did the best with this puzzle were those that were disciplined enough to only allow 1 or 2 people to try to solve it. Some groups had everyone trying to solve it, and it was pure chaos. One player would put a piece down, and then move on to the next. Within a few seconds, the “just placed” tile would be picked up by another player and changed. This lack of a focused plan was the doom of most parties that tried to solve it. Only about 20% of those players that made it to the last room were able to solve the puzzle and save Greyhawk.
Battle Beneath Castle Greyhawk
Room #1: The Dog Archway
One of our volunteers, Fritz Fuchs-Snider made an ultra-cool carved canine archway here – with a hole being left between the dog’s paws. The group had to find a “bone” inside one of the holes to appease the dog. This bone was inside the hole with the “Good” bardic symbol. A sign near the archway read:
"Seek the wealth of those that die, and simple egress is your prize.
Weal not woe is what you seek, heed these words of what I speak."
The other holes might have had a few treasure tokens or a trap.
Room #2: The Crushing Wall
The start of this room had the party fumbling with a lock to open within 3 minutes, or they all take some crushing damage. The lock was a trick lock…and the key was necessary. There was a small rivet near the keyhole that could be pressed with one of the tines of the lock. This would open a spring-loaded hidden key hole with the key could then be inserted into to open normally. Again…groups that allowed one person to try at a time did the best here.
After the Crushing Wall, the party found themselves before a former explorer on the dungeon to had died just in front of a stream. After a few moments, the parties movements caused a bone wand that the adventurer was carrying to come loose and float down the stream. The party had about 5 seconds to react and grab the wand – or it disappeared behind the wall. (This was a tribute to the module inside the original DMG).
The bone wand had a gold tip, and if the party explored the room’s stone altar, they could see another gold circle that was engraved into the stone. If the bone wand’s gold circle was touched to the altar’s stone wand, then a magnetic lock would open and a secret compartment would open – revealing a Very Rare or Ultra Rare token.
The altar had a beautifully done stain glass window (by volunteer David Seymour) of a large rose with some text written on it:
“Welcome to my tomb all who venture here
Your wisdom is far and your folly is near
For a creature most foul now awaits that is true
And by reading this text you have called him to you”
This summoned a Shadow for the party to fight. Note that you could end the combat at any time by simply covering up the stain glass again with the fur skin.
By the way…the room had a faint odor of the Rose.
Room #3: The Secret Door of Greed
The players in this room were faced with a tough decision…do they continue into the room (and stay on mission) or do they go into the secret door and waste a lot of time by playing with the treasure. While spending some time inside was advisable, many groups simply forgot about everything else when they saw all that treasure.
The correct thing here was not to spend a lot of time in the secret room – but instead you were to keep on mission and first fight the monster in the next room. Note that the summoning pit of the Efreet had the compass points on it. This was useful info for Room #5.
Room #4: The Room of Four Orbs
This room had a table with four balls magically floating above the table. A riddle was on the wall:
“One orb you must choose – that much is clear
To prove your wisdom and exit from here
One of these spheres is most holy to me
And it holds most deep nothing to see”
You have no choice if you wish to flee
An orb in the chalice serves as the key"
The correct ball to put into the chalice was the one that smelled like Roses. You were given many clues in the intro and in Room #2 that the Rose was sacred to Bellvale – the lady whose tomb you were entering.
This was a tough puzzle, but one of the spheres had the odor of the Rose about it.
Room # 5: The Classic Chessboard Room
I wanted to create one of those classic dungeon rooms/puzzles – and the chessboard room was perhaps the coolest room that everyone should experience. Every player got to start in row One, and there was a flashing magical ball at the other end. The correct method to cross the room was to get someone across, pick up the ball, and then toss it to each player as they crossed. The Ball gave immunity to the lightning strikes in the room – so after the Ball was picked up and carried that person would not take damage from crossing the room.
Also, there was a riddle on the wall that gave the party a clue on how to move across without taking any damage:
The victor sees across the battlefield while fools be seen
Nothing new marches to victory, and something old cannot be.
The words that were bolded (or underlined) were the clues how to move. The first 3 words were made up of the first letter of compass directions. So…the victor SEES across the chessboard or moves SOUTH, EAST, EAST, SOUTH to get across. The compass points on the Efreet’s summoning pit in Room #3 would give the party the correct way to cross – or get closer to the end.
Again…groups that were united in there strategy did better in this room – and groups that were filled with individuals who wanted to be the one to solve the puzzle took a lot of damage.
Room #6: The Room of Archways
This room had an entrance that had a sign which read:
“There are 1002 ways to leave the next room.”
And once inside the found 5 possible ways to leave:
#1 – One would be a fool to exit here
#2 – One lacks vision if she exits forth
#3 – One seeks death if he enters here
#4 – One ought not to exit here
#5 – One should not enter here
The correct answer was to heed the entryway sign of “1002” or “One ought not to” exit here.
Room #7: The Tomb of Bellvale
This room was were the party could find out the piece of information they were sent to find – what symbol resided on the tomb of Bellvale. It changed every day (to punish cheaters) but it could always be found on the mirror. At that time, the party was given a transmitter to give their matching Tower group this vital piece of information. They had to describe to the other party what the symbol looked like.
After this was done, the party had to figure out a puzzle in order to leave. This riddle was on the table along with 7 plaques with the symbol of a Sun, Moon, a Sword, an old man with one eye, a lightning bolt, a bundle of grain, and the planet Saturn.
“I bid hello to all of those, who seek this wilted, lifeless rose.
Are thee friend or are thee foe? Do you seek to rob me so?
One test I have to give to thee, for only friend will know of me.
Take those plates of bone you see, and place them here most carefully.
You must know that Death you face, use your wits to leave this place
Work fast now and keep your pace, use of time will win this race
Now listen close of what I speak, and think of what I sought to seek.
Hurry now, do not be meek, for your answer could make one weak.”
The correct answer was to arrange the symbols to make “one weak”…or “week”. Hence, these symbols represent the origins of the names of the days of the week. Sun Day, Moon Day, Tyr’s Day, Odin’s Day, Thor’s Day, Frigga’s Day, and Saturn’s Day.
Putting these in order on the wall would allow the party to leave and to get a free random token…which could have been anything from a Common to an Ultra Rare token.

