TOPIC: VTD Newbie questions

After having so much fun with True Dungeon last summer at GenCon, I'd really like to do it again. However, due to my daughters wedding happening in 2026, timing and budget constraints will keep me from travelling to Indianapolis this year. So, I thought I'd like to try a VTD event. That said, I've got a few questions:

1) If I see a TD Events listing for a time that works (with slots available), how can I tell what difficulty the run is? Should I assume "Normal" unless specified in the Notes From Ticket Holders?

2) For someone who has never done VTD, would the lowest difficulty be best to try it out? I'll definitely prepare the best I can, and watch/read instructional info including "How Virtual True Dungeon Works (updated Sept. 7, 2022)" on the truedungeon youtube channel. But I'd really hate to be the newbie that ruins a run for an experienced group.

2a) Is the 2022 video mentioned above the latest on how VTD works?

3) After picking a time slot with an opening and buying a ticket, is there any pre-event communication with the other people in the group? Do you even see the contact info on TD.Events, or get an email, or anything else like that?

4) If the answer to #3 is no, would it be better to try to find a group here on this forum? Are there other places to ask (ie Discord?)

5) I did buy some tokens and have a (hopefully) decent red/purple tanky Dwarf Fighter to use. Is there a such a thing as being a little "too" buffed to be fun in a Normal group with strangers?

And finally...

6) Does any group of intrepid adventurers here want to take on a fledgling player such as me?

Thank You in advance!

Greg

Hello, Greg F! You've come to the right place to ask your questions.

1) As with in-person TD, the default difficulty level of any run is Normal unless the party unanimously decides to do something different. That said, each VTD run typically has a handful of Normal Only slots that can literally only be run on Normal (even if the party wanted to do something else). If you absolutely want to be sure you run Normal, you could buy a ticket to one of those runs. People seeking to do higher difficulty often buy out the entire run and coordinate in advance to be sure everyone agrees to the desired difficulty level. I don't know how often people buying some but not all tickets to a given run use the Notes From Ticket Holders function, but I don't think it would be binding even if they said "we want this to be a NM run." If you want to declare a difficulty other than Normal, you have to hold all 10 tickets. One nice thing about VTD is you can see which classes are taken and can select your class immediately after purchase.

2) Normal is a great place to start. But what difficulty do you usually play in person? If you've been playing for years and are comfortably HC/NM in person, you can probably handle HC/NM in VTD. The experience is pretty similar in terms of monster AC and HP, and the damage they dish out, at any given level. Maybe don't start with Epic, though, unless you join a group willing to lend tokens and happy to take on a VTD newb.

The key to being ready to play VTD is to make sure you have your character ready in the most recent version of the character builder app or website before the run starts. (Note: the IOS app is available from the App Store, but if you want to use the Android app, you have to sideload it from Trent's website; also, casters seem to prefer using the website, but I main melee characters so I don't speak from experience.) You'll have 36 minutes once the run starts to test out the features of the app or website.

2a) Dunno.

3) The best way to coordinate with a VTD group is to post in the [Event] Adventuring Groups Form Here thread in the forum for the relevant VTD. In that thread, LFO will mean looking for others (I have 1-9 tickets and am wondering who has the rest) and LFM means looking for more (I have all 10 tickets and have X left for folks who want to play in the manner I intend for this run). If you buy a ticket, you can check that thread and either respond if someone else has started a post for your run time, or start such a post asking who else is on the run. There is also an unofficial True Dungeon Discord group. Some folks like to link to their forum post in the Discord to reach a wider audience.

4) See above. This is a good place to check for LFO/LFM threads to see if there's a group you might like to join.

5) What might not be fun for strangers on a Normal run is if your Dwarf Fighter does "too much" damage and can basically kill the monster by itself in a round or two. For example, if you are doing 70+ damage a round, that's likely too much. That said, having really high AC and taunting the monster is probably fine, since you're drawing fire away from the rest of the party once per combat. And having high HP is also probably fine, so a newbie cleric/druid can focus on healing other people. So if you are running normal, don't load up on damage.

