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9:43 am: Allan Sugarbaker says...
True Dungeon to expand at Gen Con Indy ‘05

Easily the most lavish LARP-like game in the industry these days, True Dungeon is preparing for its west coast appearance at Gen Con SoCal next weekend. In an email update sent yesterday to fans of the game, Jeff Martin, president of True Adventures Ltd., said “The finishing touches are being put on an agreement where True Dungeon will greatly expand at Gen Con Indy 2005. The event will more than double in size, and it will move to the Grand Ballroom in the Marriott Hotel which is directly across from the Exhibit Hall.”

Several other improvements were also mentioned, such as having a DM in every room rather than roaming with the group, hiding combat boards until monsters are revealed (a no-brainer), and a “plan to upgrade the lighting for those groups that want it” (which may mean improved torch props, an enchanted lantern, or something similar). Because playing a True Dungeon or True Heroes event doesn’t require knowledge of the game system ahead of time, and the props and scenery are enticing enough, their potential success may only be limited by their ability to gather a large audience. Only running the games eight days a year, at the two US Gen Cons, is a significant limitation, though.

True Adventures press release follows:

Gen Con So Cal Update

True Adventures XP Totals Now Online

You can go to http://truedungeon.com/xp/ to see your current Experience Point total and player level. You can also see the listing of players who have managed to score 3 completed adventures out of the 3 offered. They have the maximum of 3.150 XP. If you have any questions or problems please write me at jeff@truedungeon.com.

Gen Con So Cal 2004

Well, I leave tomorrow (Saturday) for Anaheim, CA to get the True Dungeon and True Heroes events ready for So Cal. All the sets and props have been shipped off, and soon it will be time to start the laborous task of setting up the events. Many thanks for the volunteers who helped load the truck…see below.

Treasure Tokens – As was the case last year, Treasure Tokens will be available for purchase at the Reg. Desk at the True Dungeon event. Each set comes with a cool dice bag with the True Dungeon logo, and 9 Treasure Tokens…one of which is at least a Rare token. They are $9 each or 7 for $50 (one for each party member). Note that there will be a cool display on hand with all tokens shown. Note that things can be bartered and purchased at the Inn of the Welcome Wench at the start of the adventure.

Gen Con Indy 2005 Exclusive Announcement!

You are the first to hear this announcement — it has not even been posted on the website yet. The finishing touches are being put on an agreement where True Dungeon will greatly expand at Gen Con Indy 2005. The event will more than double in size, and it will move to the Grand Ballroom in the Marriott Hotel which is directly across from the Exhibit Hall. We are still working out the details, but it looks like we will be able to realize many of our dreams that were unobtainable due to the small size of the Hyatt Regency Ballroom.

I can give you this one little nugget right now (more to follow). The tavern theme will be greatly expanded at Indy 2005, so that a very cool environment will greet you when you enter the event. And every tavern needs a lot of space…filled with interesting NPCs…and of course a back alley for shady characters to feel at home. Just watch out that you don’t get dragged into a bar fight…

Final Word

We received a lot of great feedback at Indy 2004, and we plan on implementing many improvements next year. The biggest change will be moving away from “One DM per group” to the “One DM per room” model. While you will miss out some on having a different DM in each room, your experience will be greatly improved by having a DM that knows that one room very well. This should alleviate some of the problems from last year.

We also plan to upgrade the lighting for those groups that want it, and the combat boards will now be hidden away until combat. They will be illuminated and revealed if there is need for them. No more “a monster is here” give-aways. Finally, we have some special things for higher level True Adventure players to do like non-first level player tournaments or even a special adventures. More announcements will be made when the details are cemented.

Thank you for your support of our little dream of bringing D&D to life. We appreciate your support, feedback and patience as we try to maximize the enjoyment for everyone. We are just a regular bunch of gamers who are overwhelmed by the response that our humble efforts have caused.

Take care and thank you for your continued support.

Jeff Martin