True Adventures

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For other uses, see True Adventures (disambiguation).

True Adventures, Ltd., is a role-playing game company started by Jeff Martin. It operates two entertainment venues at Gen Con Indy: True Dungeon and True Dungeon Fantasy Tavern. The company also hosted the event True Heroes in 2004 and 2005. True Adventures ran these events at Gen Con SoCal when the convention was still in existence. The company grew out of Martin's work in creating elaborate props and puzzles for his Dungeons & Dragons game.

Contents

[edit] True Dungeon

True Dungeon is somewhat like a live action roleplaying (LARP) game. The game's developers deny that it is a LARP.[1] While players are free to role-play particular characters, True Dungeon does not emphasize role-playing aspects; characters lack backgrounds and names. Instead characters primarily are collections of spells and statistics useful for solving puzzles and battling opponents. The rules mechanics are loosely based on those of Dungeons & Dragons. Combat is played out by sliding weapon counters along a waist high shuffle board table. [2] True Dungeon focuses on riddle and puzzle solving along with the shuffle board combat system. True Dungeon was first run at Gen Con Indy in 2003.

Equipment for player characters exists in the form of "treasure tokens". These are marked wooden tokens indicating various pieces of traditional Dungeons & Dragons equipment. Examples include rope, small steel mirrors, weapons, and armor. In 2005 players were given a random weapon and random armor; they were expected to trade within their group to optimize their equipment usage. In 2006 players were given a random bag of 10 tokens.[3] Since the game began players could also purchase additional bags of random tokens.

True Dungeon provides an interactive environment, complete with multiple solutions to many problems. There are a small number of NPCs as the plot requires. Players move through various rooms in the game world. Each room contains a challenge in either the form of a puzzle, a combat, or both.[4] The puzzles can be very difficult and the game has a high rate of character death, although the games lethality has dropped over the years. Jeff Martin said of the 2004 Gen Con Indy game that only 20% of characters survived[5], while in 2005 42% did[6].

Closer to live action role-playing, players are expected to physically explore their surroundings, not simply describing interactions with the gamemaster[7] Many interactions do require gamemaster interaction, with some details of the environment described to players by the gamemaster assigned to each room. [8]

The first few years, each group of players were accompanied by a gamemaster throughout the dungeon. In 2005, this was switched to having a gamemaster assigned to each room to ensure more consistent rulings for a given room.[9]

To maximize throughput of players, each room of the dungeon has a group of players in it. Groups all advance to the next room simultaneously. As a result, each room has a hard time limit. If players finish early, they must wait for the time limit to expire before advancing. If the players are too slow, they are penalized hit points and are moved into the next room. The plot for each dungeon usually provides a reason for the time limit. One year the plot specified that the characters were fleeing lizardmen. Sometimes the rooms themselves explain the time limit; in 2005 one room had a moving wall that would crush characters who failed to open the locked door into the next room quickly enough.

Player success in True Dungeon (and True Heroes) is tracked in the form of Experience Points. Players with larger numbers of Experience Points (or XP) are given levels. These levels have no impact on the gameplay, but offer benefits outside of the game.

In 2005 two different adventures were run in parallel: "Battle Below Castle Greyhawk" and "Assault Above Castle Greyhawk".[10] In the last room of one of the adventures players could send a brief message to the other adventure, a clue to help the second party complete their last room. Players were free to play both adventures.

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.[11] The playable classes were also expanded to include Barbarian, Druid, and Monk, in addition to the previous Wizard, Cleric, Fighter, Rogue, Ranger and Bard.

[edit] True Dungeon Fantasy Tavern

In 2005, True Dungeon added a tavern area in front of the True Dungeon adventures proper.[12] The area is decorated as a stereotypical fantasy tavern. [13] Drinks are available for purchase. The area is intended to be a fantasy-themed area for gamers to congregate and socialize. It also acts as a staging area for players waiting for their session of True Dungeon.

In 2006 players with a ticket for the day's event could enter the tavern. Any player with enough Experience Points to be fourth level could also enter. Anyone else wishing to enter needed to pay a fee.

[edit] True Heroes

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". True Heroes operated at Gen Con Indy and So Cal in 2004 and 2005 before being cancelled.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ "Not a LARP, True Dungeon instead focuses on problem solving, teamwork and tactics while providing exciting sets and interactive props." Overview (English). True Dungeon. Retrieved on 2007-05-13.
  2. ^ "Combat is handled in a shuffle-board like fashion. The shuffle board has an image of the nasty being fought. The image is sectioned off with 'to-hit' numbers. Those participating in the combat place one of their weapon tokens in a slider, and slide it toward the image, hoping to score a hit. (Nelson 2006)
  3. ^ "You get a bag of random tokens before the True Dungeon starts...." (Nelson 2006)
  4. ^ "Every room has a challenge of sorts—either a puzzle-type and/or a combat." (Nelson 2006)
  5. ^ "There were 1505 players in 215 with a survival rate of about 20%." Porter, Randy. Gen Con 04 (English). Keeper of Ancient GenCon Lore. Retrieved on 2007-05-07.
  6. ^ "TD had a survival rate of 42% ... with 1505 players...." Porter, Randy. Gen Con 2005 (English). Keeper of Ancient GenCon Lore. Retrieved on 2007-05-07.
  7. ^ "The room can be interacted with too! For example, if you want to search around for treasures or a clue, you need to physically move stuff around." (Nelson 2006)
  8. ^ "Every room has a GM, which describes to the whole party what is going on." (Nelson 2006)
  9. ^ "The event has grown tremendously, and we will greatly improve the quality of the experience this year by moving to the 'one-DM-per-room' staffing model" (aeon 2005)
  10. ^ "Last year, two separate adventures ran simultaneously." (Nelson 2006)
  11. ^ "A change from last year’s version was the running of only one adventure, but having two identical dungeons running at the same time." (Nelson 2006)
  12. ^ "Sponsored by Wizards of the Coast, True Dungeon returns to Gen Con again this year and promises even more enjoyment than last time with the introduction of the True Dungeon Fantasy Tavern." "Jsgolfman" (2005-05-24). Gen Con Indy, A Preview (English). Computing On Demand. Retrieved on 2007-05-07.
  13. ^ "We wanted to create an awesome place for gamers to 'geek out' and revel in drinking in a medieval fantasy inn." (aeon 2005)

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