6) Dwarf Fighter is claimed in my usual groups, but I wish you luck in your VTD adventures!

Hey there! Welcome to the forum, and (hopefully) welcome to VTD.

A couple of thoughts:
- If you have mostly rares/ultra rares, it's very likely you can do hardcore. Endgame has posted a really great thread here ( www.truedungeon.com/forum?view=topic&catid=571&id=258460 ) to which you can compare your character's stats. If you meet/beat the stats for your chosen class, that's a good indication you can handle the difficulty. He has thresholds for each difficulty. In addition to determining whether you're "ready" for a new difficulty, it's a great tool for planning future builds.

- When my partner and I started foraying into VTD, we were very nervous about "ruining the experience" for other people too. In hindsight, I wish we wouldn't have. People are very accommodating. From coaches, to DMs, to other players, just saying up front "Hey this is my first VTD" will go a long way. The community, by and large, will make sure you have a great time.

- Joining a pickup group means everyone is coming at the run with no expectations on the difficulty. If I had to guess, hardcore is the most common pick up group difficulty. That being said, don't be shy about asserting whatever difficulty you're most comfortable on. It's expected for a pick up group.

- If you positively want to run normal, like BeLinda, I recommend the normal only runs. This will relieve any social pressure you might feel (internally or externally) about the difficulty. Consider using Endgame's thread to make sure you're not too into the hardcore stats for damage. Again as BeLinda said, it isn't fun for one person to blow up a monster and everyone else feel like they didn't contribute. Just scale down if you're in that situation.

I hope this helps. If replies here generate more questions, please ask!

For 2a, I created a word document to walk through VTD basics:

drive.google.com/file/d/1JY2zcl8LWPufco5asRrGl2aKItEhwCys/view

If you use the Android app: drive.google.com/file/d/1EkLS65iELFiQIsgZ3z2MFUoOve6DmAQl/view

There's also a FAQ/How-To on TDCharacterCreator: tdcharactercreator.com/#/faq

Otherwise, those videos from 2021/2022 should still be pretty accurate overall

Thank You BeLinda, Jordan and Alex!

I think I'm going to pick a Time/Group that meets my availability and has an opening for the class I'm interested in. Then I'll post an LFO message as BeLinda suggested.

I did try finding the Discord server, but it mist be invite only. Could I get the invite url via PM?

That link was awesome, Jordan. Very much appreciated! I will plug my tokens into one of the character builder apps (ie the one Alex's PDF mentions) and compare. But as a rough guestimate I think you're right about Hardcore being a good fit.

Again, thank you guys!

PM sent.

Hi Greg! Welcome to VTD!

I was in your exact same position 6 months ago, with all the same questions and concerns. You've gotten some really great advice from the group, so I don't have a ton to add. Funny enough, BeLinda was also the same person who was kind enough to spend the time to answer all my questions and help me get past my trepidation and jump right in. (She's such a wonderful ambassador for TD!)

As Jordan stated, I also wish I hadn't been so nervous to try it out, and wish I would have started sooner. I did similar to the advice below and ran a Normal-Only run my first time, asking in the forum for volunteers to run with me. People were so patient and gracious. I was geared higher than needed for Normal, but didn't realize it until I played the first time, so we were killing things pretty quick, which didn't give me as much play-time in VTD as I could have had at a higher difficulty. However, it allowed me to try VTD and not worry that I was going to screw up someone else's run, so there was value in that for me.

Otherwise, if you pick a time and get in with a group that may want to run a higher difficulty than what you are geared for, they may be willing to "lend" you tokens to bump your stats and/or treasure. However, you are not required to play at a level you are not comfortable playing, so don't feel pressured into it.
That's why it's nice to coordinate on Discord or the forum before your run, so you can discuss difficulty, and talk about what help could be provided to you. Or find a group before you even buy your ticket. Just realize that not everyone is active on Discord and/or the forum, so you may not be able to fully coordinate before a run.