2006 Info:

• In 2006 two very similar copies of the same adventure, "Escape from the Spider Cult", were run in parallel, effectively doubling the number of slots available for players. In TD5 - "Escape the Spider Cult", which was the first adventure in a three year story arc, the party had to escape the clutches of an evil cult and warn the city of a coming invasion.

• The playable classes were also expanded to include Druid and Monk, in addition to the previous classes of Wizard, Cleric, Fighter, Rogue, Ranger, Paladin, Barbarian and Bard. Adventuring groups consist of seven different characters.

• 2006 was the first year that included “00” packs, where one of every 100 packs contained a random Ultra-Rare.

• The Golden Ticket was first introduced in 2006. In 2006 you could get a Golden Ticket for every $250 you spent on tokens (giving you 30 bags of tokens). The cap on the number of Golden Tickets was 77, and as of late April 2006 62 had been awarded, and they sold out by 3 May 2006. For reference, that has the total number of token packs in 2006 sold at probably around 3,000 – 5,000, in addition to the one pack per player that was given out. Plus, I believe because there were either extra Golden Tickets that weren’t sold or some people weren’t showing up for their runs, there were some Golden Tickets given out at the Stink in 2006 as well (quite a nice giveaway!). Golden Ticket participants received a Drow Blade Venom Rare token in the mail as a special bonus.

• The puzzle version of the Escape the Spider Cult adventure was play-tested at the 10th annual JefCON gamefest for about 20 of Jeff’s friends. Jeff and his friends got together every year and gamed non-stop all weekend long. It was a great tradition, and the JefCON AD&D Tournament was the predecessor to the True Dungeon event. Jeff rented out a big warehouse space, constructed a full-size True Dungeon event and I ran 3 groups of friends through the first module entitled "Escape the Spider Cult". By working very hard this winter some friends and he managed to put together a good stockpile of the new 3D stone walls -- so he was able to test out the new walls. The players reacted to the new walls with a lot of "ah...cool..." and "...sweet..." sounds. He thought they looked pretty cool, and with the camo-netting ceilings the look was complete. The dungeon felt much more enclosed and engrossing.

• The first Dungeon module was created in 2006. This module was hand-bound with clear plastic covers, and there were only 25 copies with each being individually numbered. You were able to get a module if you spent $500 on tokens. A random Ultra-Rare token was sent as a special bonus along with the Modules.

• There was a full Tavern in True Dungeon in 2006. Admission was $3 for the day or free on the day of your TD event or True Arena event or if you were 4th level or higher.

• Two new events in the Tavern in 2006 were a Riddle Contest at 8:30 pm each night, with special prizes to the winners and 3 Dragon Ante at Thursday: 3 pm – 5:30 pm and 8:30 pm – 10 pm, and Friday and Saturday: 4 pm – 10 pm.

• The token bags in 2006 were the only ones created specifically for that year’s Dungeon. It has a spider and a spider-web on it to match the spider-theme of the Dungeon, and it’s more of a felt material than the faux leather the earlier bags were made of.

• The wooden Artisan Tokens were created in 2006. They were auctioned in the Tavern via silent auction from noon to 7 PM each night, 6 different tokens per night (18 total different tokens). Additionally, two of each Artisan Token were put in the Treasure Boxes, and Jeff kept a one of each Artisan Token.

• 2006 introduced True Arena, a player-vs.-player tournament based on the TD combat system, open only to people who are 2nd level or higher TD players. It had prizes including Rare and Ultra-Rare tokens, with the overall champion will receive a plaque. The times were Thursday 6 pm, Friday 9 am, Friday 6 pm and Saturday 9 am. The finals were held Saturday at 10 pm.

• Similar to what was at the 2005 GENCON SOCAL, a free BarFight game was at GENCON Indy in 2006. It was similar to True Arena (see above), but all players (16 per session) had the same stats (except for a bonus to those with a Mug of Brawling). It was offered at the following times: Thursday and Friday: 1 pm, 4 pm, and 9 pm, and Saturday: 1 pm, 4 pm, and 8 pm.

• The Rogue’s game returned in 2006. You tested your skills by attempting to “pick the pocket” of unsuspecting Marks. (This was done by placing a sticker on special pouches worn by volunteers.) It was offered at the following times: Thurs: 4:30pm - 6:00pm, Fri: 6:30pm - 8:30pm, Sat: 7:00pm - 9:30pm.

• In 2006 Rumors were to be turned in at the admin room where you signed your waivers.

• To give an idea about how far Token Sales have come, this was posted on Lesimony’s True Dungeon Blog on April 2006 for the day the 2006 Tokens first went on sale: “People have been making predictions on the TD forum of how many tokens will be ordered today. The consensus seems to be over 1,000. Wow, that’s a lot of tokens.”

• 2006 was the first year that a token was named in honor of a player/volunteer. Gearon’s +2 Heavy Mace was named in honor of Gary Aswegan.

• At least some players that survived Hardcore in 2006 received a free Rare token in the mail as a reward.

• In 2006, for the first time, players were given a 10 pack of tokens at the start of the Adventure.

• Jolly Blackburn wrote another great True Dungeon article in the Knights of the Dinner Table magazine, which can be found at this link: www.kenzerco.com/free_files/True_Dungeon_article.pdf

• Combo Tokens were introduced in 2006. Officially you could trade in for the Combo Tokens in the training room before the Dungeon, and you were limited to one trade-in per person per adventure. You were allowed to trade in for a combo token, or you could trade an individual token for a token of like rarity if it was in stock. This was the only time there was a limit placed on the number of combo tokens someone could trade for. Combo Tokens could also be traded in at 7 PM in the Tavern (I missed that piece of info before the 2006 GENCON).

• The 2006 Combo Token Recipes are listed below. Note that unlike in recent years, in the early years of combo tokens there was usually a token or two required that was out of print. For this year, the Scroll of Purify Food and Drink was required for the Wondrous (4C) Combo Token, and since that token was only printed in 2003, 2004, and 2005a there were very few available and their price quickly escalated:

Masterwork Silver Dagger: 3 Daggers, 1 Amber Gem, and 40 GP worth of gold and/or gems.

Masterwork Spear: Quarterstaff, Dagger or Shortsword, and 40 GP worth of gold and/or gems.

Wondrous: Jar of Courage: 1 Turquoise or Aquamarine Gem, 1 Pearl Gem, and 20 GP worth of gold and/or gems.

Ring of the Ram: 3 Heavy Maces, 3 Small Shields, 1 Small Steel Mirror, 2 Scrolls of Shocking Grasp, 1 Potion of Bull's Strength, 1 Thunderstone, and 200 GP worth of gold and/or gems.

Phial of Conflagration: 1 Garnet Gem, 3 Scrolls of Burning Hands, and 100 GP in gold and/or gems.

Wondrous: Periapt of Proof Against Poison: 1 Scroll of Cure Light Wounds(8), 1 Purify Food and Drink, 1 Slow Poison, 4 Potion of Cure Minor Wounds(1), 1 Anti-toxin, and 300 GP in gold and/or gems.

These combos have different levels of difficulty, a single cauldron is the easiest and may be done by first room NPC, however 2 and 3 cauldron combos may be done only by experienced masters which may be in found the Tavern at 7pm each evening.


• Monster Ingredient Tokens were also introduced in 2006, and were used as ingredients in Combo Token recipes. The Monster Ingredient Tokens are always tied to Monsters that are used in that year’s Dungeons.

• True Dungeon said in 2006: “Tokens may be used from year to year, and as shown in the recipes above some tokens may be key ingredients used in combos next year, such as the Purify Food and Drink scroll is not in current print. So definitely hold on to those tokens, they maybe more useful the next year.” Once Trade Item Tokens were introduced, this policy was changed so that only current year tokens were required in Combo (and then Transmuted) recipes.

• Several things were prototyped at GENCON SOCAL 2006 for use at GENCON Indy 2007 (and beyond) including personal lights (marking the obsolescence of light-generating tokens), personal hit tracking via a magnet on a large rectangular button rather than having them tracked by the DM, Party Cards (1/2 page cardstock sheet), and a veteran TD player to act as a coach for each group both in the marshalling area where they prepared their tokens and characters, and in the training room.

• In 2006 a True Dungeon Guide for Beginners and Spell Supplemental Guide was released.

• 2006 was the last year that GENCON SOCAL was held, since then it has only been at GENCON Indy each year, at True Realm in 2009, and at WYC in later years.

2007:
• In 2007, two very similar copies of the same adventure, "Race Across Greyhawk", were run in parallel. But for the first time, one dungeon was more com bat oriented while the other was more puzzle oriented. This year also marked the addition of live monsters to the game including a shambling mound, a medusa, and a stone golem. In TD6 - "Race Across Greyhawk", which was the second adventure in a three year story arc, the adventurers had to secretly travel across Greyhawk to the tower of an evil conspirator to learn more about the coming siege.

• In 2007, Gen Con, LLC, Wizards of the Coast, and True Adventures, Ltd. worked together to lower the cost of the 2007 event from the previously announced $39.00 to $34.50. For the first time, True Dungeon tickets weren’t sold at the same time as the other tickets. True Dungeon tickets went on sale four hours AFTER all other event tickets went on sale at Noon on Monday, May 7th.