If someone offers to lend you tokens, you can clone your current build in the character creator (use Alex's super helpful links and document), then create a second build that includes the lent tokens. If you happen to have this discussion before your run, it may help you feel less pressure the day of, where you may be updating tokens on the fly AND learning the VTD system during the 36 minutes of coaching. However, 36 minutes is a lot of time to make changes and work with the group, so it's not a big deal if you don't get an opportunity to coordinate beforehand. After you've run once or twice, you really get the hang of it.
You can also go into the VTD interface today and start getting familiar with the layout and buttons. You won't be able to "play", but you CAN look around.

I have a group of 2-3 of us that are often looking for people to play with that want HC difficulty, so feel free to reach out if you're looking for others. We don't have the longevity in the game to provide the answers like so many others would, but we have very recently been in your same position and get it.

Good luck!
Kathy
Discord= Dorkus Maximus

Thanks Kathy!

I've been doing all that you've said... trying out the TDCharacterCreator web site; getting Zoom set up; lurking in Discord; etc. I was a little bit concerned that some of the newer 2026 items might not be completely updated on the web site before next week rolls around, but if that turns out to be the case I'll adjust accordingly. For instance if the Triad Set bonus of +1 Lvl still doesn't work, I can equip a Totem of Heroism to force my Dwarf up to L5 so the stats are correct at least.

Unfortunately, I did just have to jump into a time slot without knowing who I'm grouped with. I really wanted Dwarf Fighter and had specific times I could attend. So I took the very last spot in a group that was already 9/10 full. (Sat Jan 24 2026 3:24 PM CST). So far no one has posted any notes on TD.Events, and I haven't seen any LFO (?) messages here or on Discord. I'm tempted to post a note myself, but I might just wait and see.

And finally... I'd absolutely join your group if you'd be willing to let me For reference, here's where I'm at right now: tdcharactercreator.com/#/character/edit/a666a3ca-2ea9-4a2c-8f19-6659b1355acb

Greg

Greg F wrote:
For reference, here's where I'm at right now: tdcharactercreator.com/#/character/edit/a666a3ca-2ea9-4a2c-8f19-6659b1355acb

FWIW, I think this build ought to be quite comfortable playing Nightmare difficulty.

3:24pm Saturday is kind of a mixed group. Besides myself, I know of only a few others on the run. We'll adapt to whatever level of difficulty is comfortable for everyone else. What I can tell you is to make sure you equip all of the Treasure Enhancers. If you don't already have them, we already have 10+ full sets in our group. Besides that, if you want to borrow anything, that is totally up to you. No pressure. If you want to play/explore, you can equip just about anything that's available in the app/web-site. Although, i'm not sure anyone will have the 2026 relics or legendary tokens yet. So, I guess I should say anything that is 2025 or earlier. Welcome to our madness.

If you are interested in giving VTD a go and don't have a slot already, I happen to know the Saturday 1:12pm run has a bunch of open spots (I have all 10 tickets though).

We usually run Hardcore, we are new player friendly, and have full Treasure Enhancers as well. Shoot me a message if you're interested!

Greg F wrote: For reference, here's where I'm at right now: tdcharactercreator.com/#/character/edit/a666a3ca-2ea9-4a2c-8f19-6659b1355acb

Greg

I can say you are firmly in Nightmare territory! If you want to get a feel for what each difficulty looks like build wise, I maintain a thread here where I list builds targeted at just starting each difficulty.

truedungeon.com/forum?view=topic&defaultmenu=141&catid=571&id=258460&start=0

Here are my build targets when I create builds for starting NM difficulty:
1) Every build contains Max treasure. This is because it's not uncommon in nightmare runs (especially VTD) for TEs to be available to be loaned. If you end up on a run without max treasure available, you can always fill the remaining slots with other tokens (see hardcore builds for ideas).
2) Save at least +15
3) At least 50hp
4) +hit for classes that slide at least +17
5) For classes that care about AC, it should be around 28
6) For classes that primarily deal damage, it should be around +32
7) Class role (ex: 2H damage for Barbarian, Healing for Cleric, AC for Dwarf Fighter taunt / paladin for guard)