• Due to uncertainties in space and start times, especially Wednesday availability, there was no Golden Ticket program in 2007, per the below Email:

o Pre-Orders Start Monday at Noon!

We will begin taking pre-orders for Treasure Tokens on Monday, Feb. 19th at noon (Central). We are asking that people order and PAY FOR their tokens now so that we can use the funding now to make True Dungeon as cool as possible. To say thanks for pre-ordering them now, we are offering some "pre-order only" incentives.
One note of import! Lori asks that all orders be placed through the website if possible -- as our 7-month old will not cooperate with any less mommy-time than usual. We also incur lower credit card fees when it is done online. We will send out order confirmation emails within an hour so you will know we got your order. And don't be scared of seeing that PayPal logo. Although we use PayPal to process your order, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO HAVE A PAYPAL ACCOUNT to purchase tokens. Simply click on the CONTINUE button at the bottom of the screen to pay with any credit card.

There will be a change this year with regard to premiums that are offered for making large purchases. This mostly involves the Golden Tickets unfortunately. It looks like, through the fault of no one, that we won't have exact knowledge for some time of where and when we are gaining possession of our event space, so it would be very irresponsible to promise a VIP run on Wednesday night. There is the possibility that we won't have the time to make a VIP Run happen. We may be frantically trying to get the dungeon built on Wednesday night!

If we do have a VIP Run on Wednesday night, then those tickets will be sold/dispersed in another manner to be determined later -- probably much later. I cannot say how it will be done, but I can tell you it will NOT be tied to any token sales.

I am sorry for this occurrence, but there is nothing that can really be done about it by any party. We can only wait and see what happens with regard to our event space. Gen Con is working very hard to help us out as much as possible!

The tokens are due to arrive around the end of April -- or about the time that Event Registration starts. At that time, we will ship out all pre-order tokens via USPS Priority Mail as fast as we can fill the orders.

• 2007 was the year that the Treasure Tokens changed from wooden tokens to a poker chip type token with a True Dungeon stamp on one side and a sticker for each individual token on the other. Additionally, 2007 was the year that True Dungeon started their PYP (Pick Your Purple) program, where you could get an Ultra-Rare of your choice from the current or previous year for every $250 you spent on tokens. There were other incentives introduced for buying tokens, including getting a module from each Dungeon from that year.

• Some info from the Newsletter about the new Chip Tokens:

Composite Material & Water-Resistant Image: The new tokens are made of a nylon composite that is incredibly tough. They can be dunked into water with little fear of damage. The image is printed on a plastic sheeting, and the image is covered with a protective finish. The coolest part about these tokens is that they are HEAVY...very heavy. They feel like real "gold pieces". They are about 11.5 grams which is about the same weight as a Half Dollar coin!
Cool Coin Image on Back Side: Another cool thing about these tokens is that they look like "gold pieces" from behind. There is an embossed coin image on the back side, and a pile of them face down resembles a nice pile of D&D treasure. Very cool!
Improved Game Info: The tokens now let players know which character class can use them, as well as how many hands it takes to use. There is also more detailed explanations of the token's properties. Finally, we have changed the damage on the weapon tokens to give them all a bit of character. For instance, while the Long Sword has an even distribution of damage the Great Axe is more weighed to the outside of the damage distribution. That means that if you hit with a Great Axe, you are probably either going to do a little or a LOT of damage.

• Here is the pricing information for 2007 Tokens:
The price/premiums for the "pre-order" sales period of Feb. 19th through April 30th are as follows:

1 pack = $10

10 pack = $95 plus two FREE bags (a total of 12)

25 pack = $250 plus five FREE bags (a total of 30), plus one UR token of your choice (mailed around May 1st).

50 pack = $500 plus 10 FREE bags (a total of 60), plus one Ultra Rare token of your choice (mailed around May 1st), plus one "first-run" Ultra Rare token of your choice (mailed only 2-3 days after placing your pre-order!). This "first-run" Ultra Rare token will be taken from our very limited stock of factory sample tokens that just arrived. Both types of UR tokens are free to be used at the event.

100 pack = $1000 plus 20 FREE bags (a total of 120), plus two UR tokens of your choice (mailed around May 1st), plus two "first-run" UR tokens of your choice (mailed out 2-3 days after placing pre-order!). PLUS, you will receive a numbered and signed copy of the module after the event is over in August. This module will contain a map of the event as well as many photos and illustrations not available anywhere else.

• Jeff Martin hand-produced a few prototype Chip tokens before deciding to change from wooden tokens to Chip tokens and sent them to several True Dungeon players to get feedback. There are two confirmed to exist, a Masterwork Thieves Tools owned by Raven and a Steel Flask owned by Mike Steele, and there are likely a few more out there in collections.

• There were proof tokens issued in 2007 as well. They weren’t clearly marked as proof tokens, but the pressing on the back was shallower than the regular tokens. Jeff sent a few proof Rare tokens out as well, for instance I received a Platinum Gauntlets of Ogre Power.

• Several things that were prototyped at GENCON SOCAL 2006 premiered at GENCON Indy in 2007 including personal lights (marking the obsolescence of light-generating tokens), personal hit tracking via a magnet on a large rectangular button rather than having them tracked by the DM, Party Cards (1/2 page cardstock sheet), and a veteran TD player to act as a coach for each group both in the marshalling area where they prepared their tokens and characters, and in the training room.

• True Arena was held again in 2007.

• At Gen Con 2007, on Saturday at 8:00pm inside the True Tavern a special prop auction was held that used token gold pieces and gems as currency. There were at least 5-6 items up for verbal bids. Projected items up for bids include actual one-of-a-kind items that were used for token photographs (like the ring in the Ring of Focus) and actual props from past and the current TD adventures.

• On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights from 5:00-7:00om inside the True Tavern a token exchange was held. This was a chance to turn in some old tokens you didn’t want in exchange for a free random upgrade of a 2007 token. For instance, you could turn in 25 old Common tokens (any year), and draw a random Uncommon token from a box. The exchange formula was as follows:
25 Common [Brown] = 1 Uncommon
10 Uncommon (or Rare pre-2007) [Dark Green] = 1 Rare
25 Rare (or Very Rare pre-2007) [Red] = 1 Ultra Rare
You were limited to 5 exchanges.

• The True Dungeon Module for 2007 was bound similarly to the module for 2006, except with black binding instead of white binding. They weren’t individually numbered though, so we don’t know how many modules were printed from 2007 on.

• In 2007 True Dungeon once again allowed an 8th player to join a group at the last minute. This person could be a prearranged friend or someone from the waiting list. The group had to unanimously agree to have the extra person along.

• Since from 2003-2006 had the True Dungeon logos on regular token packs, and all the years since 2007 had the True Dungeon logos on Golden Ticket run packs, 2007 is the only year so far that didn’t have any token packs with the True Dungeon logo on them.

• True Arena returned in 2007 – the gladiatorial combat game that uses the TD combat system to see who is the best TD fighter.

• The seminar called “True Dungeon 101” started in 2007 and it was hosted by some loyal TD players who gave insight to newbies and veterans alike.

• In one of the early UR Ebay sales, a Hand of Glory sold for $197.50 in April 2007, which confirmed there was a significant secondary market for tokens.

• 2007 was the first year Jeff Martin ran a contest for creating a UR, the contest was also ran in 2008 and 2009. The person(s) who suggested the token Jeff used and included in the token set won the contest and got a special copy of the token (in 2008 and 2009 they were Proof tokens). Kim Lindgren and one other person won in 2007 for suggesting the Horn of Plenty (possibly the most iconic True Dungeon token). Kim auctioned this very special Horn of Plenty token (plus other great tokens) in 2025 to support the American Cancer Society.

• Trade Item Tokens were first available in 2007 (confirm date) and were generated as a way to trade in excess tokens to get related Trade Item Tokens for use in Combo (and then transmuted) token recipes.

• The 2007 Combo Token recipes are below:

Dagger of Throwing: This double bladed weapon returns to the caster when thrown, which means the player will not have to expend a round to retrieve the weapon after throwing. It is also allowable to use this weapon in melee, however the player does not gain any advantage in melee from the multiple blades (i.e. two attacks).
◦ 7x bladed weapons,
◦1x Scroll of Keen Edge,
◦40x GP in gold and or gems (or no gold/gems and 1x Stone Spider Fang)


Gem of Blinding: Held out in front of the party, a command word will release a blinding flash from within this beautifully crafted gem. The effect of the flash will cause the monster to fight at -4 to hit for one round. The monster is allowed a Reflex save against a DC-15 for no affect. This item can be used 4 times before it cracks and turns to a pile of ash.
◦ 1x Thunderstone,
◦1x pyrite,
◦1x Sardonyx,
◦2x Small Steel Mirrors,
◦1x Potion of Fire Resistance,
◦2X Scroll of Shocking Grasp,
◦100 GP in gold and or gems (or no gold/gems and 1x Ghoul Tongue)


Spider Silk Shirt: This iridescent shirt wrought from the silk of giant spiders absorbs the damage from a successful spider melee attack (or any monstrous spider attack). This shirt can be worn under armor and has no class limitations. The shirt will absorb damage from up to four successful spider attacks then it will disintegrate.
◦ 3x Fluorite,
◦1x Jade,
◦1x Mortar and Pestle,
◦+1 Cloak of Resistance,
◦3x Leather Armor,
◦1x Universal Solvent,
◦1x Anti-toxin,
◦1x Scroll: Slow Poison,
◦and 300 GP in gold and or gems (or no gold/gems and 1x Dryder Silk)

2008 Info:

• 2008's adventure was entitled "Hope of the Lost." In TD7 - "Hope for the Lost", which was the third adventure in a three year story arc, the adventurers had to infiltrate the headquarters of an evil army to banish their dark lord Iuz, and save the city of Greyhawk. The players infiltrated a temple of Pelor that had been taken over by evil forces. Two versions were run in parallel, a "combat" version and a "puzzle" version like in 2007. Like in 2005, groups on the two paths had to work together at the very end to win. Unlike the 2005 year, the two teams actually joined up in the same room. The puzzle group had to solve a puzzle while the combat group had to fight a monster. Both groups had to succeed to win. This caused resentment in some groups that felt they only failed because the other group failed and that they would have succeeded on their own.

• There were other incentives introduced for buying tokens, including getting a module from each Dungeon from that year plus a reward token (starting with the Rod of Seven Parts Segment 1) for every $1,000 you spent. Also, for every $500 you spent, you could get one of your two PYPs as a “Proof” token, with a “P” stamped on the reverse side with Jeff’s initials written in ink.

• The Hope for the Lost dungeons were $38 per ticket.

• The True Dungeon module for 2008 (TD7 Hope for the Lost) was the first one that was formatted like the old Dungeons and Dragons modules. On the back of it there is a list of the modules in the series, and it lists modules TD1 – TD7, although TD1 – TD4 were never made.

• In 2008 Dennis Baird wrote and printed a True Dungeon novel titled “Hope for the Lost”. It was based on the 2008 adventure, and featured numerous True Dungeon players in the novel.

• 2008 was the last year for True Arena (so far).

• The Dungeon Walls in 2008 consisted of 6,000 hand-carved stones.

• The Dragonscale Set became the first tokens with a set bonus if you outfitted all the tokens in the set. The Dragonscale set consisted of the Dragonscale Helm, Shield, and Armor and prevented up to ten points of fire damage.

• The Golden Tickets started up again in 2008. Instead of getting a Golden Ticket for a certain level of token purchases like in 2006, a number of Golden Tickets were randomly inserted into token packs. There were far more tokens sold than expected, requiring an additional printing of tokens, and for those Silver Tickets were inserted. Silver Ticket runs were very similar to Golden Ticket runs except the tokens you got initially weren’t as good.

• The first animatronic monster (the Troll) was introduced in 2008.

• True Dungeon held a contest to create a PYP, with the person selected to get the copy of the PYP that they created. Mike Steele created the Amulet of Wonder (with some redesign from Jeff Martin) and got an Amulet of Wonder Proof Token. One or more other people may have gotten Proof Tokens as well (please provide info on other contest winners).

2009 Info:

• In 2009 True Adventures ran four events. TD8 - "The Five Aspects (Revised)" was a new and fresh update to the classic 2003 module: "The Five Aspects" featured a new ending with two possible outcomes. TD9 - "With Smoak Comes Fire" was the first adventure in a two year story arc. The wizard Bibwik sent the adventurers on a quest to construct a protective medallion that would give them the upper hand against the crafty red dragon, Smoak. "TD Mini-Quest" was a shorter, starter-level Dungeon which only offered experience points to newer players. "True Grind" was an all combat event which offered no experience points.

• The TD Mini-Quest event was $24 a ticket with 1,050 tickets available. The Five Aspects and Smoak adventures were $38 per ticket.

• 24 Golden Tickets were randomly inserted into the token packs in 2009.

• In 2009 True Dungeon again held a contest in which, if someone created a UR that was included in the set, Jeff Martin offered to give them a copy of the UR. This contest went much less smoothly, with a number of people getting partial credit for creating UR’s, and many more upset that they weren’t getting a UR for their contributions. For instance, several people were giving partial credit for creating the Dread Sword and got a +2 Dread Sword, including Mike Steele. (Looking for info on other contest winners). While Jeff Martin continued in following years to invite participation from the True Dungeon community in token generation, this was the last year that UR’s were given as rewards to those that created UR tokens that were used in the set.

• Arcane Recipe Tokens were introduced in 2009. Two Arcane Recipe tokens were auctioned in 2009 and a third was placed in the treasure boxes. As originally described the Artifacts that could be generated from the Arcane Recipe Tokens would be moderately powerful, along the lines of a +3 weapon with a drawback. In actuality the Artifacts ended up being orders of magnitude more powerful than that.

• The first (and only so far) True Realm was held in Carbondale IL. Events included Retro (a modified version of the original 2003 Dungeon), Director's Cut, a Mini-True Dungeon event, and True Grind (marking the first appearance of True Grind).

• At True Realm Raven became the first person to do a solo run through a Dungeon and survive (she may have also been the first person to ever attempt it).

• Polymorph Tokens were introduced in 2009, and they allowed Druids and Wizards to polymorph into various types of creatures (one per token).

• In 2009 the treasure draws changed from being done within the Dungeons to being done after the Dungeons.

• Even though the wooden Treasure Tokens were discontinued in 2006, that wasn’t quite the last wooden tokens generated. From 2009 through 2011, wooden Treasure Coins were introduced that were given out in the exit room, and could then be handed in for draws from the Token Treasure Boxes. Starting in 2012 the Treasure Coins were in Chip form.

• The new Charm slot was introduced in 2009.

• Runestones debuted in 2009.

• Onyx tokens were introduced in 2009. The ordering option was also added at $8K of getting a complete Onyx UR/R/U/C set plus another 16 PYP’s (giving a total of 36 URs instead of the normal 32 that you would get at $8K). In 2009 you only could get the Onyx R/U/C set if you chose the complete UR Onyx option. Later that was changed so that you could get the R/U/C Onyx set with both the UR Onyx Complete Set plus 16 PYPs option and the 32 PYP option.

2010 Info:

• In 2010 True Adventures ran three events. "The Evading Hilt" offered 1,500 tickets, "DragonWard" had both puzzle and combat versions of the Dungeon and offered 3,000 tickets and the True Grind event offered around 300 tickets. The Evading Hilt and Dragonward Dungeons were $40 per ticket.

• TD10 - "DragonWard" was the first part of the second adventure in a two year story arc. The adventurers had to construct a protective medallion to give themselves a chance against the crafty red dragon, Smoak. TD11 - "The Evading Hilt" was the second part of the second adventure in a two year story arc. While the party in "Dragonward" distracted the dragon Smoak with a deadly melee, this party had to sneak into his lair and recover an evil artifact.

• Three Arcane Recipe tokens were auctioned in 2010 and a fourth was placed in the treasure boxes.

• A very special token was made for a couple who got engaged during their run of True Dungeon. The guy contacted the TD's creator and owner, Jeff Martin and had a special treasure token made which read "Ring of Engagement - Lisa, will you marry me? -Adam" and then arranged for his wife to find it in a treasure box as the party's rogue. The token popped the question for him, and when she turned around, he was on one knee with the actual ring pictured on the token. Here is a photo of the token!

• Wil Wheaton and some of the cast of the award winning web series, The Guild! (Felicia Day, Sandeep Parikh, Robin Thorsen and Jeff Lewis) had a very memorable True Dungeon run in 2010!
The Dungeon was an encounter with Smoak, the Red Dragon! Only a handful of groups managed to beat him, and most of those groups barely survived. By all accounts they were good with the puzzles, and an effective, and intense group of players. They made it in good shape to the final room with the enormous fire breathing dragon! The dragon was about to unleash the spray of fire that would put an end to our intrepid adventurers, when Mr. Wheaton stepped up to the slider board. Wil’s slider landed on the critical hit zone with the damage pointing in such a way as to kill the dragon in a single shot. This, was a feat not accomplished by anyone else at the convention. The slider had to land in that exact spot, and the ring around it had to be facing that exact way. Supposedly once the party realized what had happened, Wil proclaimed that from now on he was Wil Wheaton, Slayer of Dragons! After the epic attack, Wil was given the d20 used to roll for combat initiatives which he has named "The Dragon's Heart". Plus, the next year a special token was created in honor of the occasion named “Wil’s Dragon Heart”.

2011 Info:

• There are two new Dungeons at $38 each, both with puzzle and combat variants, and a True Grind Dungeon at $28. Descriptions for all three are listed below:

• "The Lair of the Sea-Lich": This completely new underwater adventure takes place after the party has fled the lair of Smoak the newly-created draco-lich. The party must now venture into the underwater lair of the dreaded Sea-Lich who terrorizes the coast with her icy-touch and shape-changing powers. Only inside her watery tomb can the party find the origin of the evil artifact that created Smoak the draco-lich - and perhaps a method to defeat Smoak's evil for good.

• "Dragon's Redoubt": This completely new dragon-hunt adventure takes place at the same time as last year's battle with Smoak the red dragon. It tells the story of how the party from last year's True Grind adventure battles their way into Smoak's lair on their own important mission. First, to locate and open a secret door through which all other parties can flee; and second, to defeat the weakened red dragon.

• "True Grind: Bloodbeard's Bounty": This combat gauntlet tells the story of how the party finds the location of the Lair of the Sea-Lich. Players must set sail for the waters of Brinewater Bay to learn the location of the Lair of the Sea-Lich from the dreaded orc-pirate Bloodbeard. The battle will rage above and below the Bay's black waters. No XP, Treasure Coins or participation tokens awarded for TG.

• Nightmare, Normal, and Non-Lethal modes were all offered in 2011, and there were special Nightmare slots set aside at 9:00pm (or 9:01, 9:02pm). Non-lethal = 650 XP, Normal = 650 XP + 50 XP/room, Nightmare = 1650 XP + 50 XP/room.

• The size of adventure groups increased from eight to ten players. The rooms were made larger, and the puzzles were more spread out and interactive, with an additional 12 minutes of prep time in the Coaching area. The increase from eight to ten players is what allowed the price to drop from $40 to $38 per ticket.

• In order to accommodate the increase in party size, two New Character classes were introduced – Dwarf Fighter and Elf Wizard.

• New Full-Color Character Sheets were introduced in 2011 that players got to keep at the end of their adventure as a keepsake. They were able to be stamped with either "Survivor" or "Victim" and also "Non-Lethal", "NIGHTMARE" or no stamp for "Normal" Mode.

• The hours were extended, in 2011 True Dungeon offered tickets on Saturday night until midnight.

• 2011 was the last year for the Arcane Recipe tokens. There were supposed to be two auctioned in 2011 to bring the total to nine, but there were more than two bidders at very high levels, so an additional two Arcane Recipe Tokens ended up being auctioned. These last four Arcane Recipes were only good for artifacts that only affect one person. None were placed in the Treasure Generators.

• In 2011 a Character Stats Token program was added to the True Dungeon website, along with a Party Card Generator which takes characters from Character Stats Token program.

• The First Quick Token Reference was created in 2011.

2012 Info:

• In 2012 True Dungeon moved from the 20,000 square feet location in the Marriott Hotel Grand Ballroom to a new 45,000 square feet location in Exhibit Hall D inside the heart of the Convention Center.

• True Dungeon had two Dungeon Adventures in 2012 as well as True Grind. In Part One: Giants' Travail, players had to make a dangerous trek into the Dilmhold Mountains to find the entrance to an ancient dwarven burial site. In Part Two: Draco-Lich Undone, players had to delve into the dark halls of a haunted crypt to slay Smoak -- a foul Draco-Lich. Draco-Lich Undone had two separate Dungeons, a combat version and a puzzle version.

• Because of the larger space in 2012, all the True Dungeon events started inside a themed "storyscape" that resembled a cavernous dwarven village. When you entered into Exhibit Hall D you immediately entered this storyscape and were teleported to the mountain cavern entrance of Icecrag Keep. Inside you found a cool themed space where all your adventures began. Instead of a large Event Desk outside the dungeon in the hotel lobby where players went to start their adventure, in 2012 each event had its own unique entrance inside the storyscape. After each adventure, players will exited into the rear of the storyscape area.

• One particular addition was a new event called “Truecraft” where players used Truecraft tokens to interface with NPCs and take on challenges to attempt to make magic items, gather information and obtain protective magic.

• For the first time ever, in 2012 True Dungeon offered event tickets on Sunday (August 19, 2012) with start times from around 9:00am to 1:00pm. Event tickets for Thursday through Saturday had start times from around 9:00am to 11:00pm.

• The Shirt, Figurine of Power and Ear Slots all debuted in 2012.

• Chip Treasure Coins were introduced in 2012, replacing the wooden ones.

• The Token Database first appeared in 2012 (all hail the TdB!).

• In 2012 Token Mats started being used in the coaching rooms.

• The Token Exchange Program replaced the Combo Program in 2012, with Enhanced, Exalted, Relic, and Legendary tokens replacing the varying levels of Combo Tokens.

• The First Elemental Eldritch token (the Supreme Ring of Elemental Command) was made available for transmuting in 2012.

• Private coaching rooms (two per dungeon) were introduced in 2012.

2013 Info:

• In 2013 True Adventures ran three events for a total of 7,500 tickets available. "Lycans Afoot" and "Golembane" were both available in Puzzle and Combat versions, and True Grind. Ticket prices for Lycans Afoot and Golembane were $44 and for True Grind ticket prices were $28.

• In addition to the previous difficulty levels of Non-Lethal, Normal, and Nightmare, in 2013 the Hardcore Level was re-introduced, which was a difficulty level about halfway between the Normal and Nightmare difficulty levels. Hardcore Level gave the same amount of Experience Points as Nightmare Level, but did not give as many participation tokens.

• Prior to the 2013 GENCON, a very generous True Dungeon supporter turned in his Artifact Token with the request that it make a lot of people happy with Treasure Pulls at the 2013 GENCON. As a result, Jeff had two different Treasure Boxes to pull treasure tokens from. One was as usual, with Monster Ingredient Tokens mixed primarily with Rare and Uncommon tokens. The other included a generous amount of Ultra-Rares from past years and recent Relics and Transmuted Tokens. The generous benefactor got his wish, there were a lot of very happy and grateful TD Players.

• Private coaching rooms expanded to five per dungeon in 2013.

2014 Info:

• In 2014 True Adventures ran three events for a total of 7,500 tickets available. "Flight of the Zephyr" and " Into The Viper’s Pit (part two) " were both available in Puzzle and Combat versions, and True Grind. Ticket prices for Flight of the Zephyr and Into The Viper’s Pit (part two) were $48 and for True Grind ticket prices were $28. In Flight of the Zephyr (part one of a two part Dungeon) players had to gain control of a gnomish zeppelin while fending off swarming monsters, in Into The Viper’s Pit (part two) players had to invade an evil snake temple & overcome traps, puzzles and fearsome monsters, and in the True Grind adventure Race for the Oasis players had to face challenging monsters and a low player survival rate as they tried to find a desert oasis before dawn.

• The XP Desk was removed and replaced with an optional individual Epilogue room for each dungeon. The room was staffed with two NPCs who gave the players an epilogue speech (and filled out Treasure Stamp orders for each character). There was a Treasure Draw chest in the room as well. There was a "photo wall" where the players can line up to take a free group photo with their cellphones or cameras.

• There were no specially-designated Nightmare slots this year. Players had to gather themselves into those groups and alert the Coach when they want to take the Nightmare challenge rating.

• Instead of having their XP recorded at an XP desk after the event, each player was given a slip of paper with an unique code to use inside their TD Forum/XP account to give themselves credit for a particular TD event after Gen Con Indy is over.

• Players could still earn free tangible premiums (like the goodies obtained by hitting 5th, 7th and 8th levels), but instead of getting them at GENCON they needed to order them via the TD Store when their Forum account qualifies for them. There was a $5 shipping fee, but if you ordered them with a normal token order or a transmuted order, then the $5 shipping fee will covered them all.

• True Dungeon had a presence at Whos Yer Con (WYC) this year. They had a room set up where people could drop off tokens to be transmuted, and they had a special True Grind event and a Mini-Dungeon event for people that had 2014 Adventurer’s Guild buttons.